[jimboyarguelles]

^Oh My God I never realized how antagonistic people are on this forum! LOL. I came here in the hopes I could get help for my 9900 and get this. I was actually trying to be helpful without being antagonistic.

Well, let's see. I never stated that Angry Birds aids in communication. I think I made a clear point that these were just availability of apps per platform, and since there are so many apps out there, I thought of putting together ones that are quite common and ubiquitious and might interest the OP.

But okay- I've edited my post.

Gosh!

EDIT: Oh how did you get Skype on your 9930? I'm assuming you're a Verizon customer? My bad...

[Rickroller]

Edit: Oh, forgot to add....my 9930 has Skype. I don't use it. It's a data hog that I consider an unnecessary personal luxury.

You may have Skype (a Verizon exclusive if i'm not mistaken, and not available on most BB carriers), but when most people talk about Skype, they're referring to video chat, not just wifi calling. Most people would only use Skype via WiFi..so I don't see data being a big issue either.

[_StephenBB81]

To the OP- realizing that you are getting a lot of recommendations here, I thought of helping you out further by making a comparison of three devices that I have observed. I own both the 9900 and Nexus, and have used the iPhone4S for a week.

I tried to make this comparison as objective as possible. Let us know what you decide.

Click to view quoted image


Click to view quoted image


(I made a list of apps that are quite essential, well at least for me, and availability on each OS.)

Also, if you are curious to see how each phone can go beyond the mere phone basics of calling, e-mails and SMS, I also made an app grid availability for you. Some of these apps might be helpful to you, some may not- if you have questions about what these apps can do, let me know.

If you are on unlimited data plan (if you are a student I'm not sure, but who knows), you might like Skype if you have friends / family across the States (or wherever you are from) to call with video.

If anyone sees anything here that is incorrect, please let me know.

Nice bit of research

Bold 9900 comes with Native YouTube
You Show Storage as a Negative for the Bold 9900, yet you don't show lack of expandable storage as being negative for the other 2? the Bold 9900 has a maximum storage of 40GB which is in fact better than both the other phones

For Wifi, again you give Bold 9900 a negative, yet it is the same as the iPhone 4S so that is either not a negative or the iPhone needs the same negative

For Data Speeds, that is very network dependent, but again you highlight where RIM is negative, but don't highlight where Apple is the same, painting a more negative picture

Google maps- Should be noted that there is Also BlackBerry maps, and Bing Maps available Google isn't the only solution, and in many cases is the inferior solution

BlackBerry Traffic is a FREE Navigation app,

Battery life, is very dependent on OS, I LOVE the fact that it is a small battery as I can get a full charge very quickly the life per mAh is very nice, and gets considerably better with OS7.1 I'd say a 20% improvement, giving me equal life to a iPhone 4S with similar usage

[pantlesspenguin]

Late to the party, I know. I have the Amaze and I absolutely love it. However, it's not without its problems. There is bad light bleed from the capacitive buttons on the bottom and GPS is rather spotty. Also, battery life isn't bad, but it isn't stellar. I can get a full day's worth of moderate use only if I plug it into my car charger on my commute home. Another deal breaker might be its size and weight. It's big and heavy compared to the 9900, and when you add a case that just adds extra bulk.

Now, that all said, I prefer Android to BBOS, and I find HTC's Sense overlay the most functional of all the skins. I've been completely sold on the concept of widgets. You can access and interact with your most needed content without launching the actual apps. Customization of Android is unlimited.

As far as those that say typing on a virtual keyboard is faster than a physical one, I concur. However, it is a learning curve just like everything else. You most likely won't be able to just pick it up and be a speed demon. It only took me a couple weeks, though, and HTC's stock keyboard is actually the best I've used.

Hope that helps!

[jimboyarguelles]

Nice bit of research

Bold 9900 comes with Native YouTube
You Show Storage as a Negative for the Bold 9900, yet you don't show lack of expandable storage as being negative for the other 2? the Bold 9900 has a maximum storage of 40GB which is in fact better than both the other phones

For Wifi, again you give Bold 9900 a negative, yet it is the same as the iPhone 4S so that is either not a negative or the iPhone needs the same negative

For Data Speeds, that is very network dependent, but again you highlight where RIM is negative, but don't highlight where Apple is the same, painting a more negative picture

Google maps- Should be noted that there is Also BlackBerry maps, and Bing Maps available Google isn't the only solution, and in many cases is the inferior solution

BlackBerry Traffic is a FREE Navigation app,

Battery life, is very dependent on OS, I LOVE the fact that it is a small battery as I can get a full charge very quickly the life per mAh is very nice, and gets considerably better with OS7.1 I'd say a 20% improvement, giving me equal life to a iPhone 4S with similar usage

thanks- i'll make some corrections later or just edit the post.

[qbnkelt]

You may have Skype (a Verizon exclusive if i'm not mistaken, and not available on most BB carriers), but when most people talk about Skype, they're referring to video chat, not just wifi calling. Most people would only use Skype via WiFi..so I don't see data being a big issue either.

My WiFi availability is very limited, since it's not allowed at work. So if I were to use Skype I would have to resort to using it on the network.
Yup, Skype is a VZW exclusive. Don't have it on any of my AT&T devices.

[qbnkelt]

^Oh My God I never realized how antagonistic people are on this forum! LOL. I came here in the hopes I could get help for my 9900 and get this. I was actually trying to be helpful without being antagonistic.

Well, let's see. I never stated that Angry Birds aids in communication. I think I made a clear point that these were just availability of apps per platform, and since there are so many apps out there, I thought of putting together ones that are quite common and ubiquitious and might interest the OP.

But okay- I've edited my post.

Gosh!

EDIT: Oh how did you get Skype on your 9930? I'm assuming you're a Verizon customer? My bad...

I challenged your post. I challenged your decision to discuss apps when the OP clearly stated that it was not a consideration.

There is a difference between challenging a post and being antagonistic. I hope you can discern the difference.

[qbnkelt]

Late to the party, I know. I have the Amaze and I absolutely love it. However, it's not without its problems. There is bad light bleed from the capacitive buttons on the bottom and GPS is rather spotty. Also, battery life isn't bad, but it isn't stellar. I can get a full day's worth of moderate use only if I plug it into my car charger on my commute home. Another deal breaker might be its size and weight. It's big and heavy compared to the 9900, and when you add a case that just adds extra bulk.

Now, that all said, I prefer Android to BBOS, and I find HTC's Sense overlay the most functional of all the skins. I've been completely sold on the concept of widgets. You can access and interact with your most needed content without launching the actual apps. Customization of Android is unlimited.

As far as those that say typing on a virtual keyboard is faster than a physical one, I concur. However, it is a learning curve just like everything else. You most likely won't be able to just pick it up and be a speed demon. It only took me a couple weeks, though, and HTC's stock keyboard is actually the best I've used.

Hope that helps!

On the bolded....I am not keen on touchscreens because I am terrible at touch keyboards. That said, the keyboard on my Atrix kills the keyboard on my 9860.

But my 9930 kills both

[kilted thrower]

On the bolded....I am not keen on touchscreens because I am terrible at touch keyboards. That said, the keyboard on my Atrix kills the keyboard on my 9860.

But my 9930 kills both

I use two different keyboards for my Thrill--swype and thumb keyboard. I pulled out my 9700 and my 9310 out of the drawer yesterday. Oh dang. I was terrible at a physical keyboard after having used a touch screen keyboard. And after having gotten used to swype...I'd really hate to go back to a physical keyboard. here's something else that is cool...I'm using my Swype keyboard on my phone too type this out on my laptop using splash screen remote. I need to run a rest and see if I'm faster with Swype out typing in my laptop keyboard. I can hit 81 words a minute with 94 percent accuracy. Sooooo it'd be a good race. I'll have to admit it's pretty chill to be reclined back in my chair instead if hovering over the keyboard.

[Tre Lawrence]

I use two different keyboards for my Thrill--swype and thumb keyboard. I pulled out my 9700 and my 9310 out of the drawer yesterday. Oh dang. I was terrible at a physical keyboard after having used a touch screen keyboard. And after having gotten used to swype...I'd really hate to go back to a physical keyboard. here's something else that is cool...I'm using my Swype keyboard on my phone too type this out on my laptop using splash screen remote. I need to run a rest and see if I'm faster with Swype out typing in my laptop keyboard. I can hit 81 words a minute with 94 percent accuracy. Sooooo it'd be a good race. I'll have to admit it's pretty chill to be reclined back in my chair instead if hovering over the keyboard.

Now that is an idea...

Mobile post via Tapatalk

[qbnkelt]

you guys need to talk to my loved ones when I try to type on the 9860....they want to throttle me

[jimboyarguelles]

I use two different keyboards for my Thrill--swype and thumb keyboard. I pulled out my 9700 and my 9310 out of the drawer yesterday. Oh dang. I was terrible at a physical keyboard after having used a touch screen keyboard. And after having gotten used to swype...I'd really hate to go back to a physical keyboard. here's something else that is cool...I'm using my Swype keyboard on my phone too type this out on my laptop using splash screen remote. I need to run a rest and see if I'm faster with Swype out typing in my laptop keyboard. I can hit 81 words a minute with 94 percent accuracy. Sooooo it'd be a good race. I'll have to admit it's pretty chill to be reclined back in my chair instead if hovering over the keyboard.

now that is just pure display of what modern technology can do

again a lot of blackberry fans remain blackberry fans because of the keyboard, and i was one of them. i never thought i'd like the touch screen keyboards but now i cant imagine using anything else. they are so much easier on the thumbs making it faster and more accurate to type.

[Berry Fairy]

WOW! You guys are terrific!

This is ALL great information and now I have more things to think about. Jim, I really liked the comparison grid you created for me. I haven't heard of many of those apps and programs you listed but I do want to look into them now. Things like angrybirds, skype, and twitter, are things that I just don't have time for. I'm not really a gamer. However, I do thank you for the effort you put into showing the pros and cons of the Bold and other phones. I went to my local T-mobile retail store and played around with the Bold and Amaze to see which one felt more natural. The following are my conclusions after 15 minutes of exploration with each device:

Bold:
+ Great feel in my hand. The far ends of the keyboard and screen where easily reached by my thumb. It was lighter and fit comfortably in my pocket while standing and sitting. The build quality also felt top notch.
+ The speaker provides good sound while playing YouTube videos.
+ Browser navigation was easy with the optical track pad.
+ It was easy to switch between running apps (didn't know how to do this on the HTC other than with the task manager app)
- The shaped surface of the keys feels a little unnatural and seemed to want my fingers to slide off
- Some commands seemed to require extraneous steps
- Screen is small for reading webpages.
- Camera provides so-so pictures. (lack of auto focus is a MAJOR oversight on Blackberry's part)

HTC:
+ Gorgeous screen with very nifty screen animations.
+ Screen's large size allows for comfortable viewing of webpages, videos, etc.
+ The 8mp camera is awesome! Clean and vivid pictures every time.
+ Screen transitions were VERY fluid. Great presentation overall.
+ Very responsive keyboard. Great accuracy and tactile feel with vibration.
+ Limitless possibilities with all the apps and features available.
- This is one huge phone! My thumb strains to reach the far corners and it isn't comfortable in my pocket.
- The screen edge is overly sensitive which makes for accidental commands periodically. (Depends on how I hold it)
- With a capacitive screen, a big drawback is having to tap icons multiple times when using the phone in cold weather.
- It doesn't feel as solidly built as the Bold
- I'm still worried about it crashing. With all the apps and widgets operating at once, it just stands to reason that failure is imminent. (I guess the same could be said for the Bold but to a lesser degree IMO)
- Battery life has got to be pitiful.
- If the screen malfunctions, the phone is useless, no other means of input to the device.
- The novelty of having the world at my fingertips will eventually wear off. I encountered this same phenomenon when I got my iPod Touch. All those downloaded apps but i only use a few of them.


That's what I got so far. Not saying it applies to all HTCs or Bolds but it was my brief experience.

[jimboyarguelles]

WOW! You guys are terrific!

This is ALL great information and now I have more things to think about. Jim, I really liked the comparison grid you created for me. I haven't heard of many of those apps and programs you listed but I do want to look into them now. Things like angrybirds, skype, and twitter, are things that I just don't have time for. I'm not really a gamer. However, I do thank you for the effort you put into showing the pros and cons of the Bold and other phones. I went to my local T-mobile retail store and played around with the Bold and Amaze to see which one felt more natural. The following are my conclusions after 15 minutes of exploration with each device:

Bold:
+ Great feel in my hand. The far ends of the keyboard and screen where easily reached by my thumb. It was lighter and fit comfortably in my pocket while standing and sitting. The build quality also felt top notch.
+ The speaker provides good sound while playing YouTube videos.
+ Browser navigation was easy with the optical track pad.
+ It was easy to switch between running apps (didn't know how to do this on the HTC other than with the task manager app)
- The shaped surface of the keys feels a little unnatural and seemed to want my fingers to slide off
- Some commands seemed to require extraneous steps
- Screen is small for reading webpages.
- Camera provides so-so pictures. (lack of auto focus is a MAJOR oversight on Blackberry's part)

HTC:
+ Gorgeous screen with very nifty screen animations.
+ Screen's large size allows for comfortable viewing of webpages, videos, etc.
+ The 8mp camera is awesome! Clean and vivid pictures every time.
+ Screen transitions were VERY fluid. Great presentation overall.
+ Very responsive keyboard. Great accuracy and tactile feel with vibration.
+ Limitless possibilities with all the apps and features available.
- This is one big- phone! My thumb strains to reach the far corners and it isn't comfortable in my pocket.
- The screen edge is overly sensitive which makes for accidental commands periodically. (Depends on how I hold it)
- With a capacitive screen, it takes repeated presses on an icon in order to get a response. This is a big drawback when using the phone in cold weather.
- It doesn't feel as solidly built as the Bold
- I'm still worried about it crashing. With all the apps and widgets operating at once, it just stands to reason that failure is imminent. (I guess the same could be said for the Bold but to a lesser degree IMO)
- Battery life has got to be pitiful.
- If the screen malfunctions, the phone is useless, no other means of input to the device.
- The novelty of having the world at my fingertips will eventually wear off. I encountered this same phenomenon when I got my iPod Touch. All those downloaded apps but i only use a few of them.


That's what I got so far. Not saying it applies to all HTCs or Bolds but it was my brief experience.

no worries.

since you mention dealing with doctors everyday, my impression is you may want to have access to medical apps, and there are tons of them on android and are free.

i noticed as well that you seem to worry quite a lot about malfunctions. take note that these are unavoidable and that is what warranty is for. my experience with the galaxy nexus (it seems the HTC amaze is a top flagship phone, not sure) has been flawless versus the 9900 which was okay for a while but started to give me major problems (rebooting while in a phone call).

my nexus multitasks things without hiccups or lags, and has never crashed. remember that the nexus is a dual core 1.2 phone, and i think the amaze is a dual core 1.5 phone- so do not worry about crashing or lags. the 9900 to be quite frank, is technologically far behind the nexus and the amaze as far as processor goes (it's on the grid i made for you).

the battery life of the 9900 has been very poor (check the 9900 forums here), my nexus outlasts it all the time.

believe me- the large sizes of modern devices nowadays are becoming the norm. would you really, truly want to browse full websites on a tiny screen on the 9900? it just takes getting used to. i mean have you seen the galaxy note? that is one awesome device i am looking forward to own

large screens have very big advantages. trust me.

since it seems you really don't consider the nexus as an option and the options are just the 9900 vs amaze, here's a link you might find useful that compares the two devices:

HTC Amaze 4G vs RIM BlackBerry Bold 9900

in the comparison, i think it is obvious which one wins. and the review has not even talked about ecosystems yet.

[Berry Fairy]

I'm not opposed to the Nexus, it's just more cost effective for me to stick with T-mobile which does not offer the Nexus.

[jimboyarguelles]

Okay cool. Check out the link that compares the Amaze and the Bold Ü

[Berry Fairy]

I just studied the link you sent me, very informative. I'll give the Amaze and the similar HTC Sensation a harder look. Thanks for your help Jim.

[jimboyarguelles]

I read further reviews on the Amaze and the only drawback I have read is battery life. There are lots of remedies for that though. A spare battery ends all debate lol. Ü

[Rickroller]

+ It was easy to switch between running apps (didn't know how to do this on the HTC other than with the task manager app)

Generally on any Android running 2.3 (Gingerbread), all's you need to do is long press either the Home button or the Menu button, and it will bring up your list of last used apps for seamless switching.

With the new Android 4.0, it's got it's own dedicated button, which allows for beautiful scrolling and navigating of your last used apps.

Overall..glad to see you giving both phones a decent amount of time, and trying out things like how they feel in your pocket. Either one would be a great phone, so just find one that fits you best

[pantlesspenguin]

I just studied the link you sent me, very informative. I'll give the Amaze and the similar HTC Sensation a harder look. Thanks for your help Jim.

I had the Sensation for awhile and greatly prefer the Amaze. I had to get multiple warranty replacements on the Sensation and I got sick of it and switched to the Amaze. I'm certainly glad I did!

You don't have to worry about crashes, freezes, or non-responsive screens on the Amaze. In the rare event that an app or the OS crashes, a dialogue box pops up asking if you want to wait or force close. Hit force close, and you are able to use the app or OS immediately after. On the BB, an entire reboot is necessary (correct me if I'm wrong, folks, I'm not 100% sure that's accurate on OS7).

ETA: In addition to long pressing the home button to quickly switch apps, HTC Sense also let's you switch by listing your recently used apps in the notification tray. Also, the Sense notification tray also let's you toggle several settings as well.

[Berry Fairy]

Okay gang, I've been scrolling through the Bold forums and I have a couple of questions for you:

1. Has there been a solution(or at least a cause) found for the bricking issue?

2. How do I tell if my phone is one made in Mexico with sub par built quality? Is there a location where the Bolds are manufactured that are better than others?

[Berry Fairy]

Well after much thought on the matter, I think the smartest option is to wait and not upgrade just yet. The Amaze is having major battery life issues and I don't want to cart around extra batteries as that would defeat the appeal of a MOBILE phone. And until RIM comes out with a difinitive solution for the bricking/battery issue on the Bold, I won't be purchasing a 9900�yet.

[Tre Lawrence]

Well after much thought on the matter, I think the smartest option is to wait and not upgrade just yet. The Amaze is having major battery life issues and I don't want to cart around extra batteries as that would defeat the appeal of a MOBILE phone. And until RIM comes out with a difinitive solution for the bricking/battery issue on the Bold, I won't be purchasing a 9900�yet.

*Thumbs up*

Take your time and do what's best for you!

[southlander]

Good to know..I wasn't aware that was what Blackberry Protect did (as it's been about a year since I last used a Berry )

BB Protect backs up all the important stuff; not everything. No 3rd party apps, etc. Full backups need cabling to one's PC/Mac. OP mentioned not using a lot of apps, so perhaps he/she would be covered.

As for updates, a BlackBerry can do it OTA for official carrier releases. Or, any compatible update can be installed via connecting up with USB.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

[paris.williams]

Well after much thought on the matter, I think the smartest option is to wait and not upgrade just yet. The Amaze is having major battery life issues and I don't want to cart around extra batteries as that would defeat the appeal of a MOBILE phone. And until RIM comes out with a difinitive solution for the bricking/battery issue on the Bold, I won't be purchasing a 9900�yet.

not a bad decision. i wish though that your carrier had more options aside from the amaze. there are better android devices out there that have batteries that will manage to power your phone for an entire day well into the late evening.

i was in the same boat as you months ago and when i read all about the bricking issues of the 9900, i thought it was science fiction until it happened to my uncle's 9900.