[MizzCrack]

Every time my dad purchased a new car he did serious homework: Consumer Reports, internet searches, etc. before stepping foot in the dealership. After driving his new car off the lot, he would drive straight home, no stopping for dinner/groceries/whathaveyou. When he got home, he would park the car, change into some comfy clothes, grab his drink of choice out of the refrigerator, sit down on the couch and do the oddest thing: He would read the owners manual. Cover to cover. He would not put the keys in the ignition again until he read every word in the booklet. As a kid, I thought it was a silly, quirky, strange little ritual. Now I think it's genius!

Moral of the story: Take Your Time!
The BB10 platform is brand new to you. You may know enough gestures to get by right out of the gate by what you've read on forums, played with in the store, or watched in videos. To truly unlock it's full potential, you will not only need to know what it can do, but get used to new hand movements. This will take time! Do not expect to start multitasking emails, texts, and phone calls simultaneously (which is an out-of-this-world awesome experience!) on the first day.

My best advice for purchasing the Q10 in the USA: plan, plan, plan.
1. Stay out of the retail outlet until you are ready to make the purchase. In fact, avoid the retail outlet altogether if you can. It could make you crazy. Just as if you were buying car, the retail salespeople are not your friend. They are there to make a commission on whatever device they stand to make the most $ off of. Most are BB haters and very few are knowledgeable about the product (being a BB loyalist, of course you already know this). It makes for a very bad experience to have to defend your choice of device for 15 minutes before.
2. If you do venture into the retail store and want to play with it, take a wing-man. Have your wing-man create a diversion by him/her checking in with their account number, and acting as if they were the ones getting a new phone. They could look at phones on the other side of the store, phones next to the BBs, or, if you're brave, at BBs. Seem disinterested in being there at all, and play around with it. Practice the gestures. Are they exactly what you saw in the video, or do your natural hand ergonomics work a bit differently?
3. Schedule some alone time with the device. Make the purchase when you have a few relatively low-key consecutive days afterward. Do not pick this thing up on a Sunday night, go full bore on Monday's busy workload and expect to be a sane and rational person by Tuesday morning. The Q10 in particular will eat you alive if it doesn't get some love upfront.
4. Don't be over eager! I know you have been waiting what seems like an eternity for this device. We all have. Don't rush it. This is not a fire sale. The device is not going anywhere. It will be there when you are, I promise. Do not, under any circumstances, make this purchase when you have major stressors going on in your life. If you think getting a BB10 will make you feel better when your car/house/relationship/kids/etc. is/are broken, it's not. At best, it will be one more thing on your plate and at the worst could drive you to the brink of insanity (see also: the nearly incoherent rants of people who return them within 24 hours). Technology is meant to improve the quality of human existence, not drive us to an early grave.
5. Plan to return the device. (Wait, what did she just say?) I said, plan to return the device. Every dealer/carrier/retailer has a return policy (VZW's is 14 days). Look at it as a 10+ day test drive (factor in time to ship it back if you ordered it online). Plan to return it at the end of the test drive. I can almost guarantee you won't.
6. Should you decide the BB10 is not for you...
6a. It's ok!!!! It's not a marriage (unless you're on a 2-year contract). The world will not end (unless you're on a 2-year contract). Some carriers have a restocking fee (VZW is $35), that you'll have to pay to return/exchange the device. (Small price to pay to figure out you're not compatible.) With VZW, your new contract will also be voided. (It's an annulment, not a divorce - no one is going to take half of everything you own).
6b. End the relationship nicely. Maybe it's not right for you right now. Maybe the apps you want will come along later, or a future update will fix your pet peeve(s). Stay in the forums, or check back in a few months to see how things are progressing. We'll take you back. Do not go on a tirade in the forums, s**t talk the brand to everyone and their mother, and expect a warm welcome. You'll still be welcomed back when BB10 is more mature, but be ready to take some I-told-you-so jabs.
7. Have a Plan B If you are in immediate need of a phone and are getting it with a 2-yr upgrade contract extension, the next device you will be marrying (I don't think carriers take too kindly to chronic returners) so choose wisely. If you think with some added apps or fixes in the next year or two BB10 might work for you, consider buying a used phone on Ebay, Cl, or CB Marketplace forum for now.

If you follow all this advice, hopefully everyone wins. The last thing BB needs right now is a bunch of over-eager/hormone-fueled Crackheads to run out, buy this Ferrari, race it off the lot and wrap it around a tree in 24 hours then scream how BB sucks.

P.S. Feel free to add to this list. Positive feedback in a simple Like/Thanks is appreciated. If you feel the need to bash me, be gentle. I just crashed my new Ferrari.

[L o r d R a j]

Point 6 and sub points 6(a) and 6(b)... EXCELLENT!

[svfd757]

I may take this approach. I am eagerly waiting on my upgrade date and I am not sure if I want to go with the Z or the Q. I dearly miss my BB experience and can't wait to take one of these out for a spin. I am leaning towards the Z but I really love the BB keyboards.

[Cavi Mike]

You sound like yet another BlackBerry employee. You didn't give me any advice on the device itself except for talk about how great is (which I've been finding out is the exact opposite). Everything you said applies to any new purchase - not the Q10 in specific. All anyone would have to do is replace "BlackBerry" with "Apple," "Q10" with "iPhone 5" and "BB10" with "iOS" and it would read exactly the same. Here, lemme show you:

Moral of the story: Take Your Time!
The iOS platform is brand new to you. You may know enough gestures to get by right out of the gate by what you've read on forums, played with in the store, or watched in videos. To truly unlock it's full potential, you will not only need to know what it can do, but get used to new hand movements. This will take time! Do not expect to start multitasking emails, texts, and phone calls simultaneously (which is an out-of-this-world awesome experience!) on the first day.

My best advice for purchasing the iPhone 5 in the USA: plan, plan, plan.

1. Stay out of the retail outlet until you are ready to make the purchase. In fact, avoid the retail outlet altogether if you can. It could make you crazy. Just as if you were buying car, the retail salespeople are not your friend. They are there to make a commission on whatever device they stand to make the most $ off of. Most are Apple haters and very few are knowledgeable about the product (being an Apple loyalist, of course you already know this). It makes for a very bad experience to have to defend your choice of device for 15 minutes before.

2. If you do venture into the retail store and want to play with it, take a wing-man. Have your wing-man create a diversion by him/her checking in with their account number, and acting as if they were the ones getting a new phone. They could look at phones on the other side of the store, phones next to the iPhones, or, if you're brave, at iPhones. Seem disinterested in being there at all, and play around with it. Practice the gestures. Are they exactly what you saw in the video, or do your natural hand ergonomics work a bit differently?

3. Schedule some alone time with the device. Make the purchase when you have a few relatively low-key consecutive days afterward. Do not pick this thing up on a Sunday night, go full bore on Monday's busy workload and expect to be a sane and rational person by Tuesday morning. The iPhone 5 in particular will eat you alive if it doesn't get some love upfront.

4. Don't be over eager! I know you have been waiting what seems like an eternity for this device. We all have. Don't rush it. This is not a fire sale. The device is not going anywhere. It will be there when you are, I promise. Do not, under any circumstances, make this purchase when you have major stressors going on in your life. If you think getting an iOS will make you feel better when your car/house/relationship/kids/etc. is/are broken, it's not. At best, it will be one more thing on your plate and at the worst could drive you to the brink of insanity (see also: the nearly incoherent rants of people who return them within 24 hours). Technology is meant to improve the quality of human existence, not drive us to an early grave.

5. Plan to return the device. (Wait, what did she just say?) I said, plan to return the device. Every dealer/carrier/retailer has a return policy (VZW's is 14 days). Look at it as a 10+ day test drive (factor in time to ship it back if you ordered it online). Plan to return it at the end of the test drive. I can almost guarantee you won't.

6. Should you decide the iOS is not for you...

6a. It's ok!!!! It's not a marriage (unless you're on a 2-year contract). The world will not end (unless you're on a 2-year contract). Some carriers have a restocking fee (VZW is $35), that you'll have to pay to return/exchange the device. (Small price to pay to figure out you're not compatible.) With VZW, your new contract will also be voided. (It's an annulment, not a divorce - no one is going to take half of everything you own).

6b. End the relationship nicely. Maybe it's not right for you right now. Maybe the apps you want will come along later, or a future update will fix your pet peeve(s). Stay in the forums, or check back in a few months to see how things are progressing. We'll take you back. Do not go on a tirade in the forums, s**t talk the brand to everyone and their mother, and expect a warm welcome. You'll still be welcomed back when iOS is more mature, but be ready to take some I-told-you-so jabs.

7. Have a Plan B If you are in immediate need of a phone and are getting it with a 2-yr upgrade contract extension, the next device you will be marrying (I don't think carriers take too kindly to chronic returners) so choose wisely. If you think with some added apps or fixes in the next year or two iOS might work for you, consider buying a used phone on Ebay, Cl, or CB Marketplace forum for now.

If you follow all this advice, hopefully everyone wins. The last thing Apple needs right now is a bunch of over-eager/hormone-fueled Crackheads to run out, buy this Ferrari, race it off the lot and wrap it around a tree in 24 hours then scream how Apple sucks.

Heck, I prolly coulda done that using "Microsoft," "Win8" and "Surface."

The Q10 leaves much to be desired and that's all there is to it. It shouldn't have been released if it wasn't ready.

[hondaf17]

Thanks for the good message.

[Cavi Mike]

Real words of advice before getting a Q10 in the USA:

If on your current BB you have "dial from home" turned off and use your homescreen shortcuts avidly - wait for a software update because there are no homescreen shortcuts anymore.

[sedalia066]

Very good advice no matter the platform. An informed and wise consumer is always the best one can be. A selling point for my Z10 was the return time. That gave me the time to see how the phone worked in my hands in my time. Love it. Happy to stay a while longer with BlackBerry.

Via CB 10. C000C6078 for news, science, and technology links.

[anon(870071)]

Exactly carpe diem! Room was not built in a day! And BlackBerry OS is user friendly, easy to use, and will take a bit of time to learn the gestures!

Posted via CB10

[djslam]

You sound like yet another BlackBerry employee. You didn't give me any advice on the device itself except for talk about how great is (which I've been finding out is the exact opposite). Everything you said applies to any new purchase - not the Q10 in specific. All anyone would have to do is replace "BlackBerry" with "Apple," "Q10" with "iPhone 5" and "BB10" with "iOS" and it would read exactly the same. Here, lemme show you:



Heck, I prolly coulda done that using "Microsoft," "Win8" and "Surface."

The Q10 leaves much to be desired and that's all there is to it. It shouldn't have been released if it wasn't ready.

It's fun to attack people for no reason, especially those who are attempting to help!!! /End Sarcasm

[capcom303]

[QUOTE

The Q10 leaves much to be desired and that's all there is to it. It shouldn't have been released if it wasn't ready.[/QUOTE]

This is what I still think of the Z10. With the time blackberry had to work on this I'm not sure if more time will bring a fix or what. Seems like they are spending most of their time making different new phones that are all going to use the same OS which is just not ready. Well just not ready may not be right because they may not be able to fix it. They left too many basic things out. If I didn't love a real keyboard I would probably be giving a windows phone a try or just switching back to my 9900. It is 2 years old and still looks and works like new. I'm ready for my 3rd Z right now and figuring it will not be any better the the first 2 and that is why I was going to see if I could get the Q instead.

[MizzCrack]

You sound like yet another BlackBerry employee. You didn't give me any advice on the device itself except for talk about how great is (which I've been finding out is the exact opposite). Everything you said applies to any new purchase - not the Q10 in specific. All anyone would have to do is replace "BlackBerry" with "Apple," "Q10" with "iPhone 5" and "BB10" with "iOS" and it would read exactly the same. Here, lemme show you: Heck, I prolly coulda done that using "Microsoft," "Win8" and "Surface."

The Q10 leaves much to be desired and that's all there is to it. It shouldn't have been released if it wasn't ready.

Hi Thanks for the first bashing!

Here's the deal. I said if you follow the steps you will most likely keep it. I am actually on step 6 & 7. I am not in love with it, yet, but see how I could be, given I had followed steps 1 - 5. Instead of choosing the 6b route, I chose to be an adult, take some responsibility for my actions, and give some advice along the way. Consider the post as a personal therapy session with hopes of don't-do-as-I-did.

The post was never intended to be a dissertation features, there are a million and a half posts to sift through on those subjects. I don't know all the features because I got into this way too fast and I don't have the time to stumble right now.

I am, though, tremendously flattered that you think my post could be used as a marketing tool, considering I am a scientist who hates writing anything more than test results and do not have time to indulge myself in chat forums 24-7.

But thanks for trying to kicking dirt on me while I'm on the side of the road next to my crashed Ferrari waiting for a tow truck. You missed.

(P.S. - BB, if you are listening, and would like to hire me for marketing purposes, I would like to be relocated to a rural area on a body of water where there is no traffic and lots of sunshine. Thank you.)

[slagman5]

Real words of advice before getting a Q10 in the USA:

If on your current BB you have "dial from home" turned off and use your homescreen shortcuts avidly - wait for a software update because there are no homescreen shortcuts anymore.

Wow, where have you been? This topic have been discussed TO DEATH. Do a quick search in the forum. I also know because I was one of the most vocal ones about that issue. BB has already verified that they have a fix for it and it'll be included in a near future update...

[njblackberry]

Wow, where have you been? This topic have been discussed TO DEATH. Do a quick search in the forum. I also know because I was one of the most vocal ones about that issue. BB has already verified that they have a fix for it and it'll be included in a near future update...

Can you define "near future" since BB has already verified this.
Is that this year?

[OnyxFruit]

How about just waiting a year until the OS becomes stable? OS7 took about a year before most of the bugs were worked out. People who want reliable tech don't pay money to become beta testers. That's why companies rarely adopt the newest stuff.

[papped]

How about just waiting a year until the OS becomes stable? OS7 took about a year before most of the bugs were worked out. People who want reliable tech don't pay money to become beta testers. That's why companies rarely adopt the newest stuff.

"Stable" is subjective and depends what you mean by the word. The OS is already stable in a general sense. If there are features you want available that aren't, etc, people use "stable" to mean that as well.

So you need a better defined criteria than that...

[OnyxFruit]

"Stable" is subjective and depends what you mean by the word. The OS is already stable in a general sense. If there are features you want available that aren't, etc, people use "stable" to mean that as well.

So you need a better defined criteria than that...

I was mostly referring to the complaints of the random reboots. This OS shows a lot of promise and I'm certain that new features will emerge in subsequent revisions but it will take time.

[sulcopete]

Hi Thanks for the first bashing!

Here's the deal. I said if you follow the steps you will most likely keep it. I am actually on step 6 & 7. I am not in love with it, yet, but see how I could be, given I had followed steps 1 - 5. Instead of choosing the 6b route, I chose to be an adult, take some responsibility for my actions, and give some advice along the way. Consider the post as a personal therapy session with hopes of don't-do-as-I-did.

The post was never intended to be a dissertation features, there are a million and a half posts to sift through on those subjects. I don't know all the features because I got into this way too fast and I don't have the time to stumble right now.

I am, though, tremendously flattered that you think my post could be used as a marketing tool, considering I am a scientist who hates writing anything more than test results and do not have time to indulge myself in chat forums 24-7.

But thanks for trying to kicking dirt on me while I'm on the side of the road next to my crashed Ferrari waiting for a tow truck. You missed.

(P.S. - BB, if you are listening, and would like to hire me for marketing purposes, I would like to be relocated to a rural area on a body of water where there is no traffic and lots of sunshine. Thank you.)

We want a picture of you and your Ferrari by the side of the road, please.

[papped]

I was mostly referring to the complaints of the random reboots. This OS shows a lot of promise and I'm certain that new features will emerge in subsequent revisions but it will take time.

This has been fixed for a while now in 10.1