BlackBerry Tour mired by trackball problems, Verizon losing patience?
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Sep 16th 2009 8:19PM
posted Sep 16th 2009 8:19PM
"We experienced a small percentage of early production BlackBerry Tour smartphones with trackball issues. As soon as the issue was identified, we worked closely with our partners at RIM to resolve the problem quickly. We recommend any customer experiencing issues with the trackball on their BlackBerry Tour smartphone visit a Sprint Service & Repair Center."The "early production" part of that leads us to believe this might already be fixed on the assembly line, in which case new buyers shouldn't feel bad about marching into the store -- Verizon's allegedly threatening to give more love for the Sholes if the problem doesn't go away, but considering that BlackBerrys and Android devices don't really play in the same space yet, that's a pretty meaningless threat as far as your average business user's concerned.
[Via Electronista]
Track Pad FTW.
No way. I want a phone with a TrackPoint!
Rim has a habit of selling their phones with beta quality software. Track Pad is the least thing people should worry about.
I still don't get why someone doesn't just marry the two.
Create a hemi-spherical track pad and click button. It could respond to a brush of the thumb, and have trackball-like "momentum".
The tactile difference between a rotating trackball, and a fixed hemi-spherical trackpad is extremely miniscule, and the overall experience is identical. It has the advantage of no moving parts, and nowhere for dirt and gunk to get stuck.
Just get a Palm Pre - Crackberrys suck!
I owned one and the trackball doesn't scroll to the right.
Awesome.. where is the zune HD review?
is this affect the curve 8900, b/c its much more recessed than my pearl and while i've gotten used to it now, there were 2 distinct times where my trackball wouldn't respond.... PITA!
I've been having a few problems with the trackball being annoying scrolling down. Not happy if I have to go in and repair or replace the device, and re-request PINs. Annoying problem to an otherwise almost perfect phone.
The desktop software can handle the PIN changes and notifications for you.
tried out a couple of these in the verizon store and wasn't able to scroll to the right on either of them. I was wondering what that was all about. also, makes you wonder how verizon/RIM expects users to know that they have to clean something on their phone when the reps in the store can't even do it on the display models properly....
"...from whence it came..."
Whence is used to mean 'from where,' so the "from" makes it redundant.
I'm sorry; I can't help it. I've justified criticizing others' grammar by convincing myself that I'm making the world a better place, which I don't actually believe but wish were true.
a friend of mine JUST replaced his last week with this exact problem. the vzw store (after making us wait 2 hours!) told us they couldnt do anything and to call technical support. doing that, they did send a new phone rather quickly, so calling tech support is my suggestion to people who have this problem. but yeah, this problem dos seem very rampant as most of the in-store tech demos that get a lot of use have this problem.
yeah, i got mine in august
the trackball is so inconsistent and extremely frustrating
and i read engadget, my trackball is clean damnit!!
I can vouch that I have this issue. I'm with Sprint, but I bought my phone from Best Buy over 30 days ago; should I call Sprint and will they resolve this?
I feel your pain, Blackberry users. G1's trackball a bit too.. un how-a-trackball-should-feel-like to me.
I never had a blackberry before so I have nothing to compare to, but my launch day tour's trackball seems fine to me.
The Sholes actually exists? How could they threaten to give love to a phone that hasne't even been announced yet?
I heard you can clean trackballs by turning them upside down onto a piece of paper and rolling them around.
I have seen quite a few in my fleet of them have issues. One of my users has had to have her's repaired 2x. The 2nd time Sprint gave her trouble implying she was abusing them.
Hmmm... you report on Creative Zii being 'janky', you report on Blackberry Tour being 'mired by trackball problems' yet nary a word on Iphone 3.1 update screwing peoples phones...
Can you admit all of yous have shared in a certain company? At least I would understand the duplicity.
this is too funny, i actually just got off the phone with verizon and getting a replacement sent to me! damn track-ball's messing up moving left or right. up and down works fine, though.
Whoa. I didn't realize that was a problem, I figured I was just doing something wrong. Guess I'm gonna go ahead and call Verizon for a replacement, then. Thanks!
I was having trouble with my Tour almost anytime that I tried to move horizontally even on the main home screen trying to select applications. I found that by changing the Horizontal Sensitivity to 90 in the Screen/Keyboard settings I am now able to scroll horizontally. The scrolling still appears somewhat choppy but it works for now so I am not going to bother getting a replacement device.
I sentence you to death.
this is one of the reasons they're moving towards the trackpad - less movable/breakable parts. It's funny that this didn't happen with the 9000 or 8900. viva la Bold :)
i think it's more than just the 'early' phones though - i wouldn't consider phones being purchased as of last week "early" by any means since the phone was released on July 12th.
y'all can lik my trackballz!
I thought verizon delayed/rejected phones because they didn't meet their "high quality" standards? You mean, it was lie????
damn people... wash your hands already
i bought one on the first day it was available and within 3 weeks the trackball "locked" and would not allow scrolling left or right. I took it into Verizon and they sent a new one the next day. The first unit was quite buggy while my new one has been a dream.
My guess is there will be far few problems with those purchased today versus those purchased a month ago.
I've always wanted one of these - hmmmm, maybe I'll wait for a bit. But being Crackberry they'll introduce a new phone soon enough that is practically the same as this one just with a new trackball and they'll call it something new...
Early Tour's for Verizon had a tackball issue mostly dealing with horizontal scrolling. If you call up and say you wiped the phone and it's still not working they will replace it without much hassle. The 'working' Tours have a green dot on the box which means they have an updated trackball and a tight battery door. If you were to get a new Tour it should also be good with a working trackball and tight battery cover.
Went to a Sprint store to sign up for a contract for this phone. Tried out the phone and it would take me about 30 seconds to scroll over 1 item horizontally, successfully. I asked the salesperson there (who was standing there admittedly looking pretty) but they didnt give a shit. So I stay with At&t, at least their store reps are attentive. If I want to stare at useless eye candy I'll go to an A&F store. Maybe I'll switch over eventually, but not worth canceling my contract early over.
The Crackberry forums are full of people complaining about quality control issues. Many are on their 5th or more Tour. Not just the trackball either.
Went through a couple of these. Finally gave up and sold it. I'll wait for sholes.
Uhh, Engadget, you missed the entire issue people are having. The issue is not the recessed trackball, which certainly can't be fixed since it's part of the design, it's that the trackballs just don't scroll left or right. On some Tours it just doesn't happen, it's VERY hard to make it happen.
I am on my third personally... Then I just bought the touch pro 2 as well...
First tour had a 3.5mm jack issue, 2nd had problems with the trackball. At least the battery door isn't lose on my third one, and my touch pro 2 isn't disappointing at all.
This is one of the multitude of reasons why my 8830 will be my last BlackBerry. It's sad considering the 8700 was one of my favorite phones.
Just a little more than 24.5 days until Best Buy opens its doors and I pick up my Hero.
My Blackberry Tour, picked up on launch day suffered from trackball problems from the get-go. I am expecting a replacement tour tomorrow as I got fed up with it.
I am on my 6th Tour with Sprint, now the trackball works the way it should.
I returned 2 because of this problem my 3rd one was great.
If only the OS was better. I'm getting really tired of getting "error 552 reload software" every other time I install a new app.
For anybody getting a replacement, check the box with the barcode... The rumor is that RIM cranked up the QA on the production line and the Tours that were checked multiple times for trackball issues have a little green circle sticker on the box. A few launch Tours we deployed had issues and the replacement devices had the green sticker and have been working fine.
yea.. I actually got my Tour from sprint about 3 days before launch.. the phone is awesome but this trackball thing has been an issue since day one.. turning the sensitivity up helps but doesn't solve the problem at all.. I experience problems scrolling at least 2-3 times each day. I can get it replaced but It's a shame to go through that trouble, this is my first blackberry and unfortunately it doesn't make me want to throw down for another anytime soon. I also have a loose battery cover but was told by a rep at sprint that it's supposed to be like that for some reason? I don't know.. damn cell phones are pieces of shit these days.. it's a good thing I don't expect a lot from any companies these days and don't hold my standards high. I feel like no one can deliver a solid product anymore.. gone are the days of the motorola startac
I played around with a friend's new Tour, and while the trackball was a bit hard to get at at times, the phone itself was very solid indeed. It was inconvenient that Verizon removed App World and that I had to spend several minutes locating and downloading it onto the device for him, just in case he wanted to add extra apps later. Still, he's been with Big Red for awhile and has had great service. Haven't heard any complaints from him yet.
I used to be a fan of the Bold, but I've actually taken to the Tour, and if this problem is already cleared up, even better. If I needed a Blackberry, this'd be my first choice easily. Pity that these things have to compete with the Pre and (soon) the Hero nowadays.
Ok I had the same problem. Bought mine on day one and was in for just a week and start giving me problems. Took it to the Verizon store and the tech said that she had to duplicate the problem. I got impatient and went to another store in better neighborhood and replaced it without a problem.
I read one of the comments that new ones come with green dot on the box means they are tested for trackball and tighter back door, I am planning on taking it back to the store to get a new one.
I am not a blackberry person, so forgive the (feigned) ignorance in this question, but... This looks just like all the other blackberries... I know, I know they made the PearI, and the Storm (that flopped didn't it?), and that flippyfone, but I mean why upgrade? Is the performance any better, are there new features? Does the browser actually let you browse now? What?! I think besides the backend infrastructure of RIM, that BlackBerries are extremely un-innovative.
Verizon knows about and has already fixed this issue. They aren't upset about anything. If ur Verizon tour box from Verizon has a yellow or green dot on the ESN sticker than the issue was fixed prior to u recieving your phone. Lord that's a silly article. P.S. I work for vzdub
I just took my Tour (purchased the day it was released for verizon) into Verizon. The technician said it required a software update and in the meantime, I should set my trackball sensitivity to 90. In addition, don't put any pressure on the trackball when it rolls, be very light with it. These temporary steps are working, albeit it's annoying to remember not to put any pressure on the trackball when rolling it.
Ahhh Jim. You should have spent more time with your employees working on making a product that works instead of getting into a pissy match with the NHL.
These are differentl issues. There is an early build problem (that the Sprint comment speaks to) where the trackball was shite at scrolling side to side. The recessed nature of it is a whole other problem.
RIM's lack of quality really shocks me. I guess they don't care since they're the only game in town if you use BES in your company. Competition would help here.
The insistance on a trackball on every BB is probably from the request of the wireless carriers. By the time your contract is up, its full of chicken greese, cheese twist crumbs, syrup form coca cola, and human debris from picking your nose - rendering the trackball useless in one direction or more. Then they refuse to fix it and push you to upgrade to a new phone. Scrollballs on phones are such a bad idea. Everyone I know with one has problems with it.
The best thing I've seen is the optical mouse/scroll on Samsung phones like the Omnia. You can click on it to select too. It just makes sense.
I've got the same issue with not being able to scroll to the right.
The work arounds that were mentioned here are the only that I'm aware of at this point:
1. Set horizontal sensitivity to 90
2. Use a very light touch