Can a Blackberry be 'overused'?

[Eric_H]

I am thinking of subscribing to the XM stream so when we go to the beach we can hook my bb to a stereo and play XM radio all day long.
This means playing music through my phone from 7A-midnight, sometimes later.
I will keep the phone plugged in so it will be essentially running on AC power.

Any reason this is bad for the phone?

Thanks alot!

[JSanders]

No problem with that as I can see.

[Eric_H]

Thanks.
It may have seemed like a mundane question; but a question nonetheless. lol

Thanks again.

[Thatzmister2u]

Blackberry at the beach??? Mmmmm.... I don't know if that is the best judgement call. Just keep it somewhere safe from sand and water/moisture.

Good Luck!

E-

[penguin3107]

I see a potential problem.
Let's assume a 64kbps audio stream. (I'm guessing.)

7:00am - midnight = 15 hours.
15 hours = 61,200 seconds.
61,200 seconds x 64000 bps = 3916800000 total kilobits = 489600000 kilobytes

So, a 64k audio stream playing for that time would equal roughly 466MB of data.
That's a LOT of data to pushing over EDGE in a single consecutive stream and I wonder if AT&T would view this as "abusive" use of their network.

Networks have been known to cap bandwidth usage for various reasons.
If they look unfavorably on your usage... they may decide to pull the plug on ya.

Maybe not bad for your phone... but could be bad for your account. ;-)

[ezrunner]

Wirelessly posted (my new touch button BB)

Let's not forget about power

[JSanders]

For the beach: This has been discussed here before. A good Otterbox case would be in order, for the best, and at least, put it in a zip lock bag to keep the sand and moisture away.

[Thatzmister2u]

Wirelessly posted (my new touch button BB)

Let's not forget about power

OP states that it will be plugged in.

[bigolsparky]

I did the trial on XM. Was not impressed with the sound quality. It did stream well.

[Thatzmister2u]

For the beach: This has been discussed here before. A good Otterbox case would be in order, for the best, and at least, put it in a zip lock bag to keep the sand and moisture away.

(y)

[Eric_H]

I'm sorry, but I meant to the beach in general, not the actual sandy beach. :? lol
We would take it with us when we went out on the beach (usually 5 hours). But most of the time it would be in our house or out on the deck.
I never thought about the overuse of the bandwidth. Wow!

Well, with this new insight maybe I will just use the music I downloaded.
With over 700 songs, I doubt I will get sick of the music too quickly. ;-)

[LancePipes]

I see a potential problem.
Let's assume a 64kbps audio stream. (I'm guessing.)

7:00am - midnight = 15 hours.
15 hours = 61,200 seconds.
61,200 seconds x 64000 bps = 3916800000 total kilobits = 489600000 kilobytes

So, a 64k audio stream playing for that time would equal roughly 466MB of data.
That's a LOT of data to pushing over EDGE in a single consecutive stream and I wonder if AT&T would view this as "abusive" use of their network.

Networks have been known to cap bandwidth usage for various reasons.
If they look unfavorably on your usage... they may decide to pull the plug on ya.

Maybe not bad for your phone... but could be bad for your account. ;-)


7:00AM - Midnight is 17 hours, not 15. But you're right it is 61,200 s, so maybe it was a typo.

I doubt it'd be a network issue. They cap usage on Verizon @<hidden> 5GB/month. I think it's the overall usage per month, not the intensity of your usage (with other networks as well). I could be wrong, but I wouldn't worry about it. You'd be well within your right to ***** about it and have them apologize and immediately reconnect you. Otherwise, where would you draw the line? How much is too much? An hour of XM? 2 hours?

[Sith_Apprentice]

The carrier reserves the right to determine what is abuse. they may view that as tethering instead, and will either limit bandwidth or term your data contract. It is unlikely with it happening once they will, but i get calls from AT&T all the time about my usage

[penguin3107]

7:00AM - Midnight is 17 hours, not 15.

Eh, close enough. ;-)

[david_uk]

I'm sorry, but I meant to the beach in general, not the actual sandy beach. :? lol
We would take it with us when we went out on the beach (usually 5 hours). But most of the time it would be in our house or out on the deck.
I never thought about the overuse of the bandwidth. Wow!

Beach? Deck? Sounds like a perfect HotSpot to me. How about WiFi?

[tschweitzer]

The OP has an 8310. No Wifi.

[david_uk]

The OP has an 8310. No Wifi.

Er, I knew that... just thought the OP liked a little fun.

[legacyb4]

Why not just get an iPod shuffle or Nano?

[Jase88]

Wirelessly posted (7250)

When I saw the thread title, I was thinking "over-use" in terms of addiction. ;)

If that were the case, my gf would say yes!

[plasticities]

Wirelessly posted (7250)

When I saw the thread title, I was thinking "over-use" in terms of addiction. ;)

If that were the case, my gf would say yes!

i thought the same thing, and i thought i was going to see a whole page of "not possible"s

[Eric_H]

Why not just get an iPod shuffle or Nano?

Yes, my wife has an Ipod. I have tunes on my phone too. i was just looking for something 'live'.

I am probably just going to stick to my phone's mp3 player. I have so much Jimmy Buffett on there I shall be pleased for hours!

[Cilraaz]

I use XM via BlackBerry while at work (my XM radio gets no signal in my building, but my phone does for whatever reason...I guess there are no XM repeaters in the area). Anyway, I usually listen to XM-150, the comedy channel, 6-8 hours per day, as it keeps me sane.

I checked last month's usage and it was at 1.12GB. While I know this isn't as much as some people use, AT&T hasn't questioned me on it.

[BB8100user]

A MP3 player would be a much easier solution.

[PaulMdx]

I've heard of lesser devices (IE. HTC) overheating with prolonged IP radio use. Looks like Cilraaz has shown BBs are a bit stronger however. :)

[Cilraaz]

I've heard of lesser devices (IE. HTC) overheating with prolonged IP radio use. Looks like Cilraaz has shown BBs are a bit stronger however. :)

It does get a bit warm, but having experience with computers and general electronic equipment, it's not warm enough for me to be concerned.

[Fletchi18]

What about just using XM through an XM device? You'd get much better sound quality. Just like some others in this thread, I've tried it out and I'm not too impressed...Too much money for not enough quality!

[takeshi]

Another device is certainly always an option but if you're like me, part of the point of the BB was convergence.

Can a Blackberry be 'overused'?
With the older models wearing out the wheel was a clear sign of BB overuse. ;-)