[omgbeav]

Totally kidding. I'm just completely blown away by some of the threads I've been seeing since the launch.

Here's my thoughts of the Tour.

The Tour is amazing for a BlackBerry and I'm really not sure if I could be happier. Sure, the BB platform has plenty of things that make me want to smack my forehead (worst browser evAr, no vibe and ring, no reminders of missed calls/messages, overly complicated for some simple tasks, etc.).

Having owned three defective Storms and finally giving up and using the 8330 I couldn't be happier with this phone. It combines everything I loved from both of the phones. The hardware and feel of the Tour is top notch. It's by far the best looking BB there is. The "frets" look so cool, the smoked chrome bezel and black trackball make it look perfect to me. The phone has a nice weight to it. It doesn't feel like a toy like the Curve, or a brick like the Storm. I also love the new clickier click of the trackball. The newer iteration of the BB OS is such a leap forward. Let's be honest, OS 4.5 is jank. The Tour is even more stable than my Curve. I don't have to do daily battery pulls due to running out of memory. The screen is outstanding. My wife purchased a LG Versa and my screen at 60% is brighter and crisper than hers by far. The auto focusing camera takes clear and crisp pictures.

Does the phone have flaws? Sure. Even the Jesus... I mean iPhone has issues. If you can't put up with flaws, good luck to you living in your perfect life. Is my battery cover loose? Yes. However, I'm thoroughly convinced if I hadn't seen all these CB posts it would have never bothered me. Even with it being loose I don't plan on starting a petition to get a refund for my phone, nor am I planning a trip to RIM to punch the CEOs for allowing the phone to have this problem. OMG The LCD ripples when you press on it!!1! I'm sure if this qualifies as a flaw or strange design choice. Either way, I don't plan on sit poking the screen all day.

I'm totally miffed on people complaining that the vibe isn't strong enough. Ever thought this was a design decision by RIM? The phone is aimed at the Corporate market and I know nothing is more annoying than a phone on vibrate that sounds like a freaking electric razor in a class/meeting.

Final thought? If my only problem is having to put a small piece of double stick tape inside the battery cover, I'm good to go (Quickpull FTW). I've noticed the OS has a few minor bugs and the battery life doesn't blow me away. Both of these issues are things that will be fixed in the next couple of months with newer versions of the OS. I'm also chomping at the bit to have 5.0 on my phone.

PS - all of you throwing hissy fits should take your Tours back and trade them out for Storms and use them for a week. I guarantee you'll have a new appreciation for the Tour.

[misageisha]

IA. I personally wouldnt return a phone based on just a loose battery cover..I would however try to swap and get a more snug fitting one but if the phone is working wonderful (i.e no major trackball problems)..then a loose cover is the least of my worries and who cares.

[omgbeav]

if the phone is working wonderful (i.e no major trackball problems)..then a loose cover is the least of my worries and who cares.

Ding ding ding

[b.asagba]

wait, but there isnt any smilies in sms i dont think. lol

[wth1973]

Well what's the answer? No smiles take back?? Just kidding this is a great phone I have never thought about the vibe and business meetings. Good point. Not just a teenage on the go phone.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[CHOSEN_ONE]

Nice post! Right on.

[omgbeav]

wait, but there isnt any smilies in sms i dont think. lol

There aren't any. Which I do find strange, but at this point I try to not use logic when it comes to decisions made about the OS.

[jamiegroh]

Well thank you for announing all of yoour complaints and whinning about other people whinning! Really helpgul and informative waste of 3seconds of my life

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[donnation]

Word.

______________

[omgbeav]

I have no complaints... Except for my complaints about complainers.

[jamiegroh]

I have no complaints. Except for my complaints about complainers.

So therefor you complain about yourself?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[b.asagba]

i think it took a lil more than 3 seconds of your life jamiegroh.
just saying.

[omgbeav]

Yeah, well... well....


Eh, I got nothing. Just wanted to poke some fun and give my review of the phone.

[ladymeggs]

Awesome phone. Some people are just never satisfied.

[omgbeav]

Couldn't agree more.

[GG1]

Totally kidding. I'm just completely blown away by some of the threads I've been seeing since the launch.

Here's my thoughts of the Tour.

The Tour is amazing for a BlackBerry and I'm really not sure if I could be happier. Sure, the BB platform has plenty of things that make me want to smack my forehead (worst browser evAr, no vibe and ring, no reminders of missed calls/messages, overly complicated for some simple tasks, etc.).

Having owned three defective Storms and finally giving up and using the 8330 I couldn't be happier with this phone. It combines everything I loved from both of the phones. The hardware and feel of the Tour is top notch. It's by far the best looking BB there is. The "frets" look so cool, the smoked chrome bezel and black trackball make it look perfect to me. The phone has a nice weight to it. It doesn't feel like a toy like the Curve, or a brick like the Storm. I also love the new clickier click of the trackball. The newer iteration of the BB OS is such a leap forward. Let's be honest, OS 4.5 is jank. The Tour is even more stable than my Curve. I don't have to do daily battery pulls due to running out of memory. The screen is outstanding. My wife purchased a LG Versa and my screen at 60% is brighter and crisper than hers by far. The auto focusing camera takes clear and crisp pictures.

Does the phone have flaws? Sure. Even the Jesus... I mean iPhone has issues. If you can't put up with flaws, good luck to you living in your perfect life. Is my battery cover loose? Yes. However, I'm thoroughly convinced if I hadn't seen all these CB posts it would have never bothered me. Even with it being loose I don't plan on starting a petition to get a refund for my phone, nor am I planning a trip to RIM to punch the CEOs for allowing the phone to have this problem. OMG The LCD ripples when you press on it!!1! I'm sure if this qualifies as a flaw or strange design choice. Either way, I don't plan on sit poking the screen all day.

I'm totally miffed on people complaining that the vibe isn't strong enough. Ever thought this was a design decision by RIM? The phone is aimed at the Corporate market and I know nothing is more annoying than a phone on vibrate that sounds like a freaking electric razor in a class/meeting.

Final thought? If my only problem is having to put a small piece of double stick tape inside the battery cover, I'm good to go (Quickpull FTW). I've noticed the OS has a few minor bugs and the battery life doesn't blow me away. Both of these issues are things that will be fixed in the next couple of months with newer versions of the OS. I'm also chomping at the bit to have 5.0 on my phone.

PS - all of you throwing hissy fits should take your Tours back and trade them out for Storms and use them for a week. I guarantee you'll have a new appreciation for the Tour.

One of the Better posts i've read !

[graymulligan]

<stands up>

<starts slow clap>

Well said sir. Well said. I'm so sick of the whining around here. It was bad with the storm, and people who just couldn't accept change, and its even worse with the tour.

[draino3112]

I just don't like how there's no grill attachment or it can't inflate my tires... I mean is that to much to ask Blackberry?!?!?

Complaining does not bother me as much as.....overreacting.

[omgbeav]

Well, hopefully I don't come across as overreacting. I have no problems pointing out issues with the Tour, but the echo chamber of seemingly minuscule complaints is astounding.


Besides; judging by the "how satisfied are you with your Tour" poll, it seems that the overwhelming majority of Tour owners are satisfied. However, as usual, people with something to complain about tend to be much, much more vocal.

[dtreo]

The Tour is amazing for a BlackBerry and I'm really not sure if I could be happier. Sure, the BB platform has plenty of things that make me want to smack my forehead (worst browser evAr, no vibe and ring, no reminders of missed calls/messages, overly complicated for some simple tasks, etc.).

So I'm a Sprint user 6 months into using a Treo800w after a long time with the Treo755p and I'm considering switching to either a BB Tour or Palm Pre. But after playing with and reading reviews of both, as well as iPhone, BB Bold, Treo Pro, TouchPro, etc...I still see few significant reasons why I should give up my 800w. The battery life is about my only complaint and I manage that pretty well.

Based on the short list of BB shortcomings above, I would be giving up a phone that easily provides vibe/ring/LED reminders for calls, texts and emails; does a great job of pushing my Exchange, Gmail and Yahoo mail; allows for quick and accurate touchscreen cut/paste even from web pages; provides instant short cuts for just about everything; Wifi when rarely needed; and has a browser that loads pages as fast or faster than any other phone I've compared it to side by side - especially since it seems to partially load text faster so that I can start reading the page instead of waiting for the full thing to load like a few others seem to do. I also like that the 800w backloads previously visited pages faster than so many other phones (iPhone especially - just backing up on that seems to take far longer than it should on web pages). This is all from me either using them side by side in stores or using a friend's phone, but it seems that my 800w does so many things like quickly switching between applications faster and easier than the others, just as Palm intended. If I get a Tour, seems to me that I'd be giving up some real convenience features and not really gaining that much even though I like the Tour design a lot. I really prefer the 800w keyboard over BB. How do you guys put up with not having a dedicated period key? That seems like a no brainer.

Again, I've never been a BB user, but I've always liked the BB build quality and their focus on being a solid phone with great business applications. But please tell me what I'd like more than my 800w if I switch - besides inane anti-WiMo banter. It really does a nice job of quickly and accurately sending frequent texts, emails and web browsing in a great phone you can easily use one-handed (again, my hesitation with the Pre sliding keypad and keys that are not raised enough). The Today page works great and customizes easily too.

Having LED/vibe/audible alerts for text, email and calls is so important and strangely not available in so many supposed business-focused smartphones.

So I'm having trouble figuring out why I'd switch to a Tour. I want to, but I think I may be disappointed. Am I wrong?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[omgbeav]

Based on the short list of BB shortcomings above, I would be giving up a phone that easily provides vibe/ring/LED reminders for calls, texts and emails

Not necessarily. The BB platform has a ton of versatility, and once established it's super easy to change between profiles. I base a lot of my opinion on coming from a dumb phone. The red blinking light will forever change you life. One of my personal gripes is the native lack of simultaneous vibe and ring. I use a free app called buzzme which fixes the problem, but I still don't understand why RIM won't implement this.

does a great job of pushing my Exchange, Gmail and Yahoo mail

I've never had a problem with push. Works flawlessly with my Gmail. IMAP is a different story, but since you didn't mention it, I won't bother.

allows for quick and accurate touchscreen cut/paste even from web pages;

Only on the Storm and I wouldn't advise anyone to go that route.

provides instant short cuts for just about everything

I don't specifically use this feature, so someone feel free to call me out, but once you disable type dialing from the main menu you can assign any key to an application.

Wifi when rarely needed

Sadly, not on the Tour or Storm.

and has a browser that loads pages as fast or faster than any other phone I've compared it to side by side - especially since it seems to partially load text faster so that I can start reading the page instead of waiting for the full thing to load like a few others seem to do. I also like that the 800w backloads previously visited pages faster than so many other phones (iPhone especially - just backing up on that seems to take far longer than it should on web pages). This is all from me either using them side by side in stores or using a friend's phone

The native browser leaves much to be desired personally. I love the Opera Mini browser which, in my experience is near desktop speed. It also caches the prior page so going back is instantaneous.

it seems that my 800w does so many things like quickly switching between applications faster and easier than the others, just as Palm intended.

Obivously, the Tour is currently not maxed out OS wise. I have no complaints now, but have no doubts RIM will speed it up with upcoming OS updates.

If I get a Tour, seems to me that I'd be giving up some real convenience features and not really gaining that much even though I like the Tour design a lot.

That's all a decision on your end. I've never played around with any of Palm's newer devices so I really cannot provide any insight.

I really prefer the 800w keyboard over BB. How do you guys put up with not having a dedicated period key? That seems like a no brainer.

If you double tap the space bar it inserts a period, a space and capitalizes the next letter for speedy typing. The BB browser recognizes the space bar as a period when typing addresses.


All IMO. I'd suggest to just try one out. If you're up for renewal, take one home and test it our side-by-side for a week or so.

[Thumb-Berry]

Love my tour.
So glad I missed the whole "Storm" phase.

[luckylefty]

Well said! After sitting through 8 months of my Storm, the Tour definitely exceeds all expectations for me. Like you said Beav, if no one had mentioned the battery cover, I wouldn't have even noticed it. The Tour seems like RIM is on the right path to making up for the Storm.

[omgbeav]

Well said! After sitting through 8 months of my Storm, the Tour definitely exceeds all expectations for me.

Thank you and my condolences. Two weeks with the Storm was enough for me.

[Robk812]

Another Storm trauma survivor, this thing is a much more refined and functional device. Whew......