At first, we figured our Instinct here at Engadget HQ had just woken up on the wrong side of the bed, but we're now receiving a flood of tips from individuals nationwide having the same issues. Put simply, it seems that certain data services are thoroughly borked, with our Weather app being unable to refresh for at least the past 18 hours (some are reporting even longer). Additionally, we're hearing that folks are having to manually refresh their email and deal with all sorts of error messages when attempting to use any of the data services. So, what gives? Are you having data-related issues with your Instinct? C'mon Sprint, this is your
best-selling EV-DO device of all time -- it'd be nice to have it working for the weekend. Oh, and great job showing all those
angered iPhone 3G users that your network doesn't have issues, too.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted Jul 11th 2008 6:01PM
I was having some major email weirdness with my Centro using Sprint's email app. It's been pretty solid for the last few months, but for some reason it was acting squirrelly yesterday. I couldn't send a few emails... but I was able to send picture mail... and I was able to navigate to Gmail just fine using the web browser. Today, all is back to normal.
I know they were asking about the Instict, specifically.
I'm just speculating it could have been some general data wonkyness. Perhaps a sudden high volume->sudden heavy load situation? I'd sure hope that was the only reason.
My instinct is doing the same thing.
Its been messing up since i got it
think im going to get the IPhone 3G
I have 2 instincts, one for wife, one for me. Phones have been working pretty solid for the most part, no web crashing (browser is such ghetto junk, but has not crashed), sms and mms has been working fine, my weather 'works' but its giving me temps from this winter (says 70's and its been 100 for sometime), navigation has been working awesome, voice recognition crap works good.
All in all, I do not LOVE the instinct, but my wife does. I would have done the iphone gig, but for comparible plan as my sprint it would cost me another 50 bucks a month=600 a year. Not worth it.
I just returned mine to the Sprint store. I only had it about a week. When my alarm would go off it would still vibrate even after I turned it off, web browsing wasn't displaying properly or crashed, and I had to either turn automatic roaming on and go roaming every 20 minutes or lose coverage completely when I went into an area that Sprint wasn't around. This was a very poor release..only two things I liked about the phone was landscape QWERTY and haptic feedback.
Ummm Yeah This Thing Is Truly a POS!
I cannot get the thing to keep service, I upgraded from a Palm Centro and never had service problems. The Instinct is constantly fluctuating in signal strength and goes from 7 bars to no bars to 3 bars to roaming all within seconds no matter where you are. Sprint "Tier 2 Support" advised me to return the thing and get another at which point the rep at the store says his does the same thing and these people told me not to worry about it because I get free roaming. But none the less this still effects service just today I got some crazy message about America Roaming Network while trying to place a call telling me to use a credit card.
Landscape Keyboard is just as ridiculous who is going to use a keyboard that goes a b c d e f g, it would have been just as easy to setup that screen with a QWERTY.
Finally Web browser is obivously garbage everyone knows that and there are absolutely no apps for this phone which renders it just as useless as any other sprint phone.
I figure just put the damn thing on ebay even at 350 i still have enough to cover the sprint etf and also not lose any money on the phone.
I had many of the issues you guys were having with my instinct going from full strength to no strength to roaming and in and out of power vision and normal vision as well. This all ended with one simple call to a Sprint representative who said that my phone did not have the needed PRL update. PRL stands for Preferred Roaming List. The tech said he would set it up for me and that in 10 minutes I should call *2 and tell the computerized voice promt "PRL Update." It made me stay on the line for a minute while it programmed my phone and viola! I now have consistant strong signal and a great connection to the power vision network. Not sure if this will work for everyone, but it is worth calling and asking. I now actually enjoy using my Instinct for web browsing and data services. It seems to be more responsive since it is not always searching for a signal and the power vision speeds are great. Hope this helps some. Thanks.
When I had the Glyde (touch screen w/ physical slider keyboard), also made by Samsung - but for Verizon - it was very buggy. And it got worse not better. (I returned it.)
I was wondering if the same thing would happen with the Instinct, and it sounds like it has.
Sprint is having network related issues. They have been for the past few days. My ringback tone isnt working properly, and my caller ID was messed up. I called in, and the wait was 20 minutes. No thanks. I did hear a message that they are having application issues and not to call in about it because they are resolving the issue. Strange...
I have an instinct and have a few problems, but it's worked well overall. Over the last few days I've had few problems. The only ones I've encountered are slow reaction time of the phone if trying to switch through apps quickly (like email, to home screen, to messaging, to web all in a few clicks) and not being able to get data service about movies near from the "movies" button. But email has been notifying me promptly, weather has been pretty much dead on (the radar helps too), so I dunno what the problem is...
That being said, the problem of it lagging between apps has been persistent. Hopefully it's something that can (and will) be fixed with a firmware update. Overall, I'm happy with the phone. I didn't expect to get an Iphone 3G, but I'm also not paying for one, and most of what I use it for is great. Being able to hot swap batteries ain't too shabby either.
There is a software fix coming soon for some of the net issues that users have been experiencing. It's a known issue for alot of them. Sometimes hard resets seem to correct the issue. Right now, I can't get any of the On Demand apps to work. Email has always been quirky as well.
Same thing here - San Francisco - Weather and News refreshing period does not work, Email having to be manually refreshed, and things like that.
I honestly dont think its a phone issue if its THIS many people already saying things about it. Clearly its a provisioning update error in Sprints EVDO Network thats at fault.
Its like iPhones issues today- its not the phone, its the network.
Finally a network to back it up - slippage going on here.
Sprint - DONT FAIL ME NOW!
yeah the software fix is also suposed to fix the keybored problem that keeps opera mini from working and other then the bad browser i think the phone is great so i will be completley satisfied if the fix comes true
I had Instinct for a week and got rid of it to get iPhone yesterday. The only issue that I experienced was activating it through AT&T due to overwhelming demand. Last year when iPhone first came out same issues happened so I was ready.
iPhone software is excellent with plenty of cool and FREE 3rd party app. Instinct on the other hand had both Sprint network issues and software issues. Instinct should be renamed to Instink. The web browser stinks, MP3s don't play loud, Videos don't work right, Touch screen freezes, and list goes on.
Did anyone test Instinct before releasing it or the public is testing it?
I just got my Talk/Message/Data Share 1500 Min for $99 Monthly
I believe I got a good deal .. also I bought 2 Instinct me & for $79 each
Talk/Message/Data Share 1500- $129.99
Plan Features:
* Sprint Talk/message/data Share Plan
* Line 1: $129.99 Minimum Monthly Charge 25% Corporate Discount
Comes up to $99 Monthly
* Line 2:$0 Monthly Charge
* Lines 3-5: $19.99 Monthly Charge
* 1500 Shared Anytime Minutes
* Unlimited Sprint Mobile to Mobile
* Nationwide Long Distance Included
* Unlimited Night & Weekend Mins. Included
* Nights: M-Th 7PM-7AM Wknd: F 7PM-M 7AM
* Caller ID
* Call Waiting
* Three-way Calling
* Voicemail
My instincts told me not to buy this phone.
I had the Instinct(s) (as I had to have it replaced three times) for two weeks starting June 19th. I posted the laundry list of issues I was having and everyone told me I was just being a whiny little baby. I'm so happy to finally see other people having the same issues. I took that crap back. Sprint has a great network, but that Instinct has some serious radio issues, making calling and data services impossible to use. My Instinct would have full sprint service, no service, full digital roam, no service, full sprint service all in the same second, and it would to this constantly, causing my battery life to drain like crazy.
I'll spare you the laundry list. Anyone interested can just visit the sprintusers forum.
Good riddance. The iPhone 3G isn't perfect, but at least its core functions work nearly flawlessly.
And to follow up, I thought it was a network issue. Fortunately I had my Samsung a900m still. With sprint's new online ESN swapping feature it took 2 minutes to switch phones and discover that the network was fine.
I'm aware that many phones have issues when released to the market. I'm also aware that Samsung will probably release an update for this phone once they get the Omnia out of the door. I just couldn't wait a year.
I don't want to sound like I'm telling people to stay away from Sprint, either. The Sprint Everything Plans are an excellent value, especially for what you get, and also happen to be the cheapest plans available against all competitors (excluding SERO which is going to be gone anyway...)
Sprint faithfuls should wait for the Touch Pro.
I have had the Instinct since the end of June. I have a MotoRazer v3m (line 2 now). I had no problems on July 2, before I swapped phones (line 2 was upgraded from an LG VI-5225 to the Instinct a few days earlier. Services worked fine. On July 3, I swapped phone lines, and now when I reboot the phone, and go into voicemail, I get a provisioning error. Yet when it's been on, I still get visual voicemail.
Another note... when calling into voicemail... no option to create a message to another Sprint customer. When I go into the voicemail on the second line, and press [2] and enter my primary phone number associated to the Instinct, it states that it is not a valid Sprint PCS number... however, it "is" on the Sprint PCS Network. (I was on the Comcast Pivot service before the de-merger on July 25, 2008.)
As for the navigation.. one main problem, the other a preference. There is not adjustment for volume of the prompt, so if you are listening to the stored mp3 files, they are louder. On the MotoRzr v3m with navigation, I can adjust the volume within the navigation, as it is speaking. The preference is that it does not include a "compass with approximate speed" as does the version on th MotoRzr.
Hopefully they come up with some updates. It would also be nice to play an audio stream, such as at http://flmbcorg.homedns.org:8080. Maybe someone will come up with a program. I don't see that ability within the builtin media player.
-Brian
Line 1: 541-513-3844
Line 2: 541-232-4241
Mine is acting fine....
I just upgraded to an instinct. I have had no problems with the phone except for the media player. When I transfered songs to the phone I received an error saying I had too many songs. when I deleted the songs from the phone I then recieved a error M508 application error and the player would not open
Let’s just say this so-called iPhone killer is nowhere near ready for the masses. Constant hiccups; web browser crashes every time you create a bookmark, average call quality and mediocre media player. I still don’t understand why CNet.com gave the Instinct a score of 8/10 because it’s more like a 6 to me.
I have a problem, just today i noticed that the speaker on my instinct is messed up, it crackles and it sounds like somebody is clapping symbals together, but when the headphones are plugged in, the sound is fine. It only sucks when i take the headset out, how can i fix this? It is the same when i am talking to someone and now i hate talking on the phone becuase the sound is so annoying it makes me want to chuck my phone right out of the window. I just got this phone and i'm really upset over it, any suggestions?
My Insitinct is great. I live in Atlanta, so maybe it IS the networks, because here, it's been smooth sailing with this phone. I can get service where AT&T customers can't. The features of the phone have worked great, so I'm sorry for those who have been disappointed with this phone. One thing to remember is, Power Vision services are not available in ALL areas, just like 3G service isn't available in all areas for the iPhone, so if you are out of the area, it affects the phones core performance. I do have friends at school that have iPhones, and frankly, all they use them for is music and texting, which seems to be all the iPhone was made to do. I don't own one, so I'm not the expert - but if no one uses those "ultra cool" features supposedly available on the iPhone, there must be a reason. The Instinct is the most useful phone I've ever owned, and 99% of the problems I've had with my phone have been "Pilot Error," if you know what I mean.
I have the Instinct and all is well. My only complaint is that some of the apps don't function similarly in similar actions. The delete or trash can does not work the same among apps AND there should be a fail-safe to keep from inadvertantly throwing away a contact when scrolling through the screen. I've done it now twice. However, my mother has the iPhone 3G and step-father has the original iPhone. Her's is nice but not near what the hype claims. His is crap and very... very flimsy.
More apps please for my Terrific Instinct. That's all I ask.