New Phone Time; Part II - Got a BlackJack II in RED!

[Mike Temporale]

<p>First off, I want to thank everyone for your thoughts and suggestions on what phone I should replace the s710 with. I read all the replies but didn't have a chance to reply to any of them myself before leaving for vacation. My wife wanted to spend some time shopping on our first day of vacation - buying kids gifts and what have you. I was fine with this because there was a AT&amp;T store just one short block away from the mall where she wanted to shop. It's a &quot;Win-Win&quot; situation for all. ;-) </p><p>So we make a stop at the AT&amp;T store where I had this very friendly lady assist me with my phone decision. After hold and playing with the Moto Q9h - which is a very impressive device. I asked where they BlackJack II was? She pointed me to the BlackJack and I stopped and corrected her that I was looking for the new model and asked if she had any that I could hold and compare against the Motorola. As she was heading to the back room, I asked her if they had the red model in stock because I had heard that they would be available around the middle of December (These events took place on the 10th of December). She replied &quot;no&quot; and that they didn't know when those were going to arrive. The actual date of availability that I was told by my sources was December 15th. A couple minutes later she emerged from the back room holding the BlackJack II in RED! </p><p>As she began to unbox the device, a crowd of employees and customers started to gather around her. Everyone was in awe at the sleek styles and beautiful color of this new device. I did some quick comparisons on size and keyboard feel, but it didn't take long before I made the choice for the new red BlackJack. One person pulled out their red BumbleBerry and did some comparisons of their own. It was clear that Samsung has a winner on their hands - again. </p><p>My plane just landed a couple hours ago. I'm tired and haven't slept in over 24 hours. But I didn't want to keep this from everyone. So here's a couple quick shots I snapped of the phone.&nbsp;Check out the&nbsp;gloss finish on the front and the patterned finish on the back of the device.&nbsp;I haven't had much time to play with - I was on vacation after all. However, I can say that Samsung has made some significant changes to the device and I hope to do some detailed posts later today and over the next couple days. If anyone has some questions please feel free to post them in this thread. I'll do my best to answer them. <br /><br /><img alt="" border="1" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/500/spt/auto/1197560153.usr3.jpg" /></p>

[Yorch]

Something weird is happening with this phone, I don't really know if it is because it is rare/new or is it because the phone sucks. By this point, on other phones there will be quite a few reviews and new hacks to better the phone. (maybe I'm spoiled by xda-developers). I bought this phone for my wife, I wanted her to have a full keyboard (she text a lot with her nieces and sister) and I wanted it also because of the GPS features (so she stops asking me for directions all the time). I have a Tilt, and I love it. All my expectations where met and I'm happy with the device. But I have been trying to set up her Blackjack to work with a GPS and it has been nothing but trouble. Apparently, the only program that works is GPS Test and, of course, TeleNav. I have tried TomTom 5 and 6 "hacked"(there is no official version for the smartphone so someone hacked it from the PPC to work with the Smartphone), Route66, Mapopolis, and none of them recognize the GPS. I have tried the MSN Live and Google Maps and they work randomly. The phone looks great, no doubt about that and she loves it. But the GPS doesn't work still. I've tried the fix that I've found here. (http://www.modaco.com/content/Smartphone-Standard-News/262074/Samsung-Blackjack-II-GPS-ACTIVATED/)
But doesn't help much. the good thing is that the more people that have this phone, the more hacks and tweaks will be worked one.

[ajwalker]

Congratulations on your new phone!

Although I was pulling for you to chose the Motorola Q9:o, it is always good when someone finds a phone device they are happy with.

And in the end, that's all that counts. Not fashion, not hype, but something that feels like it was made just for you.

I've found that with my Q9, and it sounds like you've found that with your BlackJack II.

:D

[nycnerd]

I own Red BJ II and i am pretty much in love with it so far. Lack of wifi is not a big deal for me. I was more interested in GPS. Google Maps, Live Search works out of the box.

I read in some other forums that Garmin Mobile XT works without any hacks.
I have tried TOMTOM and no luck so far.

Route 66 is another program i have tried and it works fine after using modaco patch (patch to create COM port). I am sticking with Route 66 for now. Its pretty slick and working perfectly.

[Macguy59]

Color does make a difference as I thought the black version to be butt ugly. No WiFi is a killer for me but hope you enjoy it.

[Yorch]

Route 66 is another program i have tried and it works fine after using modaco patch (patch to create COM port). I am sticking with Route 66 for now. Its pretty slick and working perfectly.

How do you make Route 66 to work?. I tried it and it doesn't see the GPS, and with the USA the program crash. I have only a 512MB card, but the map of southeast fits fine.

[nycnerd]

How do you make Route 66 to work?. I tried it and it doesn't see the GPS, and with the USA the program crash. I have only a 512MB card, but the map of southeast fits fine.

Try this.

1. Update the Route 66 to latest version 7.0.3489
GPS: fixed WM6 support for Microsoft GPS intermediate driver multiplexer; fixed WM6 long delay for GPS detection on some devices - This is one of the bugs they have fixed.
2. Download the Modaco hack - its right on modaco.com main page (for BJ II). This will set GPS to COM4. Make sure you restart the device after this installation.
3. Download the GPS Test from http://chartcross.co.uk/products/WM00002_details.asp - This is optional. But its pretty useful to get a quick fix from satellites.
4. If you are not going to download GPS Test then use google maps for the fix (without this also it may work but its always better to acquire the fix before starting Route 66) - *Use GPS intermediate driver as GPS in Google maps.
5. Now start Route 66. With in 5-10 seconds you are good to go.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[JNGold]

I have read more than one user comment and review that mention that the BJ2's radio may not be as good as the first BJ.

Places that had a weak 3g are supposedly now coming in as EDGE and some EDGE areas send the BJ2 back to GPRS.

I have just recently considered moving to the Standard Platform from the Pro (Treo 750). I think I really want a slimmer profile device. The BJ2 was at the top of the list however, after reading about the signal strength "issues", I am not so sure now.

Can anyone elaborate on their experiences?

[randalllewis]

I guess I am lucky, but I haven't had issues with 3G disappearing or with GPS not working. As much as I loved my original Blackjack, I love the II even more. The three best points: scroll wheel, scroll wheel, scroll wheel. The GPS works fine with both Live Search and Google. Between those aps and the one provided on the phone, I can't see the need for trying others. I have noticed the 3G setting changing to E or G the deeper I get into some buildings, but that was true of the original Blackjack as well. Battery life has certainly improved over the original and can easily last for several days unless you keep Bluetooth on all the time, and make heavy use of XM Radio, video, or the GPS.

Does the red model hide fingerprints better than the black? That would be my only criticism of the II,

[JNGold]

Kinda quiet here. I expected a little more activity.

[Yorch]

I tried doing what you told me and the Route 66 gets stuck on the GPS screen. I read somewhere that Route 66 is picky with the SMS Inbox folder and that It has to be empty. I tried that and It didn't work. I'm going to try to hard reset and do a fresh install and see if it works or not.

[ajwalker]

I thought it's been pretty active. Especially considering he's already made his choice.

The Q9h owners have spoken.

The BlackJack II owners have spoken.

Not much else to say since each phone choice is so personal and each one appeals to a different user.

The BJII didn't appeal to me. Doesn't mean it's a bad phone and won't appeal to somebody else.

[JNGold]

I thought it's been pretty active. Especially considering he's already made his choice.

The Q9h owners have spoken.

The BlackJack II owners have spoken.

Not much else to say since each phone choice is so personal and each one appeals to a different user.

The BJII didn't appeal to me. Doesn't mean it's a bad phone and won't appeal to somebody else.

Huh? In this thread? Most of the talk in this thread is regarding GPS. Not much talk about signal quality or performance otherwise.

I am very interested in hearing about both.

[Mike Temporale]

I have read more than one user comment and review that mention that the BJ2's radio may not be as good as the first BJ.

Places that had a weak 3g are supposedly now coming in as EDGE and some EDGE areas send the BJ2 back to GPRS.

So far, the signal has been solid. I haven't noticed any poor signal reception on the device. This is much better then my expereince with the HTC s710. But compared to the original BlackJack, this is as good - as far as I can tell.

[ajwalker]

As a Q9h owner, I can say the performance has been great. Very solid, haven't had to reset except for that time I put some beta software on the device.

I like speed of the device, not much spinning Windows wheel unless you are going to one of the heavyduty apps like Opera or Documents to Go. I find DocsToGo to open faster than Opera.

Haven't hit a low memory issue yet. But then I tend to actually close my apps once I'm sure I'm done with them.

Call quality is very nice, speakerphone is pretty loud. I wish I had some bad things to say about the phone but I really don't.

I don't tend to do a lot of internet stuff but Opera doesn't have much at all over PIE so I'm not seeing what the big deal is.

I've pretty much tricked out my phone so it does what I want the way I want. I don't think I used it stock past the first night I had it home.

GPS does work with Google Maps and I've used it more than I thought I would.

I use the included extended battery because I think it feels better in the hand. The standard battery seemed too dainty for me but that would be a personal preference.

Does that better answer your question?

Any Q9 or BlackJack II owner would be happy to answer any questions prior to purchase if you could be more specific.

[Mint2bee]

Where do I find my outgoing texts?

[ajwalker]

Where do I find my outgoing texts?

Either on the BlackJack II or Moto Q9 (not really sure which phone you are refering to) you can find your outgoing text in your Sent messages folder.

Open Text Messages (the list view) then go to Menu, then Folders, then Sent Items.

All of your outgoing messages should be there.

Don't forget to go back to your Inbox otherwise you won't be able to see your new messages after viewing your Sent messages.

WinMo 6 does not return you to your Inbox once you exit.

Hope that clears it up for you. :D