[Victor_]

thanks for the post...im so pumped for this device

[dragon2]

I can't keep up with all the changes!

[mcjohn]

What is the usual transition time for this thing to go from AT&T to go to a carrier like Rogers, I know RIM is a Canadian company but usually the transition time is a killer, can a Canadian still look for this phone to come out this year, or will it be the usual 2-4 months wait after an American launch?

The Bold was released in Canada before it was released in the US. If I remember correctly, we had almost the entire summer before it was released in the US.

From what I have been reading, I think the Merlin (formerly Onyx) is coming out the same time in both countries. (Please correct me if I'm wrong)

Thanks PG...I didn't think it was possible but now I really want this phone!

[gregerator]

Well, it's been said, but as always, thanks for the info PG! We look forward to welcomg yet another Berry to the fam.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Bajanbastard]

Thanks for the great info. I can't wait for this baby to lauch on Rogers so I can grab one. Time to start saving those pennies.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Allyson Kazmucha]

Phonegeek: would you mind testing youtube?

I guess by that I mean, does it look craptastic? The one thing that really irritated me with the Bold was that when you loaded a video from youtube, the sound was terrible and the video was always so choppy and crappy. I really hope that isn't the case with the onyx.

I'm really debating if I want to keep my 32GB iPhone or when the onyx comes out drop the iPhone and buy a 32GB touch/Onyx combo but the one thing that would make that hard is the media on youtube. I like to have that option and on the Bold, I found that almost unusable. I don't know if it was file formats or youtube rendering funny. I love how the iPhone shows videos just as clear as on a computer, on the bold, the audio and video were both unbearable IMO.

[Allyson Kazmucha]

Great information - thank you very much for posting it. My wife and I have been debating a Bold vs. Iphone 3gs and I think that if we wait til this is out, it could sway her away from the iphone.
I'm a newbie so forgive if this is a dumb question, but is the browser less "text like" and more "IE like" as the iphone is? Or is it the more text-based (seemingly) browser like on the Bold?
Thanks again for the great info - I can't tell you how much us regular people appreciate it!

First off, a little off topic, but love the avatar, I just graduated from Purdue in May. Boiler up! haha And I'm wearing a shirt I bought at the Den right now that states "Ann Arbor is a wh0re" HAHA!

And to your questions now...

The browser on the Bold isn't really text based, so I don't really know what you mean by that. I found the browser on the Bold to be quite good for a berry. The iPhone browser is by far the best mobile browser around (and probably will be for a long time coming).

I don't have an Onyx (obviously) so I don't claim to know, but if the Onyx sports the beast of a processor it is rumored to have, I'd say webpages should render a LOT quicker than they do on any current BB RIM offers. When you say the bold was text based, what exactly do you mean by that? I have a feeling you may of been looking at mobile versions of websites.

In the browser settings, you can change the browser identification from Blackberry to Firefox or several others, and if you do that, webpages should render pretty darn close to what they do on a computer. Of course, that makes load times a little longer, but that's the case with any smartphone.

It's really a matter of what you want to do if you're debating between an iphone and a blackberry. I've found myself in that dilemma several times.

I'm not a huge browser...I use forums, and in that aspect, I found the blackberry better (because the iPhone will not load wap or mobile sites) and sometimes navigating and pinching and zooming to get what link you want can be annoying, while the BB will load mobile scaled down versions that you can load very quickly. I much prefer browsing CB and Hofo on mobile versions than the full bloated versions that load things you really don't need.

For other websites, that's a whole other story. I do enjoy the iPhone's browser, as it's excellent, but I never really missed it with my Bold.

I am, too, curious though as to what will change with browsing in the Onyx or future blackberries. I would only assume it will be faster than current models though

[quickxlr8]

i was set to switching to sprint for the tour next month but now im having second thoughts.... if only at&t would drop their prices....

[phonegeek#AC]

So I will try to answer some of the earlier questions as best I can.

No. I'm referring to the general problems/issues with the browser everyone has mentioned over multiple versions of Blackberrys. The native browser has been notoriously slow, has problems loading some pages, doesn't render some pages very well, etc.

My question simply asks whether or not the new browser:

1. Is faster and more functional than prior buggier versions.
2. Has any new features or settings that did not exist prior.
3. Has any new bugs or new issues we should know about.

It appears to be faster than before, I don't see much in the way of new features with the browser but coming from Bold it does appear to be faster than Bold. I haven't run into any bugs with the browser yet but I have only spent a short while using it. I will say though this is where I noticed the screen size difference as maybe I am getting older but finding I am having to zoom a little more than before but not a big deal. I will try and spend more time with the browser this week.

One thing that should also be mentioned about the Onyx is that it'll sport a 800+mhz processor making it a very fast and responsive device including greatly improving browsing speeds.

This is a great point. The improved processor speed may be one of the big reasons for browser improvement but it also makes a huge difference in the overall device function.

what do you mean by a difference in screen clarity? Is the size of the querty key board exactly the same as the 8900 or slightly larger? And thanks for the good info phonegeek

Yeah this is a hard one to describe. There is a crispness to images and such with the new screen. I don't think the keyboard is exactly like the 8900 (I didn't keep my 8900 long) I would say it's closer in size to the 8900 than it is Bold though.

Great information - thank you very much for posting it. My wife and I have been debating a Bold vs. Iphone 3gs and I think that if we wait til this is out, it could sway her away from the iphone.
I'm a newbie so forgive if this is a dumb question, but is the browser less "text like" and more "IE like" as the iphone is? Or is it the more text-based (seemingly) browser like on the Bold?
Thanks again for the great info - I can't tell you how much us regular people appreciate it!

The browser seems very similiar to Bold other than it seems to be faster and I think (but haven't had a chance to test in detail) it handles java much better than the one on the Bold.

What is the usual transition time for this thing to go from AT&T to go to a carrier like Rogers, I know RIM is a Canadian company but usually the transition time is a killer, can a Canadian still look for this phone to come out this year, or will it be the usual 2-4 months wait after an American launch?

Bold came to the field with at&t first week of July 2008 and released on Nov 4, 2008. I believe TMO Germany had Bold in mid-August 08, Canada along with other Euro carriers got it in mid to late August 08. The US was one of the last...

From what I have been reading, I think the Merlin (formerly Onyx) is coming out the same time in both countries. (Please correct me if I'm wrong)
phone!

Just a note that this came to the field with at&t as Onyx not Merlin. I would not be surprised to see this come out in Canada ahead of the US. TMO may also have their version (Driftwood) out ahead of at&t but don't know that for certain.

Thanks guys for the positive comments!

PG

[carsmovies]

What is the usual transition time for this thing to go from AT&T to go to a carrier like Rogers, I know RIM is a Canadian company but usually the transition time is a killer, can a Canadian still look for this phone to come out this year, or will it be the usual 2-4 months wait after an American launch?

Phonegeek is correct. Rogers released the bold in the third week of August while AT&T released the first week of November. Rogers has been field testing the Onyx for a few weeks now so I would also imagine that it'll release on Rogers before AT&T. My educated guess is mid to late Sept.

[phonegeek#AC]

Phonegeek: would you mind testing youtube?

I guess by that I mean, does it look craptastic? The one thing that really irritated me with the Bold was that when you loaded a video from youtube, the sound was terrible and the video was always so choppy and crappy. I really hope that isn't the case with the onyx.

Ok so not being one that was ever really into youtube much I never tested this on my Bold except one time and if I remember it took forever to load and it would start and stop as it loaded.

So at your request I tested this. I pulled it up on my laptop connected to WiFi and pulled it up on the Onyx also connected to WiFi as I don't have 3G at home. Now loading time on the Onyx was FAST by any standard of measurement you want to use page loading and video loading was great. Now I experienced no starts and stops like I had experienced on the Bold the video just played on through start to finish with no problems.

Now I pulled up the same video on my laptop just as a means of seeing the quality differences and there is a difference in quality. It does look slightly more pixelated on the Onyx. But at the same time I would expect a difference between a laptop with an above average video processor and that of my phone...

So in short IMO youtube functions much better on Onyx than it did on Bold. Again that was testing on WiFi. It will be another week or so before I am back in a 3G area (on vacation this next week) so I will test that when I get back in town.

PG

[cajunrph]

Thanks for all your info. All this info is going to test my patients. I was all set to snag a Bold on e-bay and switch over to it from my iPhone. My upgrade not being due till January. Now I don't know if I want to do that because I will surely want the Onyx when I'm due for an upgrade.

(on vacation this next week) so I will test that when I get back in town.

PG

You're working on your vacation I see, what a dedicated employee. How did you land the gig of field testing phones for a living???? Sounds like a sweet job. Enjoy your vacation and Thanks again

[Clavs1]

Awesome info, PG. Thank you!

[phonegeek#AC]

You're working on your vacation I see, what a dedicated employee. How did you land the gig of field testing phones for a living???? Sounds like a sweet job. Enjoy your vacation and Thanks again

Actually I am part of a group of network employees who volunteer to test phones. It's not my "job", just one of the benefits that a few of us get to enjoy. Being a gadget geek I don't consider this working. I get a lot of great information from this group and it helps me test devices more thoroughly which means that when the device goes on sale it is better...

PG

[snowindec9]

great observations. but what is the major major major reason why i should trade in my bold for the onyx?

[Tris]

phonegeek do you as a tester happen to know if its coming out in europe first? From everything I have read in the past it has been but this time they are trying for a release date roughly the same all over

[nikkiau]

hey phonegeek, how did you become a field tester?? Ive been wanting to pursue that career since i stepped into the telecommunications field and wanted to kno how do i reach that position?!

Thanks!

[cellinator]

Thanks very much for your comments and information phonegeek! This IS my next Blackberry!

[arukaen]

this phone has me so excited that I just can't contain it. I had a curve for about 2 years then I read about the Bold and fell in love with it and I've been using my bold since nov 3,2008. I love everything about my bold and I've had very few problems with the original one I bought (I'm using a refurb one now). This new berry has ready to add to my collection of blackberries. I can't wait for this one to come out!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[phonegeek#AC]

great observations. but what is the major major major reason why i should trade in my bold for the onyx?

That isn't for me to decide. I am just providing information and details as I see them. Everyone has to decide for themselves if they should upgrade. Me personally based on speed alone I would upgrade to this device. but then again understand I don't have to pay for them, if my contract was up and I wanted a new device? yes without a doubt.

phonegeek do you as a tester happen to know if its coming out in europe first? From everything I have read in the past it has been but this time they are trying for a release date roughly the same all over

I don't specifically know if it is coming in Europe first. CX is usually a better resource for things of that nature as he generally has his finger on the pulse of multiple carriers. My assertions are simply based on historical info.

hey phonegeek, how did you become a field tester?? Ive been wanting to pursue that career since i stepped into the telecommunications field and wanted to kno how do i reach that position?!

So at at&t if you're part of the network team then you can usually ask an RF engineer about who manages the testing for new devices. For every market it may be handled a little different but for us they are always looking for field testers. Keep in mind though it's not nearly as glamorous as you might think. For every cool device you get you are generally asked to test 10 devices that make watching paint dry look like fun. I still test a lot general phones, go phones, things like that, but since I have been testing this for a while I usually get the luxury of asking for specific devices.

[phonegeek#AC]

Ok so don't bash me too hard on this. I know these pictures are garbage. I will try to get some better ones up as soon as I can but wanted to give you a rough idea of size and the like....

UPDATED IMAGES 1 and 3.

First is Bold and Onyx side by side.


Next is Bold, Onyx and 8900 side by side.


Onyx front.


Onyx back.

[PiKappaAlpha]

its only a matter of time

[fullmz]

Great! Thank you very much!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jrdnlc]

what happened with the RED lettering numbers ? all i see is white ones on the Onyx

i think the red/white keypad matches better and looks 3x better

[eclipse604]

thanks for the info!
hope your having fun with the new toy!