[casey.callaghan]

I currently have a 32GB iPhone 3GS with Telus in Canada and wanting something else. I've had it for a good year and a half and BBM seems really appetizing (I am a teenager after all!) I did use a Desire Z for around 2 weeks and there were too many issues to deal with (battery life, GPS) to make it worthwhile, so Android is kinda out of the question. I also use a Mac at home and have an iPad 2 is that changes your opinion.

Couple questions though. How good is BBM? Is it really worth the switch? Also, is there any general problems with BlackBerry's that really grind your gears? Are BlackBerry's reliable comparing to the iPhone? Which BlackBerry should I get; Bold, Curve or Torch? Can you use HotSpot Shield with the BlackBerry for Pandora in Canada, if not what are some good internet radio apps for the BB? Are there better alternatives for a teen? Is the BlackBerry App World good enough for basic apps? Can you only have data roaming for certain apps? (BBM, Facebook; but not email, app world, etc.)

Budget isn't really an issue and I would probably be buying it unlocked and not from Telus. I am a teen guy so keep that in account when replying to this thread.

Now a couple device specific questions:

Bold: What does the mute button do at the top? Does it put it in standby mode like on the curve, or does it do something different?
Does the battery last the entire day? Does BB 6 run well on your Bold? Do you like the keyboard?

Torch: Does it lag as much as the general public says? Does the battery life last the entire day? How does the keyboard compare to the rest of the BlackBerry's? Do you feel that the Torch doesn't offer the "productive" experience of the traditional form-factor BlackBerry's?

Curve: Do you feel that BB 6 runs well? Does the battery life do you well? How is the keyboard? I have somewhat large hands and the iPhone keyboard does me well for what I use it for (fb statuses, SMS, email). Does the lower screen resolution hinder the whole BB experience?

[jthep]

BBM is only useful I think, if a lot of your friends have Blackberries, if not, then its a non-issue. It is a great messaging service though. But if your friends aren't all BB users, other free message apps exist cross platform like Pingchat or Kik. But I think Kik was removed from BB app world.

As for going from iPhone 3GS to a BB. If you liked the iPhone 3GS experience as a media type phone with a decent sized touch screen too, the Torch is the closest you will get in the BB platform. And it also has a slide out QWERTY keyboard too, I will admit neither the touch keyboard is as good as an iPhone's nor the QWERTY keyboard as good as the Bold, but its capable of doing just about everything, no matter what your preference and runs well.

The Bold, excellent phone and keyboard, but if you are used to a 3''+ touch screen phone, you will have to get used to a smaller screen. The QWERTY keyboard, trackpad work great though. I would say the Bold models are slightly better than the Curve models on the whole, but they are similar.

As for apps, iTunes puts BB App world to shame, but if you want just the meat and potato apps like Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, Slacker, Tether, Youtube, Weather Channel, etc. BB will suit you fine. But if you want games, stick with an iPhone.

[CGI]

Casey -

Wait for the new Bold 9900. The processor/speed on that device will feel much more comparable to your iPhone.

I will let others answer your questions but I can say this much; if messaging is your thing (email, txt, BBM) then you will be very happy with your Blackberry.

If you enjoy the media and game aspects of your iPhone; Blackberry won't quite measure up.

[casey.callaghan]

BBM is only useful I think, if a lot of your friends have Blackberries, if not, then its a non-issue. It is a great messaging service though. But if your friends aren't all BB users, other free message apps exist cross platform like Pingchat or Kik. But I think Kik was removed from BB app world.

As for going from iPhone 3GS to a BB. If you liked the iPhone 3GS experience as a media type phone with a decent sized touch screen too, the Torch is the closest you will get in the BB platform. And it also has a slide out QWERTY keyboard too, I will admit neither the touch keyboard is as good as an iPhone's nor the QWERTY keyboard as good as the Bold, but its capable of doing just about everything, no matter what your preference and runs well.

The Bold, excellent phone and keyboard, but if you are used to a 3''+ touch screen phone, you will have to get used to a smaller screen. The QWERTY keyboard, trackpad work great though. I would say the Bold models are slightly better than the Curve models on the whole, but they are similar.

As for apps, iTunes puts BB App world to shame, but if you want just the meat and potato apps like Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, Slacker, Tether, Youtube, Weather Channel, etc. BB will suit you fine. But if you want games, stick with an iPhone.

Most of my friends that I do text use a BB so BBM is a non-issue. I am somewhat used to a 3"+ touch screen phone, however I would be willing to compromise on the smaller screen for a overall better phone (not half-baked). The meat and potato apps are what I will probably be using the most, and for the couple games that I do play, I can just use those on my iPad, or if I decide to keep my iPhone incase using a BlackBerry doesn't work out for whatever reason.

[anon(1603170)]

Most of my friends that I do text use a BB so BBM is a non-issue. I am somewhat used to a 3"+ touch screen phone, however I would be willing to compromise on the smaller screen for a overall better phone (not half-baked). The meat and potato apps are what I will probably be using the most, and for the couple games that I do play, I can just use those on my iPad, or if I decide to keep my iPhone incase using a BlackBerry doesn't work out for whatever reason.

Get the torch or the bold 9780, if you are looking for a blackberry, as the new ones coming out at the end of the summer will be half baked. Yeah, they will have better hardware, but will be plagged with bugs like every new OS version release by RIM, they will settle in a few months though.

[kbz1960]

If you like apps, games and the apple ecosystem best to stick with apple since you didn't like android.

[jebulls]

Get the torch or the bold 9780, if you are looking for a blackberry, as the new ones coming out at the end of the summer will be half baked. Yeah, they will have better hardware, but will be plagged with bugs like every new OS version release by RIM, they will settle in a few months though.

Half baked compared to the current BB's? I think the 9900 would be a much better option than any current BB! To the original op, are you sick of the touch screen part of the phone? Then the 9900 will be a great option. If you still like or don't mind the touch screen I think I would stay with the iphone.....

[anon(3733516)]

Whatever Blackberry it is, I'd say the switch to Blackberry from iPhone 3GS is worth it.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[j-10]

I switched from an iPhone 3G to a Storm 2 in November 2009 and have regretted it nearly everyday since.

I have found the OS to be slow and clunky. I have to do a "battery pull" every other day to have half-decent performance, followed by a 7 minute reboot. OS updates to solve existing issues have created even worse issues, my favorite being laggy text imput when sending SMS messages (but e-mails and BBM messages are still fine). Repeated attempts at reloading the OS from scratch were a waste of time and effort.

The web browser is laughable. Shutting off JavaScript and reducing the image quality to low were the only ways to get it to perform in a respectable amount of time. This HAS been improved in OS 6, which I wouldn't know about - my phone was less than a year from release and it wasn't upgradable from OS 5 to OS 6. Expect this trend to continue with RIM as they roll out OS 7 later this year and make obsolete phones they released in the past 12 months.

There are some apps, but I have found them to be of poor quality compared to iPhone and Android offerings. Not even close.

As someone previosuly mentioned, BBM is nice - if you have friends that use it. Also nice that they work over wifi so they are free to send and receive around the world. Another plus - battery life is great, but this might be a side effect of not being able to use the phone for anything.

I am counting down the days until I can get rid of this thing. Perhaps I just got a lemon, but this was my first and last BB experience.

But to each their own, right?

[kbz1960]

Sorry your storm is so bad. But to compare it to a current or up coming bb..... well there isn't any.

[jthep]

If many of your friends are BB users then BBM is a great messaging service, its worth the switch if you message them a lot and unlimited messages are important to you. BB rules for texts/messaging/emails and typing on real keys and I like their notification system better, iPhones its intrusive, you could be doing something else and it interrupts.

As for what other posters are saying, its too early to write off the new BB's as "half baked", I will agree there will be OS bugs early on as there always is, but I am impressed the most with the Bold Touch 9900 coming soon. I won't get one, bc I am under contract for another full year, but I do like what I am seeing in it.

As for the Apple eco-system, you are a young guy, I am not saying this to be at all condescending, but games aren't important to you or your friends at all? I mean I know you said you have an iPad, but BB's are really lacking in the games dept when compared to iPhones.

BB's better at messaging/email/texts/better notification interface/better typing

iPhones better at multimedia and games overall.

But both platforms can do all these things, but they have their strengths and weaknesses on who does what a bit better, I also think every BB I have ever used has had one really good battery. Cannot say the same for iPhones and certainly not for Android phones...

Also looking at your current iPhone, its a 32gig model on your device model? Thats a lot of memory, no BB I know of comes with so much memory, you would need to buy a SD Card separately to expand it.

[j-10]

Sorry your storm is so bad. But to compare it to a current or up coming bb..... well there isn't any.

Haha, right? It's a shame. They did so much for the smart phone market, only to be relegated to "last year's model" status.

Storm 2 had a nice form factor, Sure Press was a nice concept, but very underpowered and a phone I was never really happy or comfortable with.

I think they certainly have a decent future (seeing as how their new phones will have significantly improved specs and QNX seems like it could translate to a slick phone OS), but for me, My first impression has been a pretty negative one.

[jthep]

Yea J-10, I would have to agree the Storm models never impressed me. They seemed like cheap imitations of iPhones that did nothing as well.

I think RIM should give up on imitating the iPhone with the Storm altogether and stick to being the old school QWERTY keyboard beast that I know and luv. Trying to beat Apple at their own game with a touch only phone is a tall order especially against the Apple eco-system and unlimited apps.

I think the QWERTY keyboard is why consumers still buy BB's. In the business world there are security issues, but in the consumer world, the QWERTY keyboard is huge factor for many people, including me, I simply hate typing on touchscreens...