[svjones]

I get teased, bugged, poked at and made fun of for being a Blackberry user by other people who don't have a Blackberry and just listen to the media. It really weighs you down after a while and after all this bad press about RIM and what not, you start to believe them (sad but true...)

My entire Smartphone life has been Blackberry. I bought the Bold 9000 when it first came out. I paid the premium to have it really close to release day (less then a month after release) and I loved it. I went from a Motorola flip phone to my Blackberry Bold 9000 and loved every bit of it. Only issue I had was I had to send my phone in 3-4 times within the first year but my service provider was great about getting me a good phone in the end. After a couple years, the trackball got sticky, wouldn't stroll properly and just drove me insane... but I loved my Blackberry still.

I early upgraded to the Bold 9700 to fix my trackball issues. The trackpad cured my problems with my old Bold and really brought me back in to RIM (though I couldn't play brickbracker as well anymore). The size was a little too small, typing had a little bit of a learning curve again but great phone.

Two years into this contract (bringing us into Jan 2012), all this bad press about RIM was coming out (you all know about it). The promises of the new BB10 phone's being released early Q1 turned into Q3 and that really upset me because I wanted one NOW (for my early upgrade). All these new Android phones were coming out with faster processors, bigger screens, better cameras and apps, free ones at that! All looked so promising... and I wanted another early upgrade... I actually started doing Android research. (don't hate me just yet, keep reading)

I started looking at Android Central, GSMArena, my service provider's website and doing comparisons. I brought it down to the Samsung Galaxy S II LTE from Rogers. 1.5 ghz dual core, 8mp camera back/2mp front, running Gingerbread but promises of Ice Cream Sandwich in early 2012, 8gb memory with expandable SD card slot and lots of bells and whistles. I actually upgraded to this phone in the end...

I'm heartbroken and excited at the same time. I'm losing my Blackberry and everything that goes with it but everyone's like "you're just losing BBM, who cares?", obviously you haven't had BBM before... anyways. But I'm excited! Brand new, shiny toy to play with. I bring it home... Took me ALL DAY/NIGHT to transfer everything over from my BB to my Android. I'm sorry, I'm not new at these sorts of things, this shouldn't have taken me THIS long to do all of this. So I'm playing with it... It's alright... I mean, amazing for what it does!... but it... it isn't me.

The next morning, I unplugged my phone and texted my 1 friend for about half hour. I checked the battery life before I got up to get ready for work... All I did was text for half hour, regular amounts of texting... 82% left. I'm sorry what? Not only was I not WOW'ed last night with it but the battery life was being sucked dry without really doing ANYTHING? No ty... Last straw. Brought it back within 24 hours and picked up my now Black Blackberry Bold 9900 and haven't looked back since.

I realized that my Blackberry wasn't just about BBM, it was about my daily life with it. I use my BB Calendar for EVERYTHING. Alarms, appointments, scheduling, and my organization to my life. I use the push e-mails for 5 different e-mail accounts. I use my music media player daily. I learned that I cannot type very well with a touch screen device (but Swype was pretty awesome). Much much more as well but last but oh so not least, I use BBM for my social networking all.the.time.

I may have been mad at RIM for pushing release dates back constantly; for not having the most up to date hardware for their phones; for the lack of apps and the prices of apps; and for a lot of others reasons...
But I love my Blackberry, and RIM, for exactly who they are and what they are doing. The product they put out is beyond essential to me, my daily life and to connecting me to the world.

I love my Blackberry and I don't think I'll ever switch again.


TL;DR
Blackberry user for about 5 years, went Android for <24h, hated it and now went back to Blackberry Bold 9900. BB4Life

[killer007]

exactly....
ppl just don't understand blackberry and want to go with android because everyone is going for it...

but who are all these ppl going for the android phone?
they are like young teens and people who want to root and have lots of games in their phone...

even ppl say 9900 has bad battery, they should check out any android phone, they are the worst

[nashshafrulrezza]

I agree!! I'm a hardcore user of android and even cook a ROM by myself.
But my wife keep asking me to buy a Blackberry and try it.
So, 4 months ago, I've swap my android HTC Sensation and Xperia X8 with Bold 9900 and i swear for the 1st week, I was really hate it! Hahaha!
But after I've get intro with BBM and hybrid OS, I getting excited and get bricked Java by testing a hybrid myself.
Now, I was really in love with this phone.

Ohh, about battery, I think Blackberry was the best in battery.
24hours with data on constant online through phone.
And it still can survive a hard day for my usage.
It was the best for me.

[DaNii1985]

Its so nice to read positive and good things about blackberry after so much negativity.. I love my BB 9900.. New to BB but realise now what a complete phone it is

[greggebhardt]

I was you and used RIM from back in the 950 days with a track wheel. It was no much more than a two way pager.

It took me several times but I left RIM and am happy.

Humans are adaptable

[robtanz]

Nice.

I even heard this morning on CNBC that Becky Quick, on of the anchors on Squawkbox, just got a new 9900 and was liking it. I think one of the comments by one of the other hosts was something like "I guess the death of RIM has been exaggerated".

[ycrad]

My name is Darcy and I am a recent convert to the Bold 9900. I wish this phone came out sooner, so far, so awesome.

[soogriff]

I can relate. I've tried a lot of other devices over the years (apple, palm, droid, google,etc) and always come back to the Blackberry. Something about it always brings me back unlike some devices I've owned and said,"never again!"

[albee 1]

Its the whole package that keeps us coming back. Its not the wow factor of a few features, it is the consistantly reliable communications and UI that have kept me here for years and will for years to come. Enjoy your Bold Stephen, anyone who gives you crap about it, is only showing their ignorance. They may never know what they are missing.

[DrJay1]

I'll join the party. I have tried them all - Droids, iPhones, Windows, you name it. I am back with BlackBerrry and plan to stay! (I now use a 9930, 9850 and 9810 - with different
organizations for different purposes.)

[shemaree09]

Love my 9930!!

When I had my 8900 i became really frustrated with the random reboots and sticky trackball. So I decided to try out the iPhone 3G......

I hated that phone!!

The email was super slow, no led alerts, the calendar sucked, limited customization, pitiful battery life, horrible keyboard, and the fun apps faded over time. The only thing I enjoyed was the browser.

After really trying to like the iPhone, I just couldn't. I came back running to my 8900 and quickly upgraded to the Bold 9930. I love my push email, led alerts, BEDSIDE MODE (lol), calendar, all day battery life, and the new-and-improved web browser!!!

Couldn't be more happier

You never realize how much the little things matter until they're gone!

[texn884]

I really like my 9930 and the battery life is great now with adjusting some of the settings that others users suggested and it will last a good day and a half.

The keyboard rocks and I had a old IPhone that my work gave me but I still had my bb curve and could never get use to the touch keyboard.

BlackBerry is a great phone and company. My family has 3 Blackberry's and they all perform great.

Be Bold, Go Bold!

[Beesh1]

It's nice to read stories about loyal Blackberry fans. I myself too have had a history of blackberrys starting with the 8900 i now have the 9900 and am i happy? NO I want more because i love them
But no matter what people say, or do, if you have a phone that YOU like, their argument is invalid and useless. People say I'm stupid for getting a new blackberry all the time, i say, I like it so no matter what you say it wont matter
My 9900 is awesome, i love it!!

[BergerKing]

I've had people try to sway me, tell me that I'm hopelessly behind the times, but I fare just fine with my trusty BlackBerry. In a recent session with one of our influential BBM groups, I was asked what I planned to upgrade to when I put my Style into backup status.

It'll be a newer BlackBerry. 9930, most likely. I cannot downgrade to another Curve, and the Torch full-touch is nice, but I don't get along very well with touchscreen keyboards full-time.

I've played with my daughter's iPhone, and my son's iPod Touch, but they don't do it for me.

Android? Fine for some, but they don't make an acceptable keyboard, IMO, and they're like Chinese food, satisfying you for an hour, then you're hungry again.

I've lived thru good and bad with BlackBerry. I've made some of the best friends I've ever had on BlackBerry, thru CrackBerry, Trackball Lights and BBM Groups.

I've beta tested, surveyed, given feedback, emailed people in the know, and generally had a positive experience even in the darkest of days.

But I do think that better days are coming. I don't abandon a team just because they've had a losing season, no one stays on top forever.

I'll just put my two hands on my keyboard and let the lemmings flow to either side and into their tidal jump. I'm going my own way.

I have a choice. It is BlackBerry.

[ShoshiOne]

Thanks for sharing your story! It's nice to read a positive view of BBs amongst all the others.

I've tried other platforms also and each one had amazing features and were good phones. BUT there is just something about the BB that fits me so well. Just gotta love my BB!

[CranBerry413]

Hi Stephen! (Old AA Meeting Response.)

Glad to have you back. I've also been a BB user about the same amount of time you have (Had a WE8830...she was my Baby) and the teasing never seems to stop, but watching them tied to their chargers is absolutely priceless.

[mjordan5]

I went to the dark side a couple months ago (iphone 4s) but came back after 2 weeks with the iphone only reason it was that long because I was being told give it some time typing will be easier blah blah i am and always will be a BB user.

[anon(19759)]

Had Android for about a year, and iphone for about a day, but ultimately what works best for ME is my 9930. I love how it makes everything so efficient. Although, if I didn't have to work and constant communication wasn't my top priority, I would probably think about Android again. Bottom line is everyone has different needs in a smartphone and people should really evaluate their choices before deciding. For me and most users on cb, BB is the choice, but I can see why some users are better suited with android or ios.

What I do find though is that most people with Android or ios just don't even want to hear about what a BB can do, with all of it's shortcuts and enterprise apps that make work life so much more efficient. They just have an attitude about BB that no matter what I show them, they dismiss it quickly.

[shemaree09]

What I do find though is that most people with Android or ios just don't even want to hear about what a BB can do, with all of it's shortcuts and enterprise apps that make work life so much more efficient. They just have an attitude about BB that no matter what I show them, they dismiss it quickly.

Yes! That's the most frustrating thing!

[mssca]

With major issues on loading files on my school servers and super slow speeds on the web, I think this may be my last BB.

It takes years to download a single PDF files from school BlackBoard or check for grades. I am not happy with how the browser works what so ever.

[mssca]

What I do find though is that most people with Android or ios just don't even want to hear about what a BB can do, with all of it's shortcuts and enterprise apps that make work life so much more efficient. They just have an attitude about BB that no matter what I show them, they dismiss it quickly.

They are right to dismiss because all the phones in the world can do what Blackberry can do and MORE. My friends with iPhones know their grades as soon as our prof post it while I have to run for a computer because Bold 9900 on the exact same Telus network can't download the grade file.

I love the keyboard, hate the stupid phone. As a Canadian I wish RIM can do well. But I think RIM should sell their junk to Google, Samsung or someone.

[pinkvikchick]

That's weird. I get grades through blackboard as well, I have no issue?

[Frosty_Power]

I own a 9900, a SGS2 and an iP4 and switch back and forth between them quite often but if I were to pick just one, it would definitely be my 9900. I use it the majority of the time and absolutely love it, saves me so much more time to do the exact basic things compared to the other two. Every phone has it's advantages, just pick one that suits you, and this 9900 suits me the best, easily.

[shemaree09]

They are right to dismiss because all the phones in the world can do what Blackberry can do and MORE. My friends with iPhones know their grades as soon as our prof post it while I have to run for a computer because Bold 9900 on the exact same Telus network can't download the grade file.

I love the keyboard, hate the stupid phone. As a Canadian I wish RIM can do well. But I think RIM should sell their junk to Google, Samsung or someone.

what kind of file is it? Seems like its more user error than the actual phone...

[mysticmeg]

Blackberry's are awesome & no one can deny it!!! The bad press was & is just a way for the other phone manufacturers I suppose to toppled RIM over but they clearly can't. Can't imagine my life with my BB Bold 9900!!! Emailing is a doddle. I can be taking a walk in the park with my wife to be and quickly reply back to job offers etc I'm a very happy man!

A wise man never speaks except uses actions as a way to teach others.