[1812dave]

This would make for an interesting poll. How many BlackBerry loyalists would be willing to sacrifice some battery life for 4G speed on a BlackBerry?

I was going to say "me", but then I see you limited your question to "BB loyalists". that leaves me out.

[sleepngbear]

I've heard that argument from RIM for months now. Guess what--Rim is just not good enough for me.

Well if you HAVE to have 4G, your choices are pretty limited. RIM isn't the only phone maker without a 4G model. Good luck and enjoy.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[1812dave]

Well if you HAVE to have 4G, your choices are pretty limited. RIM isn't the only phone maker without a 4G model. Good luck and enjoy.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I know only too well how limited! I'll see how the Charge strikes me, tomorrow. Sure would be cool to have a timetable of when the next couple or 3 4G phones will hit Big Red.

[Laura Knotek]

Well if you HAVE to have 4G, your choices are pretty limited. RIM isn't the only phone maker without a 4G model. Good luck and enjoy.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I suspect that Apple is also waiting to improve battery life before they introduce a 4G iPhone. They got to the point where battery life on 3G is good, but they do not want the "4 hrs and dead" with 4G either.

[valorian]

I look at it this way. RIM has always been the smartphone for the business person. What business person is going to want a BlackBerry that only gets 4 hours out of it's battery?

[1812dave]

I look at it this way. RIM has always been the smartphone for the business person. What business person is going to want a BlackBerry that only gets 4 hours out of it's battery?

The other brands have been making inroads into the corporate world. Business people are not EXCLUSIVELY BB users. Sadly, even lots of doctors are now sporting non-BB's.

[Mr One 2]

what are you referring to? I'll be getting 4G for the same $30/month (I might get the Sammy Charge tomorrow, unless it looks like a POS). I ALREADY verified the cost of unlimited 4G service, with Verizon yesterday.

Well that's good news for now. I know my neighbor who has bought an evo shift is being charged on sprint. I have also read that Verizon would by offering 4g for the same rate for a limited time w the first phones capable which is great cuz I won't see it here for some time.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Masahiro]

I sometimes switch from 3G to 2G (EDGE) because the battery life tax just isn't worth it a lot of the time. The only reason to use 3G would be if I wanted to stream some YouTube videos, or some browsing on uncached, non-mobile websites. With that said, I can only imagine how "overkill" 4G would be when 3G barely warrants the additional (albeit somewhat minor) battery drain.

[oldbbuser]

When is iPhone going 4g?

You know the current crop of 3G BB's only have a 3.6 mbs radio in them right? plus all data runs through their central office (slowing things down even more). I've teathered with both phones and my Torch is noticeably slower. If the leaked specs of the new phones this year are accurate things will be a bit better in BB land. I can't wait to see the Monaco!

[valorian]

The other brands have been making inroads into the corporate world. Business people are not EXCLUSIVELY BB users. Sadly, even lots of doctors are now sporting non-BB's.

Yes, you are right there and I never said exclusively. Plus the phones the other brands being used buy business' are 3G.

[Stides]

The whole 4G situation is very interesting on verizon. They currently only have the HTC Thunderbolt and Samsung Charge as their 2 LTE 4G devices. Both are single core and somewhat bulky due to the 4G radio. The Moto Droid Bionic is a dual core LTE handset but it is being delayed because of performance issues until the end of the summer. That sucks. However, they are offering unlimited 4G for $30 per month for early adopters (the same price as unlimited 3G). That's a great deal if you live in a 4G area. I don't think that deal will last through the summer. The iphone 5 will be out in the fall but it will likely not have an LTE radio and will be 3G only. To further complicate matters verizon no longer offers 1 year contracts. If you get one of the new bold touches or monacos (full touchscreen) that RIM should be releasing this summer and you renew your contract it's 20 months of no LTE 4G on verizon before you are eligible for an upgrade. Even if your area is not 4G now there is a good chance it will be in less than 2 years given how aggresively verizon is rolling out LTE. The other option is to pay a ton for the phone off contract. ThIs makes for some tough choices this summer.

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[BergerKing]

What I see missing here is that while some people have dissatisfaction over BlackBerry's lack of 4G, I also see the total misunderstanding of the situation. The Droids have great speed when it's available, but to get it they had to compromise out the wazoo. In order to function on the networks 4G that is available, they require a dual chipset. Two separate chips are employed to work, one 3G, one 4G. And, of course, their 4G chip is first gen, so essentially, the owners are beta-testing these systems. And, as noted, dual chips do 2 things that some developers aren't willing to compromise with: They add size, and they eat batteries like Rosie O'Donnell does Little Debbie snack cakes.

So, you can get your uber-power device and kvetch about the battery life, or, you can wait for the dual-mode chips, get a decently-sized device that get reasonable battery life.

The chips are due to start releasing near the end of the year. After they hit, then you may see devices worth having 4G on about the middle of next year.

Until then, you can get the backpack-battery needing models to tide you over. Otherwise, be patient. They will get herew when the time is ripe.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[MrObvious]

That's the same reason the iPhone isn't going 4G yet either, because battery life sucks.

[TgeekB]

I think a lot of people get confused watching the commercials on TV that make these things look like they can do everything, everywhere. Then they get one and realize the reality of things. If you have great 4G coverage and don't mind charging these things often, I'm sure they can be a lot of fun. I don't see the need on a Blackberry as of yet.

[iN8ter]

i will try NOT to make this a BlackBerry vs. ( put your phone here) debate.
the OP mentioned about the Thunderbolt but left out all the problems that current owners have, specifically the battery.
having 4G on your smartphone sounds like a good idea until you see the drain in the battery.

Why not consider a smartphone/ tablet and a Mi-Fi that is 4G.
this can give you 4G and 4 other devices ( laptop, ipod touch, etc)

That is expensive as h*ll, the smartphone/tablet + Mifi.

Much cheaper to get a 4G phone with a tethering plan for a WiFi-only tablet, IMO...

The word filter really needs to be toned down a bit...

[mark_rivers19]

I think a lot of people get confused watching the commercials on TV that make these things look like they can do everything, everywhere. Then they get one and realize the reality of things. If you have great 4G coverage and don't mind charging these things often, I'm sure they can be a lot of fun. I don't see the need on a Blackberry as of yet.

Truth in Advertising

[SixStringMadness]

I think the 4G LTE technology is way ahead of the phone hardware. I had a Thunderbolt for 13 days, and besides the junk battery, (which doesn't need 4G to suck), it just really doesn't have the power to handle the network. The phones need to catch up.

[avt123]

I think the 4G LTE technology is way ahead of the phone hardware. I had a Thunderbolt for 13 days, and besides the junk battery, (which doesn't need 4G to suck), it just really doesn't have the power to handle the network. The phones need to catch up.

Like I said early on in the thread, it has a lot to due with having a first gen LTE chip in it. 3G devices at first did not have that great of battery life, then later on they got much better. Also, HTC devices generally have ****ty battery life.

[peacey]

Why would RIM go 4G? There are barely any carriers that support 4G. Also, there isn't one carrier in Canada that supports 4G yet. There is no reason to go 4G right now. It's just an over hyped technology.

And BTW, none of the carriers that advertise 4G actually have 4G networks. None of the networks actually come close to the speeds of 4G standard. They're all just lying when they say '4G'. When they say 4G, they actually mean WiMAX or LTE. Advertising it as 4G is just a marketing gimmick and isn't truthful at all.

Imagine you were a large company. Where would you see the advantage in converting? Not only to a watered down version of a standard, but also one that hasn't even been tested thoroughly yet. BlackBerry is used a lot in the corporate world, and no one in the corporate world likes instability.

[1812dave]

Why would RIM go 4G? There are barely any carriers that support 4G. Also, there isn't one carrier in Canada that supports 4G yet. There is no reason to go 4G right now. It's just an over hyped technology.

And BTW, none of the carriers that advertise 4G actually have 4G networks. None of the networks actually come close to the speeds of 4G standard. They're all just lying when they say '4G'. When they say 4G, they actually mean WiMAX or LTE. Advertising it as 4G is just a marketing gimmick and isn't truthful at all.

Imagine you were a large company. Where would you see the advantage in converting? Not only to a watered down version of a standard, but also one that hasn't even been tested thoroughly yet. BlackBerry is used a lot in the corporate world, and no one in the corporate world likes instability.

Spoken like someone who doesn't live in an area saturated with 4G coverage. My area is heavily covered by 4G and I am chomping at the bit to get on the fast lane.

You are claiming that BB is "stable"??? Ever owned a Storm or the Storm2?? Disregarding the storm-specific issues, ever heard of anyone with a BB needing to pull the battery?? sigh. stability, my ****!

[sleepngbear]

Spoken like someone who doesn't live in an area saturated with 4G coverage. My area is heavily covered by 4G and I am chomping at the bit to get on the fast lane.

You are claiming that BB is "stable"??? Ever owned a Storm or the Storm2?? Disregarding the storm-specific issues, ever heard of anyone with a BB needing to pull the battery?? sigh. stability, my ****!

Of the three BlackBerry's I've owned, I never had to pull the battery for anything other than a software upgrade or uninstalling an app. Those were/are a Curve 8310, Bold 9000, and now the Torch. Several people I work with have BB's, and none of them have any complaints. Understandably the first Storm had its issues, but I know two people with S2's who absolutely love them. Frequent battery pulls are not that common outside of a very few 'problem' models.

Most areas don't 4G yet. And being on at&t, 4G isn't going to be here any time soon. So I'm just chomping at the bit for this Bold Touch I'm hearing a thing or two about.

[1812dave]

Of the three BlackBerry's I've owned, I never had to pull the battery for anything other than a software upgrade or uninstalling an app. Those were/are a Curve 8310, Bold 9000, and now the Torch. Several people I work with have BB's, and none of them have any complaints. Understandably the first Storm had its issues, but I know two people with S2's who absolutely love them. Frequent battery pulls are not that common outside of a very few 'problem' models.

Most areas don't 4G yet. And being on at&t, 4G isn't going to be here any time soon. So I'm just chomping at the bit for this Bold Touch I'm hearing a thing or two about.

I spent quite a bit of time with a Verizon rep today. He readily admitted that the Storm is the most problematic BB out there, by a mile and they have gotten TONS of complaints. heck I only bought the Storms because my wife wanted them and it was like pulling teeth getting the Verizon sales staff to sell us those phones. They wanted to sell us ANYTHING but the Storms, on 3 separate occasions. Seems you know two people of the minority of storm owners who didn't return them or suffer with them, waiting for a chance to get another phone with a NE2. because I'm wanting a 4G Verizon phone, I'm stuck for the moment (don't like the TB).

[sleepngbear]

I spent quite a bit of time with a Verizon rep today. He readily admitted that the Storm is the most problematic BB out there, by a mile and they have gotten TONS of complaints. heck I only bought the Storms because my wife wanted them and it was like pulling teeth getting the Verizon sales staff to sell us those phones. They wanted to sell us ANYTHING but the Storms, on 3 separate occasions. Seems you know two people of the minority of storm owners who didn't return them or suffer with them, waiting for a chance to get another phone with a NE2. because I'm wanting a 4G Verizon phone, I'm stuck for the moment (don't like the TB).

Storm 2's -- they love 'em. Storm 1, yes, big problems, and I could see how that experience would sour you on the whole brand. But if you're dead set on 4G, it won't be a BB for at least another year anyway. Seriously, I wish you luck finding the right phone.

[1812dave]

Storm 2's -- they love 'em. Storm 1, yes, big problems, and I could see how that experience would sour you on the whole brand. But if you're dead set on 4G, it won't be a BB for at least another year anyway. Seriously, I wish you luck finding the right phone.

I really wish RIM would step up to the plate now and come roaring back with 4G, QNX, 4.3"+ screen, dual core, smoking-hot touch screen phone that doesn't need to be rebooted but once in a blue moon, and when it does, it should return to life in less than a minute. If they made a new phone I want, I could still have BBM, which I like/use a lot. But since none of that is the case, I'll give up BBM to have a fast, less troublesome phone in my life. RIM isn't moving quickly enough to put problems behind them. The PB isn't smooth sailing either. Great concept, nice hardware, thrown onto the market before it's fully baked. Missing core apps. So near; yet so far. I can't ever consider myself a BB fan--I just happen to own a BB. If the die-hard BB fans want to call that sentiment "whining", so be it. thanks for wishing me luck--can you light a fire under Moto/Samsung/verizon to get their acts together on a 4G phone???

[peacey]

Spoken like someone who doesn't live in an area saturated with 4G coverage. My area is heavily covered by 4G and I am chomping at the bit to get on the fast lane.

You are claiming that BB is "stable"??? Ever owned a Storm or the Storm2?? Disregarding the storm-specific issues, ever heard of anyone with a BB needing to pull the battery?? sigh. stability, my ****!

Everyone knows the storm brand isn't the best out there. Anyways I was referring to the stability of the 4G network.

Now, please tell me: How many networks actually have 4G? Close to none.