[Doc Z]

The one large glaring negative being "it's a blackberry"?

Yes. Besides email and maybe messaging, there is no reason to pick this phone over much more advanced phones that can do that and so much more ESPECIALLY at that insane price.

[Brazen9000]

They can't "do that". There is NO way I can send emails from my work account on an Android phone. Simply cannot be done. I can get them, with the phone checking every minute, draining the battery so I don't get the day out of it but not reply to them from my work account. And when I respond to my gmail, which I can respond to from the Android phone, I very much struggle with the keyboard which is MUCH less effective than the keyboard on the 9900. So these "more advanced" phones can't do all that a Blackberry can do and more.

Try organizing a major nationwide series of riots on an Android phone!

There's lots to recommend an iPhone 4 (I'm not sure about a high end Android Phone having had the Atrix) but there's also lots to recommend a Bold 9900, which is JUST as advanced as it hardware wise (faster Processor and more RAM in the 9900 than in an iPhone 4) and this is what BGR didn't say. He should have said all of the above means that this is a great phone for many instead of "there's nothing to make people choose this phone over an iPhone 4 or SG 2"! This was palpably untrue given what he himself wrote above the final paragraph

[brucep1]

Same dude that said SEPTEMBER.......

He said the Blackberry 7 phones have been pushed back to September, so how does the Bold being released in august in canada make that wrong?

My prediction is that the majority of the os7 phones will be released in September, which would make his prediction true.

No os7 phones here in the us either...

[jonathon.94]

I think this review was pretty fair. I have to agree that we need more apps. I'm not saying we need farting apps or apps that give you a beard or anything. I think we need apps that give other apps competition. There are so many good apps out on Android and iOS because they are constantly competing with other developers. On the blackberry, the developers are probably thinking "I have the best app and no other app is near as good as mine so I don't have to keep working on it that much" While app developers for iOS and Android are thinking "Oh no they came out with a feature that makes our app look useless compared to theirs. We have to work harder and beat theirs." I mean sure we have all the apps that a smartphone would need, if I wanna watch tv shows or movies, I have a computer or tv for that. I still think that there is not enough competiton in the app world though.
Competition = Better apps for us
I like my blackberry and I don't see any other reason to switch besides better apps for the stuff I need to do. I hate typing on a touch screen and seeing how blackberry is known to have the best keyboard in the smartphone market, it just makes sense that I own a blackberry.

[dcgore]

It was an honest review i think. I have ordered mine for whatever that's worth.

[Brazen9000]

He said the Blackberry 7 phones have been pushed back to September, so how does the Bold being released in august in canada make that wrong?

My prediction is that the majority of the os7 phones will be released in September, which would make his prediction true.

No os7 phones here in the us either...

I'm probably missing something but if he said no os7 devices until September and I'm typing this on an os7 device on August 11th then, at the very least, he needs to clarify what he means by "no os7 devices" and "September".

[Doc Z]

They can't "do that". There is NO way I can send emails from my work account on an Android phone. Simply cannot be done. I can get them, with the phone checking every minute, draining the battery so I don't get the day out of it but not reply to them from my work account. And when I respond to my gmail, which I can respond to from the Android phone, I very much struggle with the keyboard which is MUCH less effective than the keyboard on the 9900. So these "more advanced" phones can't do all that a Blackberry can do and more.

Try organizing a major nationwide series of riots on an Android phone!

There's lots to recommend an iPhone 4 (I'm not sure about a high end Android Phone having had the Atrix) but there's also lots to recommend a Bold 9900, which is JUST as advanced as it hardware wise (faster Processor and more RAM in the 9900 than in an iPhone 4) and this is what BGR didn't say. He should have said all of the above means that this is a great phone for many instead of "there's nothing to make people choose this phone over an iPhone 4 or SG 2"! This was palpably untrue given what he himself wrote above the final paragraph

The thing is it really isn't a phone for many. It's a phone for a very small subset of smartphone users now, RIM's market share has eroded so heavily (and continues to do so daily) that releasing a phone that should have been out last year isn't gonna cut it for "many". There are just too many competitive options out there.

For people such as yourself who absolutely need their email and the keyboard, yes it's a great phone for you. I personally hated touch screens and love my QWERTY keyboard with a passion, but I am finally ok with switching over to a touch screen phone as I can now type on them much faster than I could in the past. It's all a matter of getting used to it, so the typing really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Yes, the keyboard is more comfortable on a BB but I'll take the small sacrifice of not typing 5 seconds faster if I can get so many more features on my phone. And I would bet that most people feel that way, especially when money is so tight these days and people can't afford to be throwing hundreds around on a phone that isn't anything less than the best for them. Bottom line, the 9900 just isn't appetizing enough to most people in today's competitive environment, especially at that price, and BGR nailed this idea perfectly.

[Brazen9000]

I'm not saying we need farting apps or apps that give you a beard or anything.

Let's not be too quick to diss the farting apps! I have a 3 year old and the fart app on her iPod touch allows me to get through a significant amount of crazed toddler free driving

[Brazen9000]

The thing is it really isn't a phone for many. It's a phone for a very small subset of smartphone users now, RIM's market share has eroded so heavily (and continues to do so daily) that releasing a phone that should have been out last year isn't gonna cut it for "many". There are just too many competitive options out there.

For people such as yourself who absolutely need their email and the keyboard, yes it's a great phone for you. I personally hated touch screens and love my QWERTY keyboard with a passion, but I am finally ok with switching over to a touch screen phone as I can now type on them much faster than I could in the past. It's all a matter of getting used to it, so the typing really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Yes, the keyboard is more comfortable on a BB but I'll take the small sacrifice of not typing 5 seconds faster if I can get so many more features on my phone. And I would bet that most people feel that way, especially when money is so tight these days and people can't afford to be throwing hundreds around on a phone that isn't anything less than the best for them. Bottom line, the 9900 just isn't appetizing enough to most people in today's competitive environment, especially at that price, and BGR nailed this idea perfectly.

That's a fair comment.

[jonathon.94]

Let's not be too quick to diss the farting apps! I have a 3 year old and the fart app on her iPod touch allows me to get through a significant amount of crazed toddler free driving

You bought a 3 year old an ipod touch? I am 17 and I don't even own an ipod nano

[pkcable]

You bought a 3 year old an ipod touch? I am 17 and I don't even own an ipod nano

Yea, but you DO have a BlackBerry, that counts for something! And the 9330 ain't too bad in the music department with a good media card, plus apps like Slacker, Pandora, and TuneIN!


BUT Lets try not to get TOO far off track, remember we are talking about the BGR 9900 Review.

[Brazen9000]

Well it was only fair as her sister (who's 4) has one too. It's good for Factime chats with their grandparents back home in Ireland. I bought them second hand for $150 each on kijiji if it's any consolation.

[Bonnie Bonzai]

Who is BGR?

(grin) I think BGR is just so darn conflicted he can't help what he says anymore.

[brucep1]

I'm probably missing something but if he said no os7 devices until September and I'm typing this on an os7 device on August 11th then, at the very least, he needs to clarify what he means by "no os7 devices" and "September".

BlackBerry Bold 9900 won't launch until September

You were right, I must have misremembered the article.

Either way, I still listen to analysts' predictions on release dates rather than RIM's. RIM said a lot of stuff was coming in certain time periods and it hasn't.
4G PlayBook, native email and apps...they are batting .333 so far this year..

To be honest tho, getting this phone out in August is a really good sign. Maybe they are starting to take deadlines and the competition more seriously now

[Crucial_Xtreme]

There's lots to recommend an iPhone 4 (I'm not sure about a high end Android Phone having had the Atrix) but there's also lots to recommend a Bold 9900, which is JUST as advanced as it hardware wise (faster Processor and more RAM in the 9900 than in an iPhone 4) and this is what BGR didn't say. He should have said all of the above means that this is a great phone for many instead of "there's nothing to make people choose this phone over an iPhone 4 or SG 2"! This was palpably untrue given what he himself wrote above the final paragraph

This is where you're mistaken a bit.

While yes the technically the iPhone has 512MB of RAM & the 9900 has 768, this is not an advantage. The i4 uses EDRAM( Enhanced Dynamic Random Access Memory) which helps performance. The 9900's processor is 1.2 vs the 1GHz of the A4, but the GPU of the A4 outperforms the Adreno 205. Now this doesn't affect most real world situations, but you are comparing the 9900 with year old hardware of the iPhone 4.

I'm not here to discredit the 9900, I love it. But let's not go too far in saying it's better other devices when it necessarily isn't. That said, I still think the review was a good fair one.
In terms of operating system, RIM is way behind. OS 7(really OS 6.1) is leaps & bounds behind the competition. If it wasn't, RIM wouldn't be transitioning to QNX.

[brucep1]

This is where you're mistaken a bit.

While yes the technically the iPhone has 512MB of RAM & the 9900 has 768, this is not an advantage. The i4 uses EDRAM( Enhanced Dynamic Random Access Memory) which helps performance. The 9900's processor is 1.2 vs the 1GHz of the A4, but the GPU of the A4 outperforms the Adreno 205. Now this doesn't affect most real world situations, but you are comparing the 9900 with year old hardware of the iPhone 4.

I'm not here to discredit the 9900, I love it. But let's not go too far in saying it's better other devices when it necessarily isn't. That said, I still think the review was a good fair one.
In terms of operating system, RIM is way behind. OS 7(really OS 6.1) is leaps & bounds behind the competition. If it wasn't, RIM wouldn't be transitioning to QNX.

Completely agree. Using the iphone 4 as my personal device, this blackberry offers no real advantage to switch back (for me anyway). I feel like it's almost as good as the ip4, which is almost 14 months old. I have a feeling my wait for QNX may be overturned when the iphone 5 comes out.

[howarmat]

i love all the people who didnt read the review and just posted troll crap about RIM haters

The review was completely fair and positive really. Face it OS 7 is based on code that is 4-5 years old at its core. There is only so much you can do with that. From that aspect its limited. Its also on a OS that is going to be replaced in 6 months according to some people.

RIM used to have a huge advantage in email and messaging but that too is starting to slide. Google and iOS also have great push capabilities and in some ways outshine RIM on the email front. The one thing BBs still have is battery life. This is one thing where all the other platforms cant win, although apple does keep up with RIMs touchsreen releases so far. The torch and storm series just dont shine in those areas.

Its the best keyboard phone you can buy without a doubt. BUT many people dont care about keyboards so that selling point only goes so far.

[Brazen9000]

This is where you're mistaken a bit.

While yes the technically the iPhone has 512MB of RAM & the 9900 has 768, this is not an advantage. The i4 uses EDRAM( Enhanced Dynamic Random Access Memory) which helps performance. The 9900's processor is 1.2 vs the 1GHz of the A4, but the GPU of the A4 outperforms the Adreno 205. Now this doesn't affect most real world situations, but you are comparing the 9900 with year old hardware of the iPhone 4.

I'm not here to discredit the 9900, I love it. But let's not go too far in saying it's better other devices when it necessarily isn't. That said, I still think the review was a good fair one.
In terms of operating system, RIM is way behind. OS 7(really OS 6.1) is leaps & bounds behind the competition. If it wasn't, RIM wouldn't be transitioning to QNX.

I only compared them as the BGR review did as it said that there were no reasons for anyone to choose the Bold 9900 over it. There are lots of reasons. If there weren't then we would have iPhones and not Bold 9900's. We didn't choose it because we had to for work, nor because we're not tech savy, nor because we have some bizarre slightly masochistic kitch attraction to Blackberry, and this is what too much of the tech media fails to realize. The Blackberry can compete, does, and for users like me and rioters in the UK to name just two groups, it exceeds any other phone in the world.

[pkcable]

i love all the people who didnt read the review and just posted troll crap about RIM haters

The review was completely fair and positive really. Face it OS 7 is based on code that is 4-5 years old at its core. There is only so much you can do with that. From that aspect its limited. Its also on a OS that is going to be replaced in 6 months according to some people.

RIM used to have a huge advantage in email and messaging but that too is starting to slide. Google and iOS also have great push capabilities and in some ways outshine RIM on the email front. The one thing BBs still have is battery life. This is one thing where all the other platforms cant win, although apple does keep up with RIMs touchsreen releases so far. The torch and storm series just dont shine in those areas.

Its the best keyboard phone you can buy without a doubt. BUT many people dont care about keyboards so that selling point only goes so far.

Some of us care! Plus it can bridge with my PlayBook. It's enough of an upgrade for me to hold me over until RIM get the first few QNX phones out, by the time my 20 months are up they SHOULD have gotten the kinks out of the QNX phones, and it MIGHT just be the perfect time to get one of those.




WHO am I kidding I will probably want the first QNX phone too! BUT my contact should force me to wait and give RIM time to perfect it and work out the kinks.

[Brazen9000]

i love all the people who didnt read the review and just posted troll crap about RIM haters

The review was completely fair and positive really. Face it OS 7 is based on code that is 4-5 years old at its core. There is only so much you can do with that. From that aspect its limited. Its also on a OS that is going to be replaced in 6 months according to some people.

RIM used to have a huge advantage in email and messaging but that too is starting to slide. Google and iOS also have great push capabilities and in some ways outshine RIM on the email front. The one thing BBs still have is battery life. This is one thing where all the other platforms cant win, although apple does keep up with RIMs touchsreen releases so far. The torch and storm series just dont shine in those areas.

Its the best keyboard phone you can buy without a doubt. BUT many people dont care about keyboards so that selling point only goes so far.

Given that you're complaining about people commenting while not having read the article I'm sure you'd only comment on os7 after having used it for a while wouldn't you?

[Intosh]

Some of Android's and iOS' advantages are "starting to slide" too.

The one thing Android still have is the power of numbers (boatload of manufacturers releasing boatloads of models) and the only thing iOS still have is mindshare.

[howarmat]

Some of us care! Plus it can bridge with my PlayBook. It's enough of an upgrade for me to hold me over until RIM get the first few QNX phones out, by the time my 20 months are up they SHOULD have gotten the kinks out of the QNX phones, and it MIGHT just be the perfect time to get one of those.




WHO am I kidding I will probably want the first QNX phone too! BUT my contact should force me to wait and give RIM time to perfect it and work out the kinks.

lol i will be there day one getting a QNX touch only device the same as you. Actually you will have yours first since you have your connections

[howarmat]

Given that you're complaining about people commenting while not having read the article I'm sure you'd only comment on os7 after having used it for a while wouldn't you?

im not complaining about them, they are free to post all they want. It just made me chuckle is all.

[tumer]

he says it lacks behind the ipone4 and android with web browsing really from the videos we have seen it doesn't lack at all what he said there is really misleading

[howarmat]

he says it lacks behind the ipone4 and android with web browsing really from the videos we have seen it doesn't lack at all what he said there is really misleading

its an opinion, just the same as yours. Its also a smaller screen which plays a role.