[Pensa MK]

After the silver paint wears off of them, you'll see that the frets are in fact black plastic. Pure marketing B.S. at best. I'm a Machinist, and have been looking into this for some time now, and noticed this on a Q10 I had and sold because of this very issue, I would not have another one.

It would be nice to see an opinion from a metallurgist's point of view, as well as the numerous types of tests that can be performed to the whole device, such as a spark test, initiated to the "metal " parts of the device, among others, to see how well BlackBerry's claims hold up. I bet we'd all be in for quite a surprise.

BlackBerry needs to actually start using the metals they claim are actually in the parts of the device they say they're in, instead of pulling the wool over everyone's eyes.

Not Cool.

Posted via CB10

[FCSC]

After the silver paint wears off of them, you'll see that the frets are in fact black plastic. Pure marketing B.S. at best. I'm a Machinist, and have been looking into this for some time now, and noticed this on a Q10 I had and sold because of this very issue, I would not have another one.

It would be nice to see an opinion from a metallurgist's point of view, as well as the numerous types of tests that can be performed to the whole device, such as a spark test, initiated to the "metal " parts of the device, among others, to see how well BlackBerry's claims hold up. I bet we'd all be in for quite a surprise.

BlackBerry needs to actually start using the metals they claim are actually in the parts of the device they say they're in, instead of pulling the wool over everyone's eyes.

Not Cool.

Posted via CB10

hrm, very interesting, i'll have to take a look at my old keyboards, the last one i had had considerable wear on the keys but the frets stayed the normal silver.. maybe its time to take some sandpaper to it and see whats underneath!

have any pictures of the black plastic?

[FrankIAm]

So it's just like the 9900.. sad and cheap.
Wonder about the passport and classic..

[Pensa MK]

I don't have or didn't take photos, no. Sorry. I bought it to just flip it. It had a lot of scratches on the bottom corners of the frame and the frets were banged up and the top fret, on the right side had a chunk of paint chipped or worn off.

Fact is fact people. Try a Dremel tool cutting wheel to them...see if they spark.

I highly doubt the front ones will.

As for the rear fret, I think it's metal. Whether or not it's actually stainless is another question. It could even be a cheap die-cast metal used for the rear fret...

I work with a variety of stainless alloys daily, and I would be questioning BlackBerry heavily myself, as to how they could explain their way out of this one.....

Posted via CB10

[Pensa MK]

Someone should investigate what material they say is in the frame of the passport...

They seem to like to use the word "stainless" a lot, lol.

304 stainless, in a chunk as big as a whole Q10, to just carve a thin fame out of, with say, a CNC machine, would be very costly.

Think about all the waste just in chips, from the machines. And where was the last machine shop contract awarded to for the manufacturing of the Q10's and other BlackBerry devices now???

No one ever heard anything about this yet eh, lol? Probably won't either...

Posted via CB10

[jhimmel]

I would like to see the wording BlackBerry uses when they claim the frets are stainless steel. Where can I find this? In the product description somewhere?

I tried the BlackBerry official site and read the specs of the Q10 and saw no mention of Stainless Steel.

Posted via CB10

[Coraya]

I understand why people would be frustrated. You pay a premium price for a device and don't get what you think you're paying for. But isn't there a line where you're just being picky? I understand, it could potentially harm the aesthetic value of the device. I understand that it would "fee" more premium if it were given metal parts vs plastic. This is only truly coming up now though. A years and half after the release of the device. Do you use you're so device so often that the frets are beginning to turn black? I highly doubt it since the keys are raised which don't allow you to directly touch the frets at all.

Adding to this, how long will you possibly have the device for? Wear and tear, it happens with everything. Nothing you buy will be beautiful forever. It'll need repairs, it'll need to be fixed up here and there. As far as technology goes, devices have been dying off at such a rate that wear and tear is nearly 100% avoidable with a new flagship being released every 6 months to a year. The little peg on the "D" key on my refurbished Q10 is wearing out. I use the phone a lot. It doesn't bother me one bit. I think of it as I'm getting the value out of the money I spent on this phone.

But this is ME. You're you. I'm just trying to fully understand why it bothers you so much. I'm not trying to offend anyone or start an argument. I just like to try and understand where people are coming from.

Posted via CB Q10 or 9000

[Pensa MK]

It is posted all over the Internet, not to mention Thorsten Heins and his crew made liberal use of the word "Stainless" everywhere, when talking about the device.

Posted via CB10

[Coraya]

It is posted all over the Internet, not to mention Thorsten Heins and his crew made liberal use of the word "Stainless" everywhere, when talking about the device.

Posted via CB10

Specifying the device was made of stainless steel or specifically the frets? The bezel is definitely steel.

Posted via CB Q10 or 9000

[jhimmel]

It is posted all over the Internet, not to mention Thorsten Heins and his crew made liberal use of the word "Stainless" everywhere, when talking about the device.

Posted via CB10

I did a search of "BlackBerry Q10 Stainless Steel" already and really didn't see it, that's why I asked. I'm looking for where BlackBerry claimed the frets were stainless steel. Posted all over the Internet by who? BlackBerry?

I'm not trying to give them a pass. Just the opposite. It's bad if they let people falsely believe this without clarifying, but WAY worse if they went around falsely claiming the frets are stainless steel if they are not. I'd really like to see the lie and read it for myself.

Posted via CB10

[Grivel]

Berryreview did or the contact person:
BlackBerry Q10 Materials Get Detailed by their Design Team - BerryReview


quote:

"The metal frets between the rows of keys are thicker than the 9900 to make it easier to hit the right key"

so they claim at least its a kind of metal.
actually I have a lot of scratches on my Q10 - and for me its (but I have only basic knowledge in material science as an electrical engineer) for sure a kind of material thats least not the "ordinary" plastic like the keys. And compared to my 9900 - those frets on m Q10 are in a different world...

edit: when you compare the fret on the back with those between the keys, you can feel the difference. The back one is for sure metal!

[jhimmel]

Thanks Grivel. That's close. Someone at least saying that they are metal, and saying the article was written based on info from the design team.

I'm thinking now we are not going to see claims from BlackBerry that the frets are stainless steel. They may have allowed misinformation to circulate though.

The article also says the frame is carved out of a solid block of stainless steel. If true, I guess that would satisfy "liberal use of stainless steel" that SpaceGrey5S attributes to Thorsten.

Posted via CB10

[Q10Bold]

They have to be more flexibel on the frets- because of the keyboard. Thats why they are plastic?!
Its good for me. They are much much better on Q10 than on 9900 or maybe the one on the Classic!

[jhimmel]

edit: when you compare the fret on the back with those between the keys, you can feel the difference. The back one is for sure metal!

Yes, I think BlackBerry may have claimed the back separator to be stainless steel. I think I have seen that.

Posted via CB10

[Pensa MK]

Thorsten Heins said it himself when they introduced the Q10 to the public, on stage. Vivek was with him, when they both said this, I believe. And it wasn't just the back fret. They said look at how beautiful it is, an so on...they mentioned stainless steel frets. I was said in a lot of places.

Posted via CB10

[jhimmel]

Thorsten Heins said it himself when they introduced the Q10 to the public, on stage. Vivek was with him, when they both said this, I believe. And it wasn't just the back fret. They said look at how beautiful it is, an so on...they mentioned stainless steel frets. I was said in a lot of places.

Posted via CB10

He claimed the frets between the keys are stainless steel? That's a shame if true. Still would like to see it for myself. It seems possible that he talked about stainless steel and people assumed it included the frets. Hate to think he was that badly informed or even worse - intentionally lying.
Maybe it's on Youtube or something somewhere.

Posted via CB10

[Pensa MK]

Watch the keynote where they release the device to the public...

Posted via CB10

[jhimmel]

Watch the keynote where they release the device to the public...

Posted via CB10

Here it is -

Didn't see the claim of stainless frets in there. Could easily have missed it though.

Posted via CB10

[byrdbrained]

I haven't watched the launch video with TH, but the Inside BlackBerry blog that gets linked from the BerryReview site doesn't actually say that the frets between the keys are metal. That was a small difference added by the BR team - unless BlackBerry went back and changed it.

[bbnrs]

Cute dog!

[cartoon2007]

idc

Posted via CB/Q10

[modifier]

304 stainless, in a chunk as big as a whole Q10, to just carve a thin fame out of, with say, a CNC machine, would be very costly.

Think about all the waste just in chips, from the machines. And where was the last machine shop contract awarded to for the manufacturing of the Q10's and other BlackBerry devices now???

You assume the only way to make a metal frame is to carve it out. Instead, it's probably MIM (metal injection molded), not billet. The former would be less expensive to manufacture yet still made from nonferrous steel. Plus, no machine shop would be required, just a casting/forge shop. No doubt it's foreign made and not done in North America, so no machine shop is going to be bragging about the contract, either.

[CB10 / Q10]

[Pensa MK]

No, your correct. I didn't mean to imply "bragging" per se, but when you look at Apple, it is clear they machine their frames, components,etc. to some degree or other. Blackberry brags about what their devices are made of (not totally accurate) , but one never hears tell anywhere how they were constructed. Just saying.

Posted via CB10

[modifier]

Apple has the budget to machine from billet, plus machining parts in China is dirt cheap. They don't have the quality of tooling or QC that exists in NA so it's tough to compare 1:1. The chips can be recycled either way, although metal quality in China is low since they don't refine their recycled materials to the same level as the US. So, I don't see Apple's billet frames as a huge plus knowing what's behind them.

But, I agree that BlackBerry should brag about build quality. There's certainly a balance to be found here.

[CB10 / Q10]

[FCSC]

Blackberry brags about what their devices are made of (not totally accurate) , but one never hears tell anywhere how they were constructed. Just saying.

Posted via CB10

Replace Blackberry with Apple.

Does Apple publish how their phones componants are constructed?

on a side note, you're history of posts is interesting to say the least.