[fahadchaudhry]

Hi,

Need help with following queries:

- I own Galaxy S3 and want to change my phone now. I am considering Q5/Q10 and 9790. My first question is, considering current situation of BB, will it be wise decision to buy a BB handset or not?

- Second, the reason I am also considering 9790 is its "Trackpad". In past, I have owned 9300 and 9360 and I found trackpad very helpful to navigate and edit emails/messages. So, if I go for Q5/Q10, shall I miss trackpad badly or not?

- Things I need in my BB are email, facebook, twitter, skype, evernote, whatsapp, google drive and dropbox. Are these present in BB10?

- Lastly, shall I have to subscribe for BIS for emails in BB10, just like before or not? When abroad and no BIS service, is there a way to get emails? Like, GMAIL app for BB which works without BIS?

Thanks

[cdlaidlaw]

Hi,

Need help with following queries:

- I own Galaxy S3 and want to change my phone now. I am considering Q5/Q10 and 9790. My first question is, considering current situation of BB, will it be wise decision to buy a BB handset or not?

- Second, the reason I am also considering 9790 is its "Trackpad". In past, I have owned 9300 and 9360 and I found trackpad very helpful to navigate and edit emails/messages. So, if I go for Q5/Q10, shall I miss trackpad badly or not?

- Things I need in my BB are email, facebook, twitter, skype, evernote, whatsapp, google drive and dropbox. Are these present in BB10?

- Lastly, shall I have to subscribe for BIS for emails in BB10, just like before or not? When abroad and no BIS service, is there a way to get emails? Like, GMAIL app for BB which works without BIS?

Thanks

Wow that's a lot of great questions. I hope I do them justice

1) switching to BlackBerry now: well only you can make this decision. If your concern is if your BlackBerry will "work" if the worst should happen then go with a BB10 device. It doesn't rely on BIS (uses the same Active Sync Microsoft standard as iPhone and most other devices).

2) I use a Q10 and I will admit to missing the trackpad from time-to-time but not enough to go back to OS7. Mainly because of your next question but also because I don't mind the "navigation ring" which I find just as easy to use. You'll just miss the "shift-key+trackpad" quick text selection (sigh).

3) wow that's a list of apps! With the exception of Google Drive (may have a web interface though) all are available on BB10. I have also successfully side-loaded (check crackberry for details); Netflix, Instagram, Pulse, FlipBoard and Comixology. So Apps really aren't a problem. With the release of BlackBerry 10.2 there will be even better support as the "Android" support in BB10 updates from the ancient v2.3 to v4.0 (yeah)

4) Finally, only BB7 (or OS7) needs a push service like BIS. To repeat myself (sorry) BB10 doesn't need it. In fact you can use a regular data plan with BB10 and any carrier (though Bell Mobility won't let you for some reason). Just be careful as "data compression" is a thing of the past now

Hope this was helpful

[BigAl_BB9900]

Basically agree with all that has been posted in response (see cdlaidlaw above)

I've had my Q10 about a month now - and OS7 BB's now seem very dated

Re: point 2) - I still haven't got the hang of the "navigation ring" - the trackpad was far superior for editing text. But, also.... the (optical) trackpad on my Bold9900 was also affected by sunlight, which made reading long emails on a sunny day nigh on impossible (eg you didn't have to touch the trackpad, but the email would just randomly scroll up and down!)

The Q10 is the best keyboard I have ever used on a smartphone (and I've had BlackBerry's since the year dot - including the pager style ones with the clicky wheel!)

I got my Q10 thrown in with a year's contract (EE UK Business Contract) - so if BlackBerry does go south, I'm not stuck forever with an unsupported device

I've played with the Q5, and it seems a lot less solid than the Q10 and the keyboard is too small for my stubby fingers

Re: Apps - I use Evernote everyday (synced with two PC's and my PlayBook) and it is excellent on the Q10. My only gripe about Apps on the Q10 is that my bank (Co-op UK - which is currently having financial difficulties!) hasn't yet developed a Q10 App (and their OS7 App had been very useful on my previous Bold)

Note: I had to return my first Q10 as the space-bar-key was faulty - a lot of other people have commented on CB about a similar issue - my provider (EE-UK) couriered me a new phone the next day, and my current Q10 is excellent

Good luck with your purchase

[Deanig_12]

hey i know this may not help but ive just got the Q5 today am im blown away by it!! i cant wait for the 10.2 update to see what features we have then so my advice would be deffo the Q5

[cdlaidlaw]

Oh be sure to get a slim case too. I purchased a $3.00 barely there type plastic shell case off eBay and I've dropped the Q10 twice (both times on the driveway). The case took all the scratches and the Q10 is still mint!

Best of luck with your decision

[kye2000]

Id say go for the Q10. If you really want the trackpad then go for 9900 and not the 9790

[UnitG2]

I am almost a month in to my Q5 from a 9810... and I still have mixed feelings OS10 vs OS7.

But I think I now understand how I am different from most smartphone users- my smartphone is my personal organiser and NOT a consumption device (with one big exception: audio). I could care less about Netflix, Facebook or even really browsing. Frankly browsing sucks on my minipad so losing 4 inches doesnt improve anything.

First off, anything but 10.2 is useless- a task couldnt even have a proper due date. And all of your tasks are locked into proprietary data storage: loose your phone and your tasks are gone. Wait 2 weeks for the next phone to show up to restore the backup to. Third party solutions to this have failed to deliver- retype them by hand into Outlook.

OS7 was really at the top of its form. I had it fixed up with a few apps, addto, a Today screen wallpaper and man, I was on top of things. Now I am dealing with a few rough edges here and there I hope get fixed in 10.3. You know, things you didnt realise you needed until they are gone, like going to vibrate during appointments and normal when finished. OS7 just worked.

I guess the most egregious miss is a lack of any working podcast app. I have tried and paid for everyone of them. They will crash, or cant play an audiobook, or save to SD, or skip ads... the list goes on. My previous goto app Podtrapper has a weak Android version that just doesnt translate well when sideloaded. And there is no convenience key anymore you can set to skip ads. Now, OS10 devices make you pick them up, log in, look at them, pick your swipe that used to be one click of a convenient key.

Do I hate OS10. No, love the multitasking, like the interface, like the look. It depends on who you are and where your balance is. Looking for a consumption device that does the best job of messaging than the other platforms with a very cool UI? OS10. Looking for a fully developed personal organiser with excellent mesaging and killer podcast and audiobook support? OS7.