vB Easy Archive - BlackJack: Not my cup of tea

Pages: 1

BlackJack: Not my cup of tea
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: nyguy

Ive had just about every smart phone/blackberry in the past 3 years (maybe an over statement by 2 or 3 devices) and i just brought home the blackjack.

have to say, and i'm not meaning to be inflammatory, but i think it is just an average device. i look at many of these boards and see people giving it acclaim such as "best smartphone ever developed."

i was disappointed. the device is pretty slow, even with only a few programs running on it. it locked up on me at least once in the first 24 hours out of the box.

3G is not what it is cracked up to be. while i agree it is better than the regular service, its not the superfast internet they claim it is.

the phone has a nice form factor to it, but the battery life will kill you. not sure about the rest of you, but i really do not like taking off the battery cover and replacing the battery several times a day. just not my cup of tea.
i also do not like carrying other batteries around with me.

i do think the cingular phone service is a positive and the blackjack functions as a very good phone/speakerphone.

overall i'm not very happy with the device. sorry to rain on the blackjack parade. take my comments with a grain of salt, if you like. buyer beware!

Posted by: Bob34

Definately a tad on the slow side, I don't really notice the battery life since I have the phone plugged in to a PC (Notebook or Workstation) whenever I'm working.

More RAM, faster proc will surely help in the next revision/version.

Posted by: Ghettopops

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyguy

Ive had just about every smart phone/blackberry in the past 3 years (maybe an over statement by 2 or 3 devices) and i just brought home the blackjack.

have to say, and i'm not meaning to be inflammatory, but i think it is just an average device. i look at many of these boards and see people giving it acclaim such as" best smartphone ever develped."

i was disappointed. the device is pretty slow, even with onyl a few programs running on it. it locked up on me at least once in the first 24 hours out of the box.

3G is not what it is cracked up to be. while i agree it is better than the regular service, its not the superfast internet they claim it is.

the phone has a nice form factor to it, but the battery life will kill you. not sure about the rest of you, but i really do not like taking off the battery cover and replacing the battery several times a day. just not my cup of tea.
i also do not like carrying other batteries around with me.

i do think the cingular phone service is a positive and the blackjack functions as a very good phone/speakerphone.

overall i'm not very happy with the device. sorry to rain on the blackjack parade. take my comments with a grain of salt, if you like.

"Good Day to you sir"

Rule should be, you return your BJ, Revoke your Ghetto Pass and move on. Grip to people who get paid to listen to gripers.

Posted by: mbranscum

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghettopops

"Good Day to you sir"

Rule should be, you return your BJ, Revoke your Ghetto Pass and move on. Grip to people who get paid to listen to gripers.

The boards here are for peopel to post their thoughts and ideas, so he has every right to complain. Don't take it personal. It's just a stupid phone.

Posted by: importluva

i have to say that being able to stream videos in good/great quality using ORB is awesome.

Posted by: maevro

Sorry you dont enjoy the phone, but I really dont think a new thread needs to be started
everytime someone has something to say. There are plenty of threads like this, you could go through the 1st few pages and add to another one.

As for your comments, I dont know what to tell you. I have had a ton of other phones recently and I like the blackjack the best. You just got the phone and have been playing with it a lot. Once you learn the phone well, you wont do that and the battery will last a lot more. I dont bring the spare anywhere and I usually dont need it.

3G is great, at least where I live here in NYC. It is a lot faster then EDGE and spits on GPRS. Buyer beware? I think the majority of posters here enjoy the BJ much more then the dislikes. I have had the phone since Nov 16 and the goods outweigh the negatives.

Posted by: Bob34

Quote:

Originally Posted by maevro

I think the majority of posters here enjoy the BJ much more then the dislikes. I have had the phone since Nov 16 and the goods outweigh the negatives.

I've had this phone since November 30th and I'm damn impressed. For the first couple of days, I was disappointed by a few things, but as I got comfortable with how things worked, and loaded some Third-Party apps I'm like damn.

Having a phone that can serve my business needs while having no problem serving as a music player (mmm Bluetooth Stereo headphones and WMP sounds output is terrible, I like Pocket Player) is sweet.

The only thing that could be improved is more RAM and a faster proc (I wouldn't mind Wi-FI), but hell that just gives me something to buy six months down the road

Posted by: DubDub

It works for me. Does what I need it to do. Battery lasts as long as I need it to - when I am not near my laptop and on the road. Also have a car adapter in case I need it, but have not so far in the 3+ weeks I have had it. IMHO, its keeper.

Posted by: jomo25

Yeah, I've had quite a few phones, smartphones and PDAs also: Jam, SP3, SP5, Smartflip, Razr, Blackberry, Axim, etc.

And from a form/function standpoint, I think the Blackjack is pretty damn good. I'm quite happy with it. I think it serves my purpose well. I mean, it depends on how you prioritize your needs/wants. Size, style, network, performance, depends on which you want most.

So, I guess the Blackjack is my cup of tea.

Posted by: juiceppc

have u people tried overclocking yet? it works pretty good at 252.

Posted by: Michael95GT

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbranscum:
Don't take it personal. It's just a stupid phone.

No it isn't; it's a Smartphone!

LOL, I'm sorry but I just couldn't resist.

Posted by: Michael95GT

Wirelessly posted (Samsung Blackjack or Treo650: SAMSUNG-SGH-I607/I607FG1 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows CE; Smartphone; 320x240) UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

Oh yeah, I forgot my main reason for postingl

I'm still loving mine as well. Battery life has gotten significantly better after several complete chargecycles. I alternate batteries, draining one completely, swapping in the other, etc. Now either battery will last me from 2 to 3 days.

Posted by: agent2099

Doesn't the BJ have a 400mhz processor. I thought the whole point of the 2 batteries was because of the fast processor.

Posted by: polojag

Quote:

Originally Posted by agent2099

Doesn't the BJ have a 400mhz processor. I thought the whole point of the 2 batteries was because of the fast processor.

I've overclocked mine, as a few other people have on this forum, to 262 and sound doesnt work properly. I think they give two batteries because when you are using data and video features on the phone, the battery goes pretty quick. I still love this phone and am very pleased with it. It does everything I need it to.

Posted by: ivwshane

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyguy

Ive had just about every smart phone/blackberry in the past 3 years (maybe an over statement by 2 or 3 devices) and i just brought home the blackjack.

have to say, and i'm not meaning to be inflammatory, but i think it is just an average device. i look at many of these boards and see people giving it acclaim such as "best smartphone ever developed."

i was disappointed. the device is pretty slow, even with only a few programs running on it. it locked up on me at least once in the first 24 hours out of the box.

3G is not what it is cracked up to be. while i agree it is better than the regular service, its not the superfast internet they claim it is.

the phone has a nice form factor to it, but the battery life will kill you. not sure about the rest of you, but i really do not like taking off the battery cover and replacing the battery several times a day. just not my cup of tea.
i also do not like carrying other batteries around with me.

i do think the cingular phone service is a positive and the blackjack functions as a very good phone/speakerphone.

overall i'm not very happy with the device. sorry to rain on the blackjack parade. take my comments with a grain of salt, if you like. buyer beware!

I agree but I think most of it has to do with the OS itself. 3G is fast, its just not fast on that phone. In fact my bb 7130 loads pages faster than the blackjack

Posted by: Sgt_Strider

Quote:

Originally Posted by juiceppc

have u people tried overclocking yet? it works pretty good at 252.

Are you using OMAP clock to overclock the blackjack?

Posted by: TriAxis

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob34

Having a phone that can serve my business needs while having no problem serving as a music player (mmm Bluetooth Stereo headphones and WMP sounds output is terrible, I like Pocket Player) is sweet.

If your Bluetooth headset sounds crappy you can try this RegEdit to increase the bitrate of the sound transfer.

[HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Bluetooth/A2DP/Settings]
Add new dword, Value name=BitPool; Value data=48 (Decimal)
Modify, Value name=UseJointStereo; Value data=0 (Decimal, Originally 1)
For BitPool:
Microsoft suggests the following bitpool values for optimal buffer sizes.
30 - Low audio quality
40 - Medium audio quality
48 - High audio quality
58 - Excellent audio quality
Chose one you like. I think 48 is good enough.
For UseJointStereo: use 0 instead of 1, then you got the real stereo.

or

Download the fit4cat Hermes Tweaker which has this RegEdit built into a menu. Along with a couple other tweaks. (registration required)

fit4cat

Posted by: DubDub

Quote:

Originally Posted by agent2099

Doesn't the BJ have a 400mhz processor. I thought the whole point of the 2 batteries was because of the fast processor.

It has a 200mhz processor. The 2nd battery is because of the very poor battery life in fringe 3G areas - going in and out of 3G kills it.

Posted by: taejack

You know If I have had "just about every smart phone/blackberry in the past 3 years" and wanted to walk around all day with my Batman belt showing off my devices, I wouldn't like the Blackjack either - I mean it fits right in your back pocket and no one even knows you have it.

I have never had to change the battery - ever. I have a charger at home and at my desk at work - I only charge it occasionally and have no problems. The phone has awesome reception and I get all my email pushed to the phone. No complaints here. I love it.

All these "I love it, I hate it" posts are fundamentally flawed because people are drawn to the Blackjack - and any other device for that matter, for certain specific features that are important to them.

Posted by: Dashmastah

I own the Dash, but also have access to the Q and Blackjack so I have been fortunate enough to play at length with them all. As for batter life, there are some really good tutorials on it you can find here . I really liked the Blackjack except for the smaller screen. I realize they gave up size in order to make it smaller than the Dash/Q, but I have crappy eye sight so the bigger the screen, the happier I am. I also have big hands so i found the Blackjack a bit difficult to use. Overall though, I think it's still an amazing phone compared to what was out there just a year ago.

Posted by: Bob34

Quote:

Originally Posted by TriAxis

Sweet thanks for the tip. Gotta try it.

It sounds nice on my LG HBS-110's with Pocket Player. I just figured, WMP sounds like crap on my home PCs, wouldn't expect much from it on my Smartphone

Though I'm going to return these and get HBH-DS970's as the Earbud style on the LGs are annoying.

Hmm you sure these hacks work for the Blackjack.. hearing conflicting reports.

Posted by: maevro

Quote:

Originally Posted by juiceppc

have u people tried overclocking yet? it works pretty good at 252.

When I downloaded the program to overclock my BJ, it told me that it could not run on my computer. Can you please explain exactly how to overclock the phone again?

Thanks.

Posted by: Willie3White

Quote:

Originally Posted by DubDub

It has a 200mhz processor. The 2nd battery is because of the very poor battery life in fringe 3G areas - going in and out of 3G kills it.

its got a 220mhz processor and the only cingular phone i know of with a 400mhz processor is the 8525/tytn and that thing is at lease 2.5x's as thick so i am also very happy with the blackjack and the 3g speeds is amazing i get 850-950 kbps which is as fast as my laptop at the edge of my wireless range, as far battery life mine easily lasts two days with a hell of a lot of web surfing especially hofo'in it

Posted by: briareus

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyguy

have to say, and i'm not meaning to be inflammatory, but i think it is just an average device. i look at many of these boards and see people giving it acclaim such as "best smartphone ever developed."

That's precisely why I wish there were many more long term reviews of devices. These 15 minute or unboxing reviews are totally worthless IMO. You don't get the real story until someone has been using and relying the device day in and day out for weeks.

Posted by: Jhego

See the only reason i didnt get the Blackjack is the Wifi since i dont have 3G in my area and i dont have a data plan. I like the formfactor of the BJ but i like the bigger screen of the 8525. The thickness of the 8525 doesn't bother me since i had the Nokia 3620 before (the ugly huge phone) since i care more for the features. Although, i would consider the Samsung i600 since it's the same phone with Wifi. But my 30 day return/exchange will be over this 16th and i didnt even get the chance to try out the treo 750.

Posted by: jerryk

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyguy

3G is not what it is cracked up to be. while i agree it is better than the regular service, its not the superfast internet they claim it is.

That has not been my experience. When running test programs I am seeing at least 900 kps and got 1,333 kps today. There is a lag getting to a site, but once connected the data rate is amazing.

Posted by: agent2099

Quote:

Originally Posted by DubDub

It has a 200mhz processor. The 2nd battery is because of the very poor battery life in fringe 3G areas - going in and out of 3G kills it.

Ahh, thanks. I can't wait until we can get a 400mhz cpu that gives good battery life. It seems the x86 cpu technology has progressed much further than it's cell phone brethren. It's seems smartphones have been stuck at 200mhz for the longest...

Posted by: graphiteRT

It's not the CPU that is eating up the battery, it's the periphery circuits like Bluetooth or 3G. A faster processor won't fix that.

x86 technology has been around 20 years. You can hardly expect smartphones, which have only been around a handful, to compete.

Posted by: JMBrown

Quote:

Originally Posted by agent2099

Sort of off topic, but the HTC Cavalier (Dash successor) which is coming out in early '07 will have a 400mhz processor. I believe it's one of the first smartphones with a processor over 200mhz.

Back on topic...I have used a Blackjack on a few occasions and have been quite pleased with it. Didn't find it any slower than any other WM phone I have owned, though I do understand the complaints about 3G speeds, as web pages still take a while to load. However, better processor speeds should help with that issue.

Posted by: chesney09

I think it has the potential to be a good BB replacement.. But it seems that all the WM5 devices are bad on battery life. The mere fact that the BlackJack comes with 2 batteries is worrisome for me.. in a Corp Env. I can hear the complaints coming already.