[TerribleTim68]

Ok, I'm going to post this since it may or may not help someone else along the way. No, I did not take it back. No, I'm not taking it back!

Let me preface this by saying a couple things; I've been a blackberry user since my very first smartphone. I started with a Curve, then went to a Torch, then to a Torch2 when I got my Playbook because I felt the 4g vs the 3g was important when using Bridge on my Playbook. I've never spent any time on a iPhone or any iDevice for that matter as I never felt like buying in to that whole culture. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the iCulture, I'm just saying I didn't feel like going there. I will also say that I've taken a metric crap ton of flack from the iPeeps of the world over my use of a Blackberry. To me, they have been quite possibly the most hostile people alive when it comes to portraying/expressing their hatred for RIM/Blackberry. At the same time, I've found that my Blackberry/berries have done everything I wanted/needed them to do, and then some. I don't use my phone to listen to music and I don't play a ton of games on it either. I use it for more work related stuff, crazy heavy social media stuff and, well, as a phone! I've also spent a small amount of time on a 'Droid since all my old coworkers had them and my wife has one that a sales guy talked her into when she said she didn't want an iPhone. She has had this love/hate relationship with that phone (HTC Inspire) ever since. I find it clunky and unintuitive, but that's just me.

Now to the part you came here to read; My first 3 weeks with my z10 and what I think of it!

Setup - It took very little effort to set up all my email accounts, get my contacts/calendar loaded and start actually using this phone the way I use my phones. Let me back up a bit. I knew I was getting this phone months ahead of time. So I did some preparation. The day before it was released I made sure to sync my Torch2 with my Outlook and make a backup of it as well as copy all pictures/files/ringtones/etc to a temp folder on my computer. This is where things got really cool! Once I had my new z10 in hand, I started by setting up my work email account. My new job uses Outlook Exchange. So I had synced my phone to my Outlook at my old job so that I had all my contacts from there. I then synced it with my Outlook at my new job to get all my contacts there. I don't know how simple this is with an iPhone and I've had some struggles with it on 'Droids that coworkers used at my old job (as the office tech guy, they always came to me with those things), but let me tell you this, Blackberry had always handled this extremely slick and easy with the old Desktop Software. So in no time at all I had my contacts/calendar at my new job. What I didn't realize was that as soon as I set up my z10 with my work email on it, it began syncing all my contacts/calendar with the Outlook Exchange server. So I never had to run that whole Blackberry Link thing that everyone talked about. The only thing left to do was copy all my pictures/ringtones back over from that temp folder I made. Done and done! So needless to say, setup was easier than any phone I've had in the past or any phone I've been around. Sure, I cheated a bit with Outlook Exchange handling the grunt work. But hey, use what you got!

Now, let's get to the usage part! I didn't come into this with any preconceived notions, I knew what a Blackberry is capable of and what it's not. I understand the apps issues surrounding Blackberry from my days with previous ones. So maybe my view is a bit skewed, or maybe it's more realistic. But either way I knew what I wanted out of this phone. First of all, it just looks freakin' cool! It's slick, clean and modern in it's simplicity. I've had more comments about how clean and stylish it looks than I can count, and that's coming from iPhone/'Droid users. The way the oS works is just cool as well. Just the way you move around in it and how everything flows is super slick and simple. Sure, I came from a Playbook, so some of the gestures were old hat to me. but it really is simple to learn and it just makes sense once you start using it. All the important apps I needed were there, well for the most part. But being a slightly techie guy I was able to find the ones that weren't there in the 'Droid porting community and get them sideloaded myself. It's a super easy process if you have any computer skilz at all! The hardest part is simply finding the .bar file you want. But there are people out there who might help convert it if you have the 'Droid .apk file too so sometimes that's an option. In short, it didn't take me long to have this phone up and running everything I had on my old Torch2 and using it the way I typically use my phone. After using this phone for about 2-1/2 weeks nowI can say that I am super happy with it and will be keeping it for a very long time.

The keyboard, I know you've already read infinite posts/articles about the keyboard but I have to say once again how freakin' cool it is. I find myself texting messages that are made of words I simply flicked up instead of typing. It has been learning what words I use. Not only that, it's learning how I spell things (we all have our slang we use) as well. To me, that is way cool! It's one of the features I show off first, it's that cool!

The multi-tasking! dude, if ever there was a reason to get this phone, this is it! When I want to dazzle people, I simply start opening up apps, all at the same time! Sure, other phones can do that to some extent too. But not like this one does! Seriously, the way in which you can open multiple apps and then move back and forth between them is astounding! Like I said, I use my phone for a lot of heavy social media stuff. There are times I have a web browser, my Twitter app, my Facebook app, my Ubersocial app (droid sideload) and some times my Hootsuite app (droid sideload) all open at the same time and moving between each of them as well. The way this phone handles that situation is truly amazing! Until you see it in action, you really won't understand what I'm saying. But once you see it in action, you'll be blown away! Seriously, it's phenomenal!

I really can't say enough about this phone, it's been truly amazing. And it will only keep getting better moving forward. I'm very happy to be carrying it and proud to show it off. If you're on the fence, I'd say this - Just give it a week, an honest unbiased week. It will change your opinion of Blackberry and quite possibly win you over.

[TerribleTim68]

Oh yea, one thing I forgot to add regarding apps. I understand that some apps are not there; Skype and so on. I also understand that some of you are pretty upset about those apps not being there. But I still don't see why it's a reason to condemn an entire company and write off this phone as a failure when the reality is that Blackberry isn't the app maker. If you want the app so bad, start a drive with the app maker to get them to port it or build a native one. The bottom line is, it's in the hands of the app maker. But it's not a reason, to me anyway, to condemn the phone or the company before even trying it first.

[krsholl]

I feel pretty much the same as you do about getting the Z 10. All of my smart phones have been BlackBerry as well. I've only been mind for a week and have been trying to associate the Z 10 functions for the 9930 I had for over 2 years. I just had time today to get into the bloggs and start learning about the issues others have had and answers to many of the questions I had. Tonight , I hope to try some side loading of some Android apps and see how that goes. I'd like to get to the point where you are in being as comfortable with this BlackBerry as I was with my 9930. Any Android size load tips would be appreciated


Posted via CB10

[TerribleTim68]

. . . Any Android size load tips would be appreciated


Posted via CB10

Honestly, it's not really hard at all. Don't be afraid to give it a run. There's a super awesome post on the Android App section of this forum that has a complete guide (How to put Android apps onto your BlackBerry 10 phone (Windows Guide) | CrackBerry.com) and there's another awesome list of apps (http://forums.crackberry.com/android...ng-z10-766594/). Seriously, everything you need is there and people to help you with any issues. The guide explains it all super simple and easy to understand. You'll be up and running in no time!

[BannedForNoReason2]

Great review. Glad you're enjoying the phone