[ifarlow]

Yesterday afternoon I picked up a 9930 from Verizon on a new account. I raced back to the office and immediately updated the OS to 7.0.0.362 and then connected the device to Exchange. Once that completed, I added some other e-mail accounts and started checking out the phone. The battery didn't last all that long as I never charged it when I got it back to the office, so I didn't get much time with it before I had to plug it in. I let it sit overnight to charge.

This morning I got the phone and swapped it with my iPhone for my daily routine, although I still have the iPhone with me because I haven't (yet) ported my telephone number. I started my day by adding music to the 9930 and then got ready for work. While getting ready, I listened to music on the phone. Good sound (for a phone) and easy to navigate/shuffle my music. Worked as well for my purposes as the iPhone does.

Before I left the house, I connected my phone to my car and added a few phone book entries to the car (the car keeps a separate phone book for each phone connected). I hit the road and tested the phone. Caller ID didn't work quite right, as I expected (based on how the 9700 worked in the car). I turned off smart dialing on the phone and Caller ID worked properly at that point. Nice. Call quality through the car seemed good. The phone switched from 3G to 1x (something or other), but I'm new to Verizon so I don't know what that means. I need to read up on that in a bit.

Once I got to work I decided to set up my notification profile. Once I finished that, I start sending e-mails to myself to test the connection. The e-mail came through quickly, as expected, and the notification profile worked. Nice. I then began checking out the phone.

The first thing I have noticed is that the touchscreen coupled with the keyboard really makes for an excellent device, and I'm quickly getting used to using the touchscreen, the trackpad, and/or the keyboard depending on what I'm trying to accomplish. This is the device I had always wanted, and I'm thrilled to see that it works well for me.

It's not all roses, unfortunately. I have this feeling that WiFi isn't terribly strong on the device, although I haven't completely ruled out router issues at this point. I'm going to keep an eye on WiFi performance over the next week or so to see what happens. Additionally, I haven't formed an opinion yet regarding Verizon's coverage, although it looks like AT&T might have better coverage at my house. Again, a bit too early to call it, so I will keep an eye on this as well.

So there you have it. Roughly 24 hours with the phone and so far, so good (overall). I'm still deciding if I should stick with Verizon (which is starting to look like it will be more expensive per month for me) or stick with AT&T (which is slow to get the 9900 released). Decisions, decisions.

[guerllamo7]

Well, since you came from AT&T I was wondering if you left for the Bold 9930. I went to Sprint and feel the same way about the phone.

I feel like I'm typing on a grand piano that is light and fits in my pocket.

If you want to get blown away, take a look at a youtube video on the Bold 9930. Wow!!!!
I've been a BB fan for a while but man, this is as good as anything out there. Wow! and we still get the hundreds and hundreds of RIM people working around the clock to make sure we get real time information pushed to our devices plus the secure, encrypted servers around the world. It is a world phone after all.

BTW, the charge cable with the battery attachment is awesome. The battery life is O.K. on the Bold but things happen, a meeting goes too long and swapping batteries is a piece of cake. Honestly don't know why people don't think about things like that as the purchase a smart phone that does not even give you the flexibility of swapping out a battery. How smart is that?

Enjoy your very cool phone, if I do say so myself.

[ifarlow]

So far, I can't really complain about the battery life, although it's only been one day so it's just too early to draw a conclusion. I do, however, have my eye on that charging cable contraption thing.

[mountainman]

I agree with the OP about the Wifi - it just doesn't seem to hold a connection very well.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[BoldtotheMax]

glad you are liking your phone. They no doubt are the best to date. I don't have one, but messed around on a few. Eventually I may get one, but know my wife is highly interested in it.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[FuzzyB]

I've had great luck with the wifi so far. Not sure why you guys aren't?? Also, I seemingly can't kill my battery in a day. I use mine very hard most days and always have plenty of juice left at bedtime.

So far this device is as good as advertised!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Heavy Fluid]

Yesterday afternoon I picked up a 9930 from Verizon on a new account. I raced back to the office and immediately updated the OS to 7.0.0.362

Just wondering why you did this? I had loaded that OS, and found no difference between the stock, and .362. Newest isn't always the best.

[John Yester]

I too didn't notice any difference going to .362

[ifarlow]

I upgraded out of habit, especially with a device so new to market. No other reason, really.

[r.santa1]

wifi is weak for me and 3 outage issues w email bis and bbm in the last 2 weeks...

wondering if verizon 3g network is getting hammered since iphone release..

i miss att phone n data at same time but love my 9930

[ifarlow]

I'm curious why you say you miss voice and data? What has happened since you got your phone that made you wish you had simultaneous voice and data?

[josh3326]

I have the 9930 and miss AT&T. The coverage in my area with Verizon is there, but weak. Their data drops in many buildings or very slow, but AT&T is much better. So I will switch when they get the phone and sell my 9930.

As for voice and data, I miss that as well. I am on the phone a lot during the day and check emails frequently (Just the business I do) so the voice and data simultaneously would be nice. Just my opinion.

[ifarlow]

It's difficult to say if the speed reduction I am seeing coming from the iPhone is due to Verizon's network or due to the nature of the BlackBerry (traffic routing through the NOC). I don't miss voice and data as I never really came across a time where I had to have it.

Coverage seems to be on par with AT&T, although I do get better coverage at home with AT&T than I do with Verizon.

[mjs416]

Call quality through the car seemed good. The phone switched from 3G to 1x (something or other), but I'm new to Verizon so I don't know what that means. I need to read up on that in a bit.

I believe that occurs when the data portion of your connection drops out. You can still make calls and send texts - but in my experience when it drops to 1X you cant surf the net or get emails. Usually occurs in bad areas of coverage.

[jhamilton3#CB]

Interesting that some of you are having WiFi issues as well.. Mine is either super quick or terribly slow. Frustrating but still a great phone.

[gingertonic]

It switched from 3G to 1X during a call because Verizon doesn't support data usage during calls over its network. If you are connected to wifi that won't matter though.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[ifarlow]

It switched from 3G to 1X during a call because Verizon doesn't support data usage during calls over its network.

Ah. I was wondering if that was why. Thanks for the info.