The Best: Blackberry 9700 (Bold 2)
21
December
12/21/2009 Update:
About six months ago, I was seriously considering getting an iPhone (see that original post after the break), but decided to stay with the Blackberry line of phones (despite the massive outage last week!)
The Holy Grail of Blackberries?
I just wanted to say, that I’m very pleased that I didn’t jump into the iPhone world, because this new Blackberry 9700 is certainly the best one I’ve used to date. Coming from the 8900, which was quite good – the non-3G speed and most annoying trackball that got clogged constantly needed improvement.
The new Blackberry 9700 is just about perfect in all respects. From the new faster processor, 3G reliability (5 bars almost everywhere!), and the great optical trackpad – I couldn’t be happier!
For those users who aren’t so “app-happy” (i.e., download tons of crap “just because”) – and want a phone which is fantastic for text and email-heavy uses – this phone should strongly be considered. It also gets incredible battery life (often going 3+ days without needing a charge). It’s available from both AT&T and T-Mobile for under $100 (free with AT&T).
While I might occasionally get envious about the thousands of “cool” apps that the iPhone has available, 99.9% of them I could live without, and would more likely be a “waste of time and mental energy” to me. Maybe one day as a “second” line to play around with – but the productivity I’d lose just on the keyboard alone isn’t worth it!
See previous updates after the jump!
6/30/2009:
I’m normally pretty good at making purchasing decisions (but have my occasional faults – like that senseless Juicer)…
This is one of those decisions that I could use all the help I can get!
From Blackberry to iPhone – worth it?
Currently, I’m a fairly happy user of the Blackberry 8900 – which is the best Blackberry I’ve ever used (on the T-Mobile network). Works without a hitch – is thin, light and a breeze to type on and use. It effortlessly handles the 6,000+ emails I get weekly. I don’t write love stories on the thing, but occasionally will compose a decent length email.
However, now that the iPhone has gone through a relatively decent maturation process – I’m seriously considering the new iPhone 3GS because I think I might be able to actually get more use out of it.
Has anyone made that switch?
The first thing I’m curious about is, has anyone made a similar switch from a latest generation Blackberry (8900, Bold, or Touch) – to the iPhone?
What were the pro’s and con’s? Are you happy? Any drawbacks? Do you regret your decision? Has your new iPhone 3GS overheated yet?
Other than the “apps”…
You’d assume that one of the major draws of the iPhone, is the bevy of applications out there that supposedly make life easier and more fun. And I’m sure I’d enjoy or get use out of many of them – that is the least of my concerns at this point.
I’m more interested in how it handles EMAIL – and more specifically – GMAIL accounts.
- Currently – the Blackberry is a “push” device. As soon as I receive an email on my Gmail account, it shows up on my phone. The guy at the Hoboken AT&T store said push email was possible on the iPhone, but on the Apple website, it only mentioned Yahoo! email as an available push service – everything else was “pull” scheduled email retrieval (i.e., every 15 minutes, etc.)
- I’m not always a big fan of the way Gmail threads the conversations when you read in a browser (OK for my personal email, but for 411 it’s a bit of a pain). Both my Outlook and Blackberry clients receive each portion of the email “conversation” as an individual email. This is preferred for me. Does the iPhone do the same thing? The guy at the store was unable to answer that question for me.
Background applications?
This is another aspect that I might be concerned with. The AT&T guy said that you can essentially run only one application at a time? Does that mean I cannot type emails while listening to iTunes? If anyone knows, please share. He said background applications “not yet…” implying that it’s an upcoming feature? A new model? Future OS releases?
Cost: Significantly more
My last concern was with the cost. I’m currently paying only $65 for my TMO service.
I don’t need more than 600 minutes (I’ve never gone over – and typically use between 500-590 “daytime” min per month). AT&T doesn’t have a plan that “fits” me exactly. It’s either too few (450) or too many (900). I might pick the 450 plan, because mobile-to-mobile are free (even though I’m unsure which people I call have AT&T or not). So 450 minutes plus the required $30 data plan is $90/month already.
The text messages are another quandary. They offer 200, 1500 or unlimited. My past 24 months, I’ve used between 300-350 per month. Another excess I’ll have to pay for with AT&T. 1500 text messages adds $15 per month. ($105 total now).
One service I’d probably consider is the $2.99 “roadside assistance” – so that plus taxes, makes my monthly AT&T bill closer to $115-120/month. Worth the $600 extra per year?
Nervous about the two-year commitment
I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for nearly a decade – and have zero commitment. However, making the switch to AT&T would make me their servant for 24 months, or I’d have to pay a pro-rated penalty.
Another issue I have is my old phone number. I cannot blindly make the switch without trying the iPhone extensively first, then I can “port” my old number over.
The one saving grace is that you do have a “30 day money back guarantee” with AT&T and if I decide it’s just not my bag of minutes, I can cancel.
Wait a little longer?
Well, T-Mobile is slowly rolling out their 3G network, and even has a new “Touch” Phone that is getting semi-warm pre-reviews (due out in July)…
I guess my main concern overall is usability, especially coming from a hard-core Blackberry user.
Any suggestions?
December 21st 2009 - 20:25:57 |
Chris- good points… I do agree the iPhone “interface” is slick in many ways.
However, I think the intuitive nature of the BB menu system is great (i.e., it always knows what you might want to do when you click the menu button – options always nearby, and ready to go). What part is hard to navigate? Within an application? On the home screen?
Agree the GPS maps on the BB leave a lot to be desired – but I never need a map anyway (have one in the car if I need it). I’m the type that has always loved “studying” the maps before I go anywhere new, etc.
Out of curiosity – which 4 or 5 iPhone apps really mean a lot to you to warrant a second device? For work, play or both?
In response to chrisjur who said:
I have used an iPhone since it was released back in 2007 and travel all over the world with it without any problems. When I am on the road, I am also attached to my Blackberry. I have made the decision to carry both because I have always felt that the iPhone (even Gen 1) was superior to any Blackberry I had, but the Blackberry is far superior as an email machine. I live and die by email, but iPhone doesn’t handle email quite as good as any Blackberry – it is slow to type on, slow to send and receive and if you get hundreds of emails a day, it is a real drain on your battery. Also, for an international user like me, you will suck up your international data allotted to you very quickly, where you get flat-rate international data on my BBerry 9700 with T-Mobile.
I do agree that the Bold 9700 is a nice device – beautiful screen, sleek, smaller than the original bold, feels good in the hand, etc. I was really wondering if I would love it so much that I would give up my iPhone and just carry the Blackberry. Not the case, however…
The Blackberry operating system is still clunky, hard to navigate and getting basic things like well-formatted HTML email is slow and still a challenge (even with third party apps). I am not an app whore, but iPhone apps are miles ahead of anything created for the Blackberry and I would be rendered useless on the road without the 4 or 5 apps that really mean a lot to me. The browser on the Blackberry is inferior, as is the maps application.
All in all, the Bold 9700 is a great piece of hardware that runs a still-crappy piece of software. If you’ve used an iPhone, sometimes it feels like playing in a Windows 3.1 world when you could be running Windows 7.
Then again, it’s all relative. If you just want to send texts and talk, who cares?
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December 21st 2009 - 20:40:14 |
First let me say that I don’t drag around two devices with me every moment of my life, mainly only when I am working or traveling for work and I usually just stash the Blackberry in my briefcase or somewhere when I’m on the go. I could never lug two phones around with me every moment of my life.
The most important iPhone apps to me are:
- Maps: very fast and accurate, I depend on them incredibly to find places
- Salesforce.com: I run every aspect of my company on it. Not very sexy, but a great app.
- Tripit – Controls every aspect of my travel (great website, too!)
- Yelp
- iDisk and AirSharing – for retrieving remote files I keep in “the cloud” and sharing them with local PCs
- TD Ameritrade
Then there are a million other stupid apps which I could live without, but constantly use Facebook, MLB Live, the web browser, Mint.com app, and many of the news apps. CNN’s $1.99 paid app is amazing.
In response to hoboken411 who said:
However, I think the intuitive nature of the BB menu system is great (i.e., it always knows what you might want to do when you click the menu button – options always nearby, and ready to go). What part is hard to navigate? Within an application? On the home screen?
Agree the GPS maps on the BB leave a lot to be desired – but I never need a map anyway (have one in the car if I need it). I’m the type that has always loved “studying” the maps before I go anywhere new, etc.
Out of curiosity – which 4 or 5 iPhone apps really mean a lot to you to warrant a second device? For work, play or both?
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December 21st 2009 - 20:47:55 |
We bought two of them last week for my wife and teenage son, who have very different needs from a smartphone, and they are both very happy with them. Number one, it runs on Verizon’3 3G network, which is pretty much acknowledged to be the most reliable network. None of that dropped calls nonsense like AT&T. You can also access wifi with it if you prefer (though I don’t know why you would want to, except maybe to save on the phone bill). It has over 10,000 apps, which is not nearly as many as the iPhone, but so far we’ve found everything we were looking for, or at least an equivalent of it. It has both a physical pullout keyboard and a touch keyboard. It’s got a 5 MP camera plus a nice video cam. Obviously it plays music, videos, etc. It doesn’t sync directly with iTunes like the iPhone does, but it comes with a 16GM smart card, and you can just drag your files to it. The card can be removed and upgraded, and the battery is also removable, unlike the iPhone, so if you run out just plug in aan extra and you’re good to go. It runs Google’s Android OS and hs Google related features like voice search (Tell it to find 600 Washington St, Hoboken or to look up a phone number and it does the rest). It’s fast–my son says that he is on the browser in the time it takes his old iPod Touch to even start up. It also lets you run up to 6 applications at once, unlike the iPhone. It’s got a built-in turn by turn GPS. It’s all very customizable and user-friendly. And right now Verizon is giving a $100 rebate so it costs $200. Some folks have complained about battery life but both of their phones have been on and used often for three days without a charge. I almost bought one for myself too but I want to hold out till next year and see if Verizon hooks up with Apple on the iPhone, which is rumored to be happening. If they do, and Verizon rolls out their 4G network, that’s going to be a pretty hard combination to beat. But if I needed a new device today I would not hesitate to pick up a Droid for myself. I probably sound like I work for Verizon or Google but I don’t–I’m just really impressed with this, much more than I expected to be, and I’m an Apple loyalist so they’re going to have to woo me big time next year or I’m making the move to the Droid myself.
In response to plywood who said:
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December 21st 2009 - 21:19:06 |
all these apps mentioned and you dont have 411?
In response to chrisjur who said:
The most important iPhone apps to me are:
- Maps: very fast and accurate, I depend on them incredibly to find places
- Salesforce.com: I run every aspect of my company on it. Not very sexy, but a great app.
- Tripit – Controls every aspect of my travel (great website, too!)
- Yelp
- iDisk and AirSharing – for retrieving remote files I keep in “the cloud” and sharing them with local PCs
- TD Ameritrade
Then there are a million other stupid apps which I could live without, but constantly use Facebook, MLB Live, the web browser, Mint.com app, and many of the news apps. CNN’s $1.99 paid app is amazing.
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December 21st 2009 - 22:44:58 |
I had a Blackberry Pearl since it was first released on T-Mobile and loved it. I switched to iPhone this summer after the second time I spent 2 hours on the phone with RIM support – they couldn’t understand why the device was trying to delete appointments from my desktop calendar. My contract was up and I decided that I was tired of carrying around a blackberry and iPod. I’ve been very happy with the switch. I understand that Verizon users don’t want to give up their service, but I don’t see much of a difference between T-Mobile and AT&T. I use Google sync for my email, contacts and calendar. Google’s push email is still in beta – some people have issues and others don’t. I unfortunately have issues so I just push 3 days worth of email. I love not having to plug in the phone to sync contacts and calendar. I use the web browser a lot and it puts the blackberry to shame. The best apps are the maps and there are a lot of apps to help you find the closest bar. ExitStrategy has MTA subway, bus and street maps and it’s been helpful when taking the subway to Brooklyn. I was thinking about getting the My Touch since I was already on T-Mobile, but I didn’t want to give up my music on iTunes.
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December 21st 2009 - 22:45:04 |
Other folks I know with AT&T but not the iPhone seem to have a lot more issues than I do. I don’t know if I’m just lucky or if its the device. My friend had the Bold with AT&T and couldn’t stay on most calls for more than 30 seconds and wound up just going back to Verizon. I also travel a lot and really have not had any issues with dropped calls or lack of bars, except at the Yankee parade but everyone was having issues there.
I also still carry a BB for work, and I don’t know how you can even compare. I do agree if you are using it mostly for email and for many emails per day, BB is better, but the web browsing alone makes the iPhone way superior.
In response to plywood who said:
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