 9780 vs. the 9800
First, let me start of by saying there are too many people trying to figure out which of these two devices to get - and I was seeing threads popping up every single day about "which of these 2 shud i getz???" So I wanted to write something, from my point of view to maybe help people.
So – with my semester now at a close, I have a lot of free time, and I always wanted to write a type of review or “comparison” of two phones from the perspective of a busy college student! Since now I finally have time, I figured I would write something, and see what the good people here on the forums think and hopefully would be able to critique it a bit ☺!
A little background about me – I currently attend Northeastern University in Boston studying International Business while working part time at a law firm. My family lives in Europe and so I travel quite a lot. About my devices: I currently have a 9780 and a 9800, the 9780 for work and the 9800 for play. I use T-Mobile for the Bold and ATT for the Torch – and I will try to avoid discussion of service and the carriers support etc., since I live in Boston, coverage is never an issue so I feel it would be moot to delve into the subject. So here goes nothing…!
From 9000 to 9700 to 9780 the Bold has always been a good friend to me. It has always been the perfect phone. It was always easy to keep connected to the social world while keeping in touch with the business world as well. When the Torch came out I was still on the 9700, but it looked so appealing to me, it was something so new and I just had to have it. I had so many problems with it though – before I got a device that actually worked, I went through five devices and now am on my sixth! Luckily, this one has been great to me.
PS: DON’T TAKE THIS AS A SUPER SERIOUS REVIEW! This is just me, writing about two phones and what I like and don’t like!
School –
For anyone that remembers back to when they were in an institute of higher learning – they might recall waking up to a flood of e-mails regarding your lunch menu for the day, activities that are going on at campus, food drives, blood drives, etc. Well, luckily with your BlackBerry you can wake up in the morning and feel ever-so-popular with twenty or so e-mails just ready to read. The e-mail accounts on my two devices are the same, and depending on where my hand wanders in the morning I grab one of the two devices – but recently I have been going for the Torch more and more. It gives me more information to be seen on a single page and I get through deleting all the spam quicker. I find the larger screen a bit friendlier to the morning eye.
Throughout the day, I find the Torch by my side as well most of the time, I often actually leave my Bold at home on certain days because I know I will be pulling out the Torch most of the time anyway. Why? Well because I use my phones to organize my life. Keeping track of projects, tests, work, etc., well it just would not be possible for me without my phone. I love OS6’s calendar which in my opinion is far more appealing to the eye, and while the Bold is a great phone to keep you in check – I have found more and more that the ease of clicking a certain time and date with your finger instead of trying to pin-point it with the track pad is far superior and quicker – and when your trying to get to your next class halfway across the city, the speed of your phone matters quite a bit. The faster you are in and out – the better.
Now, my problem with the Torch throughout the day is just that – it sometimes barely makes it through the day. I usually am up at 5AM everyday, which is when my phones come off the charger, and starting at 5AM my Torch starts its day by being an MP3 player for a morning run, and from there on it doesn’t stop – I would definitely say it undergoes extremely heavy use throughout the day, and sometimes it doesn’t make it till the evening. I usually get home around 8PM and by that point my phone is dead. Luckily the Bold is there to save the day, and even with the same heavy use the Bold has never failed me – not once! On a final note, as a student in the city I hope from trains to metro to bus all day long, and I must say, the Torch in general keeps me far more occupied while waiting/riding then my Bold does, it makes surfing the web a bit more pleasant in my eyes.
PS: When you have a big final and need to use your phone as a…well lets say “aid” – the Torch is a lot easier to read and scroll through…to see your…you know…”aids.”
Business –
This is where my Bold outshines the Torch. First off, the Bold looks far more “business” then the Torch does, and while most people don’t care what other people might think of their phones, believe me when your interning at a giant law firm, you don’t want to be seen as “that intern kid with the big silly phone”, and that is exactly the vibe the Torch gives - especially when your keyboard is slid out. Also, the Bold feels a lot nicer in the pocket of a suit jacket then the Torch does, the Torch just feels a bit too heavy and often drags my jacket down.
I find one of the most common tools I use on my phones in the office is the speaker phone. I know that may sound a bit strange – however, I have the office directory in my phone, and usually someone will walk by my desk and say, “GET JOHNSON ON THE PHONE AND GET IN MY OFFICE!” so the quickest way for me to do this is type in the name, dial, and run. Did I mention, thank god for OS6 universal search? I have tried to put people on speaker on the Torch, however it just is not quite as good on volume as the Bold is, and while this may seem minor, once you began to utilize the speaker phone on your device for an important call, you might discover what a pain this actually is.
While working and even throughout the day, I constantly get emails needing certain information, files, or other documents, and these people, well they need the information, right now. I find that compared to the Torch, the Bold’s keyboard is far superior and makes typing far more pleasant, and I find even quicker, since it just feels a lot better in the hand when typing then the Torch does. I cannot complain though, for a slide-out keyboard, the Torch did a great job, and even for such a large slider, it never feels top heavy, which I found quite interesting. Though, the Bold has to win, typing is quicker, easier, and feels better, and when you have to reply to about 75-100 e-mails a day, the Bold is my best friend in the whole wide world. In my eyes, the build quality of the 9780 also feels far more firm, the Torch just feels flimsy at times.
Travel –
I travel quite a lot. I fly to Europe at least four or five times a year, and I take at least a dozen more flights within the US annually. I actually often plan my travels when going to Europe to have a long layover of over six hours so I can get out and explore the city. I use Poynt and Viigo on both of my devices to get around, and usually I just check on them to see where is there a good local place to chow down and how I should get there. I have yet to travel with my 9780 outside of the country, however with the Torch, last time I was in Amsterdam for a while. I was “Poynted” to a great local place where they had their own micro-brewery, and it was wonderful!
When travelling, I find it important to be connected to the social world. I am really not a big “Tweeter” however I do use Twitter to stay up to date on all the things I am interested in, so for me its more of a large information data base. Twitter on the Torch is great, I love its size, its looks, and its overall appearance. I find it a bit friendlier on the eye than any other BlackBerry device I have used. While travelling though, the Torch is just an outstanding device. I constantly have it out when abroad, looking up exchange rates, etc. However, when you get off a seven hour flight – and begin to get around the city, and your phone battery dies. Your screwed. Luckily for me, I have a backup 9780 which can last me two days easily on a single charge – sadly the Torch cannot, and when your abroad, you cannot have your phone die. I know you can get extended batteries, etc, however, I don’t – and I am merely using my personal experiences here.
Overall – you have two phones that cannot be compared, they excel at certain things, and not so much at others. Now on a separate note – build quality. The 9800 has some flaws, but it’s a new device for RIM and we have to forgive them for this. All I can say is – well no, first lets get something straight. I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST THE TORCH! I PRAISE IT AND ITS GREAT! However, NOONE can argue that the build quality of the 9800 comes ANYWHERE near that of the 9000/9700/9780. This will improve over time, I think most of the devices coming out of the plant now are all fine…I wont get into the issues of the creaky screens/tape fix/super glue fix/ etc, since everyone can go on the Torch forum and read these issues, I just wanted to give people my personal views on these two excellent devices.
Last edited by shamoo711; 12-14-2010 at 07:48 PM.
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