Don't believe the hype - Level-setting expectations on 8100

[cynep]

Sorry to doublepost, but since I'm a n00b, I can't yet post URLs to my posts on this forum.

Just thought I'd share that don't jump on a bandwagon just yet or despair if you didn't get your shiny new toy today. 8100 did not impress at least this reviewer.

Mine is going back to the store. Here's why:

1. Small screen. too small to be practical, smudge magnet, and looks to be made out of same plastic as iPod Nano. Expect scratch nightmare stories to emerge in 5... 4... 3...

2. Completely useless in direct sunlight - the screen has such a glare that even in shawdow outside its hard to read

3. super-quiet ring (even loudest) does not work well enough

4. Flimsy keyboard and definitely not as convenient as QWERTY

5. Speakerphone, while available, is too quiet to be useful in say... your car (unless you have one of those super-quiet, super luxury cars that are like sensory deprivation chaimbers).

6. Overall feels fragile

7. "Blah" for eyecandy attempt. Reminescent of Sony Ericson interface - all form, near 0 function.

---- additional minuses

8. wonder what kind of mechanism is used for the trackball (pearl) - if its the same one as used in a regular trackball mouse, expect yours to be unusable after 3 days in your pocket. (your mileage may varry)

9. Talk time is the lowest for any BB (that's probably mostly due to size, but something to consider). Mine seems to be running rather low after only about 30 minutes of talking and mostly navigating around.

10. Sound quality is sub-par and reception is even worse than my old Motorola RAZR (which, in my book, is one of the worst sound quality/reception phones ever made)

I didn't have high expectations, inspite of all the hype aimed to boost RIM stock, and even with low expectations I ended up disapointed and totally unimpressed. Don't believe the hype. (n)

[NJBlackBerry]

In other words - same complaints people have when EVERY new BB comes out....

[cynep]

^^^ Wow, wasn't aware that this was a trend. :) If that's the case, can BB get any better?

[ndub33]

Cynep-have seen your 8100 review in three different locations so far...please refrain from multiple posting-thanks.

[gfisher99]

So, to put this in prospective, we have like 15-20 posters saying they LOVE their device, and 1 poster who hates it.

Law of Averages tell me: Its a pretty decent device, but not the "perfect" device.

Sounds like a deal.

Thanks for your input CY-NOPE :razz:

[richard371]

Actualy it feels pretty durable to me except the keyboard. I wonder what happens when lint gets stuck under the pearl?

[statbit]

I'm 1/2 and 1/2 on the Pearl. The camera/media player features are pretty weak in comparison to other phones, considering that is the big feature of the phone.

I find the screen nice, the Pearl good, although, coming from a 7105, changing, the pearl does different things than 'jog click' did in the 7105. Not bad, just still getting used to it.

EDGE is a nice step up from GPRS on the 7105, and the phone itself seems speedy.

My biggest gripe, honestly, is with the lousy themes included. The "OSX dock" theme is just inane -- wasting the entire home screen. The Xen themes are just...too WinXP for me. I used the 'text list' theme on the 7105, and miss it dearly, but. Hopefully it will come back.

Other than lack of OSX syncing at the present, and the clumsyness of the default themes, its nice, fast, and the trackball is a lot more useful than the jog, while being similarly easy to use.

[Boy Genius]

2 posters :) I agree with his points mostly...I think they could have came a lot harder than this, no homo. "3 YEARS IN THE MAKING" guys, get the hell outta here. the retail OS is the most unstable OS I have even seen on a berry, the 8700c when it came out was amazing that set the bar so high, this really doesn't do it for me...

[Lex Luthor]

I am sure future OS releases will improve the 8100's performance. Personally like the 8100 and I'm glad RIM has made a BlackBerry that's more consumer friendly but it's not the most media friendly device. It's a step in the right direction and I am sure next gen media enabled BlackBerries will be fine tuned and improved but as for now the 8100 seems to be an overall success.

Time will tell in regards to sales, customer satisfaction, etc... but the hype has helped and most people seem pleased with their purchase. I actually enjoy my 8100 now more since I loaded the latest OS and it's been great. My only gripe is the vibe function is weak. It's very similiar to my old 7100r. I prefer the vibe on my 8700r but other than that I'm satisfied.

[richard371]

I installed yahoo, idokorro, google earth etc and have no problems except I think my tmobile account is screwed up because my data times out in most apps except for when I have it pluged into the desktop redirector. I have had similiar problems in the past when moving sim chips from cingular to tmobile devcies. I had it in an 8700c unlocked before. If I get a real good tech they can fix it on the tmobile BIS server or I can get a new sim chip and that will fix it.

[findmywife]

I don't agree with your comments but I do wish I knew beforehand I couldn't send pics through a BES with the built in camera. Argh!

[ollywompus]

I love mine personally. No,it's not perfect, but there is NEVER a perfect phone. I've owned every smartphone OS out there, and at least 10 or 15 from every major manufacturer... for my money, this is the best device so far (with the caveat of we'll see what happens in the next couple weeks trial). The cam is pretty good for a 1.3mp, if not the best it'll still do just fine. The keyboard is just as useable as my 7105t was, and I have big hands (if you don't like suretype, you aren't going to like this, duh). Ringtones are loud enough for me, same with speaker, but then I leave mine on vibrate 99% of the time anyway.

Sure, there are problems, but I think this is a very solid first offereing for a camera enabled blackberry, and I don't have any plans as of yet to return mine.

-olly

[findmywife]

I think a lot of people (like me) got theirs through work for free since it's a work phone primarily and I need it to be in touch, so for the price, $0 it's fine :D

Still have to send my photos out through pop mail :(

[ollywompus]

Still have to send my photos out through pop mail :(

Didn't I read somewhere that it's a function of the BES as to whether you can send photos or not? I mean, can't your BES admin change that? At any rate, works beautifully to send photos through the BIS.

-olly

[greggebhardt]

Cynep,

Have now read this post in several places, looks like you not only hate the 8100 but are trying to convice others that is it not worth buying.

Too many are saying they like the 8100, so give it up. Return you 8100 and get rid of your bitterness!

[greggebhardt]

^^^ Wow, wasn't aware that this was a trend. :) If that's the case, can BB get any better?

With a whopping 5 posts, I think you need to do more reading and stop trying to figure out a "trend".

[ChrisUtley]

With a whopping 5 posts, I think you need to do more reading and stop trying to figure out a "trend".

I'll never understand why some people think post count has anything to do with credibility or knowledge. Most pathetic message forum routine with the exception of threats of physical violence in a heated debate.

[NJBlackBerry]

When someone joins a forum and in one day posts the same information over and over, their motives may be suspect.

[findmywife]

Didn't I read somewhere that it's a function of the BES as to whether you can send photos or not? I mean, can't your BES admin change that? At any rate, works beautifully to send photos through the BIS.

-olly


Yes it works through BIS, but not BES. I am the BES admin. It's a function that you can disable, but I just have the default settings on the server, which allow pictures no problem. You can email yourself a pic to your phone and email it to anyone you like through the BES, you just can't ORIGINATE pictures from the phone and then send them out through the BES. Try it, you'll see.

I believe this is RIM not having BES prepped for Pearl functionality. We'll probably see a BES patch soon.

[Naked Wife]

It looks like a nice device. Too bad its a T-Mobile exclusive for now.

[flash24]

I was gonna get it today.. but we will see tomorrow :D

[findmywife]

For those sitting on the fence, check out this thread:

http://www.blackberryforums.com/general-8100-series-discussion/46528-help-phone-wont-wring-when-my-pocket.html

Basically if you even slightly bump the trackball while you have an incoming call, it cancels the ringtone/vibrate. Even with keypad lock on.

So the phone is worthless. If it's in your pocket or bag and you're moving don't expect to ever hear it ring.

Edit: I believe this guy is having the same problem and doesn't know it. http://www.blackberryforums.com/general-8100-series-discussion/46459-8100-does-not-always-ring.html

Expect to see this forum flooded with "Help my phone doesn't ring all the time?!" threads very soon.

[inheritedhornet]

i like mine. *shrug*

[NJBlackBerry]

i like mine. *shrug*
Which, in the end, is all that matters....

[cynep]

When someone joins a forum and in one day posts the same information over and over, their motives may be suspect.

Well... yeah. I did feel just a tad ripped off, based on all the hype and promotion that was flying around. If you like yours - great. I didn't like mine. And as far as multiple posts - guilty as charged but I did try to post a link to my posts directly, but was not allowed by forum restriction "you cannot post links to external (???) sites with a post count under 10" . I was posting a link to my post on this site but wasn't allowed.

Personally, I would not go through every thread trolling for double-posts. Even if I did encounter it, I would not make it my mission to make a jackass out of myself by name-calling or claiming superiority based on post count. Oh, and I'd certainly appreciate a review that came from someone with a first-hand experience with a device and not just some RIM-paid reviewer for every major press whore outlet out there.

Mmmokay sweetie? :razz:

[cynep]

With a whopping 5 posts, I think you need to do more reading and stop trying to figure out a "trend".


Wow, thanks for my first lesson on being l337 ! :-P i cAN OnLy hOpE To OnE dAy bEcoME a 0n3 b@<hidden>@<hidden>$$ h@<hidden> lIkE u!

.:~|w0_0t|~:.

[illest]

I had no complaints with the 8700g when it dropped. The screen is small and volume is very low on the 8100. They could have came, pause, a lot better with it. Cant wait for the 8200.

[NJBlackBerry]

Wow, thanks for my first lesson on being l337 ! :-P i cAN OnLy hOpE To OnE dAy bEcoME a 0n3 b@<hidden>@<hidden>$$ h@<hidden> lIkE u!

.:~|w0_0t|~:.
One day you can also hope to post in English.
And not in kid-speak.

[cynep]

One day you can also hope to post in English.
And not in kid-speak.

Obviously sarcasm is not a familiar concept to some people.8-)

[sbeindba]

I have had just about all of the BB and WM5.0 devices available including the 8700 and the 7130BB and even the Samsung i320 and the Gtek 8500. THe 8100 is the best I have seen so far. Screen is awesome even in sunlight. Only issue so far is how to convert Music CD to phone use and how to convert DVD to phone use but the rest is great.

[sbeindba]

Anyone know of a program for my PC to convert CD music to useable files for the 8100 and one to convert DVD's to usable files??

[NJBlackBerry]

Obviously sarcasm is not a familiar concept to some people.8-)
Yes, I am totally unfamiliar with sarcasm. Just ask around.

[cynep]

Anyone know of a program for my PC to convert CD music to useable files for the 8100 and one to convert DVD's to usable files??


Umm... rip cds to MP3. for dvds - extract VOBs, then convert to supported MP4/h.263 format through dozens of free/commercial codecs or utilities?

Have you tried this new thing called google? :oops:

[SlamMan]

Personally, I would not go through every thread trolling for double-posts. Even if I did encounter it, I would not make it my mission to make a jackass out of myself by name-calling or claiming superiority based on post count.

Instead you went trolling through threads spaming your review trying to get a reaction. Then you got all butt hurt when someone called you on it.