[toph1973]

Last September I bought my first Blackberry. I was really exited to have a phone that could do email, IM, etc.

Right out of the box, I knew this phone was not going to last long.
Noticed that OEM holster was missing logo when the box was first opened. After a week, the stitching started coming apart. No biggie, I was going to go and get another less bulky and better made case anyway.

Right after putting the battery in, and putting the paper thin plastic cover back on, it breaks. Went to get another one at Sprint. Had to pay myself because it was "forced" back on.

Two weeks later, Phone no longer rings. Just viabrates. Check all settings. Nothing set to quiet. Take into the sprint store. They tell me it's water that damaged it. Interesting considering that it's never been in water or in high humidity, or left out in the car. Decide not to spend my own money to repair this lemon I'll just let it viabrate for the next 2 years.

This weekend I got out of my car, Phone in New OEM case falls out of pocket and lcd cracks. Rendering phone unuseable. Called sprint, Have to pay $119.00 to get new piece of garbage 8830 World edition. Not sure what I am going to do now. Eat the early termination fee and go to another provider, switch to a different brand completely, or suffer with a "new" crapberry for 1 and 1/2 years.

I thought Blackberry would put out a much better product than this. I've learned a very valulable lesson. I'll never buy another Blackberry.

[jsconyers]

Wow, nice rant and welcome to the forums.

Ok, I had a Verizon 8830 for about 18 months. I loved that phone, never had any issues with it. From what you describe, it sounds like carelessness with the device. I've never broken a battery cover putting it back on, I am sure others may have, but I would say they're in the minority.

The water damage indicator wouldn't lie. When odd things like that start to happen, it is likely due to moisture. You could've tried to reload the OS up upgrade it to see if that would've helped.

If you dropped any other phone, do you think it would have suffered any physical damage? You can get a new LCD screen if you would like. HorizonWirelessOnline.com - Horizon Wireless, The World’s Cellular Repair Center ß.

BlackBerry devices are not for everyone, maybe they're not for you. That's for you to decide. Well, regardless, I wish you well with your new phone.

[akosnitzky]

Wirelessly posted (Its All About the U!)

Depending on the repair costs, it may be better to check out Ebay.

[mriff]

Love my 8830. I take my battery door off all the time. No problems so far and it's a year and half old.

[SteveO86]

Suprised this thread hasn't been moved yet....

Had my 8830 for over a year, have it to my father so I could upgrade

I thought it was a great phone never had a problem with it.

I would have went back to Sprint at Day 1 if the OEM holster was damaged, maybe Sprint got one on you, giving you a defective unit.

As far as the new Holster going, was it of good quality or something cheap?

[240zron]

Sounds like you might have broke the phone when you got out of the wrong side of the bed.

[Rama767]

My 8830 has been a rock star. Running solid for 2 years. I've even dunked the thing in water by accident and still don't have any problems. A friend of mine, however, did have an issue where all of his call logs and SMSs were being deleted (supposed to be due to lack of free memory) which was never resolved.

[juwaack68]

The only issue I've experienced with all the 8830's I've supported is the USB port going bad.

Other than that, any other issues have been user-initiated from carelessness - not using a holster and getting the wheel gunked up, dropping them on the floor/in the toilet/in a bucket of lacquer (true story)/in the lake/off a cliff (ok, I made that last one up).

[celly]

I've had my 8830 for almost 2 years now and it looks as good as new. Has never given me any problems.

I know of MANY people who feel the same way. It's a good phone.

[akosnitzky]

Originally Posted by toph1973

Last September I bought my first Blackberry. I was really exited to have a phone that could do email, IM, etc.

Right out of the box, I knew this phone was not going to last long.
Noticed that OEM holster was missing logo when the box was first opened. After a week, the stitching started coming apart. No biggie, I was going to go and get another less bulky and better made case anyway.

Right after putting the battery in, and putting the paper thin plastic cover back on, it breaks. Went to get another one at Sprint. Had to pay myself because it was "forced" back on.

Two weeks later, Phone no longer rings. Just viabrates. Check all settings. Nothing set to quiet. Take into the sprint store. They tell me it's water that damaged it. Interesting considering that it's never been in water or in high humidity, or left out in the car. Decide not to spend my own money to repair this lemon I'll just let it viabrate for the next 2 years.

This weekend I got out of my car, Phone in New OEM case falls out of pocket and lcd cracks. Rendering phone unuseable. Called sprint, Have to pay $119.00 to get new piece of garbage 8830 World edition. Not sure what I am going to do now. Eat the early termination fee and go to another provider, switch to a different brand completely, or suffer with a "new" crapberry for 1 and 1/2 years.

I thought Blackberry would put out a much better product than this. I've learned a very valulable lesson. I'll never buy another Blackberry.

Since its your first post at the time I responded, allow me and my colleagues to say welcome,

[Iare Tosevite]

It surprises me to see how badly your BB broke and stuff.

I dropped my blackberry 8830 world edition to concrete floor from heights like 6 feet. It only resulted in dents on chrome sides. One time it even hit corner so hard it went up and spun like a top, and everything was fine, other than new batch of tiny dents on that corners chrome side.

I agree with crap holsters, however. Stock one broke within a few months, and new (and rather expensive) one after only 5 months. :P

About the water damage, did you leave your BB in restroom during bath or something like that? That is known to cause marks to go pink indicating it was wet when it really wasn't...

[hcheun]

We've had over 70+ phone's here, out of the whole lot of the 8830's we have, only maybe two or three were defective, but that was replaced quickly by Verizon with no hassles.

I can vouch that the 8830's have been really good for us and great work horses over here. Yes, sometimes you may get one that could end up being one of the bad ones of the bunch, but trust me, these blackberry's are great! You may also want to consider, that you're with Sprint... ugh I hate them and their customer service.

[gfk.]

Wirelessly posted

Wow sorry to hear about your bad luck, I drp my world at least once a day by accident and I work in a abusive job, and this phone has been bullet proof for me, and I don't even keep it in a skin or holster

[fxstsb]

Kind of late now since the screen is broken. The water damage thing bothers me. If you are telling the truth and the store is telling the truth then the vendor sent a damaged/abused phone. That I would have raised H about. I would have accused the store of calling me a liar and pushed the issue. The world phone has great features.

[teczilla]

I would say $119 is a good deal for a new BB 8830 from Sprint. You will be spending over $200 if you try to buy a new one somewhere else.

[UCLAKoolman]

I have had my blackberry 8800 for two years now and have not experienced any of those problems. In fact the phone has been so freaking awesome I can't justify upgrading any time soon.
The holster is sorta cheap, but it lasted me over a year before it started showing some wear. I'm thankful that RIM provided one, because most cell phone companies would rather you spend money on such an accessory that would deteriorate in the same manner.
For a long time I switched sim cards between a music phone and the 8800 and never felt like the battery cover was going to break.

It sounds like you were incredibly rough on your phone, and I'm sure you'll own many "crap" phones in your lifetime!

Blackberry phones are incredibly durable, and parts on them are easily replaceable. Replacement LCDs can be purchased online. My girlfriend dropped her iphone and cracked the glass over the screen... and the repair cost is more than she paid for the phone.

[SteveO86]

My original 8830 holster is still in one peice granted it exetremely beat up, but it's on the verge of falling apart due to usage lol... Holster are cheap anyway you cna get them for 10 bucks at NewEgg.com.

[TreeDude]

I have beaten the crap out of my 8830. Dropped it many times, been through 3 cases. This this is a champ if you ask me. All but 3 of my users have 8830s. I have had 1 USB port go bad and another which had roaming issues out of the box. Other than that they have been great for us.

By your attitude I would say your troubles were self inflicted.

[BlackCurveBerry]

I think dropping the phone and breaking the LCD is really all about luck. I've had an iphone before and I would toss it around, don't really take care of it, dropped it a few times and still perfectly usable. My friend on the other hand dropped it once and shattered the LCD leaving it a POS paperweight. Considering how many products they make Im sure there are a few out there that are not made to the best it can be.

[2 Samuel 22]

I've had three 8830's and support a large number of 88xx devices. While they are not as durable as the 87xx series and not even close to the tank-like durability of the 72xx series, I cannot complain about them at all.

In my experience, the 87xx series was more sensitive to humidity than the 88xx series and yes, putting your BB on the bathroom counter when you shower is never a good thing to do. Eventually the humidity will adversely affect it. To me, the 83xx series is the most fragile of the recent devices, quite easy to scratch, break, crack, etc. But I digress...

The Blackberry is not the be-all and end-all mobile device that will cure cancer and end world hunger. Some will love it, some obviously will hate it. Thankfully, the Blackberry is not the only game in town. If it works for you, great. If not, there's always the iPhone, G1, Palm, MotoQ, Nokia, etc., etc.

Some are the glass-half-full types, others are the glass-half-empty types. I'm one who is thankful for just having a glass of water.