RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 (Verizon Wireless)
Manufacturer: Research In Motion Ltd. Part number: Tour 9630
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- Bottom Line:
- With a winning design and fast performance, the RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 is one of Verizon Wireless' top smartphones for both business users and messaging fanatics.
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 |  | In stock 2-yr Contract Price | Price: $149.99 Tax: $0.00 Shipping: Free | Your best price as of 12/10/2009 |
| Best Buy | | See Site | Price: $699.99 Tax: $60.20 Shipping: $0.99 | as of 12/10/2009 |
CNET editors' review
RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 (Verizon Wireless) price range: $149.99 - $699.99
- Reviewed by: Bonnie Cha
- Reviewed on: 07/02/2009
The good: The RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 offers world-roaming capabilities as well as Bluetooth, GPS, and a 3.2-megapixel camera. The smartphone offers a great design that combines a sharp display and an easy-to-use QWERTY keyboard in a fairly compact size.
The bad: The smartphone lacks Wi-Fi. The Web browser falls short of the competition, and there's a bit of shutter lag on the camera. You can't save applications to a media card.
The bottom line: With a winning design and fast performance, the RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 is one of Verizon Wireless' top smartphones for both business users and messaging fanatics.
Long awaited, the RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 has finally arrived in town, and it's putting on quite a show. As the replacement to the RIM BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, the Tour offers 3G world roaming capabilities and brings a number of improvements in all three departments of design, features, and performance. While we're disappointed by the lack of Wi-Fi and other minor annoyances, the pros far outweigh the cons. It's one of the strongest smartphone offerings from Verizon Wireless, and its business customers will be well-served by this device. The RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 will be available from the carrier starting July 12, for $199.99 with a two-year contract and after a $70 mail-in rebate.
Design
The RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 looks like the lovechild of the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 and the RIM BlackBerry Bold, inheriting some of the best traits of the two smartphones. In terms of size, the Tour is more similar to the Curve 8900, though slightly bigger and heavier at 4.4 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick and 4.5 ounces. (The Curve comes in at 4.2 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.5 inch thick and weighs 3.8 ounces.) Still, the device is much more pocketable than the Bold and the BlackBerry 8830. Plus, the extra weight gives the phone a satisfyingly solid feel, and the back of the phone also features a partial soft-touch finish for extra durability.
The Tour features the same screen as the Curve 8900. It measures 2.4-inches diagonally and shows 65,536 colors at a 480x360-pixel resolution. Images and text look crisp and vibrant, and and colors pop off the screen.
Like the Curve and Bold, the Tour features an updated user interface that's fairly straightforward and easy to navigate. Several of the menu icons look similar, so they can be hard to distinguish at a glance, but overall the user interface is very straightforward and easy to navigate. You can rearrange the icons and organize them in folders, and as always, you can customize the home screen with background images and themes.
Below the display, you'll find the Talk and End keys, a menu shortcut, a back button, and a trackball navigator. Pressing the Alt and menu key will bring up an application switcher where you can toggle between tasks, but we found it more convenient to assign the switcher to one of the convenience keys located on the left and right sides of the phone. To program these buttons, simply go to Options > Screen/Keyboard and scroll down to the left and right convenience fields to assign an app or task to the controls.
For text entry, the Tour offers a 35-key QWERTY keyboard that is reminiscent of the one found on the Bold, which is a good thing. Obviously with the Tour's more compact frame, the keyboard isn't quite as roomy as the Bold's but still features good-size buttons. To prevent them from feeling too flat, the rectangular keys have a slight ridge and a white backlight makes the letters and numbers (highlighted in red) easy to see in darker environments. We were quite happy using the Tour's keyboard. Plus, the keyboard just had a more high-quality feel compared with the Curve's where the buttons felt a little plasticky. Our only minor complaint is that the outside keys are a little difficult to press, since the downward slope of the buttons make them a bit flat against the edge of the phone.
Other features of the BlackBerry Tour's design include lock and mute buttons on top of the device. In addition to the aforementioned convenience key, there's a volume rocker, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a Micro-USB port on the right. Finally, the camera and flash are located on back, while behind the battery cover, you'll find the SIM card and microSD expansion slots.
Verizon packages the RIM BlackBerry Tour with a load of accessories, including a travel charger, three international adapters, a USB cable, a stereo headset, a 2GB microSD card, a SIM card, a swivel holster, a Global Support Kit, a software CD, and reference material. For more add-ons, please check our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.
Features
As the replacement to the RIM BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, the RIM BlackBerry Tour offers dual-mode functionality (supporting dual-band CDMA and quad-band GSM networks) for world roaming capabilities and ships with a SIM card. With this capability, the phone switches automatically between CDMA and GSM networks to offer seamless international roaming--all while keeping the same phone number. In addition to voice coverage, the BlackBerry Tour supports the 2100MHz UMTS/HSDPA band, so you can get 3G support overseas, while working on Verizon's EV-DO Rev. A network domestically. In all, you'll get voice coverage in 220 countries and data coverage (e-mail and Internet) in 175 countries. Be sure to check the international roaming rates for voice calls and text messages before you head off on your trip: Verizon's rates can get pretty pricey in some areas, ranging from 69 cents up to $4.99 per minute. You can find the carrier's international plans here.
Other phone features include a speakerphone, voice-activated dialing, smart dialing, conference calling, speed dial, and text and multimedia messaging. The Tour also supports Visual Voice Mail, but be aware that this service costs an additional $2.99 per month. The phone book is only limited by the available memory with room in each entry for multiple numbers, e-mail addresses, work and home address, job title, and more. For caller ID purposes, you can attach a contact photo, group ID, or a custom ringtone.
While offering 3G support, the BlackBerry Tour does not have integrated Wi-Fi, but this isn't a case of Verizon crippling the feature; Sprint's version of the Tour also lacks Wi-Fi. You do get Bluetooth 2.0 with support for wireless headsets, stereo Bluetooth (A2DP/AVCRP), hands-free kits, phone book access, serial port, and dial-up networking. The latter allows you to use the Tour as a wireless modem for your laptop, but to use the feature, you will need to sign up for Verizon's Mobile Broadband Connect plan, which ranges from $39.99 per month for 250MB of data up to $59.99 for 5GB of data.
GPS is also onboard. The smartphone uses both satellites and cellular triangulation to find your position and can provide navigation via several methods. The smartphone ships with BlackBerry Maps, where you can get maps, text-based turn-by-turn instructions, and search for local businesses. However, for real-time voice-guided directions, you will need to subscribe to a location-based service, which Verizon provides through VZ Navigator. The service costs $9.99 a month; unfortunately, our review unit was not set up with the service to test it out.
Of course, what would a BlackBerry be without e-mail? The BlackBerry Tour can sync with your company's BlackBerry Enterprise server, with support for Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, or Novell GroupWise, to deliver corporate e-mail in real time. With BlackBerry Internet Service, you can also access up to 10 personal/business POP3 or IMAP4 e-mail accounts. There's also an attachment viewer for opening Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Corel WordPerfect, PDF, JPEG, GIF, and more. Thankfully, there's more instant messaging support as well, so in addition to BlackBerry Messenger, there are also preloaded clients IM for Windows Live, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, and AIM.
To supplement the attachment viewer, the smartphone ships with DataViz Documents To Go Standard Edition, so you can now edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files as well. If you want the ability to create new documents, you will have to upgrade to the Premium Edition, however. Staple personal information management tools, like a Calendar, a task list, a memo pad, a voice recorder, a calculator, will also help keep you on track. Recognizing the growing popularity of social networking sites, Verizon and RIM has also included Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr on the BlackBerry Tour for easy access.
In addition to the preloaded apps, the BlackBerry Tour supports the recently launched BlackBerry App World. The catalog has a basic, but easy-to-use, interface and features a fairly comprehensive database of applications, which you can view by category, top downloads, or featured items. You can also search by title. We downloaded several programs over Verizon's 3G network, including Slacker Radio, the Weather Channel, and AP News, and had no problems. The bad news, however, is that like the T-Mobile G1, you can't save apps to the microSD card, so you'll have to download them to the phone's main memory, which isn't that much at 256MB.
While the app store has plenty of entertainment apps, there are some onboard options as well. The BlackBerry Tour features a built-in media player that can play various music and video formats, including MP3, WMA, WMA ProPlus Bluetooth, AAC, AAC+, and eAAC+ files, and MPEG4, WMV, and H.264 video clips. There's a search function, playlist creation, shuffle and repeat, and you get a full-screen mode for video playback. You can purchase and download songs over the air through V Cast Music or stream music from various sites. The included software CD also contains a copy of Roxio Easy Media Creator, so you can create MP3s from CDs and add audio tags. Make good use of that 2GB microSD card and save all your multimedia files on there. If you need more, the expansion slot can accept up to 16GB cards. Video and TV buffs might be disappointed to learn that the Verizon BlackBerry Tour will not support V Cast Mobile TV, whereas Sprint's version of the Tour will support the carrier's mobile TV service.
The BlackBerry Tour comes with a 3.2-megapixel camera with 2x zoom, auto focus, flash, and image stabilization. It can also record video and geotag photos using the phone's GPS. Despite the image stabilization, we found picture quality to be a little fuzzy. There's a bit of shutter lag so it may be that we pulled the camera away too soon, but that in and of itself is annoying. Video quality was actually more impressive. The picture had some expected pixelation but was mostly clear and it did well even in darker environments. For enterprise customers whose workplace bans camera phones, Verizon will also offer a version without a camera.
Performance
We tested the dual-mode (CDMA 800/1900; GSM 850/900/1800/1900; UMTS/HSDPA 2100) RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 in San Francisco with Verizon Wireless service and call quality was good. We heard our callers loud and clear; in fact, it was almost too loud so we had to take the volume down a couple of notches. There are also settings to enhance the audio by boosting the treble or bass, but we didn't feel the need to so. Our callers also had positive comments and said calls sounded quite clear. However, they could tell when we switched to the speakerphone unannounced. While the audio was not quite as pristine, we were still able to carry on with the conversation. On our side, the calls had enough volume but sounded just a bit hollow.
We paired the smartphone with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset and the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active headphones.
Armed with a 528MHz Qualcomm processor, the BlackBerry Tour was able to keep up with our day-to-day demands and was quite a fast little device. We encountered minimal delays, and we were able to switch between tasks with no problems. Verizon's EV-DO Rev. A network also provided speedy as well as reliable coverage here in San Francisco. App and music downloads were pretty swift. It took 52 seconds to download the Slacker app, while a 1.94MB song took 1 minute and 27 seconds from V Cast Music. Thanks to the inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack, we were able to plug in our Bose On-Ear headphones and enjoy rich-sounding tracks. Video playback was also smooth with synchronized picture and audio.
Using the Tour's full HTML browser, CNET's full site downloaded in 38 seconds--quite impressive considering other 3G smartphones have taken up to a minute--while CNN's and ESPN's mobile sites came up in 7 seconds and 15 seconds. We've said it before, but we'll say it again. BlackBerry's Web browser isn't the best. It's come a long way and it's much less frustrating to navigate with the onscreen cursor and different page views, but still there's a lot to be desired.
Since our review unit didn't include VZ Navigator, we couldn't really test the voice-guided navigation. However, we used BlackBerry Maps, which was able to provide accurate directions to our destinations. The GPS reception was pretty good; from a cold start, the phone was able to find our location within two minutes and subsequent starts were a little faster at about a minute or less.
The RIM BlackBerry Tour comes with a 1400mAh lithium ion battery with a rated talk time of 5 hours and up to 14 days of standby time. In our battery drain tests, the BlackBerry Tour beat the rated talk time by 1.5 hours.
User reviews
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BOLD IS STILL NUMBER ONE BUT THE TOUR'S NOT FAR BEHIND!
by ImNotDead_1993 on July 7, 2009
Pros: Design pulls the Curve 8900, the Storm, and the Bold all into one sleek package
QWERTY keyboard is like the one featured on the Bold and the 8800 series
Updated Blackberry OS adds nice design touches and brings a nice update to the older aging OSCons: WIFI!!! Where did it go? This is the first blackberry without wifi in recent months.
Design could use some tweakingSummary: A friend of mine who works a local I.T. Tech firm recently got his hands on this new handset through connections at Verizon and I have to say it ...
Summary: A friend of mine who works a local I.T. Tech firm recently got his hands on this new handset through connections at Verizon and I have to say it is a great improvement over Verizon's old Blackberry series. Verizon is the best carrier it seems around the downtown Los Angeles and Upper Manhattan areas (where I split my time with work).
Oh well SKULIJIBB, I realize that and firstly it is a dual band phone and secondly I was merely commenting on the fact that it does not have Wi-Fi there is no need for your juvinile "duh" comment and I apologize for any mistake in my post.
I currently own a Blackberry Bold and can say that there are certain things that the Bold has that the Tour doesn't. Firstly I think the Tour's back is more solid than the Bold's faux leather backing and just feels more secure. Secondly I think the Tour's red numeric accents add a nice touch (unlike the Bold's all-white lettering) it just makes it easier to read. Style is subjective too so it all depends on what you want.
While using the phone as a phone/text/internet/email device while I was at work I felt confident while using the phone that it was powerful enough to do everything I needed it to. I didn't have it long enough to find it worth it to set up my corporate email (Microsoft Exchange) so I cannot say how it will work but it was smooth sailing on the Blackberry Bold which I'm assuming will work just as well.
While I was traveling around downtown Los Angeles I had excellent reception and so did not need Wi-Fi but it is a nice thing to have if you live inn area where you do not pull in 3G speeds. While I waited for my flight at LAX in Terminal 4 to JFK signal did drop a bit and at times the web browser was slow although nothing major and nothing too much to complain about.
Touching down at JFK the network automatically changed the time upon my turning on the handset once in the terminal. Signal strength was quite low at points in JFK but it never dropped signal and I was able to talk continuously to a business associate on my way through the terminal all the way out through baggage claim to the curb. Right on, Verizon!
The phone also performed well in web browsing. Keep in mind that Blackberry's browser (while it is a full HTML browser) does not perform as well as Apple's Safari or even HTC's Android browser. However for my needs it performed well. Text was easy to read and the small cursor makes clicking links a snap.
The phone itself (making calls and receiving calls) performed well (as previously stated) and call quality was a tad better over the Bold's. I personally prefer AT&T coverage and customer support however it's all up to the buyer as to what they want to go with. Verizon's coverage was clear all the way from JFK up to Central Park and out and around Manhattan. The phone works and clearly excels as a phone. The speakerphone works well (though the Bold's stereo speakers do project sound better than the speaker on the Tour).
Battery life was incredible even with 3G. (Since Blackberry took out Wi-fI that will make your battery last even longer) I'm assuming that Blackberry used the same powerhouse 1500mAh battery found in my Blackberry Bold which lasts well up to three days with the phone fully performing. I did have the phone off during the flight over from LAX to JFK so that may also have lengthened the battery life. However with email, text SMS messaging, phone calls, and internet browsing the battery only dropped two and a half bars from 4AM in Los Angeles to 11PM in New York City. Rock on, Blackberry!
Another feature that corporate users (and others, students too) will like is the Documents to Go Suite now included in Blackberry's operating system. I was able to open Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files without a hitch from my email when sent as an attachment. Documents to go worked better than the Office MObile on Windows Mobile phones. Just something to think about. IPHONE DOES NOT HAVE THIS CAPABILITY. Just thought I'd mention that. I'm not a big fan of the iPhone since it seems way to standard now days. It's silly to compare an iPhone to this since they're in two different categories.
If you're thinking about the Tour and don't have Verizon please check coverage in your area before signing on with them. Again the Tour DOES NOT HAVE WIFI so you're relying heavily on Verizon having coverage in your area. IF YOU ALL READY HAVE VERIZON, and you're up for an upgrade, then heck! GO FOR IT!
I personally would not choose this phone but it is one sick powerhouse phone that will outperform most other smartphones. Excellent work, Blackberry and Verizon
Updated on Jul 7, 200911 out of 13 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great phone, poor battery
by blue1244 on August 25, 2009
Pros: Features, Keyboard, phone quality
Cons: Battery life
Summary: Came from the Curve 8330, which I really liked. Overall, the Tour is awesome. Love the apps/features, keyboard, phone quality. Wasn't sure I'd like the keyboard compared ...
Summary: Came from the Curve 8330, which I really liked. Overall, the Tour is awesome. Love the apps/features, keyboard, phone quality. Wasn't sure I'd like the keyboard compared to the Curve, but I actually like it better.
My biggest complaint of the Tour is horrible battery life. I cannot make it through the day on a single charge. I did not have this problem with the Curve.5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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I love my Storm. Love Tour almost as much.
by glk165 on July 27, 2009
Pros: Look, weight, size, keypad, clarity of the screen, red numbers for dialing, voice quality, layout of the screen, updated OS, camera quality, video quality
Cons: Haven't found any yet
Summary: I have a Storm also. Yes people either LOVE the Storm or they HATE it. I love mine and never thought I would say this but I love the Tour ...
Summary: I have a Storm also. Yes people either LOVE the Storm or they HATE it. I love mine and never thought I would say this but I love the Tour just about as much. I use Storm for personal use and Tour for business use. When got the Storm the day they came out I gave my wife my Curve. She has always been unimpressed with phones and says a phone is a phone. The day I brought the Tour home I made a mistake and showed it to her. This it the first time she saw and tried out a phone that she said it reminded her of the Verizon commercial where the guy says in his mind "don't put that down or I'll take it" so the next day I went and got her one. She abosolutely loves it and is the first smartphone or for that matter any phone she has ever used to it's potential. I never thought I would use anything except a touch after having the Storm but I find myself carrying around the Tour more than the Storm. Fits the hand well, looks great and works very well. I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THE TOUR AND SO WOULD MY WIFE!!!
4 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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New Tour's have been fixed
by mhock86 on September 12, 2009
Pros: Fast Internet
Sleek Design
AMAZING keyboard
Good speaker
High resolution screenCons: Battery life could be better, but its not bad
Summary: Ok first, this is to people who gave this amazing device bad reviews. The first batch of Tours had several devices with problems, such as loose battery door, and faulty ...
Summary: Ok first, this is to people who gave this amazing device bad reviews. The first batch of Tours had several devices with problems, such as loose battery door, and faulty trackball. This has been fixed on devices with a manufacture date of August or later. Mine was manufacutred July 17th, and Ive had NO problems though, some of the original release Tour's are fine as well.
Now on to my short review. I LOVE this blackberry. It is my first, and I will never buy a non-blackberry device again. The web browsing is very fast, they keyboard took me 2 days to get used to, it seemed cramped at first. I came from a big keyboard though (LG Voyager). After my first 2 days, Im just as fast at typing. The speakerphone, or when playing music is very loud and clear. Voice quality on my part and from the other side is great. Batttery life was sub par until about 5 days of use, its much beter now. Trackball works terrific on my particular device, a new Tour will be out shortyly (blackberry Essex) and Tour owners can make a simple swap that yes, will void warrenty, but you will be able to use the trackpad from the Essex on your Tour.
In short everything about this device is great. I would reccomend it to anyone.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Almost ready for prime time
by fatcat on September 7, 2009
Pros: The usual BB strengths of email, apps and texting.
Nice to be able to go international now!
Camera better, but not as good as DARE.Cons: Reception down by 2 bars as compared to Curve in same location
Short battery life- won't last all day
Sound quality is a REAL issue- customers saying they can't understand me is a PROBLEM!
OS buggy- still get screen freezes that last up to 10 sec.Summary: A must have BB if you travel out of the US and use Verizon.
If you get one with a bad track-ball, just trade it out.
Get Vlingo for dictating ...Summary: A must have BB if you travel out of the US and use Verizon.
Well, I finally gave up and returned my TOUR.
If you get one with a bad track-ball, just trade it out.
Get Vlingo for dictating texts and emails- it keeps you hands-free while driving.
Visual VoiceMail is a real time saver!
Get a case from Seidio.com
Updated on Sep 9, 2009
The reception IS THAT BAD. I swapped phones and updated completely! Still I only had 2 bars where I'd had 3 or 4 with my CURVE.
The TOUR has nice features but they DON'T MAKE UP FOR FOR POOR RECEPTION!
My customers noticed immediately and said it was nice to be able to understand me again.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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This is the best Verizonberry yet
Pros: -Its not a Storm
-Fantastic Screen
-Great size, weight and shape
-Blackberry Maps work better than my Garmin (in a downtown area)
-Best Media Player and Manager on a Verizonberry
-Sweet cameraCons: -Keyboard is a bit on the small side
-Charger that is included (international version) is too large and make a high pitched humSummary: Being a Crackberry addict is tough but the Tour makes it all worth it!
First of all I must say that I am sick and tired of fools who don'...Summary: Being a Crackberry addict is tough but the Tour makes it all worth it!
First of all I must say that I am sick and tired of fools who don't own products, yet opinions and offer reviews. Your lack of ownership and experience with the product is grossly apparent. Please stop wasting our time. O, Sorry this is a review of the Verizon Blackberry Tour not a blasting of the foolish.
If you want a smartphone this is the best of what you can get on the Verizon network. The Tour is a fine culmination of the Blackberrys that preceded it. Having owned and used the Pearl (8130), the 8830, 8703e and 3 weeks with a Storm I can tell you this handset is fast, reliable, and easy to use.
Some of the other reviews complained about the battery life of this phone. During the first few days that I OWNED this phone I thought they were right, but now that I am not playing with the phone every minute of the day the BATTERY LIFE is as GOOD or BETTER than my other blackberrys.
Another complaint that I have read about is that the resolution of the screen is too high and that it makes the fonts on the browser too tiny. This is accurate; the fonts are tiny but just click the pearl and it gets bigger. The high resolution is a far greater asset for every other function of this phone to be worried about enlargeable fonts being too small.
This phone does not have WIFI. Give me a break! Its a phone! If you need to use the internet so much go get a netbook! There is no debate that the Verizon network is the best of all the wireless options out there. This is after all a phone (a phone with some fantastic abilities) but it works primarily off of a cellular network not WIFI so this should not be an issue when considering if this Blackberry is for you.
If you are a Blackberry power user this is the one. I tried the Storm for 3 weeks yes it has a nice screen and it does same thing as the Tour but it was slow I was mad at it all the time. The click screen on the Storm is the worst idea ever, if the people at RIM had used a touch screen like that of the ipod itouch and given the Storm the 256mb of memory it would have been a contender.
In closing this is great blackberry. It works well, it's fast, it's slick, it looks better in person than it does on line. it comes with a nice case, it's the right size, it feels good in your hand, the keyboard is very good (it takes a few days to get used to), the battery life is very good, the battery doors does not wiggle, the micro USB location is just fine, the screen is sweet, the track ball works fine after it is broken in after a few days, it's not heavy, it's just the right weight. if you want great a Blackberry and you want Verizon THIS IS IT!
If you have never had a Blackberry, have be on Verizon, don't mind a super slow and heavy phone, and value style above function and preformance give a Storm a try.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Most critical review you can get on this device.SUCKS
by Akpamnani on September 3, 2009
Pros: Clear screen display,looks nice, bedside mode, easy lock button on top, clear camera w/ auto focus, charges quick.
Cons: Different charger & usb port location, slightly larger in height and width,microphone is horrible (on my 2nd phone),easy to fatfinger when typing since keyboard is tightly packed with slant,buggy OS,not durable,LCD screen is very sensitive to damage
Summary: In my personal opinion I like the bberry curve 8330 much better. I had a lot more cons to list but was limited to 250 characters in the cons field. ...
Summary: In my personal opinion I like the bberry curve 8330 much better. I had a lot more cons to list but was limited to 250 characters in the cons field. I'm on my 2nd tour due to ppl complaining that my voice sounds muffled which is a common problem. I never had a problem with the curve. Its definitely not a batch issue since the 1st i got directly from VZ shipped to my house and 2nd from VZ store (in box). Battery life sucks and the OS is buggy with delays. I tried updating OS and removing apps i didn't need but still have delays. I don't know why RIM couldn't use the old mini usb charger and leave the port location in the same location as the curve. Battery cover is jiggley on both phones (once again poor design). This is not a durable phone, if dropped there is a good chance it would break. If you sit on this phone by mistake there is a good chance the LCD will be damaged. On the curve there is a tough screen cover that is more durable. I sat on my curve mistakenly many times and never damaged the LCD. The trackball is more recessed, some ppl like it and some dont...and i don't. However the trackball is more accurate The MAIN issue with this phone is that ppl on the other end cannot hear you clearly unless you hold it a specific way to speak directly into the mic. The person will not be able to hear you clearly if you hold it with shoulder. I was really looking fwd to this phone and am really disappointed. I am definitely going back to my curve 8330 for now. I hope this critical review helps. I wish someone wrote this for me before i bought this phone. This phone is not for someone who is critical, picky, comparitive, or geeky. I fit all of those.
3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Trackball Torture!! On my 2nd tour in 2 months!
by KingWolf88 on November 14, 2009
Pros: Great screen resolution, Keypad is solid and lets face it no other smart phone can touch B-Berry for email and Calendar sync...
Cons: Trackball, Trackball, Trackball, and trackball! Its the center point of the dang phone you would think they would at least get that right!!
Summary: I switched to Verizon because my company switched, I was perfectly happy with my AT&T Bold... so to throw pity my way my company let me upgrade to ...
Summary: I switched to Verizon because my company switched, I was perfectly happy with my AT&T Bold... so to throw pity my way my company let me upgrade to the Tour while all the other pee-ons at my company had to slum it with the curve..."Haaaaa!!!" I thought to myself as I un-boxed what I thought was simply a smaller, more streamlined "Bold"I was a fool!!! This device is No BOLD! They should call it the Blackberry "Booooo!" it's trackball is possessed! it jumps over apps, zips over text, you roll right it rolls left, sometimes it wont move at all! Aargh! The phone resets itself twice a day, the bluetooth stays connected even after you end the call..WORTHLESS!! It looks as though the status quo for Verizon is to always get it right the second time around so skip the "tour" and wait for "tour 2" Im going to a Storm 2...at least after a year all the bugs should be gone and there is no trackball for them to ruin!!
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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I miss my Curve
by Gfive5 on October 6, 2009
Pros: The pros: The Tour comes with a SIM card so when you travel internationally, you can purchase local SIM cards with a local phone number and save heaps of cash using the local phone system, rather than Verizon's super expensive off shore rates.
Cons: Terrible battery life.
Mouse ball too close the the key board
Many devices have defective mouse balls and bugs in mouse software.
USB charger has new size plug so you have to buy new chargers and cables to replace the old format used with Curve.Summary: Cons:
1) The battery is sub par and runs out of juice before your day is done. The Curve lasted all day.
2) The mouse ball is too close the ...Summary: Cons:
1) The battery is sub par and runs out of juice before your day is done. The Curve lasted all day.
2) The mouse ball is too close the the key board, so when I type messages, I frequently accidentally brush the mouse ball which then inserts the cursor into the middle of the message. This requires a re-write of almost every email, text and BBM I send. The Curve did not have this problem.
3) Many of these devices (including the original one I bought) have defective mouse balls and bugs in the software that render the mouse ball useless when moving horizontally. This problem was only solved when I exchanged the device for a new one (which required hours of transferring contacts and other data). The Curve did not have this problem.
I would not buy the Tour unless you have Verizon and absolutely must have the SIM card feature. Even then, if you can, find another phone.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Why are Tour reviews so extreme?
by GerreB on September 11, 2009
Pros: 1. Beautiful screen
2. Plenty of installed apps.
3. Inclusion of "docs to go." No subscription this time around.
4. Camera
5. Keyboard is different but easy to use
6. Inclusion of Sounds profile on home screen
7. Speaker phoneCons: 1. Call quality is pretty good but sometimes muffled. Not a deal breaker but not as clear as my Env Touch.
2. Early reviews noted track ball problems and loose battery cover. Those issues seem to be fixed.Summary: Reviews of this phone in particular seem similar to our current political climate -- polarized and one extreme or the other. In this case 4-5 star, '"I love it" or ...
Summary: Reviews of this phone in particular seem similar to our current political climate -- polarized and one extreme or the other. In this case 4-5 star, '"I love it" or 1-2 "phone sucks" reviews. Another general observation on cell phone reviews in general. Many, many phones seem to draw negative comments about battery life. Seems that people want their phones to do absolutely everything yet maintain battery power like the phone has only one function.
After a day of talking, messaging, and doing other miscellaneous functions, my phone usually has at least 3/4 charge. I don't know what the big deal is that some folks think charging more than every 3 days is a huge problem.
Can it be that our expectations are becoming unrealistic?
I am a Mac user, and use The Missing Sync. I love that the Tour can be synced using bluetooth, and you only need to use the cable the first time. Blackberry and Mac have some issues, but there are some good third party apps out there to address most of them.
I upgraded from a Curve, and though there are not drastic differences in the phones interfaces, I find the Tour to be the superior phone. It has more options, a better screen, and at least for me, better call quality.
So when the verdict is in, I end up being in the "I-love-this-phone" camp.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Research In Motion Ltd.
- Part number: Tour 9630
- Description: Connect, browse, stream, download and more on global networks with 3G reliability. The BlackBerry Tour 9630 smartphone helps you stay in touch from almost anywhere in the world. A full-featured global smartphone including voice dialing, conference calling and a built-in speakerphone, it can travel along with you to most of the world on 3G networks. Going out with your BlackBerry Tour 9630 smartphone doesn't mean leaving your entertainment behind. With 256 MB of on-board memory and a built-in media player to play your songs and videos, you'll be entertained and informed from almost anywhere life takes you. Watch videos while you're on the train, play that energetic song when out for a run, or just share pictures and memories with friends over a cup of coffee. The BlackBerry Tour 9630 features a slim design that smartly goes with you wherever you are. Lightweight and sleek, the BlackBerry Tour 9630 ensures that sending messages, answering a phone call, browsing the web or simply holding it in your hand is a comfortable experience.
General
- Product Type BlackBerry With digital camera / digital player
- Service Provider Verizon Wireless
- Width 2.4 in
- Depth 0.6 in
- Height 4.4 in
- Weight 4.6 oz
Cellular
- Technology CDMA2000 1X / GSM / WCDMA (UMTS)
- Band WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 / CDMA2000 1X 1900/800
- Phone Design Candy bar
- Vibrating Alert Yes
- Phone Navigation Buttons Trackball
- Wireless Interface Bluetooth 2.0
Communicator Features
- Operating System BlackBerry Handheld Software
Messaging & Data Services
- Messaging Services Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger Service (AIM), Windows Live Messenger (MSN Messenger)
- Mobile Email Yes
- GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) Yes
- EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates For Global Evolution) Yes
- Internet Browser Yes
- EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) Yes
Digital Camera
- Camera highlights With a resolution of 3.2 megapixels, this camera phone will give you higher quality pictures than other phones.
- Sensor Resolution 3.2 megapixels
- Focus Adjustment Automatic
- Digital Zoom 2
- Camera Light Source Flash
- Features Video recording
GPS System
- GPS Navigation GPS receiver
Display
- Type LCD display
- Technology TFT
- Display Resolution 480 x 360 pixels
- Color Depth 16-bit (65000 colors)
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Supported Digital Audio Standards MP3, MIDI
Memory
- Flash Memory 256 MB
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x Headset jack
- Slot Provided 1
Power
- Type Power adapter
Battery
- Technology - Lithium ion
- Capacity 1400 mAh
- Talk Time 300 min
- Standby Time 336 h
Product series
-
RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 (Verizon Wireless)
Manufacturer: Research In Motion Ltd.
Specs: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 / CDMA2000 1X 1900/800, 300 min, With digital camera / digital player, 4.6 oz
-
RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 without camera (Verizon Wireless)
Manufacturer: Research In Motion Ltd.
Specs: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 / CDMA2000 1X 1900/800, 300 min, 4.6 oz
Manufacturer info
- Research In Motion Ltd.
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Research In Motion Ltd. products on Shopper.com
-
- Website: http://www.rim.net/
- Address:
295 Phillip Street, Waterloo, ON N2L 3W8 - Phone: 1-519-888-7465
- Email: webinfo@rim.net
- Fax: 1-519-888-7884
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