Rating  - The Cell Phone equivalent of Windows Vista
I love this phone for its ability to sync with my office server (e-mail, calendar, etc.) and for its other bells and whistles. (The GPS service is very nice and worth the $10/month I pay to AT&T.) However, I'm about to send my 1st replacement phone back to Samsung for a 2nd warranty exchange. After a month or two the first phone, and now the second, just seized up and froze at the AT&T splash screen. Never dropped. Never abused. I don't use any software that doesn't come with the phone. Like Vista it's great in theory, but for some reason the kinks aren't worked out. It's just not nearly as robust as it should be. And this is expensive because I've got to get an IT person to set up the sync each time I get a new phone. BTW: My wife's blackberry curve (with AT&T) is lot more robust and she has no issues like the ones I have. But the curve won't sync with our office's exchange server.
Rating  - My favorite phone so far. Awesome... cant wait for WM 6.1 upgrade.
I bought this phone to replace my HTC 8525, and am very pleased. My wife owns the i607 (Blackjack I), and I am quite pleased with this phone in comparison. It has far better battery life, and the keys are just slightly further apart on the Blackjack II compared to the BJI...and this is a welcome change! I have big hands, and find this device quite comfy for one handed text messaging/typing, which was impossible with my 8525! It performs at quite fast speeds, and works great on the 3g network. I unlocked the GPS (using the Modaco GPS hack), and am using it with Google maps... it is BEAUTIFUL! If you don't want to invest in the unlimited data package, consider Garmin Mobile XT... for $89 you get it installed on a 4gm MicroSD card, and all the maps are pre-loaded. I hear it works great with the BJII's built in GPS. Many people aren't fond of the scroll wheel, but I actually like it. It is quite accurate, and feels great. The only gripe I have about the phone so far after using it for over a week is that there is no voice dialing feature! I am sure I will find some 3rd party add on, so this is no big deal... but it would be a welcome feature... as would integrated wifi! All in all, this is a great smartphone, and I am quite satisfied with my purchase.
Rating  - Phone is grea but Windows Mobile is horrible!
After three months of using this device, I am ready to stand inline in front of the Apple store. The most prevalent problems are due to the Windows Mobile operating system and as of last week the horrible quality of Windows Live Mail software that Microsoft pushed on my phone.
The #1 most prevalent problem is error 403 that appears when you use the Internet Explorer. It appears to be a known problem and the solution is to power off/on the device and voila. It suddenly works for another day or so.
The second problem is that Microsoft pushed a new email client on my telephone, that I was stupid enough to accept. Now the phone is unable to connect to my mail account and need to find some time with some AT&T support engineer to help me.
Finally, the user experience navigating the screen is primitive and takes a lot of clicks and it is not intuitive. I need quick access to information and data. This operating system is 5 to 8 years behind the iPhone.
Rating - An ok phone.....
I first saw this phone at TECHed in Orlando. I was kind of impressed, so I decided to order one and try it out.
I have been a blackberry users for several years now, and I hate to say it, but I was not very impressed by the phone. It was slow compared to what I was used to with the blackberry. It doesn't have a touch screen so it is a bit difficult to maneuver from place to place.
I returned this item, mostly because AT&T TRULY does not have good coverage in Milford, NH.
So I'm sticking with my 8830 blackberry for now... Sorry AT&T.
Rating  - Awesome phone when tweaked.
When I first got my BJII I was dissapointed with its features. For one, there was no voice dialing, the supplied applications were sparse, no push email, non-standard plug, slightly sluggish Windows mobile software, and a glossy black finish that got dirty easily.
However, once I started "pimping" my BJII, I couldn't believe how awesome this little phone is and was able to correct nearly all deficiencies. Let's start with the voice dialing: You can get MS' voice commander 1.6 to work with the BJII and it will provide not just voice dialing, but even voice command of the phone itself. For example you can speak "What's the battery level?" or "What are my appointments tomorrow?" and have it speak back to you what it is! No training of any kind is required (those with old voice activated phones know what I'm talking about). It simply works incredibly well. MS really has something over its competitors on this one. I'm not sure why they don't further exploit this strength.
Next, the paltry supply of applications is easily remedied by looking at the vast array of windows mobile software out there. The built-in IE browser is horrible, but a download of Opera Mobile and Opera mini provide excellent results. The built-in media player is horrible too, but again, a download of the (free) TCPMP player provides excellent media playing ability. The BJII has 128mb of system memory which is about double of what a typical smartphone has. This means you do not have to worry about killing apps just because of running out of memory.
Some other applications I use are: LedAlerts -- uses the built-in LED which has many colors, to inform you of incoming emails, sms, voicemail, and missed calls, which will have a unique color blinking every second. I love this, as I can quickly assess whether I have something awaiting me without having to even touch the phone. Really, this functionality should've been included by Samsung, but the software is only $15.
Googlemaps -- doesn't need much explanation. This free application provides the same functionality as the full fledged website, just without a neat fast working application in the phone. Uses the built-in GPS. Microsoft also has a similar application but works more clunky than the google version. However, the MS version has voice activated features which is really cool. I keep both of them on my phone for now.
Vtap -- view youtube videos through this application. Works 100% well.
Push email -- through a service by a firm called SEVEN (search for it on google), you can get free pushemail right through the built-in email client. Push email means your email is delivered to your phone when it arrives, rather than the traditional way of having your phone retrieve the email at pre-determined times. The benefit is that push-email arrives nearly instantly and you don't waste battery life with needless connections.
There is a lot of storage space on the phone, but you can take advantage of the micro SDHC port which supports up to 8GB (the largest at this writing). I bought an 8GB card for about $40.
Get a screen protector, only a few bucks. A shell casing is also only a few bucks and helps protect the phone if it falls. And oh, for the proprietary connector, headphone adapters are sold at a famous auction site for less than $10.
As for the phone itself, it's sleek, lightweight, and allows for one hand use due to its smaller width over the competition. The scroll wheel, while not perfect, does allow for alternative entry rather than continually pressing the directional buttons. The keypad is decent enough for typing. it's never going to replace a real keyboard but it's good enough for the job. And, oh, I also have a bluetooth keyboard which paired right up, so I could use that external larger keyboard during trips if I needed extended typing sessions.
Windows mobile is indeed slow to boot up, this is a major deficiency on all phones running this system. The OS is slightly buggy too, but no more so than the Palm OS in my opinion. The phone runs at 260mhz, I was able to overclock it slightly to 276mhz which provided some improvement in speed, but not considerably. The phone is fast enough, with only sluggishness the first time a program loads. Otherwise, the huge 128mb system memory is able to cache all the regular running programs for quick access to them.
Overall this phone rocks! I love the customizability and its sleekness is awesome. I knock off a full point as a lot of these extra enhancements could've been implemented by Samsung as stock features. But you can add them yourself at minimal cost.
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Customer Reviews for AT&T,BlackJack II,635753468083,B000YT77LM, |
