vB Easy Archive - Anyone Have a Great Experience w/ the Blackjack

Pages: 1

Anyone Have a Great Experience w/ the Blackjack
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: mush10

In reading the forums it seems like there are issues upon issues with the Blackjack. I was curious to see if anyone had a truly positive experience with it. I am thinking of picking one up to hold me over until the Q9 comes out within the next 30 days. I have had WM PDA, but never a smartphone, so I figured it may be good practice. At the same time, I don't want to go through 20 days of misery to get to the Q's release date.

Thanks

Posted by: player911

No their is no misery about the blackjack. Its very popular and works great.

Most people you read about with problems are using the "beta" version of WM6.

The stock default OS is WM5 which actually runs the phone relatively flawless. To me though, a perfect phone is a boring phone. I like to try and make a phone better then it originally was. It makes me feel like I'm getting my worth out of it.

AT&T are reportedly releasing WM6 officially this Monday, the 17th of September. I just read that AT&T shows they are "out of stock" of the blackjacks... which others and I feel that they are holding back until the WM6 versions come in.

I'm sure you could still find one at a store, or Walmart. But as far as phones go, the blackjack is one of my favorite phones i've had in a long time. Reception is the best out of the LG CU500, Nokia N75, Motorola V3xx, and previous phones.

Of the phone, I think the only thing I dislike is that I keep calling "0". This of course is the fault of the candybar shape of the phone. I am just used to flip phones and not having to worry about locking the keypad. The lack of an 'autolock' feature is sad as well... but I haven't seen too many phones with this feature anyway.

Plus the good thing about WM devices, as I'm sure you know, that anything you 'feel' is left out can be easily resolved by installing programs.

But reception is one of the best I've experienced in a while, and 3G on the phone is amazing. The screen is very crisp and clear (and very bright). Seeing my wife's blackjack is what sold me because the screen was so bright and vivid.

All-in-all its a really fun phone that works pretty reliably. Surfing is great on it and the camera is pretty good quality compared to others (better then the N75's 2mp camera).

I think if you bought it, you'd really like it. Plus I've seen verizon's Q9... and that thing is freakin' HUGE. Its bigger then the original Motorola Q... and its really wide. The blackjack is smaller then the original Q and A LOT smaller then the Q9.

I'm keeping my blackjack. From what I learned, Motorola turned its back on existing Motorola Q users from the lack of a WM6 update. I'm not jumping on that bandwagon. Samsung takes care of its users with multiple updates and OS firmwares.

Looking back, I wouldn't trade my Blackjack for a Q (or a Q9), although I do like the keyboard of the Q9 but it doesn't justify the size of that beast.

Posted by: mush10

Quote:

I'm sure you could still find one at a store, or Walmart. But as far as phones go, the blackjack is one of my favorite phones i've had in a long time. Reception is the best out of the LG CU500, Nokia N75, Motorola V3xx, and previous phones.

That shocks me. I am going to give it a shot and see what I think. Thanks for the great response. It was truly helpful.

Posted by: Smoates

I love my Blackjack! I have it so dialed in now that I probably won't even upgrade to WM6 or the Q9.

It's my first smartphone, coming from Palm OS and Razrs and I really couldn't be happier.

Posted by: ventivent

The last smartphone that I really loved was my i-mate JAM. After that, I went through a Motorola Q, Treo 700p and then HTC Star Trek. I went through all of these phones in less than one year. I've had the Blackjack now for about 8 months and with some minor tweaking, I love it. Expandable storage, 3G speed, able to tether on Media Max 200, full QWERTY keyboard, great form factor. I'm currently being tempted by the iphone, but if you have to get any real work done, the Blackjack is a far better business phone.

Posted by: styx66

I don't have any experience with other pda/smartphones, but the Blackjack is, imho, an exceptional piece of hardware.

I had read about it and seen a few, and when i finally got a hands-on test at CES last year... I bought one when i got home.

Like others have said, the reception is great, the sound quality/volume/mic are great, the size/weight are phenomenal, the camera is pretty good, and 3G web browsing/downloading is just terrific.

People knock its lack of wi-fi but... Honestly I use the 3G tethered to laptop instead of my wifi at school (granted that wifi is quite throttled). The bandwidth is great, pages etc download fast, and also it has a very low latency.

Theres hardly anything bad I can say about it, though sometimes wish the processor was a bit faster. Pocket IE in WM5 can really take its time with some complicated pages sometimes - the same pages load super-quick on my laptop when tethered, so its not the connection.

Oh and i can't just hold down the 0 button to get a 0, i have to go to numlock

Posted by: RichieZ

battery life is pitiful, but other than that its a great phone.

i recently switched from a blackjack to the curve b/c my company decided to no longer support exhange direct push.

The blackberry has a superior keyboard and far superior battery life. I miss all the programs for WM6 but i'll get over it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by styx66

Oh and i can't just hold down the 0 button to get a 0, i have to go to numlock

you mean you get a space instead? Why not use the FN key to get the alt character instead of turning on numlock

Posted by: DSCLegend94

I haven't had any problems with my refurbished blackjack on wm5. I think the reception is actually better than my 8525 (tried many radios and wm6 rom combos), but of course the 8525 could do more stuff for me. My blackjack is just my weekend or going out phone instead of carrying that bulky 8525.
The only "flaw" I can think of is the small keys it has. I have small hands and sometimes Im hitting different keys, so I can imagine someone with bigger hands will have more difficulty.

Posted by: nvisi0n

I love my Blackjack and wouldn't trade it for anything out today. I am keeping it until the final build of the Neo1973 comes out.

Posted by: MetaOrbit

+1 with the others.

The blackjack is my first smartphone, and I truly enjoy it. Battery life, even with the slim battery, has been good to me, and I'm in a purely 3G area.

I love being able to put all my different apps on there and I love that I can do virtually everything with this phone. My only gripe is that I wish the processor speed was a bit faster, but it's only [noticeably] slow when I've got several applications running.

I'm still running WM5, but plan on upgrading to WM6 when [and if] AT&T releases an official upgrade.

Posted by: player911

As far as battery life, I use the included extended battery. I can't drain it in one day, so what does it matter.

My wife uses the normal battery and mostly texts and calls. She charges hers up every other day or every other 3rd day.

Posted by: MDIFILM

same here, I got a refurbished blackjack and used the upgraded wm5 without any problem, i've used it to check email, txt, using live search, google map and such, and then in august went to myrtle beach and used the phone like crazy for tethering and such never had any drop calls.

i even suggested the phone to my sister whom gotten one and after 1 month, her husband took it away from her cause he loves it. Now she's trying to get another blackjack...

And of coincidence, a talent agency here also had all their directors using it as well

Posted by: ckurt25

I had one and three friends had one at work. Not one of us kept it more than 3 months. Its a great phone but the battery life was horrible for all of us. I think our experience may have been because our company uses Good for wireless email. I think Good running on the phone is what did it because other people that I know that have one and run their wireless email w/ exchange get a couple of days. With the extended battery I would get 17 hours on average and I was only getting 30-40 emails a day. My wife is considering a smartphone for her work and if she were buying one today I'd suggest it, even with the problems I had. That said, I'd keep watching to see if the Pantec c810 or Samsung i620 comes out before our 30 days are up. If it does I'd consider switching. I've have a 3125 now and like the size but miss qwerty and 3G. I think the c810 or i620 would be good for me if I don't experience any battery issues.

Posted by: mush10

I am getting it today. I am glad to hear all of your experiences. My plan is to have it hold me over until the Q9 is released, but if it turns out to be that great I will certainly keep it around. I am shocked by the reception as I have had bad luck with Samsung's in the past (ZX-20 and SYNC), but am looking forward to trying it out. Battery life is not too big a concern for me. I have already owned an 8525 and have come to accept the fact that 3G phones need to be charged nightly, if not more. Thanks again for all of your help.

Posted by: JDyn84

I have the blackjack as my first smartphone, and it is a wonderful phone. One thing you have to be careful of is that you do need to close unused applications manually should you wish not to use another automated app to do it for you.

I absolutely love the Blackjack, and it does have excellent reception. I use the extended battery, and for normal calls, text, and limited web browsing, I can get around 2-2.5 days of charge time.

When/If WM6 comes out, I will likely upgrade.

Posted by: player911

The upgrade is supposedly due out Monday, Sept 17th. 3 more days of waiting.

Posted by: cinimod1000

I use the BJ on T-Mobile, so I can't comment on 3g, but: For the past two months, I've got to say that I actually prefer it over my Dash. Several reasons - don't use wifi, BJ has a real volume control, real scroll wheel, good earpiece audio, and believe it or not, BETTER battery life than my Dash had, even with the standard battery. Yes, I'm on WM5, and Edge only, but it has been really reliable.
Looking forward to the few advantages of WM6 (with luck) next week, but NOT at all dissapointed with this product, and WM5. (Except for the Cingular junk....but you can hack that out.....).
By the way, I've had several WM phones, (MPx200, 220, SP3, SP5 or whatever the T-Mob version was called, MDA, Dash, etc, etc), and this is by far the best.
Bear in mind that I use it as a phone and PDA only. Exchange mail, calendar and tasks, Pop mail x3, web browsing, e-wallet, personal photo's, etc. I do NOT use it as an MP3 player, or stream music, or play games on it, so I can't comment for useability there.
Just a word of caution regarding Motorola WM phones..... the MPx200's and 220's I had were the worst pieces of hardware Motoroa ever released. Many dry soldering problems internally. I hope they have since improved quality control on the Smartphone line - or changed manufacturer. I'd probably wait a short while and see if others have problems with he Q9 Global, before I purchased.
Roll on Monday!!!!

Posted by: Smoates

Am I the only one who doesn't have a problem changing batteries? My battery lasts from 8am - 8pm with no problem. I have two batteries, so it's no big deal.

I think that is part of the trade off for having such a slim, feature packed device. I didn't care for the extended battery, made it too large.

Posted by: ckurt25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smoates

Am I the only one who doesn't have a problem changing batteries? My battery lasts from 8am - 8pm with no problem. I have two batteries, so it's no big deal.

I think that is part of the trade off for having such a slim, feature packed device. I didn't care for the extended battery, made it too large.

I guess the problem for some users, like me is I'm not always home by 8 PM. Around the office is ok because I have a USB cable to charge from at my desk. I'm talking about the weekends that were the biggest problem. Up and out of the house in the morning. Out all day doing whatever and maybe you don't come back to your house that night. By the time you can charge your phone again its 36 hours after you took it off the charger. When I was using a Blackjack I would be lucky to get to 17 hours. I could get 20-22 when I forced it to stay off of 3G. For me and many people that I know, that wasn't acceptable. Like I mentioned above, it was probably Good but thats something I have to run and my 3125 last about 48 hours on a charge running good. I like the looks and size of the c810 coming out but am afraid the battery may be a problem.

Posted by: mush10

What have people found the difference in battery life between the extended vs. regular?

I picked mine up at lunch and just started getting into it.

Posted by: Wide_opeN

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smoates

I love my Blackjack! I have it so dialed in now that I probably won't even upgrade to WM6 or the Q9.

It's my first smartphone, coming from Palm OS and Razrs and I really couldn't be happier.

I feel the exact same way, I've done just about everything I want to this sucker and it's just doesn't make sense to fix what isn't broken! Keep in mind the phone is already GREAT out of the box, but here are some of the the things I've done to mine:

Overclocked-for faster processor speeds
Vanity Number Dialing-program for dialing numbers with letters in them
ICS-created shorcut for this feature to my start menu, so now I just plug in data cable go to shorcut, click connect and am surfing in less than 10seconds!
3G Band Select shortcut- no more typing in the code, I just go to the shortcut in the start menu and change it when I want.
Google Maps
Yahoo Go
Opera Mobile
Sprite-backup software, even on trial version lets you keep a real backup, so get it how you want it on trial and not have to purchase full version!
Kevtris-Tetris
Copy and Paste Program-can't remember name but allows for cut, copying and pasting

I have more but can't remember all, or I'm just too lazy, but you get the picture.

This phone is amazing, I plan on having it for awhile!!!!!

Posted by: mush10

I know I am late to the party on this, but is there away to get rid of the damn java nag.

EDIT: I seem to get it with Opera, but Google Maps works fine.

Also without reading the user manual, how do I lock the icons I want on the home screen

Posted by: jediistar

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wide_opeN

What exactly did you do to overclock it? Where does this benefit the most? My biggest gripe with anything windows mobile is the idea that its so slow on say writing messages when compared to say treo or blackberry.

What is the vanity number program called?

Posted by: Wide_opeN

Quote:

Originally Posted by jediistar

For the overclock and a couple other things see the thread below:

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1227053

The copy program is called Vito Copy/Paste... do a search on Yahoo and you should find it!

Posted by: InTruDa119

ill tell that I slighty regret selling my blackjack for a treo 750. I thought I was bored and missing something from the smartphone without a touchscreen. if I could go back I would but after using the 750 for a couple of weeks the change didn't change anything. the blackjack is a great phone and that I had no problems with, highly recommend.

Posted by: InTruDa119

one more thing, from the ten full keyboard phones, the blackjack had the only keyboard I could type on
without looking. might be just me though.

Posted by: mbranscum

Here is a few people (299 post cout at present) in the Cingular forum that have have Blackjacks with dropped signal and reception. I am on my third one and had dropped call issues. I am patiently waiting on the upgrade to see what happens...

http://forums.cingular.com/cng/boar...thread.id=32555

Posted by: embellisher

I love my Blackjack. It is my first true Smartphone. I had an old Kyoecera that had Palm III built in.

As far as reception goes, I have found that I get better RF with the regular battery and cover.

As far as battery life goes, I use mine for work, use a bluetooth stereo headset a lot, about 10 - 15 text messages a day, play music through the headset, and about 120 minutes a day phone use. I get about 1 day out of the regular battery.

When I am going on a road trip, I pop in the extended battery. I used to use it for work until I discovered that I get better radio with the normal battery and cover. My home office has a metal roof, so I need all the signal I can get. When I did use the extended battery for work, I was getting close to 2 days out of it.

Oh, and I am in an area that does not have 3G

.

Back when I was in Dallas, the battery life was a bit shorter. I never locked it onto Edge, and I suspect that was the cause of the slightly shorter battery life.

Posted by: iamthedudeman

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckurt25

Just keep it on EDGE most of the time and use 3g like you would WiFi. I have the Admin settings on speed dial. I just hold in "3" then type 35 and select AUTO, takes three seconds. And your battery will last days. 3g on any phone expicially a smartphone as thin as the Blackjack will kill the battery. I am not using 3g that much since last week when they upgraded EDGE again, over the "operation fine edge' from a couple months ago. I am getting on average 250kps on EDGE. Takes a little sting from not using 3g.

Posted by: ckurt25

Even forced to stay on Edge I'd get less than 24 hours. Still not meetings my needs. I got rid of it 7-8 months ago. If no 3G phone is going to last more than 24 hours then I'll have some hard decisions to make. Another reason I liked keeping it on 3G all the time was when I was on my (desk) phone at work I wouldn't have to put up with the buzz from the GSM phone. The BJ because it was on 3G wouldn't buzz.

Posted by: alphaivt

The phone is built solidly, my previous Nokia 6620 felt loose. But I just love the feel and tightness of the Blackjack. Screen is nice and large too.

Some problems that I've ran into are:
-battery life isn't that great, daily recharges are routine for me
-the 'Notes' program sucks, forgets my sort settings when the program is closed
-there is no dedicated close option for any of the programs, unless you close it from the Task Manager, it's just going to hog memory
-after a reset, my contacts list shows duplicate contacts (one from the SIM, and the other from the phone). this isn't a problem if you keep everything on the SIM though.
-Internet Explorer is limited. You can't sort your bookmarks, there are only two shortcuts (up and down), and you can't save images. Opera Mobile should fix this, but it pales in comparison to the Opera for S60 version.

if they those things never bothered me, this would be my perfect phone..

Posted by: oneaznriceboi

I tried out a BJ once, and I guess I am the one of the few that didn't like it at all. I guess you could say I am more accustomed to my blackberry. But the phone does have a very nice web browser, and my only two main quirks about the phone is the screen size and keyboard. They could have def. made the screen longer and more decent keyboard like the BBs. One major issue with my unit, I assume its just a bad batch, was that after about a week of usage, it would not connect onto 3g anymore. Of course YMMV