the keypad on the blackberry takes some getting used to, but after a week you'll have sussed the using thumbs and be typing as fast as you are on a normal keyboard!
if your after a phone thats based around communication, emails, sms etc. then you cant beat a blackberry, after all, its what they were made for!! its true that the media functions arnt as good as the iphones etc. but its a phone with media capabilities not an media player with phone capabilities!!
you may find that with non smart phones the email is painfully slow!!
battery life on my blackberry, if i use mine hard then i get just about 2 days out of it, (internet, wifi always on, lots of emails, texts bbm, a few games) but if i leave it alone then get 3 days from it,
i charge it every night anyways but thats just habbit, put it in the charging stand and pick it out when the alarm goes off in the morning!!
also when transfering files etc from the computer to the phone its drag and drop into the relevant folders too, no need for specific media programs! very handy! most the phones will take up to 32gb Micro SD too,
ive downloaded a few apps on mine, but mostly the useful ones, extended dictionary, an app that reads out emails etc when i'm driving / riding the bike (if i turn it on that is! otherwise if i forget to turn it off, it goes off in public = very funny/embarassing!! ) ebay, and a few others, the blackberry app worlds have 20.000 apps in them which in terms of ipod app place isnt much but, you dont get half the pointless ones dare i say!
there are also a couple of great forums for issue's problems etc. crackberry.com being one of the better!!!
line up wise, the torch is the touch screen and key[ad phone in the line up, the Bold is the Best handset out there at the mo in the line up, (9780) or the Curve 3g, the pearl is a smaller form and more normal phone like but still with the Blackberry abilities,
there is a New curve due out in Q2 of this year, with a new bold and new torch in Q3
having had mine a couple of years, and previous blackberry before i really dont think i'll be using any other brand of phone!!
