Comments on: Ooopsie! Blackberry Bold suffers from iPhoneitis?

By: Timepilot84

Timepilot84 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 04:14:37 +0000

The problem is NOT AT&T. RIM and Apple are to blame. I bought am iPhone 3G last year when they came out. Before using the iPhone, I used a Samsung Blackjack 2 on the AT&T 3G network. I had no connection issues at all with the Samsung and got 5 bars from everywhere in my apartment. Now on the iPhone I get 4 bars if I’m lucky and near a window. I can’t comment on the Blackberry, but I can say that the AT&T networkbis gone in my aprrment and the iPhone is crappy at being a phone.

By: Pre-Release Bold?

Pre-Release Bold? — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:18:12 +0000

I heard there are “pre-release” Bolds that are on sale. For the person that was beta testing the device above, do you think there will be a big difference between these devices and the ones that will be offered by AT&T sometime in October? I’ve been awaiting the Bold for at least 5 months and think paying the premium at the Blackberry Center in NYC will be worth it if the performance is the same.

Any opinions?

By: Flip

Flip — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 07:14:49 +0000

Its funny how much stuff the iphone is actually missing from being a great phone. First no mms, and then no video camera. Then it doesn’t make phone calls and its all over the news how bad the phone is. However, the stocks for Apple are not significantly hurting and we are still looking to buy the BRICK. I tip my hat to Apple for making people want to buy a phone that has no specail features that my 1999 year old phone doesn’t have.Good job!

By: SurrealCivic

SurrealCivic — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:56:43 +0000

bb9000. dude.. . you are so right..

Bold, KickStart/SeaWolf, Javelin/Niagara, Thunder/Storm, and more devices.. RIM is going to flood the market with devices for a lot of the demographic spectrum.

By: NuShrike

NuShrike — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:29:57 +0000

Btw, This is on a Kaiser where I had unbelievable solid 3G signal in Japan from Tokyo to the BFE areas of the northern island.

Maybe it’s AT&T AND the iPhone. Immature network with immature hardware.

By: NuShrike

NuShrike — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:27:48 +0000

Hey johdaxx, HSDPA is UMTS as EDGE is GSM. Hello.

Anyways, AT&T sucks even now where I can barely even get GSM while AT&T lets their towers rot since July 11th. 2-3 bars 3G a few months ago now down to 1-bar GSM permanently. Way to go AT&T.

By: Mohican

Mohican — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:02:35 +0000

Well I am in Australia and my Bold is going strong. No network problems not one stakc issue.

And I agree BB900 the keyboard is amazing. I can;t seem to put the thing down for 5 mins!

By: The Boy Genius

The Boy Genius — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:13:36 +0000

@bluehorseshoe

People all over the world are having radio stack issues with the Bold…AT&T might not be helping (making it better), but it is not the cause of the issue.

By: bluehorseshoe

bluehorseshoe — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:00:10 +0000

So let me get this straight…two major manufacturers have issues with AT&T’s 3G network and coverage, but according to BGR, it’s not the network?

Sure, Apple has issues with their phone, but AT&T has bigger issues with their network. They just don’t advertise it.

By: Bobby

Bobby — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:02:27 +0000

it’s an easy answer….. AT&T’s 3g coverage is a joke! Why would you even bother getting a phone and expecting 3g coverage to be great?

By: andy

andy — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:13:53 +0000

except the bold has better multimedia support then the iphone.

By: bb9000

bb9000 — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:52:37 +0000

you see all these releases before the usa. and why? the phones are out on the other networks… its in germany.. its in chile.. its in canada.. no usa.. doesnt even feel like its comming soon. its a marketing strategy. if you know anything about investing. if you know anything about buisness. you cant see what rim is doing? you think they cant push this out the door right now and worry about issues with os and reception or whatever else later through an update? like the iphone?

there sitting back in waterloo watching waiting. after the 25th they are going to flood there biggest market with 4 new devices. that appeals to all different consumers, prosumers, buisness, tweens, teens, and everyone in between. a mass market deployment in there biggest market in the world.

By: bb9000

bb9000 — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:37:34 +0000

and this thread is about reception issues no?? im speaking imo… my 0.02 in my experiance with MY bold. on att network… i dont speak for all bold users. i dont speak for att.. i dont speak for iphone. apple etc…. i speak from my own personal opinion on what i see in having both phones with me 24 hours a day 7 days a week. as ive stated where you are the conditions and everything else people will give 1000 DIFFERENT OPINIONS… 1000 DIFFERENT RESPONSES.. some iphone 3g customers are reporting no problems… people blind to sites like this or mac sites etc which there are many have no clue and wouldnt even know the diff.. honestly the average joe iphone user and bb user that isnt “into” phones doesnt even know what an os is. doesnt know what to look for with issues… i know some people who have bb and dont even know what blackberry messanger is nore how to use it…. they baught it for the texting.. or iphone users who just want to be able to have an ipod in a cellphone. i dont speak for a crowd i speak for myself. thats that.

By: bb9000

bb9000 — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:26:50 +0000

dtest. the final production model isnt out for the u.s. were 70% of bb market in the world. right here in the usa. i dont have an at&t blackberry bold final release model. nore does anyone else. when they have the final release model. i can give you and tell you the problems the bold does and does not have.

By: Dtest54

Dtest54 — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:10:55 +0000

I like how bb9000 is now the BB fanboy of the site.
He goes on and on about all the good things but says nothing about the issues that have come up for many sine its launch.

If you want people to think that you know that “blackberry is trying not to make the mistake.” then you need to answer why the people are having all the troubles.

By: ran-o-matic

ran-o-matic — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:02:18 +0000

@BB9000

You’re using Opera Mini to do speed tests? I would think that would just test the speed between the Opera Mini servers and the spped test servers and not to the device itself.

I get similar results to your Bold test on my T-Mobile (EDGE) 8800 with Opera Mini…

By: bb9000

bb9000 — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:37:38 +0000

HONESTLY if you look at BG’S look at when he dropped it that answers the question. the bold is built like a tank. but ive been through a few of them. honestly id give it a 10. being as i feel the thing is built like a tank. but i honestly feel a curve would take a better hit to concrete then the bold would. but other then dropping it on concrete or a hard surface like that. its built very very well. a notch above the curve. im inlove with the keyboard

By: MadMike

MadMike — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:26:43 +0000

@BB9000: How’s the build quality on the Bold? I currently have a Blackberry 8310 from AT&T, but I have had an 8800, 8820, 8700, 8100, 7290 etc… So I know blackberry very well. Where on the Blackberry build meter would you say the Bold fares? 1st gen Pearl being the worst, 8310 being very darn good.

By: cacao

cacao — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:15:34 +0000

with what rogers charges they better be working like swiss watches. every time i see a rogers iphone i can point to a sucker.

By: bb9000

bb9000 — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:13:24 +0000

for the record. ive done many many mobile speed tests on both the iphone and the bold.

my results. in over 100 tests in all types of areas
iphone 3g- average 287kbps-1.86 max mpbs transfer rate.
unlocked rogers bold on att network goes between 786kbps-2.85mbps with a one time 3.15mbps transfer rate.

this was done in many different testing areas in nyc and the surrounding areas. on the bold was done from opera mini as it seems to give more accurate of a transfer rate then the bb browser.

iphone was done from mobile speed test and i network test. in poor and full reception areas

all logged and recorded.

i make my living on this. i can sit here all day and tell you about 100 phones and there transfer rates. but it means nothing without quality of an os, chipset and the interaction through the cell towers. on each individual network.

the bold is one of the fastest smart phones on the market on paper. but everyone and there location is really where it comes into play.

what i frown upon is how apple advertises a 20 second download of a web page im yet to download in less then almost double that time. in any reception area.

apple has a product. a great one at that for its customer base, they set a date they matched the date and shot this product out the door and it was not and still is not ready for prime time. and now there consumers pay the price.. i myself got the phone for free. but i know people out there who spent 2-3 grand or 12-15 hours on a line. and now there sitting there with a phone they hate and wont admit it.

apple pushed everything out the door in one shot. mobile me???? yeah good one…. iphone was still on a beta testing when it was officially released…

blackberry is trying not to make the mistake. as i and 100 plus testers are still reporting bugs here and there and i promise the os as any os wont be 100% bullet proof. you wont see the problems whenever they decide to release.

also the bold delay…. look at it from a company playing chess not checkers. there going to have a mediocre quarter that ends on the 25th of sept.. then they will be flooooding the whole market with the “javelin” the “kickstart” the “thunder” and the bold. all within 3 months. all after this mediocre quarter… there stocks are going to sky rocket. the market will be allll blackberry the iphone hype will be down and they will shine like the sun in the muave….. remember rim is a BUISNESS. they know what there doing

By: MadMike

MadMike — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:37:32 +0000

Cacao: Wired did an iPhone reception survey. It’s not just an AT&T issue, as other countries are having some problems. However, it may be the way 3G is set-up in the problem countries.

None of the countries with a very mature 3G network had widespread issue. Most of the issues were in the US and Australia.

“Canadian carriers Rogers and Fido tied for second fastest with an average download speed of about 1,330 Kbps on average.”

Rogers seems to be doing something right.

Also, a Swedish company did a test on the iPhone 3G’s antenna and found that it was operating within acceptable limits.

Depending on your carrier, its probably your carrier. I have a feeling it could be a signal to noise issue coupled with the hand-over to Edge. Or, AT&T’s network could just suck.

Right now, there is not a person out there willing to accept responsibility and they are keeping very hush about what they are planning to do to fix the issue.

I do NOT think there will be a recall for the iPhone.

By: cacao

cacao — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:25:05 +0000

i’m so confused. is it att or iphone????
does rogers iphone have the same problem?

By: WickedRabbit

WickedRabbit — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:05:35 +0000

Umm… I thought this was always common sense that it was an AT&T network issue, as ALL their 3G devices have this issue. Their network does not handover data/calls properly when switching from Edge to 3G or vice versa and this issue has been around for years.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:46:08 +0000

As long as AT&T continues to overhype its 3G network, people will still continue to blame the hardware for the poor 3G performance.

All my 3G devices on AT&T suffer similar network bouncing problems as the iPhone does. The iPhone just gets a lot more press.

Why can’t AT&T just come out and admit their 3G network still leaves a lot to be desired?

By: MadMike

MadMike — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:39:09 +0000

@likephonesthatwork: It’s the same as comparing apples vs oranges. Verizon’s 3G network has reached its apex. What you get now, you’ll get until 2011 when LTE rolls out. Your looking at 600Kbps to 1.4Mbps down. AT&T (& possibly T-Mo) have the ability to roll out higher speeds incrementally over the next 3 years until they roll out LTE.

Also, Verizon’s network is so widespread that it’s not really growing anymore. Anywhere where Verizon isn’t its usually more of a legal issue than a technical one. Northeastern PA, Northern NY, Vermont and Maine come to mind.

AT&T’s network is still growing. Sure, 3G coverage is limited to East coast and major cities. But I think they update the 3G coverage map every two months. Take a look at previous versions versus the latest. It’s growing. They are spending like $18M a day on 3G infrastructure (citation needed .

And there is a price difference. I think unlimited everything only costs $40 on Verizon. With AT&T your looking at $50 – $60. iPhone is $50. Blackberry is about $54.99+

By: Dtest54

Dtest54 — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:22:54 +0000

bb9000, the problems on the phones do not affect everyone so its good your Bold doesn’t have problems but there are plenty of people out there that are disappointed with the problems they are having. – same as the iphone users with problems.

By: likephonesthatwork

likephonesthatwork — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:15:12 +0000

I agree with previous post! If anyone has not looked at At&t 3g footprint, YOU SHOULD! I was SHOCKED when I took a quick look at it. Ummm you have to be kidding me! So of course I wanted to see what the competition offered and browsed over to Verizon’s 3g map, dear God! It’s a laughable difference. hmmmm this die hard Att’er may have to gulp his pride and look at Verizon with a new view. Their 3g coverage is HUGE, and when you think about it, there is no price difference.. Made me go hmmm…

By: MadMike

MadMike — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:12:56 +0000

It could be neither. It could be an issue with HSPA or the whole 3GPP in general.

By: quickbrownfox

quickbrownfox — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:51:22 +0000

According to this, it’s not just an AT&T issue:

http://supportforums.blackberry.com/rim/board/message?board.id=Bold&thread.id=96

…since the thread-starter is in the UK.

By: DavidB

DavidB — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:36:13 +0000

Well, ATT’s 3G coverage footprint is a joke, and TMO’s is non-existant (and won’t work with a Bold OR iPhone anyway).