I've had my BlackBerry Tour for about 3 weeks now and before I bought I had read some stuff about it mainly about the trackball not functioning properly, the guy at the Verizon store assured me that it WAS a problem but has since been fixed and that the BlackBerry that I would be getting would be a good one and wouldn't have that problem. Well like I said 3 weeks in and heres the problem, sometimes when going left or right (mainly right) the trackball hangs up and doesnt wanna work I have to give it a few rolls, now this doesnt happen all the time. Should I go to the Verizon store and ask for an exchange?

Trackball problem solved!!

This has covered pretty much everything on trackball issues.

The solution seems to be:

1. Take it back. The carriers have been very busy exchanging early Tours for more recent ones that seem to have fixed this trackball issue.

2. Replace the trackball with one from a parts supplier like Cellular Nationwide Network - 3G, Sony, Panasonic, LG, SonyEricsson, Nokia, Tools, BlackBerry,
I did this and mine now works perfectly. Plus I'm sporting a spiffy looking orange trackball.

Wirelessly posted (AT&T 8100 Pearl)

I had my Tour replaced.

Wirelessly posted (Tour)

I would return it. My VZW store didn't even have the replacements in they had to ship me one. New one works perfectly.

Another vote for replacement. My early Tour was horrible left-to-right .... the replacement is perfect. Do not let anybody convince you it's a software issue.

Well i went today and they replaced it...works great now also on my older tour that i had before the replacement the battery door was really loose like it would literlly slide up and down on the back, but now since Ive got the new tour the battery door seems pretty firm and doesnt move. So I guess I killed 2 birds with 1 stone.

I also have issues with my Tour trackball. I used to hear about trackball issues and wonder "What are these irresponsible people DOING with their phones???" I had my 8830 for nearly 2 years with zero trackball issues.

Fast forward to now, I've had my Tour for almost 2 months. About a month ago I started having left/right issues. I don't get the "locking" issue described earlier. I can audibly hear the trackball registering clicks but not smoothly in the left or right directions. However, I found a way to determine exactly what direction and speed the trackball is registering. I found that when scrolling right, occasional random "lefts", "ups" and "downs" show up in the list, and when scrolling left, same issue. It is more opposite direction showing up than occasional up/downs slipping in there.

For those experiencing trackball issues, can you humor me and see what you get when doing this:
Go to Options->Status screen.
Type in the text "test" as just 4 consecutive key presses. You won't see the letters show up as you type them. Now, hit the Menu key and pick "start". You will see a list of checkboxes to select various tests. Just select the "Keyboard and Trackball" test. Now press Menu again and say "Run". You will first be at the keyboard test. You can hit whatever keys you want but need to eventually click the trackball and say "Next", pick the next test case, and say it passed. NOW you are in the Trackball test!!
As you scroll around it will say what direction registers and also the speed. For example "rigt 2" or "left 1".

Here is an example of what I get when continually scrolling left with my thumb:
left 1
left 2
rigt 1
left 1
left 1
rigt 1
left 2
left 1
left 1
rigt 1

Is this the symptom that others are getting, or are we all experiencing different failure types?

Thanks!

I am not having any issues with my Tour. I am on my replacement, green dot unit, and I am on 4.7.1.53

I completed this test and got ALL lefts of various values, with one exception of down 1, and I definitely went down a little on that swipe of my thumb.