[dave1701]

So I just bought a new bold 9930 because the microphone went out on my Z10. I opted for the Bold because it is cheap and the 9930 that I had in the past died in a tragic lawnmower accident.

I bought this new one for $80 from Blackberry on Amazon. I noticed some suspicious things with this one. First, it was clear from the packaging that the molds were quite worn, which I thought was interesting. That doesn't matter much; it's packaging. Getting to the phone itself, I also noticed that one of the buttons (the menu button) feels much different to the touch than the rest of them. While the rest of them make a definitive click, the menu button is quite mushy and difficult to press down. Button feel seems like it would be a tough thing to explain to customer service for a return, so I let that slide. The charger looks odd too; the plastic looks shiny and quite ugly, unlike the charger that came with my first 9930, which appeared to be a of much higher quality. The USB cable on the new one looks more generic, although it does have the BB symbol on it, it has bigger strain relief, unlike the old one. Lastly, when comparing the new 9930 to the old one, I noticed that the old battery was made in Japan while the new one was made in China.

All of this tells me that at the end of the production of 9930s, they may have cut some corners. I am used to the build quality on BBs to be perfect, so this is a bit of a disappointment. Hopefully the actual electronics of the phone are built to the high standard that I have come to expect from Blackberry.

Has anyone else ordered a 9930 recently? Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary?

[David Tyler]

The last ones were made two years ago, but you never really know what you're getting from an Amazon reseller. I got lucky and got a 2014 9900 in tip-top shape and obviously new.

Passport SE: All the snooty prestige of a device with a precious metal in the name at less than half the price!

[dave1701]

Well, the seller on Amazon was Blackberry itself, so I figured that's as good as ordering it directly from them.

[David Tyler]

Well, the seller on Amazon was Blackberry itself, so I figured that's as good as ordering it directly from them.

I've never seen that -- I've bought two Bolds from Amazon, and I've never seen BlackBerry as a seller.

You can't order a Bold "directly from" BlackBerry, as far as I know -- at least, you can't in the US.


Passport SE: All the snooty prestige of a device with a precious metal in the name at less than half the price!

[anon(9721108)]

The last ones were made two years ago, but you never really know what you're getting from an Amazon reseller. I got lucky and got a 2014 9900 in tip-top shape and obviously new.

Passport SE: All the snooty prestige of a device with a precious metal in the name at less than half the price!

I'm just curious, what set of numbers do you look at to date the 9900 when the battery is off?

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[David Tyler]

I'm just curious, what set of numbers do you look at to date the 9900 when the battery is off?

Sorry -- I don't know how to tell with the battery off...

[ohaiguise]

It's possible that you've received a 'refurbished' unit that has had internal parts and/or external casing, plugs, chargers etc replaced. Was it advertised as being 'new'?