[MikeDVB#CB]

Hello,

My wife is a forum member here and has a BlackBerry Bold 9000 and is looking forward to the Torch 9800. I've not used a BlackBerry myself but I've had numerous phones in the past and I tend to change phones about once every 6 to 12 months.

What I'm curious about is what do you get on a BlackBerry that you can't get anywhere else? What about your BlackBerry makes you a BlackBerry fan?

I'm not here to clown on BB's or to promote any particular phone - to be honest I'm considering getting one myself and I'd just like to know what I have to look forward to should I decide to go that route.

I do know about BBM and how it's exclusive to BlackBerry's so you don't have to go into any details about the messenger. I do know the Torch (OS6) is going to have a WebKit browser as well.

What I'm primarily after is things you can do with a BlackBerry that you cannot do with any other phone (Android, iPhone, Nokia, Samsung, etc).

Thanks

P.S. Let's try to keep this as objective as possible... Posting "I like the way SMS looks" is just a personal opinion where as perhaps being able to completely re-theme the phone (if you can't do that on any other brand) would be the type of objective information I'm after

[FineWolf]

The notifications on a BlackBerry are absolutely amazing...

Every single aspect of them are customizable... Number of vibrations, ring tone, volume (per notification), etc...

+ with BerryBuzz, you can have reminders for your notifications as well as customize the color of the LED flashes per notification type.

[Bobcat665]

The all in one mailbox is pretty kewl. Getting SMS, MMS, Facebook, Twitter and all emails in one place is a good thing.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Motorcycle Mama]

Superb physical keyboard
BBM to converse with other users on BES who cannot install other IM programs
Superiors alerts for all sorts of phone and data activities
Ease of creating, installing and switching customized themes

[Spiral_ouT]

-Keyboard is unmatchable
-LED notification so you always know when something is waiting for you
-Unsurpassed push email
-Enough social apps to make a person sick
-Customization via themes and apps that allow extra customizing
-Constant updates to fix and improve the OS (something you won't find in other smartphones)

That's what keeps me a blackberry user and abuser

[dmnall]

As someone that jumped over to Android from BB, I love both Android and BB, however, here are some areas where I know BB excels over everyone else. Push E-mail, Fully Customizable Notification Sounds *can use full mp3s with ease with out using an app*, The ability forward text messages straight to e-mail and keeping who it came from with out needing an app. Ease of Upgrading OSes on BB is nice *all through desktop manager*.

I used to be a full physical qwerty keyboard snob *sorry I had to say it* but now I am fine with a touch screen with my Samsung Captivate. I wanted to try out something new and the Torch is a very interesting phone, I have to check it out, however, I want to see RIM do a lot more especially since some other phone manufacturers are actually working on multi-cored cpus for some of their upcoming models. Who would not want a quad core 1 ghz cpu in their phone? I would love to see RIM do this and blow everyone out of the water.

Cheers,
Charlie

[Rootbrian]

-Keyboard is unmatchable
-LED notification so you always know when something is waiting for you
-Unsurpassed push email
-Enough social apps to make a person sick
-Customization via themes and apps that allow extra customizing
-Constant updates to fix and improve the OS (something you won't find in other smartphones)

That's what keeps me a blackberry user and abuser

That includes the quirks that differentiate across different phones too, they can be pesky but there's always a way to work around them

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Rootbrian]

If RIM ever decided to allow us to upgrade the CPU chip on the blackberry's, who would be first to jump in?

(I know this is an insane fantasy reply, but ****, who wouldn't wanna be able to do that?)

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[bgriff25]

being fairly new to BB here are a few of the things I really like. Like a few others have said the customizable alerts are very cool. I like being able to consolidate things into different folders and being able to "hide" stuff I don't use to keep my phone from seeming cluttered. The best aspect of my Tour for me is to be able to use the one key shortcuts. I don't use "dail from homescreen", which enables me to be able to pull up my most commonly used functions with a single key. Calender-L, Memo Pad-D, Contacts-C or A, Messages-M, Browser-B, Saved Messages-V, and Since I have BeWeather I have it set to have the W open it. There are more but these are the ones I use on a regular basis. I love to be able to get to the things I need and use my phone for with one button, and this is why I love my Tour.

[MikeDVB#CB]

Being able to press a key to open an app is nice - do you have any issues with opening apps accidentally or do you make sure to lock the phone?

[jbs-horn]

Battery life. No other phone will go as long on a battery charge at a given level of use.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Jude526]

I sold wireless for about 3 years and BB was a top seller. I didn't own one back then though. I have it now and although I didn't till a couple of years ago, I was still in the loop with them because of selling them and showing customers ins and outs.
I love BB and why I didn't have one back then......which was really stupid of me.
I don't have to carry a pocket calendar. I can pay my bills on my BB . My laptop was in and out of repair for almost 2 months and BB saved me. Finally they gave me a new laptop but still, I use my BB a lot. I can't see myself using anything else. I have looked at Android devices but to be honest, I really love BB. And the new 6.0 OS will be awesome. Since your wife might be getting the Torch, why not use her current BB to get the feel of it? Her current one is still a decent device.

Also as a phone, my calls are crystal clear. Speaker is great and my bluetooth works well too. You can't beat BB It is just a great device and it isn't just for the business person.

[Spiral_ouT]

Being able to press a key to open an app is nice - do you have any issues with opening apps accidentally or do you make sure to lock the phone?

Locking the keyboard is very easy on the newer devices. The top left part of the phone is a lock button and it becomes second nature to press it when you done fiddling around with your berry.

Battery life. No other phone will go as long on a battery charge at a given level of use.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Holy cow.. How did I forget the battery life? Blackberrys have the battery life that other smart phones dream of.

[JeffreyVB]

Security. Encryption for both voice and data.

[Denise in Los Angeles]

Excellent phone calls. I never have dropped calls.

Messaging, texting and emails are so easy, I love that also.

[bgriff25]

Being able to press a key to open an app is nice - do you have any issues with opening apps accidentally or do you make sure to lock the phone?

I carry my BB around in my pocket. I use an OEM pocket pouch which puts my Berry in a stand by mode when I put it in it. I have never "****" dialed anyone and I have never accidentally opened anything. I have mine set to vibrate when it's in a holster or pouch. Being able to customize vibrate alerts I always know what type of message I'm getting before I even pull my BB out of my pocket.

[Midnight Barbecue]

Sturdy hardware. Most phones out there feel like the cheap plastic they are. The BB has a good, solid, quality feel to it. The downside to this of course is the added weight but I think its more than a fair tradeoff.