Originally Posted by
bobauckland Ive just converted from Android to Blackberry, having got a 9780, and Im so disappointed - that I didnt make the switch earlier.
Its actually frightening that its pure luck that Ive come across what Im coming to regard as the best phone Ive ever owned.
I struggled along for 18 months on Android, the novelty was cool in the beginning, but as time passed I was utterly fed up with typing on the touchscreen, with the lack of responsiveness, and ended up using my phone to check for new mail but then rushing to a computer to actually reply to it.
I downloaded a lot of apps initally, and then in all honesty found myself using maybe 2 or 3 regularly. I actually hated opening the market app at all as it would tell me 15 apps needed upgrading and I would just close it down.
My primary use is phone calls and email. I have a work email and a personal email and I need to respond to work emails in a far more timely manner than my personal mails. I moved off my previous network as I was not getting proper signal in our new house.
My wife has an iphone and she uses about 4 apps regularly and its decent as a media device, utterly hopeless as a phone, dropping signal all over the place and dropping calls as well.
So I read about all the doom and gloom surrounding Blackberry and I kept reading about the keyboards which interested me, with the negative sentiment surround RIM I got a class deal, a new 9780 free, on a 24 month contract, 15 pounds a month for 500 mins, unlimited text and 500 mb Blackberry data. The push email thing and an actual keyboard made me think what the heck Ill give it a try, and it was 10pounds a month less than my old HTC hero.
Ive had it for 2 days and am actually a little upset, it just blows away any phone Ive ever had in the past, and its so irritating that people actually put it down and I havent had it before. The keyboard is a joy to use, I find myself actually using it as a portable workstation and responding to my mails on the device itself.
The holster is just rocking with it silencing ringtones when the phone is in it and the ringtones work fine out of the holster. I got the BBuzz app and Im just astounded how I can now just glance at the led indicator, which is easily visible out of my holster, and know at a glance whether I have a text, miss call, a work email, or a personal email. I just cant believe I was living without this functionality. The battery life blows any phone Ive had out of the water except for the really old black and white Nokias.
What really gets my blood boiling is all these articles about how Blackberries are done, the only stats they push out is apps. 100s of thousands, seriously, who has even been through the whole apps store on ios or android? How many do average people use? I find it utterly incredible that when I was looking for a phone, I was thrown shedloads of stats about apps I dont need, and not one person could advise me on this functionality on the blackberry which I now feel I cant live without.
Apple throw out stats that suit them, nothing about their RAM usage or processor power, basically any stat they have in their favour they push as the most important stat, and people buy it!!! I cant believe it! My wife iphone absolutely sucks in comparison to my Blackberry and shes stuck with it for another 18 months. In which time there will be 2 more iphones that look absolutely the same. And yet they are praised for innovation and blackberry criticised for not impriving on past oses? My wife had an iphone right through to the 4 and I barely notice any difference, its the same form factor and its just boring now.
I have a waterproof video camera which I can use regardless of the weather and a Tom tom to help me out when Im lost, as a communications device no phone Ive ever had can top the 9780. I would never ever sacrifice the communication functionality for a better camera, that would, to me, be the height of stupidity. Look I cant get signal or make decent calls, I cant type a proper response to this email, but here Ive managed to take a classy picture of myself looking frustrated - result!
Even on this forum theres a sticky on top saying whos leaving blackberries and for what os, who cares, wheres the sticky for people whove just discovered how far blackberry wipes the floor with any other phone available at the moment?
The only app which I miss, and I do miss it, is Skype, because that was what I used to keep in touch with my family who live abroad. It is a big miss but Im hopeful that will change with Skype having new owners, but thats one big area where its disappointing theres no options for PC to Blackberry VOIP.
Aside from that, Im just over the moon, and I wish there was some way to show other people like me, looking for a communication device, how much Blackberry has to offer them. Theres no app that can give any other phone the functionality my blackberry has in terms of instantly allowing me to see which email address just sent me a mail while its still in a protective case and allow me to respond securely, thats something to think about.
Apps have a limited amount of use past a certain point, I just cant wait for people to realise that and look for actual functionality in phones again, but I guess I shouldnt complain as if people knew how awesome this phone is, Id be paying a lot more than I am for it.
Edit 1: Forgot to mention the compressed data making my Blackberry better for me when it comes to data usage and better for the network. It just gets better and better