Cingular BlackJack Phone Problems

As I said Chris, ok it’s not the cheapest way but get a Treo 750 direct from Palm. It’s 3G and hsdpa it is Windows Mobile (with an upgrade to WM6 confirmed), and you can unlock it with 2 buttons. Battery life is between 5 and 8 hours (depending on usage) and the modem feature is incredible, works perfectly on Vista and XP.

a) I always buy unlocked phones (or get them unlocked by some grey market guys). That way you can just get SIM cards and flip carriers much more easily. It also makes it easier to use overseas.

b) There are tons of hacks for most major phone that unlock special features, reset things, change things around. Search for your phone and ‘hacks’ and see what you can do.

I have the Cingular 8125 (HTC Wizard) and REALLY like it. I’ve had it for almost a year now and I’ve done the upgrade to the ROM on the HTC website and have just now started getting new software for it (i.e. spbdiary, spb backup, etc).

I really would like the 8525 because it has got the jog wheel and 3G now but I can’t see myself spending another $300 just a year later when this phone is working fine. I did have a bug around the daylight savings time and had to do a hard reset to fix the reminders/alarms, but that was an issue with wm5.0 so I don’t know if it is something fixed in 6.0 (which I hear is being released to the 8525 in July).

Anyhow, sorry to hear you don’t like the blackjack. If I didn’t like my slide out qwerty so much, I’d be interested in the blackjack. Thanks for the info though because my bf is looking to upgrade and I was pushing him towards the blackjack since we both think the iphone is going to be a joke.

Yea, so that’s a great question I’ve been asking recently too… why do media players, cell phones, etc. require some program to run on a host computer when charging over USB? Why not just accept 5V over the USB cable and charge the item appropriately?

I understood in the old days when they made expensive proprietary cords and rechargers; didn’t like it, but understood it (being an electrical engineer let me circumvent some of that cost); but once you adopt USB, why require some host process from the peripheral side? What’s the need/requirement/benefit? I’ve noticed that my Creative Zen Vision does this (best I know, all Zens do).

I know that USB has a master slave structure, and that to guarantee power over USB, sometimes you have to have a program to enable hot-plug USB power controllers in computers, so that’s a reason to request users plugged into computers to have the correct driver, but NOT A REQUIREMENT for charging! If I plug a ‘power-only’ USB charger cable (say the one for my Blackberry) into my Creative — she no workee. Why? Why only charge when you know you are plugged into a computer! AAARRGGHH there doesn’t appear to be a good reason — and not even a evil one!

Explanations accepted, but good ones not expected.

David Smith
Austin, Texas

I wish I could edit my previous utterance - it wasn’t well-formed.
DWS

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here

Hey Chris,

I have been using the BlackBerry 7130c from Cingular since Nov. It has my three eMail accounts piped right into it. [capable of five] Awesome predictive text. Hell even the custom dictionary is expanding to my slang.
I get about 3 days charge. Long rant short… try the new BlackBerry. No need to install anything for the USB to charge it too.
Thanks again for your Newsletters!

E-

Sorry to hear of your problems. I too have the Blackjack but with Verizon.
The battery life is probably one of its biggest downfalls and the extended battery isn’t much better if your a heavy user.

I’ve already started looking for a replacement.

CharlieM

Apparently the iPhone won’t be 3G, so while it might have some cool features, its data speeds will max out at 140 kilobits on GPRS/EDGE. Really, when it comes to 3G, of the major carriers, it seems that Cingular sucks eggs. They have 2 or 3 PDA/Smart phones with 3G capabilities.

And their data plans seem to be really high. Get a Crackberry from them and you’re stuck with a minimum $24.95 plan for 10 megs of data a month. Unlimited knocks you up to $39.95. OTOH, unlimited Crackberry data is $19.95 with T-Mobile.

What bugs me is that I want to get a PDA phone just to combine the PDA and phone features into one unit. Not interested in e-mail and web. But none of the carriers let you get a PDA phone without signing up for a data plan add-on.

So, on a shared plan for me and my wife, to get Crackberry Pearls, we’d be paying $40 a month extra for data plans we won’t use. Could get a cheaper plan on Sprint with Treos, but have a higher out of pocket up front on the Treos and my wife doesn’t like the Treos.

Looks like we’ll just get plain phones, tell the cell carriers to F off, and keep carrying separate phones and PDAs.

Chris,

Amen!! I too have found no phone that really answers all my requirements - biggest of which is to simply serve as a phone - and do it well! All the other features for me are bonus material.

I’m now trying the Treo 700wx on the Sprint network and it seems to have quenched some of the thirst I have for tech. Six months prior to that I had a PPC 6700. Wow, what a junker that was for me. Try turning on all of its features and you can literally watch the battery die. Why put so many features into a phone if you can’t use them? Some things make absolutely no sense.

The iphone… well, we’ll see. Heck, if it even does 5% better than any of the other phones I’ve owned - it would have them beat by a long shot. I’d be willing to jump ship from my current provider for those results. My wife is going to jump ship because her contract ends at the iphone release date and she’s hooked on Apple (they got her with the Ipod).

Regards,
Chuck

Hey Crhis,

I hear ya on this, I’ve been pretty frustrated with phones over the years, but last year I bought th T-Mobile Dash (I use tmobile), this phone it top notch in my opinion, it has a couple of the key elements you are looking for.. 1) Locking is 1 key press (hold * for a few seconds and it locks) unlocking is 2 key press.. hit the menu button then * again.. 2) It charges off of the USB port, you don’t even need activeSync installed. I charge my phone off of my linux box at work! It also uses a standard usb to mini usb cable. As a matter of fact, over the holidays when I was out of town, I had forgotten my charger and my USB cable, I used my cameras USB cable to charge my phone, since it was the same type of cable, there was no problems.

Anyways, just wanted to let you know, not all cell phones suck :)

-Fratm

I have a Blackjack and have had no issues. Maybe it’s locked? That’s what happened to me when I though it died. It works great with the new Motorola S9 bluetooth headphones.

You know, I agree with you. Cell phones suck. I’ve had pretty good experiences with my Sony Ericson W810, but all in all, I’m a Blackberry guy. I find these things are rock solid, don’t have a million features that you’ll never use or that will drain your battery. The GUI is nice and simple, and push email to your phone is incredible.

Never going back to a typical cell again. There’s a reason they’re called CrackBerries.

I use and love the T-Mobile Dash. Almost the same thing as the blackjack but the only issue I have, and very minor compared to yours, is that it wont shoot video at 320×240 even though the screen is that size and the still camera will go up to 1280×1024. But that may not be an option for you if you are sticking with cingular. Just my 2 cents.

Didn’t your device come with a charger? How is one expected to charge it otherwise?

My Motorola RAZR came with a charger but it can also be charged via mini USB, which requires a Windows XP driver for some dumb reason. It’s not really worthwhile anyway since it takes nearly 5x as long to charge by USB.

Hey, I think the same about T-Mobile Dash as Clintus. I love this phone. Great GUI, no problems with syncing calendar, and contacts. Almost everything about this phone is great!!!

And it charges with mini USB connected to computer only !!!

I am on my 3rd Blackjack. It has been a nightmare trying to get one to work consistently. Between hanging up (the famous hourglass) and locking up, it’s a wonder I ever get any mail or calls. Its ONLY saving grace is that it’s the perfect size. Luckilly it’s still under warranty so I continue to send them back for replacements. As soon as the warranty is over I’m bolting.

Hello,

Have you considered getting a RIM BlackBerry or perhaps one of HTC’s smart phones with the sliding keyboard? I carry both a BlackBerry 8700c and a Cingular (HTC) 8525 and they both seem to work quite well for their respective functions.

One thing to be aware of about the 8525 is that it does not use a standard 2.5mm connector for wired audio but has additional pins on a modified USB Mini-B connector for the audio path–this does not interfere with use of the port, though, and they do provide a dongle with a more conventional audio jack and a regular mini-B connector on it. This is probably a non-issue if you are using a Bluetooth headset, though.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

The iPhone is going to rescue us from this living hell. :)

If the battery completely dies, it can’t be charged over USB and has to be plugged into the wall. It sucks, and it’s one of my major gripes with the phone.

That said, it hasn’t actually been a problem for me. For one, they give you two batteries with the phone. The spare is in my laptop bag in case of emergency, and the wall-socket power cord is there as well.

I charge it every night, and very rarely does the power bar even drop below full.

Setting it up to work as a modem in Vista is pretty easy over a USB cable. Bluetooth doesn’t work between the Blackjack and Vista for some reason, don’t know why, it just doesn’t.

To make it work over USB, *leave it set on ActiveSync mode* and run the application called “Internet Sharing” from the \Windows\ folder of the device. Stupidly, Cingular removes it from the Start menu, so you need to find it with the File Explorer and add it to the start menu yourself.

Once you do that, though, it’s very simple. Just plug it in to the USB port, and run that program. It will charge AND work as a modem. Actually, it’s detected directly as a NIC - which is pretty darn cool. The speed with the 3G network is really amazing, too.

Oh, to be clear - Bluetooth between Vista and the Blackjack works great for ActiveSync, file transfers, etc. It just won’t do it for internet sharing. Hope that the WM6 upgrade fixes that one, even though I wouldn’t use it anyway since it just kills the battery.

Oh yeah, and one last thing… Do you have the AT&T branded firmware? If not, you should upgrade it. It fixes some battery life issues.

Hi Guys,
I agree that we should not have this kind of problem obtaining a piece of equipment that reliably meets our needs. I’m currently usings an un-locked Motorola MPX220 Smart Phone and I switched only because I tired of carrying both a pocket PC AND a cell phone. I had to add a bunch of software to the phone so that I could use some of the Microsoft programs (Word, Excel) and not just view the documents. Also there are tons of decent software solutions for documenting travel and expenses that work great. I carry an extra battery with me, just in case, but I can charge either while syncing, in my car (not a USB), or OEM charger directly to an outlet. Until I see something MUCH better, I’m sticking. Also, I really like clamshell style even though it is clunkier than, say the Razr - it does pack lots more phone into it. I do not subscribe for additional data connections, just regular cell service through Cingular, and usually get on through Pocket MSN.

I had the same situation on a Malaysia/Singapore trip. I just use the phone for quick handheld data access out of the country, but it really sucked and Cingular didn’t understand that it wouldn’t charge by usb if not somewhat alive. that is poor.

whoever was saying they have the blackjack for verizon is a complete and total idiot.
there is no blackjack for verizon.
currently, the only device branded “blackjack” is the samsung i600, for cingular and operating on the gsm band. verizon uses cdma.
if the poster was referring to the samsung i760 for verizon (somewhat similar to the blackjack), they must be a time traveller, since the phone doesn’t come out until 2nd quarter of 2007.
maybe the poster can explain the secret of time travel to us? :)

I purchased and AT&T BlackJack from Tiger Direct. It came with USB cable and wall charger, regular battery and extended battery with charger. I’ve only had two problems with it. ME! After transfering my contacts to the phone I was editing them and it locked up. Something I did, or not doesn’t matter; my bad. Then about 2 weeks later (today) I was trying to get it to connect to either my Motorola H3, H300, H350 and a Logitec Bluetooth Stereo Headset. It locked up searching for them and I had to remove the battery to get get it to turn off. After getting the battery back in it and turning it on it picked up the blue tooth H3 and has been working all day with it. In and out of cell tower range. So if you put garbage in you can only expect garbage out.

I do emphasize with you Chris but having had a cell phone on my belt for over 14 years and carrying bricks 10 years before that, I never go anywhere without a wall charger. I have one for my car and one for the ac outlet anywhere I go. Samething with the other cell phone I am carrying, I admit I look like a cyborg with blue tooth on each ear and a ring of cellphone and beepers around my waist but what’s a tech support guy to do. Be there for your clients is the moral of my tale.

My BlackJack is awful. I wish I’d never bought it. AT&T warranty has sent me two supplemental units thus far to make up for the first handset which had chronic email and web browser issues and the second which just died out right. With the second replacement unit having the same email problems I spent an exhausting 45 minutes on hold to various departments only to be offered a pathetic AT&T 3125 handset as an alternate. I hate AT&T and am cancelling my account as soon as possible. Do not buy the BlackJack and avoid AT&T at all costs.

I have had my Blackjack since it came out and don’t have very many complaints other than the battery life is short. I am a technophile and am always looking and buying the latest gadgets. I have purchased every type Ipod ever made except the Iphone which I don’t need since I have the Blackjack and the Itouch. The Blackjack has done everything I bought it for and I am quite pleased with it. I travel to Mexico on occasion and I simply add the international to my account when I go and cancel when I get home. (saves me money) I like being able to search the internet from my Blackjack. My Itouch is faster though when surfing the internat but I can not check my email through AOL with the Itouch which sucks. I recently purchased a NokiaN800 and it is great for internet surfing and a few other things also. I also purchased a Kindle which I love because it gives me a chance to read books that I probably would never get to the store to buy. I can download them from home and the Kindle works off the same system as the cell phone so you don’t have to have internet access to download. It’s also very easy to read and lightweight and battery life is decent. Between the Blackjack, Itouch and Kindle all of my entertainment and communications necessities are covered. Did I say I’ve spent a fortune?

I got a Blackjack where I work right after Christmas. I have had nothing but problems with the gps feature. the first time it worked great. then i went out of town and when i plugged the address in an got on a busy freeway, excuse me tollway, i had the map but no voice. i had to drive the entire way holding the phone in one hand and steering with the other. if i was an ambulance chasing attorney, i would have crashed my car and gone to court. i jacked with this phone for the past month and finally left it at the att store for them to figure out if it was me. when i returned, they told me they were told the gps feature doesn’t always work with that phone and offered to swap it out with an older blackberry. i told them fine after all the only three things i use is the phone, gps, email. makes no sense to have a gps that doesn’t work. has anyone else had issues with their gps?

i have been using the black jack-i607 for some time but i just woke up on day only to find out that the phone is off and can’t be charged,
When i insect the charger the screen flicks as if it is charging and stops
so i need some help from u guys