My former love (presently HATE) relationship with BlackBerry

Many of you already know of my love/hate for tech devices of varying kinds. The love/hate comes at differing times and in differing levels for different devices, but all seems to have a basis in the everyday use of said items.

Today, this love/hate is being focused towards the BlackBerry 8900 from Research In Motion (RIM).

I am (now) on my –second– replacement BlackBerry 8900 device from T-Mobile due to an annoying issue (in layman’s terms-#8900 number three) which causes the screen to go all white, like a bad flashlight application might try to do. And, no, there is no “flashlight application of any kind–good OR bad– on my device to which I would be aware. I have wiped the device, I have tried updating to version 5 of the OS, I have used version 4.5 of the OS, I have had it happen when using OS applications (such as reading a received SMS/txt message, taking a picture with the camera–or attempting to do so, trying to send a message using the SMS “feature,” and so on).

I have done everything the BlackBerry tech support people on Twitter ( @BlackBerryHelp ) have said to try, as well as doing the same with the information and procedures from the people in T-Mobile’s Smartphone/BlackBerry telephone technical support department.

I have had varying levels of speed/ability in getting past the “white screen” (which fades into white like a filmographer might have a scene “fade to black”)–pulling the battery is a must; I have learned that changing the power source while rebooting allows me to get to a “desktop” but usually after a looooooooooong wait/”boot up time” to do so (e.g. last night, it took over half-an-hour before I finally went off to do something else-it had reached the desktop sometime between then and four hours later).

On the latest instance, I have installed NO apps other than what comes on the Blackberry 8900 itself.  I have my address book and messages synched to the device and have “managed my email/validated my email” addresses so far, and on version 4.5 of the device OS at the moment (by the looks of the messaging style-it’s not the wretched “conversation view-style of version 5″).

This REALLY STINKS, T-Mobile & R.I.M.–this is my third 8900 device now needing to be fixed (and this one only received less than a week ago)-I do not drop the device, etc.-it gets decent treatment. It has NOT been in water or excess humidity, the device is entact, the sensor stickers are still white, etc.

Just to clarify things a bit (some of which will be obvious to my followers, but not necessarily to those who stumble onto this posting) :

1) I work in the tech industry and am not computer illiterate.

2) This is not my first BlackBerry-I have had (and used) a BlackBerry for 3-3.5 years. This #8900 has been my BlackBerry device for about 1.5 years.

3) I perform regular data backups of the device.

4) This started some time ago as what I thought was a “temporary annoyance,” but has become commonplace, happening several times per day when I am indeed able to get said device to boot/reboot.

5) I need to pull the battery several times per day as a part of regular usage due to equipment freezes; this “white screen issue” simply adds more down-time to the device and for more battery-pulls.

6) This has been happening not only on downloaded applications, but also on NATIVE applications (i.e. ones which are a part of the BlackBerry device upon a “clean” installation, such as camera, reading a SMS/txt message, or even USING THE TELEPHONE “FEATURE”).

7) I have also heard a “buzzing sound” when using the phone as a phone-this sound is also heard by the party with whom I am speaking. The sound is similar to the sound one hears when a GSM phone is near computer speakers/a “live microphone in the broadcast industry,” but instead of a staccato rhythm which comes over the speakers/mic as a call or txt/SMS is about to arrive, this sound is continuous/not staccato.

8) After trying to get a solution via the T-mobile techs in the “BlackBerry” department (and having the problem continue), I went through RIM (Research in Motion)’s Twitter department, following their many instructions on wiping the device, eliminating applications, updating the operating system of the device and desktop, etc. yet the problem continues.

9) Today is the first day I have tried yet another replacement device from T-Mobile for this problem; I got a few hours of use tops (mostly in the area of trying to get my former workflow back into place, not to mention simply using the device itself) before this issue arose YET AGAIN.

10) I have not dropped my Blackberry, nor does it get any more jostling than what a business-card might get if placed into the shirt-pocket of one who spends the majority of his days sitting at a desk.

In the past, I have had annoyances with not receiving SMS texts sent from others using the same telephone provider (which was more-than-annoying), but this issue tops that one in making me frustrated, not to mention having me not want to tell people to buy a BlackBerry device.  Someone at Research In Motion really needs to look into this problem ASAP.

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