I’m writing this on my new Blackberry Curve 8350. I got tired of chasing Verizon iPhone rumors and made the leap.
This is my first experience with a Blackberry and it’s a little challenging. Definitely not as idiot-friendly or intuitive as an Apple product. And gmail’s giving me a headache. Even with some enhanced plug-in thing, the sync’s 1-way. If I delete an email on the BB, it deletes it totally. But if I delete it an email on my Mac, it doesn’t reflect the change on the BB. That means the device is my primary email management tool and I didn’t want that.
I also can’t connect the wi-fi to my home network. And Blackberry apps are WAY more spendy than Apple apps.
With the help of Google I’m getting the hang of it, though. And the iPod Touch will still be doing the heavy lifting as toy/digital reader/media master.
Now that I’ve been playing with it a few days, I have less buyer’s remorse than I did on day one, which is good.
Unless the WordPress app eats this post…
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Oh hai, it worked!
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Hey, lemme know how the battery goes for you. Mine honestly kinda sucks and I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong. I have to charge it every single night, which I didn’t have to do w/ my BB Pearl. :S
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I’ve read, with the Curve, it’s important to close apps rather than leaving them running in the background (though I leave Twitter and FB running). I’m not sure how mine will do yet, because I’ve been playing with it which means more battery usage than normal. But I charge mine every night, anyway. Since I use my cellphone as an alarm, I have the charger plugged in next to my bed and it’s been a habit for a couple of years to plug it in before I get into bed.
The question’s going to be whether or not I have to plug it in during the day.
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Well, it’s 10pm now. It fired up at 6am (okay, fine…6:05am because the snooze is so easy to opt into) and I’d say it had moderate usage. Fairly regular checking of email, Twitter and Facebook. Occasional skimming of Google Reader (though I still use the iPod for that, usually). I actually downloaded and tinkered with a couple of apps, too. And, since there’s some kind of issue with my home network, that was all pulling from 3G. Oh, and I made a 2 minute phone call this morning. (Yes, it’s occasionally a phone, too.)
And I’m at 30% now.
What’s your current OS version, Lorelie? I read that with the older 5.0 versions, battery life was a known issue. Mine’s v5.0.0.734 and while I, of course, would love a forever and ever battery, I’m not unhappy with it. Yet.
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Welcome to BBerry land. I have a Curve (8330) and I love mine. Most of the apps I have I got for free. Have you checked the free apps out on Blackberry World (I should check that I have name that right)? I have Facebook, Ubertwitter, Gmail, Hangman, Weather, NHL and more – all free.
Once you get the hang of it, I think you will really like it. For texting and emailing it is so easy to use the keyboard. I had a touch phone before this and always found it a pain to email/text without getting a ton of typos from trying to go to fast with the touch screen.
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I have Facebook & UberTwitter. Bought BerryWeather during a recent 1/2 price sale. I was surprised by the lack of free Wikipedia and Google Reader apps, but the mobile versions of those are so good I just bookmarked them in the browser.
I don’t plan to load up on too many apps, anyway, because I’m not ditching the iPod Touch. It’s still my go-to device.
I just wanted to be able access email, twitter, FB & wikipedia on the go and now I can. And, a week in, I’m starting to wonder how I ever lived without it.
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I need a new phone. I’m going to play chicken w/Verizon though. They will lower my monthly payment or I’ll switch to one of those pay as you go deals. *raises fist* HEAR ME VERIZON? LOWER MY BILL!
I don’t know what I want though. I usually count on you to tell me what I want. I just don’t know if I want a blackberry though. I didn’t. Before you got one. Now I’m not sure. Maybe.
I had less trouble buying a damn house.
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Well, I went Blackberry because Verizon doesn’t have the iPhone and I’m leery of android phones. Those who have them love them, but I’ve read they’re unstable & not as secure as they could be.
I’m still not sure how I feel about the Blackberry. I like most of it, but what I don’t like, I REALLY don’t like.
Because I was able to steal my sister’s upgrade (she’s on our plan), my phone line is still technically eligible for upgrade in December, so we’ll see how it goes.
cnet.com is totally my favorite review site, so any phone that catches your eye, you should go read their write-up.
But for right now, I’m not sure I could wholeheartedly recommend the Blackberry. It overcomplicates things that could be (and are on Apple) so simple.
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You may not have your e-mail set up quite right. When I delete something, mine gives me this prompt:
“On mailbox and handheld”
“On handheld”
If I click “on handheld,” it’s gone from the BlackBerry but stays on the computer as read mail. If I click on “mailbox and handheld,” it’s gone.
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That works for me, too, Taryn. On the Blackberry when I delete, I choose “on mailbox and handheld” and it’s gone from gmail entirely.
But it’s a one-way sync, which drives me crazy.
When I’m checking gmail at the computer and I delete them, they’re still on the Blackberry as unread. The changes I make to gmail at the computer don’t reflect on the handheld.
I wanted email on the BB just for when I was away from home, but if I don’t use the BB to manage gmail, then I’ll end up with hundreds of unread messages when, in reality, they’ve been read, dealt with and deleted already.
So now I can read them at the computer and respond to them, but to manage/label/archive/delete them, I have to use the BB.