Vibrate questions for 8700 series owners who upgraded from 7200 series...

[rj240]

I wanted to get some opinions...

I recently bought an 8703e to replace my 7250. I find the vibrate on my 8703e to be very soft as compared to my 7250. I often miss my calls and my message notifications - it is the first time in 10 years that I( have had to put my phone/Blackberry on anything other that vibe! I can barely feel the vibrate on my belt!

Is it just me? Does anyone feel the same way? With my 7250 or 7750, I could put it on the counter with the holster, and it would vibrate all over the table! With my 8703e, I can barely hear it vibrate against the table, never mind the fact that it doesn't move at all...

Is it just my 8703e, or is it a problem in general with the 8700 series?
Do you think that this could be adjusted by software (turning up the intensity of the vibrate)?

Thanks for your input!

[bill875]

I have had a 7290, 8700c and 8703e. The 8700c Vibrate strength is similar to that of my older 7290. The 8703e's vibrate strength is very, very weak. I never, ever feel it go off :(

[mark0341]

Wirelessly posted (BLACKBERRY 8703e (ALLTEL): BlackBerry8703e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/106)

That's funny 'cuz I am having the same problem. I had a 7250 before not only was the vib stronger my led would flash red. I too am missing calls. The other thing I noticed is the vib on my 8703e sounds cheap. What I mean by that is. When it does vib it rattles, too. My 7250 never did that, the vib was stronger and more solid. Maybe RIM knew if they put a more powerful vib in 8700 it would destory the phone. LOL.....

[Dodge DeBoulet]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 8703e (VZW): BlackBerry8703e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

As I mentioned in another thread on this subject, the vibrate on the 8703e is of earthquake-like proportions when compared to my previous phone, a Moto E815. The vibrate rarely fails to get my attention when I'm wearing it; I keep it in a Fortte lateral pouch.

I will say that it's not as strong as pagers and other phones I've had in the oh so long ago, but it does meet my needs.

And my LED does blink while the phone is either vibrating or ringing.

[greggebhardt]

I find that a different case can make alot of difference in how well you feel or do not feel the phone vibrate.

[Dodge DeBoulet]

I find that a different case can make alot of difference in how well you feel or do not feel the phone vibrate.

That's why I mentioned my case :)

The vibration is much more noticeable in the Fortte case than in the stock ("launcher") holster. A much larger area of the case is in contact with my body, no doubt helped by my "middle-age spread." :-o

[greggebhardt]

My 7520 vibrated much stronger than my 8700c but much WAS the case.

[rj240]

I've always found the platic holster to be the most solid - and therefore transfer the most of the vibration to my body...

Maybe I'll try another case...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this...I was beginning to think that I was going nuts...I wonder if there is a way to "fix" the weak vibrate...

[jlink38]

A leather case will absorb the vibration.

My 8700c is about the same as far as vibration strength compared to the 7290 i had for a week. I like it alot.

[rj240]

Does anyone else have an experience with a lateral Fortte case? With regards to feeling the vibrate as versus the stock holster?

[jetspeedz]

I thought i was the only one... Yea the 8700c is so much more softer on the vib then my 7290 i had for a couple of years... infact i rely more on the Tone to get my attention since i can barely hear or feel it sometimes..

PS: also did anyone else feel the the LED is positioned in a bad way as well.. what i mean is on my 7290 the LED was curved around so that you can easily see the LED going off in the holster b/c it was curved around the top so if its lying flat you can see it.. but the 8700c is more like facing the front and if its lying flat you cant see it and have to depend on the reflection to see if its blinking or not...

[jgb@etree]

I don't think it even has all that much to do with the case. I've got the 8703e and the wife has a 7250. They both sit on a wood desk at night. I can hear hers vibrating on the desk three rooms away... I can barely hear mine vibrating in the same room. Clearly, the vibration function on the 72xx is much stronger than the 87xx - which really sucks. I miss emails all the time because I can't even feel it vibrating on my belt 50% of the time. That, disabled GPS and the keytones over speaker when dialing are my three major gripes.

[jetspeedz]

Has anyone else but besides me also noticed if you have Quick Notes app installed, when pulling the 87xx out of the oem holster it sometimes ends up in the Quick notes app...

I finally figured it out.. if i pull the 87xx straight up the "q" key on the keyboard rubs just enough on the case to send it to that program when i pull it out of the holster.. really really annoying... now i have to adjust the way i pull it out to avoid that or uninstall that.. sheeshhhh

[jungleland]

The 8700's vibrate compared to the 7290's is garbage...FACT!

[dkf747]

PS: also did anyone else feel the the LED is positioned in a bad way as well.. what i mean is on my 7290 the LED was curved around so that you can easily see the LED going off in the holster b/c it was curved around the top so if its lying flat you can see it.. but the 8700c is more like facing the front and if its lying flat you cant see it and have to depend on the reflection to see if its blinking or not...

If you have it laying on its back you will see it better than a 7290, IMO. If you have it in the launcher and it is face down (on the belt clip) it is hard to see. I'm deaf so I depend on that light and that is how I do it.

[jetspeedz]

makes perfect sense Scott but the only only reason i keep it in the holder and just leave it on the table to trickle charge the way ive been doing it forever is so that the back batter cover and case doesnt get scratched but i guess i can get a soft pad or something and flip it... just seems odd they didnt use the same LED setup as the older 72xx series where you can see it from the front and top...

[rj240]

I don't think it even has all that much to do with the case. I've got the 8703e and the wife has a 7250. They both sit on a wood desk at night. I can hear hers vibrating on the desk three rooms away... I can barely hear mine vibrating in the same room. Clearly, the vibration function on the 72xx is much stronger than the 87xx - which really sucks. I miss emails all the time because I can't even feel it vibrating on my belt 50% of the time. That, disabled GPS and the keytones over speaker when dialing are my three major gripes.

Exactly what I am experiencing!

[mendes9]

YUP, 8703e vibrate is weak... I wonder if they actually test these things, or get opinions of users before they go into mass production.

[rj240]

Do you think that the vibrate intensity could be adjusted via software, and that this could perhaps be something that could be addressed in a new software (4.2 maybe) update?

[rj240]

And actually, regarding the light, has anyone noticed that sometimes an email will come in, and the LED will continue to flash green instead for red? It happens once in a while...

I have all my missed notifications set to LED flashing, and it usually works well, but occasionally it doesn't...I've only noticed because of my missing calls and emails due to the weak vibrate. I have come to rely more on the indicator LED, which unfortunately, is sometimes wrong. I actually have to unholster my Blackberry regularly to make sure that I don't have a missed call or email...

[Miata GT]

The vibrator on my 8700g is not nearly as strong as that on my 7230.

[takeshi]

My 8700c's vibration is weaker than my 7290 but I wouldn't call it "garbage". It's certainly more than sufficient for me to feel when vibrate alerts go off. I've used both the RIM OEM leather holster and the plastic RIM OEM holster that it originally came with.

As for the LED, you might want to check and see if an OS update has resolved that issue.

[mendes9]

Ok so I have an EE background. I'm seriouly considering opening up my BB (copmany bought not worried if I break it), and seeing looking at the current vibrator motor. I found a web site manufacturer of these vibrator motors. I should be easy enough to replace with a stronger motor.

[RickL66]

I agree that the 8700 series vibrator is much weaker than the 7200 series. My wife had a 7230, a 7290 in the past, and I had the 8700g. We definitely can tell the 7200 series vibrate much stronger. Then I gave my 8700g to my wife and got an 8700c. The 8700c vibrates as soft as the 8700g. I downloaded Message Alerts (http://www.webmessenger.com/products/mablackberry.htm). The default Blackberry vibrates 2 times. With Message Alerts, I can change it to vibrate up to 7 times and I can change the vibrate duration up to 10 seconds. So, basically, if you set it to vibrate for 7 repeats at 10 seconds each, it will vibrate for a little over 70 seconds (including the 1/2 second or so pause between vibrates)... I'm guaranteed to feel it! I give it (y) (y) .

[RickL66]

Ok so I have an EE background. I'm seriouly considering opening up my BB (copmany bought not worried if I break it), and seeing looking at the current vibrator motor. I found a web site manufacturer of these vibrator motors. I should be easy enough to replace with a stronger motor. I still have the old 7230 and I thought of taking it apart to find the vibrator motor and seeing if I can fit it into the 8700... but I'll wait until 8700s are a dime a dozen. Not to mention the 3rd party program I am now using (see above post) is a big-time saver.

[rj240]

Wow - Message Alerts is a great temporary fix. Now that I can finally set the duration and frequency of the vibrate, as well as have a reminder vibe setting, I can now rely on my vibrate again. Thanks for the great tip!

[cu52]

If there was pictures/ sizes of the two vibrators and the connections between them it might be possible to determine if it is feasible to attempt installing the 7250 in the 87XX. Anyone have this information? i have seen the 8703e but not the 7250. I would take mine apart but one of the screws are stripped. if i can get it I will post the size of the 7250. Dont want to take the 8703e apart right now.