1. rgbbrown's Avatar
    Firstly, I'll get this out the way but I DID have an iPhone 3GS and have decided to give BlackBerry a chance as I thought it would be a better phone for business. Apologies for 'swearing' using the 'i' word but I felt it necessary as it's my only basis for comparison.

    I'm struggling to see how a BlackBerry is good for personal use or business use. Forgive me, I may have chosen the wrong Blackberry but I have a Torch 9800 on Orange (UK).

    Firstly, I've only had it a few days and it locks up mid-typing a message or when you activate the screen by touching a button or sliding up. What's that about? I've not really added any apps yet!!!

    Another thing, which I have searched an age to find the answer to, is when I'm out of the office I get an email with voice messages attaching a .wav file. When I go to play it on the phone (preview or download) it's inaudible. All you can hear is a voice trying to break through a severe crackle. So far the only (useless) answer I've found online was some wise guy "omg that method is so 1989". Well bozo, it's 2011 actually and that just wasn't useful. Any ideas? I don't want to have to convert a file and reload it. I need it on the move.

    Also PDF files...... "cannot display this file format"? Er, come off it. Only the most used file format there is !?

    App 'world'? Am I using a USA phone? I'm in the UK and the apps are pretty dire. Why can some phones have Tesco Clubcard and Grooveshark yet mine can't even find them in the app 'world'?

    Hope someone can help because I'm still within 14 days so I can send phone back and get an iPhone again..... Which seamlessly handled all of the above.

    Cheers guys.
    05-24-11 02:01 PM
  2. ste1164's Avatar
    Seems like the iPhone would be best suited for you. Blackberry isn't for everyone
    05-24-11 02:22 PM
  3. BergerKing's Avatar
    Clubcard Mobile

    Grooveshark Mobile Music: Blackberry

    One of the things you msy have to adapt to is:Not everything requires using App World. Sometimes, a simple search online will yield the result you seek. This is not to be condescending at all, because I've found the mindset to be fairly common amongst iPhone and many Android users. It is a good thing to ask questions though, so go for it.


    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    Last edited by BergerKing; 05-25-11 at 11:41 AM.
    05-24-11 03:01 PM
  4. Altarocks's Avatar
    What OS version are you running? Before you bail you may want to try installing a later leaked version. Leaked versions generally have better performance across the board, but not everyone gets the same results.

    I had trouble with clarity on some of the earlier OS versions when listening to .wav files. We use a similar VM forwarding program (Nortel). This cleared up for me a few leaks ago. Currently, I have trouble with phone call clarity using bluetooth, but that's it.

    As for PDFs, try opening one from an email attachment. Mine works fine.

    I don't know what app availability is like across the pond, but I've got access to far more than I care to use. Certainly a BB is never going to compare to an iPhone in this respect. My wife has an iPhone 4. It's a great device, but for my needs the Torch is a much better fit. I find it much better-suited for communicating. She agrees with me. But it's all relative to how you use it.
    05-24-11 03:04 PM
  5. gardengnome's Avatar
    hmmm.

    I've not had a problem with any of those things. On any OS version. wav's, pdf's, other file formats all open just fine. sound on phone/bluetooth/music whatever is quite clear.

    perhaps you got a lemon?
    05-24-11 09:12 PM
  6. Nashstruck's Avatar
    Go for iOs. Its better if BBM isn't what you're after. IMO that's the best and prob only reason to get a bb.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    05-25-11 02:44 AM
  7. cabletow's Avatar
    rgbbrown

    So far not much help huh. I am in the UK and t-mobile - I use a torch adn it is way better than the 3gs ... but yours may need work

    First and foremost upgrade to the latest OS - I use 6.0.0.570 - available from the leaked os thread here on CB.

    The old stock OS has issues (yours will be 6.0.0.246)

    Then you should get clear sound and be able to view pdfs. your screen lock issues will be gone

    grooveshark and tescos have been dealt with ... Yes app world is not as good as iphone but they have been doing this longer - (the app thang).

    You can customise themes, performance and all sorts that you could not do on the IP

    The torch is a great phone - Sadly the original OS was not
    05-25-11 04:15 AM
  8. cabletow's Avatar
    rgbbrown

    So far not much help huh. I am in the UK and t-mobile - I use a torch adn it is way better than the 3gs ... but yours may need work

    First and foremost upgrade to the latest OS - I use 6.0.0.570 - available from the leaked os thread here on CB.

    The old stock OS has issues (yours will be 6.0.0.246)

    Then you should get clear sound and be able to view pdfs. your screen lock issues will be gone

    grooveshark and tescos have been dealt with ... Yes app world is not as good as iphone but they have been doing this longer - (the app thang).

    You can customise themes, performance and all sorts that you could not do on the IP

    The torch is a great phone - Sadly the original OS was not
    05-25-11 04:16 AM
  9. AcADIeN's Avatar
    don't confuse with iphone, there is more than only 1 app world, like on crackberry there is a superstore, on blackberry there is the app world (and a lot more), and you can download a program directly from the developer site without having to go on any app world. That's the beauty of blackberry, RIM does not force you to use only what they want.
    05-25-11 09:35 AM
  10. rrrebo's Avatar
    Definitely update the OS and give it a chance, ASAP. As with any device (*cough*cough*iPhone*cough*), the Torch had growing pains. It has been vastly improved since then. Current latest leaked OS release is, I believe, 6.0.0.576.

    As stated above, you need not depend on BB AppWorld for everything. With BlackBerry, you are free to install compatible app you want, from any source you want. You are not locked into Apple's interpretation of what a user should want/need on their device.
    05-25-11 09:46 AM
  11. chrisryan44's Avatar
    So far good advice from everyone above so I'll second that lol. As for PDFs, the best way to make sure you can view them is to get the full version of Documents to Go by Dataviz. You can buy it, but recently someone posted a link to the new one by RIM (since they bought Dataviz) that is free. It hasn't hit the app store yet, and I forget where that link was, but you could search the forums.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    05-25-11 11:12 AM
  12. Nashstruck's Avatar

    You can customise themes, performance and all sorts that you could not do on the IP
    You can if you jailbreak it..
    05-25-11 03:06 PM
  13. newcollector's Avatar
    You can if you jailbreak it..
    Don't have to jailbreak the Torch. Plenty oF free themes on Crackberry.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    05-25-11 05:08 PM
  14. leilani_J's Avatar
    You can if you jailbreak it..
    Yeah because jailbreaking makes so much sense, when another device has always allowed themes.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    05-25-11 08:05 PM
  15. rgbbrown's Avatar
    OMG! I wasn't expecting so many replies! I was waiting to get an e-mail to tell me I had got replies but I don't think I've set up this forum to do that haha. I guess this shows what a "noob" I am. OMG writing "noob" just made me cringe. I'm actually 26, although feel a lot older not keeping up with this!

    I had NO IDEA you could get apps like Tesco and Grooveshark direct from a source. It's a little annoying my Curve/Storm etc friends get it in the app world thing and I don't, but if I can get it directly from the source then I don't care. I've just tried the Tesco Clubcard link shown above but it tells me to download from the App World. However it does say one of three ways to download is direct from the phone's browser... but where?! Grooveshark worked fine (!!! cheers!!) but I can only presume Tesco doesn't because it doesn't support my screen size? It mentions every other BB but mine lol

    HMM... RE the jailbreaking thing and getting leaked versions I don't know too much about this. I only jailbroke my iPh*ne within the last 3 months of me getting rid of it because I was scared haha. Is it easily removable if I want to revert back without being detected (ie. if I need to send it back if something goes wrong, RIM aren't going to find out?)

    I THINK my version is 6.0 Bundle 1907 (v6.0.0.448, Platform 6.4.0.210). That's what it says in Options >> Device >> About Device Versions. When I go to "Software Updates" it says "Your BlackBerry is up to date". As for going for leaked versions I'd happily give it a go if it's straight forward. Do you think this is what the problem is? Listening to .wav files is just bloody awful. I have to listen to about 10 of these a day and I'm finding I have to listen to each one three times to deceipher what is being said

    I think there's plenty of Googling for me to do then. I can't believe I've just been looking in BB App World. I had no idea the world was so much bigger! Any recommendations for sites where I can download UK based stuff or stuff that is useful for UK people (no comments! ;-))

    Thank you to everyone for your help and advice. Even gardengnome lol. I expected people to shout at me and throw tomatoes at me for having an iPhone for years LOL! No, in all seriousness some people on message boards can be right snooty arrogant nobs... but you lot have changed my perception!

    Oh one more thing.... (said Columbo). Do RIM not 'vet' the comments made on reviews in the App World? I've seen less sexual advertisements in the phone box outside Kings Cross Station. Kind of mucks up the whole rating stars thing. If it's not useful, take it off!

    All the best

    A. Simple Brit lol
    05-31-11 03:43 PM
  16. BergerKing's Avatar
    It warms my heart to see that freedom can be so intoxicating! Yes, there have been threads started relating to the quantity of inappropriate reviews in App World. Obviously, they aren't attended nearly as well as CrackBerry.

    I would contact Tesco Clubcard directly and ask them if they can update and add support for your Torch.

    Clubcard Mobile

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    05-31-11 04:40 PM
LINK TO POST COPIED TO CLIPBOARD