The BlackBerry aficionado thread
 

Blackberry aficionados here, make yourselves known in this thread. What model 'berry do you use and abuse? PMing or posting your pin optional. Why do you still use Blackberry over Android, iOS and Win Mobile?

I'm using the 83xx series, some 5+ years after its release.

I'll just edit the thread title to be a little more descriptive.

I recently moved my main phone from a BB Curve to an iPhone 5. Whilst really cool, I miss the ability to easily type and the very familiar user interface.

I had the choice of another iPhone 5 or a 9900 for my new work phone - I went with the 9900.

9700 and the fact that it does email so well, on a great keyboard with huge battery life, combined with the excellent BBM was a major factor. The other is that it is so cheap to run at just £3.33/month. I only use it for messaging though I have another phone for calls.

I'm on my final BB - the 9930 model and I only have it for BBM. A few months back, I thought BBs were best things ever - now, it looks like a relic.

I don't miss that it takes at least a couple minutes to pull up my boarding pass and I have to keep tapping the screen so it stays on.

I don't miss risking a car accident because I'm trying to entire update location on the GPS system.

I miss the battery life and keyboard, but don't miss the tiny screen.


Ok ok, wrong thread.

I had the 1st gen Bold for years but left it in a taxi about 6 months ago. It was great size (not too big), had incredible battery life.

Since then, I got the 9900 and actually prefer my old Bold. The screen is a bit larger and touchscreen, although I think the touchscreen is useless for that size of screen. The larger keyboard is a welcome addition but get slightly worse battery life (I get about 3 days before recharging).

However, as a business tool, I think there is no equal. (I say that because, for my wife, I change her Android phone every 6-8 months and instantly put on the latest and great custom ROMs to try out.)

Two members of my family still use 8520s. I'm interested in the new ones when my iPhone contract runs out this fall.

I have/had a work 9900 until this past weekend when I left it in a taxi...

Nice phone and good battery life is a big bonus.

Wanted to try the new Q10 but going to have to get a replacement soon :(

That's the best qwerty model out there. That bad eh?

I begrudgingly accepted a Bold 9000 as a replacement for a three-time replaced HTC TyTN II running Windows Mobile 6. I was flabbergasted how much better a device the BlackBerry was. I was hooked. After that I got a 9700. Then a 9800 which I returned - just didn't like the slider and preferred my keyboard to always be at the ready. I tried an Atrix which I sold and went back to BlackBerry with the 9930. Again tried Android (lured by apps) with a DROID 4 and again returned to BlackBerry with ANOTHER 9930 (had given the first to my business partner who was still using my 9000).

I like my keyboard to be there, always at the ready, and usable easily one handed. My main usages are email (heavy, technical, specific, and sometimes long), texting, facebook messenger, and google chat. Keyboard is king. Can't wait for the Q10. Right now the only things I miss are a better Google Voice client and the United app. I know the latter will be side-loaded on my Q10 immediately. Until then, I have a Nexus 7 which can be tethered via my BlackBerry when I need it.

Tried the 9900 and went back to my now 7 yrs old 8830. Waiting for the Q10.

It is all about the physical qwerty keyboard when your messages of all type need to be clear, concise, no misunderstanding and not always read by recipients who's mother tongue is English.

Looking for a new phone and have visited several phone stores in the past few days. Without exception, they all tried to steer me away from the Z10 towards Android. So, I'm not sure what's going on as BB insist that they have stocks in-store and that sales are good but it appears that they're not getting the word out.

Also, I've noticed that many of the ads appeared focused on kids still, whereas I thought that the Z10 was meant to be moving BB back towards business and away from the teens market. Puzzled.

9860. The worst phone I've ever owned. Both build and OS are very poor. Before this I was BB through and through. After this, I'll never come back unless Im forced to

Welcome to the BlackBerry Aficionados thread, BelfastFlyer!

Got the 9800 a few weeks after its release 2.5 years ago. Has been a great phone and have never had any problems with it.

Thought about trading in for the Z10 but too attached to my physical keyboard; waiting for the Q10 before making a decision.

My beloved Blackberry Bold 9650 became unusable with the never-ending hourglass. Phone calls would come in, the hourglass would appear and it'd be 5 minutes before the Blackberry would let me use it again. Verizon was of no use. Reloading firmware & restoring the Blackberry didn't seem to do any good.

Currently using a Motorola Droid HD Maxx. HATE IT! The touchscreen is a poor substitute for the Blackberry keyboard and simple things that the Blackberry did just aren't there. Phone sound quality sucks, No sound/notification profiles, no changing songs by holding down the volume key. No notepad! and let's talk about battery life. They say this phone has the best battery life out there of any smartphone. Bull. The 9650, when paired with the Opera web browser, did about 95% of what the Maxx did, but battery life was never this bad unless it got stuck in those non-stop hourglass loops.

It seems very difficult for me to believe that the iPhone, Samsung S3, and the Razr HD Maxx are the "best" that's available. They all seem so primitive in basic features that Blackberry has had for years.

I also have to say that I never understood the problem with texting and driving until I got my new phone. I touch-typed ~60-75 words per minute with the Bold, so it regularly sat on my leg whilst driving. It was nothing for me to bang out a couple of e-mails while driving -- I never had to look down. It was right there and you could run the whole phone from the keyboard if you knew it well enough. Back in my Uni days, I even typed a 20 page term paper on the Blackberry keyboard, WHILE DRIVING, without looking at it. Yes, there were a few typos that I corrected before turning it in, but no more than most people would make on a regular keyboard.

It still amazes me that Blackberry has basically done nothing in the past few years. At least release some hardware to keep the fan base loyal, even on the old platform. New platforms are nice, but in my case, I couldn't wait because my old BB was becoming increasingly unusable. I always thought they'd do well by taking Android and rolling a BB into it. They made excellent hardware. Now they just make great PR & delays.

Still interested in Blackberry if they ever produce a Bold replacement. BUT it must have all of the same goodness that my Bold has. Including battery life.

Black, ripe, juicy. With a little whipped cream!

I have a 9900, and love my keyboard. I will get the Z10 once its released in the USA. If I don't like it, return it and get the Q10.

I think it's a Bold 9650. Work phone, had it for a couple years. Has been bullet proof, but finally starting to fail on me, with the headphone/mic jack no longer working (which really stinks, b/c I've tried and hated bluetooth headsets).

Before that, I think it was the 8830 (verizon global phone in silver). Good phone, too, but trackball kept sticking after a while, then it just quit on me after a few years (another work phone). Once several random buttons stopped working (call end, mute, zero), I knew it was time to replace it.

Our company recently rolled out BYOD, so not sure if I'll stick with another BB or just go get my own smartphone and use it on our network.

Actually, that is one of the things that annoys me about ALL phones I'm aware of other than the blackberry. BES / BBCS keeps the Memos synced between my exchange server and my blackberry. I use it extensively and have for years. There are many bits of key information stored in my Outlook memos. It is just so much faster for me to navigate and search than separate apps like Evernote. My understanding is that the ActiveSync protocol doesn't sync the Memos. At least I've never seen it implemented. And since BB10 ditches traditional BES protocols for ActiveSync, I'm fearful we may loose this unique capability :(

9700 x 2 (one Uk, one US)- both running OS5 - and a playbook. Battery life on 9900 was awful, so that got shot of that one fast and reverted back to the workhorse.

Its far from perfect, but does what I need while impatiently waiting for the Q10- tried the Z10 and I still cant get on with touchscreen typing for emails etc.

The touchscreen typing thing is a bother for me too, so far. I've tried it pretty extensively on my wife's iphone 5 and I'm not a fan. Maybe it's because i haven't lived with and gotten used to it, but definitely prefer the BB keyboard at this point.

Ditto. I have really tried, on blackberry, iphone, and android phones and tablets, and I just don't get on with it. Even on the playbook, which is admittedly one of the better ones, I still cant stand it. There is just something missing- no feel of the button moving so I know that it has been pressed, and constant hitting of incorrect keys.
I don't use predictive text- I like to type the letters of the whole word rather than looking for a word that is suggested (in which time I could have typed the word quickly on a qwerty anyway) - so maybe that doesn't help matters.


Hoping (ok, praying) that the Q10 is everything it would appear to be in previews.

I hope more than just Sprint carries the Q10 in USA.

Patiently waiting for it but I may give the Z10 a thorough workout first and see if my fat fingers and (thin brain) can adapt.
:confused:

I would be very surprised if Sprint were the only, or even the first, carrier to carry the Q10. In fact, I would put money on them being the LAST carrier in the US to carry the Q10. Sprint entered into a tremendously bad contract with Apple, and every customer who chooses to get a non Apple device over an iPhone on Sprint costs them money due to their minimum sales commitments. There is pretty wide consensus that this is one factor influencing their decision not to carry the Z10.

The BlackBerry aficionado thread
 

So, has anyone tried a Z10?

Yes, but the phone was locked down in "demo mode" so it was pretty difficult to try it live. It has a good feel as it feels really solid. It's not gargantuan, nor does it need to be.

However, I'd really like to also try the Q10.

The BlackBerry aficionado thread
 

I'd also love to try the Q10.

Unfortunately (mentioned above) I lost my work BB and have to get a replacement soon.

Options are get a another 9900 or wait a bit and try and snag a Z10. Waiting for the Q10 will be too long I think..

There was a round of significant price reductions yesterday for the Z10 - amounting to about £100 in length of contract costs. Carphone Warehouse and Vodafone led, but it seems everyone is following. It's putting the Z10 into the mid-price range from the top price range it was launched into. It's not clear yet whether this is being led by the retailers or the networks.

Torch 9800 here. It's pretty dated, but still does the job. I'm dying to get a Z10, but my company won't be supporting it until Q3. :(

Sigh...waiting patiently.

I've tried one in non lock down mode and it is very similar to the Playbook, the swiping from the bezel etc. I liked it but I'm waiting to see what the Q10 is like. The Demo mode can be turned off by the shops although you have get them to do this which might be difficult if they haven't already done so.

9930 on Verizon here. I've had 3 DROIDs and came back to the 9930 every time.

Can't beat the battery life and keyboard. If I want entertainment, I have a tablet for that.

Yup:

The BB is for communications.
The Galaxy Tab 2 is for amusement.

9780 here. I'm wondering what the Q10 will be like. Can't even imagine using a phone with:eek:ut a keyboard. What were they thinking by releasing the Z10 so much sooner?

As my grandma use to say - "They should have stuck to their knitting".

Quite a bit of buzz that Ford has dropped Microsoft and will adopt Blackberry for MyFord/Sync2 auto connectivity/infotainment in 2015.

Traded-in an unused (as in collecting dust now) 9780 for $200 at T-Mobile for a Galaxy S4.

You get $250 if you get another BB device. A new Q10 will run you about $260+tax after trade-in credit.

I took advantage of this to get a new Q10 and give my old one to a new ex-Android convert.

I'm excited to see the Q20. Return of the trackpad for precision selection and call / end keys.

Are there no pictures of the device? Google can't find anything.

Not yet. Just announced the project at Mobile World Congress before they released the Z3. All images out there are unfounded "artist concepts" and photoshopped Q10's.

http://crackberry.com/blackberry-ann...blackberry-q20