Blackberrys

What are they like as compared to ‘droid phones? They always looked rubbish to me.

They always looked rubbish to me

This

I’ve had a Blackberry for 3-4 years and I like them although they are definitely marmite! I used it predominantly for email and they do this well and better than Android phones.

Having said that Mrs Shakey has a Samsung Galaxy and it is a good phone!

Edit – I have the Torch and it is better looking than other BB’s!

Spot on if all you need your phone to do is phone, text and email, and maybe act as an mp3 player. Internet browsing on them is a bit slow and clunky, and there aren’t many good games that I’ve seen.

I did wonder why they seem so popular with youngsters as they seem to be more expensive than Androids. My 11 year old god daughter tells me it’s cos all the kids love BBM. She wants one cos all the girls at school have them and communicate through them and you’re not in the group if you can’t be BBM’d. Not sure why BBM is any better than text or email (as doesn’t BBM use 3G for communication?)

popular with the kids…

I have had a BB Bold for 2 years, for email its great, the qwerty keyboard is nice to use.

I dont really use it for much else other than calls, I dont bother with apps, never have done.

BBM is completely free!

Does what I need. Excellent for typing, good for phone calls, some useful applications for business use, camera is so-so, and music from iTunes. If the word “App” gets you excited and you like playing games or have ADHD, they may not be for you. BBM is superb, but will require that others have blackberries. Mine synchs with a playbook.

Don’t have an android to compare, but my wife has an iPhone that is also a nice phone, just not what I need.

EDIT: BBM is free with BIS data – £5 per month on Vodafone. Still cheap messaging. And it’s not just texting – pictures, files…

not terribly relevant but very funny;

I have one and djaustin has summed it up pretty well. Have had 2 iphones both had warranty issues that were never fixed and the BB syncs with the mac laptop anyway.

What are they like as compared to ‘droid phones?

To do what? What’s a Land Rover like as compared to a Mazda MX5?

I think you can get apps which will let you send BBMs from non-BB phones.

Well Landrovers are great for off-road, MX5s are great for an economical sporty drive. Not that hard a question to answer 🙂

wwaswas – Harry Enfield’s whole life and career has been leading up to that!

Keyboard too wee for man sized fingers IMO. Keep hitting the wrong letter when trying to log into twitter to read Elfin’s latest.

Keyboard too wee for man sized fingers

I don’t have any problems with the keyboard and my thumbs look more like big toes!

I think my next phone may well be a jesus phonee. Using t’internet on my Bold is very slow and frustrating. I tried the Opera app but that was crap in a different kind of way.

BBM is of no interest to me as I think about two people I know have BBs and I can use text or facebook to chat instantly with them if I want to and don’t want to make an actual phone call.

Just gone back to one from an HTC, much better for my usage, faster, cheaper, better battery.

Keyboard too wee for man sized fingers IMO

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You need the new Bold, perfect form factor for the larger fingered. Sadly it took them too many years to update my old Bold, so I have a Torch.

“BBM is completely free!” You don’t need any credit on your BB to use BBM? I’m not being funny, that’s an honest question. Using email on my Android is “free”. I use nowhere near my data allowance from my contract as I download almost nothing and if I do it is when I am on a WiFi connection. As I understand it BBM uses 3G for it’s service but is BBM allowance separate from your data connection? I’d really like to know so I can advise my friends about what to do for getting my god daughter a BB. Neither of them are very good at researching stuff so often don’t do as well with things as they could do if they looked in to stuff more. Being a good friend and also enjoying looking in to stuff I quite enjoy helping out when needed.

I have BES contract so automatically covered. My son has PAYG and pays £5 per month for BIS (Blackberry Internet Service). This gives unlimited BBM. This is on Vodafone. Can’t comment on other providers.

BBM allowance separate from your data connection?

As far I’m aware BBM is part of the [Blackberry] data allowance.

My 11yo daughter got a ‘droid phone for her birthday this year. Before Xmas it had to go back as so much was going wrong with it and while it was away my BIL permanently lent her a spare BB he had lying around.
Daughter loves the keyboard and as she’s really only interested in texting and talking it works great.
She’s only on a normal PAYG sim so no BBM but I may swap over if more of her mates get BB.
The battery lasts well and I’m not worried about her downloading dodgy ‘droid apps.

I have an unlocked BB 9300 on the tesco PAYG service. Pay £5 a month for the Internet data package. Its a great way to keep in touch with friends and family abroad (as long as they have a BB) as you can send pictures and video messages on BBM. You could just do this by email i suppose but its quicker and easier using BBM.

BBM appears to be a stroke of genius though it has changed the BB market from business to playground (but then if kids stay with a brand youv’e got a customer for life). It’s popularity is self propogating, as others have said you have to have one to be “in” with all the other kidz so they all get one.

Also popular with drug dealers as it can be remotely wiped even when turned off (if we seize em now we remove the batteries).

My OH has a Blackberry (not sure which model exactly) and I’ve got an Android phone (Motorola Defy).

The Blackberry has the keyboard and handles texts, calls, emails, taking photos etc just fine, and the battery lasts for ages (relatively speaking).
In basically every other respect (handling media, browsing, apps, navigation etc etc.) it seems like something from a couple of generations compared to my Defy. How much that matters depends on what you want to do with it I suppose.

My Blackberry is a work one. It’s battered, scratched, and has survived all sorts of stuff. After two years of this, it works perfectly. All I want to do is send email and make calls – for this, it’s perfect. Proper qwerty keyboard, simple to operate, good call quality, days of battery life.

Internet browsing on them is a bit slow and clunky, and there aren’t many good games that I’ve seen.

Opera Mini will be your friend for this.
I used to have a BB and was very happy with what I wanted it for, phone calls and email. I’m now with a Galaxy S2 and all its associated bells and whistles. I wouldn’t say that the BB is any better than the Galaxy for email they arrive on the phone without any real delay and can be answered. I think I preferred the BBkeyboard but in its defence I’m very new to the touch screen thing. With the BB I could type just about everything in the same hand I was cradling it with, very handy when driving.
Screen on the BB is pants when compared to the S2, but hey….
The main thing that put me off the BB in the UK was the charge for BBM and the lack of tether/WI-FI hotspot. I can see myself starting to use it more and more for browsing though.
I quite like the look of the BB too.

very handy when driving

please tell me you’re trolling

lack of tether/WI-FI hotspot

whaddya mean by this? I can get on to wifi and turn off the data if I just want to use wifi rather than UMA(?)

Battery point is a good one; i use it quite a lot and think I charge it about once a week – this is one thing that I’m not sure I will be able to put up with with an iphone/android.

Battery point is a good one; i use it quite a lot and think I charge it about once a week

The auto switch on/off function must help a lot with this….. I’m presuming it actually works!

whaddya mean by this?

I mean using the BB as a mobile modem, which I was told the BB couldn’t do.

I have a BB Curve for work & a Desire HD as my own. BB is great work tool for email, calendar etc. Syncs with my laptop almost instantly. Also very good for calls, nice clear speaker etc.

Surfing the net on the BB is awful though. Texting is actually not too bad, even with my sausage fingers. Majority of my net surfing is done on the Desire as its spot on for that. Camera is no contest, Desire one is in a different league to the BB one. In terms of battery life I can get almost a week out of my BB, the Desire dies in just over a day & a bit.

Given the choice I wouldnt trade my HTC for a BB unless it was twice the size. The bigger screen on the HD is really good.

I use a BB for work and an iPhone 4S for personal.

Blackberry feels more robust and battery life is better – so good for work.

But for anything non work related (limited to work calls, work email and Office communicator), I wouldn’t even dream of picking it up.

I mean using the BB as a mobile modem, which I was told the BB couldn’t do.

ah, I see, I have no idea.

WiFi hotspot is why providers started limiting Gb rather than routinely offering unlimited, people were binning home internet and using their mobiles as WiFi hubs using the mobile data connection

My contract allows me to use my BB as a mobile modem. Setup is via the BB Desktop software.

It’s a girls phone

I love the look of the bold 9900, but it’s still a long way behind my galaxy s2 and if I swapped I’d end up swapping back quick smart no doubt.

Got a Torch from work – great for work email, calendar etc. But it hangs often, drops the signal, touch screen controls means you can mute it accidentally when you hold it to your ear. Heavy. Rubbish apps. I use it because the device and the phone bill are covered by work. Would never buy one for myself.

Ditched an iphone 4 for a blackberry bold 9900, it’s miles better for what I want (email and phone calls mainly) – web browsing isn’t terrible but it’s not as slick as on the IP4. Physical keyboard much better than onscreen thing. Battery lasts ages.

I did wonder why they seem so popular with youngsters as they seem to be more expensive than Androids. My 11 year old god daughter tells me it’s cos all the kids love BBM. She wants one cos all the girls at school have them and communicate through them and you’re not in the group if you can’t be BBM’d. Not sure why BBM is any better than text or email (as doesn’t BBM use 3G for communication?)

You missed the news reports about the extensive use of BBM during the riots, because Blackberry uses secure servers, which are in Slough, and which crashed big time recently?