[Momo13Drums]

I'm going to try and make this as simple as possible. It might be long but please read through everything to help me!

I'm a drummer, and I work in the music industry. I originally got a blackberry because I'm constantly responding to emails, texts, BBM, and phone calls. I had an 8330 and it broke, so in a hurry to replace it, I got a Tour which I'm still currently using.

My Tour is now having so many issues it's hard to live with. Some days, I can go without any problems. MOST days, it freezes up with the hourglass constantly. It will randomly reboot sometimes. The trackball sticks and it's extremely frustrating trying to read important time-sensitive emails when I can't scroll down.

Here is a comprehensive list so you can help determine what would be best for me -

Here is what I need from my phone:

Extremely reliable email and texting - the faster I can get it, the better, too.
I've lost some major gigs/opportunities because I couldn't respond to an email because my Tour was screwing up. In this business time is money, and you wouldn't believe how many people can't wait even 5 minutes for the phone to reboot.

Excellent phone call quality. All around.
There is nothing worse than talking to a manager, producer, or even my girlfriend and having to ask "what?" every five seconds. I've noticed on my Tour, the call quality is very... random. My girlfriend sounds extremely muffled to the point I can't understand anything she's saying, while other people are crystal clear.

BBM
This is my main communication with my girlfriend and it's the #1 reason I stay on blackberry. She's also incredibly stubborn and won't switch to anything less-quality than BBM - If someone could offer me a viable solution that would be a replacement for bbm on another platform with similar performance, please do tell. I've tried Google Talk, Cncted or whatever... and whatsapp. None of those work. Google Talk was the closest, but you have to sign in; and that isn't going to fly.

Durability
The term is a little subjective because its electronic equipment. I generally take care of my belongings very well, but again, on a gig or whatever.. the phone WILL get dropped, and not just once or twice.

Good/Decent camera
Sometimes for my work I have to take pictures and use them in fliers, etc... right on the spot; so I need a phone with a good camera. Not only that, but when I'm at a gig or something I like to take pics behind the scenes and I'm not going to be carrying around a separate camera. The camera in my Tour has been pretty good actually, much better than a co-workers iphone I used. But there again, I think it was the original iphone.

Good battery life
I have a charger in my car, and I don't mind bringing a charger to work - but I'm on my feet a lot at work and I can't always be sitting near the charger. I need good battery life, especially out on the road, or even a local gig, there is barely any time to charge the phone except in the car.
My Tour has failed me on this aspect. I can barely get through 7-8 hours without it dying.

Here is what I want from my phone:

All of the above, plus:

Good web browsing. Honestly, this isn't as big of a factor as most people probably have for it. I just use it for facebook, and my bank mostly. And to check Crackberry... or look up something on the fly. However, for those moments I need to look something up; I don't want to be waiting very long.
Honestly, the Tour sucked big time when I got it. Ironically enough, my browser is super fast after the latest upgrade to the OS and it's fast enough for me. Would I like faster? Sure.

Apps are always nice...but I don't have a ton of time for them. The one I use the most is Mango which is a manga reading app when I get time in the car to a gig or whatever. Other apps I like are Where, Poynt, stuff like that. I don't know if they have anything out there on any platform like this.. but I'd like to be able to rent a movie or something and go pick it up without the hassle of waiting in line or whatever. Redbox maybe?

Bigger screen!
My Tour screen is killing me. Reading Mango sucks on such a tiny screen. Reading anything sucks.

And last but not least... Important INFO:

I am on US CELLULAR. If possible, I do NOT want to change my carrier. I have a grandfathered unlimited data plan. I love the blackberry platform. I don't want to change; but I also need my needs to be met. If there is a blackberry that can meet the needs and maybe some wants that I named, I'd gladly stay.

My contract is up for renewal in March I believe. So I can have choice of anything US Cellular offers.

I also had another question - which I'm very confused about. Can I purchase .. say... an unlocked Storm 2 from ... say... verizon, and use it with US Cellular? I hear different stories from different people. My friend says he's done it, and he's a blackberry tech. He said he's even had friends locally activate VZW unlocked berries on USCC but when I called my local USCC the lady told me they will only activate USCC branded phones. Then again, she sounded ... witchy.

Maybe someone can clear that up.

Also, I am looking to buy the playbook when it comes out. That's another big reason that's been stopping me from leaving BB.

Thanks for the help, sorry it's such a long post lol


One last thing I forgot to mention -

Money is not an issue. So if there is a blackberry that would cost me more to buy unlocked vs. a droid phone I could get with my renewal for very cheap, I don't care. What I care about is my needs being met.

Thanks!

[NeverBePeace]

I'm going to try and make this as simple as possible. It might be long but please read through everything to help me!

I'm a drummer, and I work in the music industry. I originally got a blackberry because I'm constantly responding to emails, texts, BBM, and phone calls. I had an 8330 and it broke, so in a hurry to replace it, I got a Tour which I'm still currently using.

My Tour is now having so many issues it's hard to live with. Some days, I can go without any problems. MOST days, it freezes up with the hourglass constantly. It will randomly reboot sometimes. The trackball sticks and it's extremely frustrating trying to read important time-sensitive emails when I can't scroll down.

Here is a comprehensive list so you can help determine what would be best for me -

Here is what I need from my phone:

Extremely reliable email and texting - the faster I can get it, the better, too.
I've lost some major gigs/opportunities because I couldn't respond to an email because my Tour was screwing up. In this business time is money, and you wouldn't believe how many people can't wait even 5 minutes for the phone to reboot.

Excellent phone call quality. All around.
There is nothing worse than talking to a manager, producer, or even my girlfriend and having to ask "what?" every five seconds. I've noticed on my Tour, the call quality is very... random. My girlfriend sounds extremely muffled to the point I can't understand anything she's saying, while other people are crystal clear.

BBM
This is my main communication with my girlfriend and it's the #1 reason I stay on blackberry. She's also incredibly stubborn and won't switch to anything less-quality than BBM - If someone could offer me a viable solution that would be a replacement for bbm on another platform with similar performance, please do tell. I've tried Google Talk, Cncted or whatever... and whatsapp. None of those work. Google Talk was the closest, but you have to sign in; and that isn't going to fly.

Good/Decent camera
Sometimes for my work I have to take pictures and use them in fliers, etc... right on the spot; so I need a phone with a good camera. Not only that, but when I'm at a gig or something I like to take pics behind the scenes and I'm not going to be carrying around a separate camera. The camera in my Tour has been pretty good actually, much better than a co-workers iphone I used. But there again, I think it was the original iphone.

Good battery life
I have a charger in my car, and I don't mind bringing a charger to work - but I'm on my feet a lot at work and I can't always be sitting near the charger. I need good battery life, especially out on the road, or even a local gig, there is barely any time to charge the phone except in the car.
My Tour has failed me on this aspect. I can barely get through 7-8 hours without it dying.

Here is what I want from my phone:

All of the above, plus:

Good web browsing. Honestly, this isn't as big of a factor as most people probably have for it. I just use it for facebook, and my bank mostly. And to check Crackberry... or look up something on the fly. However, for those moments I need to look something up; I don't want to be waiting very long.
Honestly, the Tour sucked big time when I got it. Ironically enough, my browser is super fast after the latest upgrade to the OS and it's fast enough for me. Would I like faster? Sure.

Apps are always nice...but I don't have a ton of time for them. The one I use the most is Mango which is a manga reading app when I get time in the car to a gig or whatever. Other apps I like are Where, Poynt, stuff like that. I don't know if they have anything out there on any platform like this.. but I'd like to be able to rent a movie or something and go pick it up without the hassle of waiting in line or whatever. Redbox maybe?

Bigger screen!
My Tour screen is killing me. Reading Mango sucks on such a tiny screen. Reading anything sucks.

And last but not least... Important INFO:

I am on US CELLULAR. If possible, I do NOT want to change my carrier. I have a grandfathered unlimited data plan. I love the blackberry platform. I don't want to change; but I also need my needs to be met. If there is a blackberry that can meet the needs and maybe some wants that I named, I'd gladly stay.

My contract is up for renewal in March I believe. So I can have choice of anything US Cellular offers.

I also had another question - which I'm very confused about. Can I purchase .. say... an unlocked Storm 2 from ... say... verizon, and use it with US Cellular? I hear different stories from different people. My friend says he's done it, and he's a blackberry tech. He said he's even had friends locally activate VZW unlocked berries on USCC but when I called my local USCC the lady told me they will only activate USCC branded phones. Then again, she sounded ... witchy.

Maybe someone can clear that up.

Also, I am looking to buy the playbook when it comes out. That's another big reason that's been stopping me from leaving BB.

Thanks for the help, sorry it's such a long post lol


One last thing I forgot to mention -

Money is not an issue. So if there is a blackberry that would cost me more to buy unlocked vs. a droid phone I could get with my renewal for very cheap, I don't care. What I care about is my needs being met.

Thanks!

Ran through it actually quickly though.....ditch the BB and get an iPhone or Android and there are other clients people can log in to besides BBM. You basically are begging to leave the BB

[howarmat]

gtalk on android is automatic, no logging unless its the first time using the phone. that is the best alternative for that.

you can get push email via gmail, hotmail, yahoo or exchange activesync on an android also.

Your carrier might be the biggest thing with getting an android phone.

Otherwise you already know BB, i wouldnt expect anything new from them in the next 9 months though.

[Rootbrian]

Go into a store and try out some android devices, get to know them.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[JimiMack]

The thing that jumps out at me is the "grandfather" clause you mentioned on the unlimited data. What ever you do, if you change your phone they may look at it that you will need to resign up for a contract and that may cause you to agree to what ever data plans they are now running. I would first speak with your carrier and double check that detail on what your options are.

[BewitchedWitch21]

Personally, I find BB to far more reliable than Android. Again...that is my personal opinion. I've used all the android phones that verizon carries, except for the Samsung ones. I enjoyed the fun that the Android operating system offers, however I always came back to my blackberry.

I know the Tour was really a bad model, just a lot of issues with the trackball and such. Not sure what models of bb's that US Cellular carries, but maybe the Curve 3G or one of the new Bold models.

I use a 9650 and it has been my absolute best bb to date.

[Momo13Drums]

Thanks for the replies.

Can anyone answer the issue of the unlocked phone?

[NeverBePeace]

Thanks for the replies.

Can anyone answer the issue of the unlocked phone?

You can use verizon phones on US GSM carriers as long as the phone has a sim slot (global phone or something) You'll be limited to edge network though.....

[Chrisy]

A Bold would probably be best for you. Or the Torch.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com