Well more than a month has passed since we bought Blackberry Bolds for our staff so we thought we would do a mini review for all those thinking of buying one.
Firstly, one of the units we ended up with had the “hot” problem! As of writing I am not sure if Docomo has restarted selling them but they were pulled off the shelves due to an overheating problem.
From what we discovered the issue appears to be that they fail to stop charging. OK if you plan on using it to dry out your damp Okinawa home but not so good if you don’t happen to enjoy overheating batteries that have the potential to explode!
We took that one back and were initially surprised by the return policy that although it could be replaced it had to be sent away to verify there was a problem with it! We politely pointed out that it wouldn’t look too good if a Blackberry Bold exploded in Japan for either Docomo or Blackberry, and after some rather worried looks and a couple of phone calls from the staff, had it replaced on the spot and the replacement has been fine.
What we noticed is that the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) on the faulty model was different to the new one. Unfortunately we didn’t take a picture, but if you have one that is getting hot, then it is definitely NOT normal. The faulty PCB we had had two circular white logos printed on either side of the camera when you lifted the back off. The new perfectly cool model does not.
So if you’ve bought one, and your new toy is literally burning a hole in your pocket then take it back and demand a replacement.
It does surprise us here at total okinawa, that the Bold has been customized by NTT with Japanese and their branding yet no-one spotted this potentially dangerous flaw in their stock. Full credit though for removing them from sale until they and RIM workout what the problem is.
More to come on the Bold itself and how it works in Okinawa!
