[BaconCanadian]

I know about SSDs and how they have limited write and rewrite cycles. Its safe to bet blackberrys use flash memory. Is it unwise to delete and install stuff many times on it then if you want to lengthen longevity of the device? Or re-install the OS many times on it?

What about restarting many times, is that bad for the device?

How about constantly using device and letting device go black screen mode, cause essentially the screen goes on and off and on and off many times instead of steady on or steady off.

I don't want to get into a situation where the warrenty period has past and I am stuck with a brick!

[elvin1983]

I'm not particularly sure about the write and rewrite cycles, I haven't heard of any damage caused to BlackBerries simply by adding or deleting apps, or loading new OS's on the device, seems like they're designed to do this without any harm being caused, but like I said, I'm not 100% sure.

Restarting shouldn't cause any issues on the device, to my understanding it's virtually harmless.

As far as letting the device go into standby "black screen" mode, there shouldn't be any issues with that, almost no different than closing a flip on a flip phone, shouldn't damage the screen in any way.

I don't think you need to worry about being stuck with a brick at the end of your warranty. There are quite a few people who are still using 87xx model devices, which haven't been made for quite some time, and they have been having no issues. BlackBerry makes a pretty durable device, they wouldn't have the market share that they do if they made a handset that would crap out on you after a year of use.

[Reed McLay]

In practice, I have never encountered anybody that has ever "used up" the Flash Memory.

The Black screen is a power saving feature, it has never been a problem either.

[BaconCanadian]

Oh I see. I will probably end up using it the 'natural' way I know how (including charging whenever possible.. is that wise?) and see where fate takes the device.

[elvin1983]

I charge my Tour every night when I go to bed, and I've usually got 50% or more battery life when I plug it in. That should be sufficient, of course it is all dependant on your use of the device.

What model do you have?

[Reed McLay]

Good call, your Lithium-ion battery does not have the memory retention faults like the older style rechargeable batteries.

I could go a couple days between charges, but it is best to top it up every morning/overnight. That way, I will almost never exhaust my battery, except on very long phone calls.

[BaconCanadian]

I just got the Bold #2.

With batteries noadays and everyone saying different things, I don't even know how to best treat batteries. It used to be you should drain it. And then I hear new Li-ion batteries should be charged whenever possible, never too low charge, and never over charge, etc etc. I don't even follow anymore. I know at least though that I had to change my old phone's batteries 2 times which may perhaps be attributed to the way I charge my phone, who knows!

[elvin1983]

The way that the charging works is that once the battery is at full charge, it stops charging. There is no such thing as overcharging anymore, so no worries plugging it in overnight, they're pretty low maintainence! No need to let it charge all the way down before plugging it in for the first time, that doesn't apply to Li Ion batteries (to my understanding).

Also, that Bold 9700 has the best reported battery life currently on a BB device, so you may not even need to charge it nightly, but I always recommend it, just in case. It's nice to start the day with a fresh charge!

[BaconCanadian]

Yes I agree. I will likely just use the blackberry 'naturally' without particularly going out of my way to try to maximize longevity of the device. As long as it still survives say 3 years or average-joe abuse, Im good.

[elvin1983]

Nothing wrong with that, makes alot of sense. Might I also recommend that you read over the BlackBerry 101 series of blogs on this site, they're really packed with a bunch of good information on keeping your BB running at 100%. There's alot of stuff that isn't explained in the owners manual of the handsets, such as properly closing out applications, etc, that you can find in the blogs.

Here's the link:
Blog Master Index | CrackBerry.com

[BaconCanadian]

Thanks for the pointers. I guess I've already started to attend classes since last week! Now is the field trip.

[elvin1983]

LOL it's certainly a learning experience! There is a weath of knowledge on this website that's for sure!