[dwaynewilliams#WN]

Since web browsing is such a small percentage of how I use my phone, I don't really care to go back to an Android device.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[lol2much]

i have the 9700 and the nexus one... and to tell u the truth.. only reason i havent fully jumped ship is cuz of bbm and my company using bes... but Android is RAPIDLY growing.. and soon ....blackberry will need to get it together in order to compete.

You're absolutely right wouldn't it be great if we could combine the two.

[Since9600]

I now have both for now and with all the things I can do, my Android is def being used more than the limited BB.. I am trying hard to give myself a reason to keep trying as I will always be a BB fan... However, now that MANY friends/family have converted, BBM is hardly a reason anymore... As of right now, the ONLY thing my BB have over my Android is Email and Battery usage... RIM needs to kick it up a notch... Current BB6 devices is a joke.. nothing but a short term patch *to me*..

[noonzie]

for my work phone as soon as the year comes around i am moving to the sprint evo 4g. will be so much better than my curve

[orgullodemexico]

I am in a similar situation like others. I am elgible for an upgrade and thinking of switching to Android.

I have been a Blackberry BIS only user for 6 years, currently using the Storm 2 on VZW. I purchased the 2600mAH battery for the Storm 2 which as made me a little happier about the phone as I can get through a full day without looking for a quick charge. I am tired of the "screen freezes" and battery pulls and exceptional long reboot time (and I thought 5.0.0.1015 was supposed to fix that)

Two things about the Android (and specifically I am looking at Motorola's Droid X) perhaps someone can help me.

Is it my understanding that the android phone's do not have any kind of indicator light, informing you of an incoming call or mesage?

I hear that none of the Android phones will reconcile email accounts other than GMAIL. In other words I would still have to log onto a Yahoo account and delete mail that I did not wish to retain. BB manages that nicely.

Still hoping for a Storm 3 but doubtful.

[lssanjose]

Samsung is notorious for a lack of an LED. Motos, I know have LEDs.

Non-gmail emails are handled by the stock email client. if your work email runs off exchange, then you're good to go. Otherwise, you should look at getting touchdown, or K9

[orgullodemexico]

Samsung is notorious for a lack of an LED. Motos, I know have LEDs.

Non-gmail emails are handled by the stock email client. if your work email runs off exchange, then you're good to go. Otherwise, you should look at getting touchdown, or K9

I am not a BES user so that is not important to me. THX

[lssanjose]

there is a yahoo mail app for android. And it is push. I just looked at your previous post to mine. I hope this helps.

[ThePinkChameleon]

(sorry for the long winded post) Well, I looked into the droid OS from Sept-Nov. & I decided, no android is not for me. (I even spent 2hrs in a Vzw store w/the SF)
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So then I decided to upgrade from my 8330(vzw) to either the S2 or Bold. I chose the Bold-but haven't upgraded yet. I've been waiting for pricing to maybe come down & see what the new year has in store for bb. But now, within the past couple of days, I'm feeling very torn again to stay bb or go droid. I really did like the SF, but not having a full physical qwerty keyboard concerns me. My daughter has an S2 and when I use it sometimes, the typing has me feeling like I wanna chuck the thing accross the room. Lol. But the typing on the SF is just like the iTouch & iPad, which I have both & I type pretty well on them.
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I don't use my ph for business-its all personal fun. Bbm is not a huge issue for me cuz I now have a *drum roll* grand total of 2 Contacts! lol.
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I know with the email - I'd have to get something from the app store like K9 for my 2 yahoo & 1 Aol accts.
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One thing I never did check out on the SF or the moto X is does it have any features like bb has for "auto text"? Can anyone on droid clarify that or if there's an app that can do that?
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I'm just soooo damm torn & it really shouldn't be this hard to choose a phone, bb or android. Its that I've read plenty of people move to droid from bb and wind up back on bb within 1-3mths aft switching because they just didn't like it, and honestly I don't want to have to worry about going thru all of that.


Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[the_sandman_454]

(sorry for the long winded post) Well, I looked into the droid OS from Sept-Nov. & I decided, no android is not for me. (I even spent 2hrs in a Vzw store w/the SF)
.
So then I decided to upgrade from my 8330(vzw) to either the S2 or Bold. I chose the Bold-but haven't upgraded yet. I've been waiting for pricing to maybe come down & see what the new year has in store for bb. But now, within the past couple of days, I'm feeling very torn again to stay bb or go droid. I really did like the SF, but not having a full physical qwerty keyboard concerns me. My daughter has an S2 and when I use it sometimes, the typing has me feeling like I wanna chuck the thing accross the room. Lol. But the typing on the SF is just like the iTouch & iPad, which I have both & I type pretty well on them.
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I don't use my ph for business-its all personal fun. Bbm is not a huge issue for me cuz I now have a *drum roll* grand total of 2 Contacts! lol.
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I know with the email - I'd have to get something from the app store like K9 for my 2 yahoo & 1 Aol accts.
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One thing I never did check out on the SF or the moto X is does it have any features like bb has for "auto text"? Can anyone on droid clarify that or if there's an app that can do that?
.
I'm just soooo damm torn & it really shouldn't be this hard to choose a phone, bb or android. Its that I've read plenty of people move to droid from bb and wind up back on bb within 1-3mths aft switching because they just didn't like it, and honestly I don't want to have to worry about going thru all of that.


Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

If you don't like typing on a touch screen, try Swype on Android devices. To set it up to be used, long press on any text box, select input method from the menu that comes up and pick Swype. Now you touch the first letter and drag your finger across all of the other letters in your word. It isn't perfect but I like it better than just the regular touch keyboard option. You can customize
Swype with words and tailor some settings but just to test out you won't need to try any of that.

As for autotext, I don't know if an app exists or not, but it doesn't have a list you can set up yourself for autotext. It does autocorrect some things and you can add words to its dictionary. That is one functionality that they should look into adding in future OS revisions.

I left BB in September for my Droid 2 (which has an LED notifier light btw) and am not looking back a bit. Those who do go back either haven't found the time/patience to learn to use a new platform efficiently, like the simplicity of the BB platform/how familiar they are with it, or similar factors. Nothing wrong with switching back, but I suspect most of that is because they didn't have a clear understanding of what the differences are and so forth.

Maybe the ones who switched back to BB picked the wrong Android device (just like BB has different product lines, among Android based devices there are low, mid range and high end offerings). Maybe they didn't have a good understanding of the advantages/disadvantages of Android versus BB platforms and how those factors appply to their personal needs/wants in a device.

Sit down and make a list of your needs/wants and weight the choices into most/least important. Then try to compare this list to the strengths and weaknesses the different platforms and devices have.

Finally, realize that every smartphone/smartphone OS is a compromise. That is true of every last smartphone out there. The trick to being happy with a smartphone device is picking the smartphone solution with the set of compromises that fits your needs best.

[ThePinkChameleon]

If you don't like typing on a touch screen, try Swype on Android devices. To set it up to be used, long press on any text box, select input method from the menu that comes up and pick Swype. Now you touch the first letter and drag your finger across all of the other letters in your word. It isn't perfect but I like it better than just the regular touch keyboard option. You can customize
Swype with words and tailor some settings but just to test out you won't need to try any of that.

As for autotext, I don't know if an app exists or not, but it doesn't have a list you can set up yourself for autotext. It does autocorrect some things and you can add words to its dictionary. That is one functionality that they should look into adding in future OS revisions.

I left BB in September for my Droid 2 (which has an LED notifier light btw) and am not looking back a bit. Those who do go back either haven't found the time/patience to learn to use a new platform efficiently, like the simplicity of the BB platform/how familiar they are with it, or similar factors. Nothing wrong with switching back, but I suspect most of that is because they didn't have a clear understanding of what the differences are and so forth.

Maybe the ones who switched back to BB picked the wrong Android device (just like BB has different product lines, among Android based devices there are low, mid range and high end offerings). Maybe they didn't have a good understanding of the advantages/disadvantages of Android versus BB platforms and how those factors appply to their personal needs/wants in a device.

Sit down and make a list of your needs/wants and weight the choices into most/least important. Then try to compare this list to the strengths and weaknesses the different platforms and devices have.

Finally, realize that every smartphone/smartphone OS is a compromise. That is true of every last smartphone out there. The trick to being happy with a smartphone device is picking the smartphone solution with the set of compromises that fits your needs best.

thank you sandman for taking the time to read my post & respond - I'll click ya' a "thanks" later when I have access to my laptop
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OK - swype-yes I actually did use this function when I spent the 2hrs in Vzw looking at the SF. It is a very cool feature-i liked it *alot*! I do use auto text a lot on my bb as well and its one of those things that I would HAVE to have on the droid. I'll have to search on AC to find out if there's an app that can do this. It is an important feature for me.
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As for taking the time to learning the android OS, I'm not thee most patient person, but I think I would give it my best shot to work with the differences. I do know somethings droid does better(quicker browser), and vise versa for the bb(email). So, it is a give & take compromise. I've been on my 8330 for lil over 2+yrs now & I know it fairly well, although I do still learn a thing or two! Lol. And I do like the simplicity of a bb platform.
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I have done reading up on AC about rooting & debloating-so I think if I did get a droid device, at some point I would look to do that. As for custom ROM, I don't know - I'm not that far yet. Lol. Even with my bb, I was never a 'theme' person. I'm happy enough to use the pre installed bb themes and just change my wp's everyday if I choose! So I'd prob do the same with the droid as well.
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I have tried to construct a list of pros & cons for bb vs. droid. But it seems everytime I try, I get distracted or can't concentrate-so I will have to take serious consideration to make it happen & hopefully it will help me to make my decision.
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For now, my upgrade will sit, and I will still think about the Bold 9650 also. I also know that Vzw has their 30 day guarantee(w/$35 restock fee), BUT I'd rather not have to go thru all of that if not necessary. I'd rather be sure of my decision instead of jump and then be like--"oh crap, shouldn't have done that"!
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Thanks again sandman - your reply was very informative!

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[K Bear]

Samsung is notorious for a lack of an LED. Motos, I know have LEDs.

Non-gmail emails are handled by the stock email client. if your work email runs off exchange, then you're good to go. Otherwise, you should look at getting touchdown, or K9

As far as LED indicator, I know that HTC devices have them. My G2 lights up around the trackpad whenever I have an incoming message, e-mail, or weather update.

[WC_Boogie]

Can a newbie chime in?

I began w/ BB when Sprint first got the 8130. Then went to the 8330 when it became available. Subsequently switched to VZW and the Droid Incredible. Now I am back to BB and the Bold. IMHO droid is a great os and web browsing + flash is the best on the market. The DInc was fast, REALLY fast and the free apps from android are nice (I never pay for 3rd party apps). Anyway with all that said the Bold is a better fit FOR ME. Why? Well for starters the battery life. The DInc was lucky to get 4 hours off a charge. In real life practice more like 2-1/2 hrs. That's unacceptable for me as I use my phone for business and travel frequently. Secondly, the touchscreen keyboard on the DInc does not compare to the BB keyboard. I'm typing this post on my Bold, a feat which would have taken considerably longer on the DInc. I found that the virtual keyboard is good in theory but flawed in real use. Keys near the edge of the bezel are hard to hit and I found myself correcting errors more than getting out work product. But I will say that the predictive text on the DInc was pretty good (and it needed to be). As many have said, email on the BB is just flat out better. I use exchange and my emails are practically instantaneous on my Bold. That wasn't the case on the DInc which had a 1 to 2 min lag. Not a deal breaker but still worth mentioning. So the bottom line for me is if you can deal with the battery life and the lack of a physical BB-style keyboard (the droid and d2 don't compare IMO) then android may be for you. Once dual core phones hit the market and battery life for android phones improves substantially I may give it another try. But until then I'm happy with the 9650 which does everything I want it to do and it does it VERY WELL except web browsing...which is why I will be first in line to check out the playbook when available. Media on the the droid was also great and the amoled screen (I got one before they ran out of stock) was impressive. But you have to stay close to an outlet if you are listening to music/watching movies. For now BB to me means "production" and droid equates to "consumption" but I'm hoping that QNX changes that to some degree.

Again, my opinion.
Cheers!

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[orgullodemexico]

there is a yahoo mail app for android. And it is push. I just looked at your previous post to mine. I hope this helps.

OK, here is a question that popped into my head while at the gym. Since you can have multiple email accounts on a Droid phone just as Blackberry, can all messages be read in one box, email, sms, mms? Or do you need to open a seperate app/icon for gmail, yahoo mail, AOL, etc?

On my blackberry have everything in MESSAGES and I like that.

[StAiChiLLiN]

I love my 9700 and RIM slightly, but the speed in which android is updated is amazing. If Google keeps going its gonna surpass everyone, and im definitely looking forward to see whats coming next from Android.
The Nexus S is a pretty good looking phone.

[K Bear]

I love my 9700 and RIM slightly, but the speed in which android is updated is amazing. If Google keeps going its gonna surpass everyone, and im definitely looking forward to see whats coming next from Android.
The Nexus S is a pretty good looking phone.

The Nexus S is not all that it's cracked up to be. It would be if it had microSD storage and was made of a better quality design like the Nexus 1.

[StAiChiLLiN]

The Nexus S is not all that it's cracked up to be. It would be if it had microSD storage and was made of a better quality design like the Nexus 1.

i agree on the quality but buyers mostly likely gonna have a case on it.
But having the NFC chip is pretty cool, even though it not gonna be used at all.
Well at least in the states.

[roka101]

Really wanted to like this device. Blackberry just seemed a bit dull compared to some of the other phones out there and when I switched, I figured I'd get the functionality of the blackberry with more fun things to check out. I didn't realize how much you give up. I tried a few email programs and none seemed able to have one central folder you could search several fields like a sender and a keyword. I like a more controlled search. The other thing is just a lot of steps to do things. Like if you're reading an email and want to send one of the people copied on the message an email, you can't just highlight it and hit send to this person, you have to copy it, paste it, create a new email. It's not a big deal, but the blackberry just seems to have better context driven menus. I highlight something and I have the choice to call, email, text them, or whatever. The G2 is basically a small computer with a light operating system optimized for web and applications. If you don't mind a few extra steps, it's a lot more versatile, but I'm just very adhd and very impatient if it's not intuitive and instantaneous, it's psychic energy wasted I could be directing elsewhere. Another thing I noticed is build quality. A blackberry feels like it is made to take falls or be put in your jeans pocket next to keys if that happens by mistake. The g2 I think belong in a purse or separate bag. It doesn't seem build like a blackberry. The torch seemed much better built for that matter than the g2. Overall, I think a phone is primarily a communication device. That means voice, text, email, posts to/reading posts from social networks/twitter, Etc. All these devices do voice well so if your written communication is mostly text, and social networks, the android is better since it will save you time. If you're written communication is email, the blackberry is better since it will save you time. If you're a patient person who does a lot of email, you could probably get away with an android and be happier. But I'm impatient so for now at least, I'll be switching back to blackberry.

[Suertetres]

I've carried both. I always end up going back to my bb. The battery and form of the bb are superior IMO. I like having a keyboard, I'm interested in the Droid pro on VZW. It took me a whole to warm up to Android because it is so customizable (if that's a word).

Once I got it set up I loved it. The thing that drove me crazy was only a touch screen

[BluCheze]

Same here. The main attraction for me is the size and keyboard. Its way superious than anything out there.

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[CRJDRIVER]

I am an airline pilot; spending most of the time on the road. I currently have a 9000 that has worked "OK", but I have been really impressed with the Androids and thinking of trying the Captivate next with AT&T.
I was under the impression that Android didnt have "push" mail like Blackberry, but looked at a co-workers the other day and found that there was push function on it. Is this similar to BB? I just feel like I am falling behind all the other smart phones out there while I have been running out of memory on my 9000 (I dont use themes and have few apps onboard... ). I just feel that RIM just has not been keeping up. I love BBM, but I don't want to use that as an excuse to remain with a format I feel is slow, overburdened, and requires a battery-pull just about everyday.
Just looking for an "Objective" comparison of both formats.

thank you!

[TBacker]

If you use PIM (Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Memos) heavily, you will be frustrated with Android. You would have to add a myriad of apps and other third-party cloud services to even approach the amount of PIM data (available info fields) and functionality of the basic BB PIM. Not to mention your data will not be well integrated (contacts to tasks or appointments, etc.) and your data will likely have to go through more than one third party cloud service.

The BB PIM apps aren't exactly awesome, but are much more complete and integrated. Third party apps can be bought to give you a different GUI or experience tailored to your taste, but still access the same, on-board, core data. Data that is easy to sync with Outlook, Google, Exchange, etc.

Androids GUI is also very young, and still has many un-intuitive quriks and complexities. So, as with the PIM, many new Android users find themselves out buying third party apps and rooting to fix these shortcomings.

At this point in time, IMHO, if you want a casual phone with decent web browser, personal email access, basic phone list, and a large selection of apps, you'll like Android.

If you are more utilitarian or productivity focused, and want something with excellent messaging, a solid PIM, a decent browser (though still without flash ), and sync options, get an OS6 based BlackBerry.

Hopefully this changes in the future as there are a lot of power users circling Android waiting for it to grow up a bit more.

RIM (BlackBerry) would also benefit from some direct competition as they have been complacent about adding better hardware and capabilities to their core set of features. Can anyone say QNX OS for BlackBerry PHONES?

[TBacker]

I was under the impression that Android didnt have "push" mail like Blackberry, but looked at a co-workers the other day and found that there was push function on it. Is this similar to BB?

It depends on where your email is hosted.

Android will use push IF:

- You have your mail on GMail
- You forward all your mail to GMail to get it on your phone
- You use ActiveSync from a Microsoft Exchange mail server that hosts your mail (support is still somewhat basic but works)
- You use a third party app like TouchDown with a Microsoft Exchange mail server that hosts your mail

Outside of that, Android has to poll your email account in a pull fashion. Unfortunately at present, Android still very much revolves around Googles cloud services like GMail. The GMail app on the phone is feature rich, but the third party mail gets accessed through a different, not-so-rich, app.

[Xopher]

I have to agree that it depends on how you use your device and what you want to do with it.

I recently made the change from BlackBerry Tour to a Samsung Galaxy S device and was blown away. There were some quirks in getting all of my e-mails set up, and tweaking to get the device set up the way I like it, but that's sort of a selling point - you can configure it however you want.

I do miss BBM, some of the better quality apps (Berry Weather, SocialScope, RDM+ ...), longer battery life (although my device sits in a cradle on my desk, like my Tour did) and (at times) the keyboard. I don't miss the trackball, web browser, and battery pulls.

The selling point to me was my carrier. They were giving away free phones. My only BlackBerry choices were the Curve 9330 (definitely a step down from the Tour) or the Bold 9650, which with just a few minor tweaks over my Tour, wasn't much of an upgrade. If it wasn't for getting the Galaxy S phones for free, my wife and I would probably still be rocking BlackBerrys.

It probably would have been a longer time before I tried an Android device. Now that I have, and can see the differences between how the two operate, I'm happy with my switch to Android. I was happy with my BlackBerry. If my carrier had the Storm or Torch, I may have stayed with BlackBerry.

[Cinnamongirl]

It would be great if you could get your hands on an Android device and use it for a few days, enough time to really get a user experience. I was lucky enough to be lent an Android phone which is how I made my choice to upgrade to the bold 9650 and not an Evo. There was nothing wrong with the Evo but I just didn't LIKE it as much as the blackberry and it the end that was all that mattered. I'm very happy with the choice I've made in both phone and carrier and next December when I'm eligible to upgrade or switch providers I'll do my research again and we'll see. So the best advice I can give is to go out and try the Android as you can see some people are extremely passionate about their phones but regardless of their adoration you're the one who has to live with that phone for a year or two. Good Luck.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com