Waiting For The Essex

[N]

post in here if your skipping you current upgrade to get the essex because i know i sure am

[Salomondrin]

This one will be the best CDMA Berry until we get the new Talladega and who knows when will that be. ;)

[bondapher]

hopefully there wont be any trackball issue, nvm trackpad rules!!

[carlitos]

hopefully there wont be any trackball issue, nvm trackpad rules!!

Trackpad RULES! I can't wait to get my hands on one of these.

[Mistik1973]

Any idea what the release date will be?? I read at Crackberry that they left some new goodies ut to ensure a q1 release . Sal??

[Salomondrin]

Any idea what the release date will be?? I read at Crackberry that they left some new goodies ut to ensure a q1 release . Sal??

I just don't see it coming out this year, but I'll tell you that Crackberry knows best.

I'd say in between Q1 and Q2 of 2010... but at this point its just a guess.

The phone is 100% ready to go out, but that's how the 9700 was for at least 3 months before it came out....

[Volareman]

I'm checking every day hoping for a December release :-) If it's not, I'm gonna pounce on a Curve 8530 and then flip it when the Essex appears. The 8530's Trackpad, OS5, wifi and speed will certainly tide me over for a few months. We're a Verizon agent and our cost on the 8530 is lower than the 8330. It's CRAZY low and obvious that they are pricing the new curve to move units.

[Mistik1973]

quarter 1 would be fine with me. Moving the states 30 march so will need a new phone then. It was somebody credible at Crackbery btw. I think one of the goodies they took was that better camera you spoke off. I guess its up to the carriers I suppose. Would be logic to first get rid of their Tours and then release a more upgraded version.

[skyboxer]

It would be really stupid of them to leave stuff out so they could rapidly develop the product, then turn around and sit on it once its ready to go. RIM might be slow to move at times, but they aren't known for being stupid. Hopefully, if the device Sal has is the final production unit, they will be getting these out the door quickly. Otherwise, if the late Q1 early Q2 timeframe is what they are shooting for then maybe Sal has an early prototype like the trackball Bold2. Otherwise this like a Tour 1.5 to me, and I'm having a hard time getting excited about it. But you have to understand I have a rock solid Tour in my hands right now whose only downfall is lackluster OS updates from the carrier.

[Salomondrin]

It would be really stupid of them to leave stuff out so they could rapidly develop the product, then turn around and sit on it once its ready to go. RIM might be slow to move at times, but they aren't known for being stupid. Hopefully, if the device Sal has is the final production unit, they will be getting these out the door quickly. Otherwise, if the late Q1 early Q2 timeframe is what they are shooting for then maybe Sal has an early prototype like the trackball Bold2. Otherwise this like a Tour 1.5 to me, and I'm having a hard time getting excited about it. But you have to understand I have a rock solid Tour in my hands right now whose only downfall is lackluster OS updates from the carrier.

This phone is almost ready be out. Its really lazy from RIM because this is not even a 1.5 version of the Tour, its more like a 1.25 type of deal.

What worries me too is that this phone will be the last "high end" CDMA device from RIM until we get to see the Talladega, and that phone might take a WHILE before it comes out.

[Mistik1973]

well perhaps the phone is ready, RIM is ready and the carriers say lets wait a while?

[Volareman]

well perhaps the phone is ready, RIM is ready and the carriers say lets wait a while?

Good point. There must be unseen forces at work, because man, it would be so perfect for the Verizon lineup this December:

Which sounds like the better lineup?

Storm2 (OS5, Wifi), Curve 8530 (OS5, Wifi, trackpad), Essex (OS5, Wifi, trackpad)

or......

Storm2 (OS5, Wifi), Curve 8530 (OS5, Wifi, trackpad) Tour (OS4.7, No wifi, trackball)

If it's not out in a week or two on Verizon, I'd forget about it at all in December.

[Salomondrin]

Good point. There must be unseen forces at work, because man, it would be so perfect for the Verizon lineup this December:

Which sounds like the better lineup?

Storm2 (OS5, Wifi), Curve 8530 (OS5, Wifi, trackpad), Essex (OS5, Wifi, trackpad)

or......

Storm2 (OS5, Wifi), Curve 8530 (OS5, Wifi, trackpad) Tour (OS4.7, No wifi, trackball)

If it's not out in a week or two on Verizon, I'd forget about it at all in December.

I'm going to tell you why I feel like its impossible for the phone to be out this December.

When I got my first Storm 2, there were very few people that had one and it was almost impossible to get one. 5 months went by and then the phone was released, but at that time there were thousands of pre released ones just floating around. There is 2 essex out right now, the one I have and the one Kevin has, I haven't heard from another one, which really makes me believe that this phone won't be out until 2Q of next year. I could be totally wrong, but I'm basing my guess in experience with other pre releases. :D

[Mistik1973]

good point but, if indeed the Essex is a Tour 1.25 instead of 2.0 they would not need to do a lot of testing. They added wifi, trackpad and 2 gb internal memory none of which are completely new. Storm2 required a lot of new techniques to be tested the same for the Onyx. Perhaps you can see the Tours currently out as a big testing ground? And it was Kevin who said that they were ramping up production.

I absolutely do not think they will release it before xmass. End of Q1 sounds more logical. You can skip January and February imo as the average person does not have money to spend then on a new phone as they all spend it during the holidays so business wise releasing a new phone inn those months would be silly. So late q1 early q2 (close to your guess)??

[Ken]

post in here if your skipping you current upgrade to get the essex because i know i sure am

Mine will be up in 2 weeks.. I'll be waiting here with you.

[Volareman]

I'm going to tell you why I feel like its impossible for the phone to be out this December.

When I got my first Storm 2, there were very few people that had one and it was almost impossible to get one. 5 months went by and then the phone was released, but at that time there were thousands of pre released ones just floating around. There is 2 essex out right now, the one I have and the one Kevin has, I haven't heard from another one, which really makes me believe that this phone won't be out until 2Q of next year. I could be totally wrong, but I'm basing my guess in experience with other pre releases. :D

Excellent. That totally makes sense.

Back in August when I bumped into Verizon employees at meetings (I'm an indirect agent) if I brought up the Storm2 they'd grin and say "we can't talk about future devices" etc. As it got closer to Oct25, they'd get more and more loose with info, but now I swear it's like they've never even HEARD of Essex or Tour2. So yeah, for a December release, nothing makes sense.

[Metatron]

cant login to my N account anymore so this me now everyone

FYI
lol

[jkeithbrown]

gonna give up the wait,going ahead and get the tour this week. I just need a little more than my curve 8330

[Volareman]

gonna give up the wait,going ahead and get the tour this week. I just need a little more than my curve 8330

Me too. What Sal said about the lack of other pre-models clinched it. There are lots of Tours on Craigslist around here for < $200... Gonna get one of those to tide me over rather than 8330. I actually had the 8330 more than a year! Amazing device! :-)

[nydog]

gonna give up the wait,going ahead and get the tour this week. I just need a little more than my curve 8330

Same here. the Tour is $69.99 at Best Buy right now. I think I'm gonna jump on that. I figure I got 30 days in case the essex comes out by the end of the year

[Metatron]

Same here. the Tour is $69.99 at Best Buy right now. I think I'm gonna jump on that. I figure I got 30 days in case the essex comes out by the end of the year


according to salomondrin, we wont see the essex untill next year

:(

[nemo]

Same here. the Tour is $69.99 at Best Buy right now. I think I'm gonna jump on that. I figure I got 30 days in case the essex comes out by the end of the year

that's what I'm hoping. I just got the Tour last week (27th). I don't even care if it comes out within 30 days. If there was just a release date, or a guaranteed timeframe (a month, lol) -- then I'd return it and wait.

[Salomondrin]

That's the problem. Absolutely nobody knows! I hope I'm wrong here, but I don't see this phone being available on December. Just consider the amount of leaked devices we've seen so far. ONLY 2! That is a terrible number for such a "close" release date.

[bacon.jay]

I'm currently rocking the 8330, and the lack of memory is starting to get to me. I'm in the waiting boat for the essex, because I don't get much of a data signal inside my house and the WiFi would really be a blessing.

This thought occurred to me though... might the long, drawn out wait for the essex (despite only a marginally improved feature set) have something to do with battery issues concerning the WiFi? I know that there was talk in the past about WiFi draining the battery on other models, maybe they're just trying to tweak the OS to get as much battery life out of a single charge before they release?

Just my .02, maybe you can enlighten us Sal? I'm really curious where the essex falls in with the Tour and the Bold 9700 regarding battery life.

[geekdaddy]

You gotta wonder why they have so much trouble managing WiFi power. Lots of cell phones with WiFi for awhile now...

I'm waiting but growing impatient. I'm using an 8130 which is short on memory and processing speed. Seems a waste to get the Tour when the Essex is so close.

[nemo]

That's the problem. Absolutely nobody knows! I hope I'm wrong here, but I don't see this phone being available on December. Just consider the amount of leaked devices we've seen so far. ONLY 2! That is a terrible number for such a "close" release date.

Like I said, if it's not released soon, that's fine. But if we could definitively know that the Essex will be released in Q1 of 2010, I would consider returning my Tour within the 30-Day period, using my POS Palm Treo, and waiting it out for the Essex. I really want Wi-Fi. However, I don't want to essentially pay for the same phone twice within 6 months. :wall:

[Metatron]

i mostly want the track pad

brother and sister have bb and they used their warranty on the track ball countless times

had a sidekick 3 and that had alot of track ball problems

dont want to keep making the same mistake

[Mistik1973]

I replaced my trackball once for an atomic trackball instead of the standard one.. I just dont want to know how many times some people wash their hands listening to their stories of it getting greasy and all ;)

[Metatron]

lol yeah id be scared to let some one see my phone not knowing if their fingers are greasy or not

[bx2md]

oh man i so can't wait to get the essex.....
wifi,5.0 os ...and so much more but I am stuck on thoose 2 for right now lol

[luthersnow74]

So you know it's officially the 9650, I wonder does that make it any closer to release...maybe. I am so looking forward to this. I held out on the 9630 to see what the initial reaction to it was. They had a trackball issue and the word was out from Kev that the 9650 might be closer than we thought, so.....lol... Any new news?

Keep it up bro!!!!

[Mistik1973]

http://forums.crackberry.com/f40/tour-2-pushed-back-july-2010-a-371540/

I think the above poster @ crackberry is mistaking and mixing up some info. If they would push it to july then it will have some different specs. Some people

[meefer]

Eager anticipation, but I've got some offers for a Sprint Tour off contract for $200....holding out is givin me the heebie-jeebies. I've never had trackpad before so I don't know if it's worth it or not over trackball (WiFi is nice but not a necessity unless connection sharing is enabled).

Hope I win the giveaway that'll fix everything :)

[hillie16]

I just hope it's out by the end of January for my NE2 LOL. Love my 8330, but it's pretty beat at this point, blue paint all chipped off on the sides, trackball is almost black and the buttons all feel super loose.

[hillie16]

Of course I could just buy this one on ebay...price is just a leeeeetle too steep:eek:

http://cgi.ebay.com/BlackBerry-Tour-2-9650-FACTORY-UNLOCKED-Wifi-3G-GPS_W0QQitemZ280433766575QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCell_P hones?hash=item414b27b0af

[Mistik1973]

a little.. omg thats insane!

[Metatron]

Of course I could just buy this one on ebay...price is just a leeeeetle too steep:eek:

http://cgi.ebay.com/BlackBerry-Tour-2-9650-FACTORY-UNLOCKED-Wifi-3G-GPS_W0QQitemZ280433766575QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCell_P hones?hash=item414b27b0af

lmao that one on ebay is so sick. has numbers etched into it lmao.

wonder how much salomon dropped for his, considering he probably had 1 of 5 at the time

[Mistik1973]

Sal now mentions a 20h dec -15th jan time frame as a good estimation on twitter... getting curious now :)

[luthersnow74]

Considering they announced the existence of the Storm2 about 2 or 3 weeks before the release, I wonder if we'll be seeing the Tour2 show up on the Blackberry web site soon. Al is pretty much spot on with his tips, so we should see it any day now if the 20th is a possibility.

Man I'm getting excited. What a kick azz Christmas present that would be......

[Metatron]

i guess the best thing we can do is wait

1500 views? do i make a good thread or what

[hillie16]

Things are looking better!!! I can't get it til the end of January, so as long as it's out before then. LOL the ebay seller relisted it at $1600!!!!:dielaugh:

[experiment626]

My guess is that Verizon & Sprint will use the Holiday shopping season to blow out inventory of current 9630s and promote the new 8530.Then in Q1 2010 they'll release the Essex.I'm sure RIM could supply the devices now but it's the providers' call to wait. ;)

[Reaver221]

I agree. My upgrade was Saturday, the 5th but I'm waiting for the Essex to arrive before using it. I hate waiting. :wall:

[Metatron]

My guess is that Verizon & Sprint will use the Holiday shopping season to blow out inventory of current 9630s and promote the new 8530.Then in Q1 2010 they'll release the Essex.I'm sure RIM could supply the devices now but it's the providers' call to wait. ;)
im sure they do that. salomon said the device he has is completely done

I agree. My upgrade was Saturday, the 5th but I'm waiting for the Essex to arrive before using it. I hate waiting. :wall:
i know i want to give in so bad and get the tour but i dont want what everyone already has! my upgrade will be open in a few days
Things are looking better!!! I can't get it til the end of January, so as long as it's out before then. LOL the ebay seller relisted it at $1600!!!!:dielaugh:

1600? lol thats crazyyyyy

[meefer]

Crap the $99 Tour for Sprint is back at best buy. It's hard to resist but with the Essex so close (presumably it'll be a simultaneous release), waiting is the most prudent. I have to google the trackball horror stories every once in a while though.

[Metatron]

yeah i hope verizon doenst do some crazy christmas sales on the tour lol

[Reaver221]

I'm going to tell you why I feel like its impossible for the phone to be out this December.

When I got my first Storm 2, there were very few people that had one and it was almost impossible to get one. 5 months went by and then the phone was released, but at that time there were thousands of pre released ones just floating around. There is 2 essex out right now, the one I have and the one Kevin has, I haven't heard from another one, which really makes me believe that this phone won't be out until 2Q of next year. I could be totally wrong, but I'm basing my guess in experience with other pre releases. :D

2Q?!?!?! ARGH!!!! I have been waiting...Heck I check VZW's site every day hoping it will release soon so I can get my first BB and officially join the community.

[fkabibil]

not that it means much, but i was at best buy today returning my tour and i told him im returning it cause im waiting for the 9650. He confirmed a January release date for the 9650 and he didnt have it confused with the 8530 cause he mentioned that seperately, but we all know how much these guys really know so take it with a grain of salt.

[Metatron]

not that it means much, but i was at best buy today returning my tour and i told him im returning it cause im waiting for the 9650. He confirmed a January release date for the 9650 and he didnt have it confused with the 8530 cause he mentioned that seperately, but we all know how much these guys really know so take it with a grain of salt.

lol i talk to the bestbuy mobile supervisor everyday, she still doenst know what im talking about when i say essex

[dr sauch]

lol i talk to the bestbuy mobile supervisor everyday, she still doenst know what im talking about when i say essex

Seriously, I mentioned it at a Verizon kiosk in the mall, and they looked at me like I was insane. They busted out a Curve 2 and were like "this is what you mean, dude." I mean, I understand that its not announced yet, but it's clearly on the internet. You would think that the Verizon employees read BGR or Crackberry.

[berrylate]

I came close to moving to AT&T the other day and was about to get the 9700. I hesitated a day, and the next day it was $99 on special with additional rebates. The salesman (a nice guy), said he was glad I waited because he knew there would be a sale but couldn't say. Then I was in a Sprint store and the saleman (also a nice guy) looked at me like I was speaking a different language when I talked about the Essex.

I'm suspecting that some of them are told not to give out information until they're told to do so. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me, cause I'm sure a lot of people would pre-order. But maybe they have to commit to unloading stock, or maybe there's no final word till there are so many ready to ship, or maybe I just don't know...But, there is some fun in speculating while we wait. :)

[imm1962]

I don't get it - everybody's bragging that Essex is coming in next 2-3 weeks and today BestBuy bumped up the price of Tour from $99.99 to $149.99.

[Mistik1973]

http://wireless.crackberry.com/template/simpleautocontent.aspx?referringdomain=experts&pageid=4630,4631,5482,3117

$29.99 with Verizon and $99.99 with Sprint

[berrylate]

Sounds like a garage sale...or a clearance?

[dugggg]

BestBuy bumped up the price of Tour from $99.99 to $149.99.

Very few people know about the Essex, so the Tour still looks pretty inviting.

After the recent $100 deal, the current stockpile of Tours might be low enough to justify the $150 price again.

[dugggg]

I bought a 7250 way back when, and when the trackWHEEL completely wore out after 19 months, the device pretty much became a brick.

Fortunately, Verizon gave me an early NE2, and I was quite excited about the Curve, since the trackBALL was replaceable---and replacement trackballs were a mere $5 on eBay.

Still, a trackPAD is clearly way better. So I wasn't too excited when the Tour came out last summer. But I was thrilled to see the new Curve 2 with its flashy trackpad and WiFi, and was planning to replace my 8330 with an 8530 this February with my NE2.

That is, until I found out about the Essex! I love my 8330, but the 9650 will be like a Cray in comparison.

[imm1962]

http://wireless.crackberry.com/template/simpleautocontent.aspx?referringdomain=experts&pageid=4630,4631,5482,3117

$29.99 with Verizon and $99.99 with Sprint

It's not so easy - we are moving from T-Mobile to Sprint (the contract expires in 2 weeks) and my daughter wants Samsung Moment, my wife is for the Hero, and I need a BB.

[Mistik1973]

oh I dont look into those phones. My Fiancee and me both love our blackberry's. Did you check what that link offers? You can choose a different phone as well :)

[Metatron]

just and FYI im still waiting here with my storm 1, havnt used my upgrade. essex, or droid?

[Mistik1973]

Essex of coarse :)

[Metatron]

im hearing so many great things about the droid and seeing that the tour 2 is a tour 1 with a track pad is making me kind of iffy

[Mistik1973]

No Droid for me or a nexus.. The tour 2 will be a huge upgrade from my 8310. The 9650 is popping up in the sprint systems now so it wont be long. Will have one at the end of march when I move to the States. Now if they also get a cdma version of the 9100 then my girl is happy as well :)

[Metatron]

damn your right i dont think i can leave black berry

[Mistik1973]

I cant imagine myself with another smart phone.. period ;)

[Metatron]

yeah your right,on Friday im picking up a tour (used, so that i dont use up my upgrade)

[Mistik1973]

Smart move and then your upgrade for the Tour2?

[CellPhoneJedi]

I look forward to the Tour2 but having a new replacement less than a year after its inital release? That will be quite frustrating not only to myself but to my customers who purchased the original Tour.

[Blue_Cadet3]

Anyone got any news on when this things is going to hit the market?

[Metatron]

it shouldnt be that much longer now that it is showing up in verizons systems now