Comments on: What happens when a WinMo addict starts using a Blackberry

By: IronHide

IronHide — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:56:00 +0000

To Pony99CA:
No prob. With all the Hype that these phones generate these days & the leaked images & code-names, who the heck can keep up?? :-)
Speaking of code-names; I think that that is where the mix up with the “Storm” & “Thunder” started. I “think” that the touchscreen blackberry was initially code-named the “Thunder”, then as it came closer to release, it was the “Storm”.
As for the full touchscreen/Hybrid story…no idea. Must admit, it’s the first I’m hearing of it.
As you say “Who Knows?”. Only time & the Internet will tell!!
All I know is; for us Tech Junkies, it’s a great time – if you are able to afford all these cool toys!!!

By: Pony99CA

Pony99CA — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:02:23 +0000

Actually, the Bold is NOT touchscreen. That’s why I know that I will love it, as it is simply a souped-up, redesigned version of the 8820 - the bigger brother to my Curve. The jury is indeed out on how RIM deals with a touchscreen device, which i believe is called the Storm.
Hmmm, I thought the Bold was going to be a touchscreen device, but apparently it's not. I guess stories about the touchscreen BlackBerry 9000 made me think the Bold had a touchscreen, so thanks for clearing that up. BTW, I've read different things about the touchscreen BlackBerries. Some call it the BlackBerry Thunder, some the BlackBerry Storm. Some thought the Thunder was a full touchscreen device and the Storm was a hybrid, others say they're basically the same (maybe CDMA vs. GSM). Who knows? Steve

By: IronHide

IronHide — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:14:12 +0000

To Pony99CA:
Actually, the Bold is NOT touchscreen. That’s why I know that I will love it, as it is simply a souped-up, redesigned version of the 8820 – the bigger brother to my Curve. The jury is indeed out on how RIM deals with a touchscreen device, which i believe is called the Storm.

Re: WiFi & GPS – you are most correct. WinMo & the iPhone (also Symbian, if I am not mistaken) have been doing this for a while. Why it took RIM so long to do this, God alone knows!

By: Pony99CA

Pony99CA — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:09:45 +0000

I am about to get myself a Bold, which is an amazing device from RIM (WiFi AND GPS on one device – thank you, RIM!) and I know I will love it.

Out of curiosity, how do you “know” that you’ll love it? This is RIM’s first attempt at a touchscreen interface, so what makes you think they’ll get it right?

Steve

P.S. Regarding WiFi and GPS, that should be “finally, RIM”. Windows Mobile devices and the iPhone have had both for a while.

By: IronHide

IronHide — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:22:18 +0000

Great article & a good read. Well done!
If I may input my 2 cents worth, as a long-time geek & ardent supporter of the Smartphone platform, I have carried the Treo 600, Treo 650, T-Mo Dash, Nokia e61 and my current baby is the Blackberry 8310.
I dropped the Palm OS when I realized that it was stagnating & was not doing what I wanted it to do.
Tried Symbian and was impressed by the power & stability of the OS, but did not like the slab-like feel of the e61 (not the fault of the OS!!).
The T-Mo Dash was a great phone initially, but after I had upgraded it several times from WinMo 5 to 6 then 6.1, it became increasingly unstable and I eventually chucked it in a drawer somewhere. My main prob with the Dash was, as a phone – it sucked! Great little PDA, but an awful phone. Poor voice quality & volume, dropped calls, etc. No good.
I got my Blackberry for my Business (Technology Integrator) and have to say that it is the best “Phone” I have used in years. It is stable, does not require a reset every day or two (no names mentioned ) and just plain WORKS! Sure the OS is not as flashy as WinMo 6.1, but flashy only gets you so far if you have to reset the darn thing every two days!!
WinMo is great for geeks who like to tinker with their OS & their hardware (spent countless hours on the ‘Net researching how to get a particular feature to work!), but RIM’s OS just does it’s job. It is easy to pick up & use and does what I need it to do. I am about to get myself a Bold, which is an amazing device from RIM (WiFi AND GPS on one device – thank you, RIM!) and I know I will love it.
Have to say though, the HTC Touch HD has me VERY interested!! That device just might lure me back to the WinMo fold. It may well be my secondary phone though, because my Blackberry is my trusted companion when it comes to reliability and connectivity (I LOVE Blackberry Messenger!!). If your Business relies on a decent cell phone, you can’t go wrong with RIM’s Blackberry. ‘Nuff said! :-)

By: the undude

the undude — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:07:34 +0000

the quality of the hardware is not a microsoft issue, of course. personally, i’ve found samsungs have been well built. and i too am hoping the samsung mirage (nee omnia) will be my baby. i’m a little nervous, as i really like the qwertyBAR form-factor too. that virtual keyboard better be good! :)

By: Msliberty

Msliberty — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:58:16 +0000

I wanted to write just such an article as I recently went through a very similar experiment. I have always purchased the cheapest cell phone, awaiting a WinMo phone that is carried by Verizon and is up to my desires. Well, Verzon opened a new store and gave away FREE BB Pearl. The pink one delighted me and for 4 weeks I played. All I did was complain about how meager the offerings were and how tiny the screen, and the internet was difficult to open, and it cost $30 month when my Axim has wifi that works so well. Finally, I asked Verizon to take off the Data plan and let me just use it as a small phone. I’ll wait until the Xperia X1 comes out, that looks good.
Verizon was great, I was over the 30 days and they saw I had called with concerns over the period of time I had it. No restocking fee and they let me apply the $70 rebate. So I traded it in for an expensive LG Dare. What fun! I still need to carry two devices, but they compliment each other so well. Smooth touch screen with big, bold, simplicity. All the basic buttons just where they are needed. Clear sound and good voice recognition. Well, it has not even been one week, so I guess I should give it a chance.

But I must still say, Axim lovers have a right to moan about the demise of a great product. It just seems that I have all my worldly reading, fiction and journals, newspapers, music, business files, games and more in one beautiful machine. I’m always fascinated and stimulated. And I also have the Axim and Mobilitysite community. Who could want for more?
Msliberty

By: Pony99CA

Pony99CA — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:42:16 +0000

The keyboard isn't perfect if it doesn't have a numeric row. ;-) Steve P.S. The cooler term for “Candybar QWERTY" is QWERTYbar.

By: Brian Booth

Brian Booth — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:07:48 +0000

I found your review of the Blackberry both interesting and thought provoking.
I have had different Windows Mobile devices over the last 5 years and I think the bugs and problems we sometimes have to confront using the platform actually endears us to Windows Mobile because it demands our personal involvement and energy.
When things stay simple and everything functions perfectly you start to become bored to death and start to search elsewhere to be challenged .
I am also of the opinion that Windows Mobile is a much more a complete OS than all the other OS Mobile systems on the market so obviously that which does more will also have more areas where things can go wrong, as well as needing more knowledge and practice to operate the system.
Regards
Brian Booth

By: Steve Laser

Steve Laser — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:45:35 +0000

What a great read! My wife got a Curve from her work and she loves it. I can’t believe more WinMo devices don’t have a similar keyboard. Many, like the tilt, have a horizontal keyboard which negates one handed use. Also, the trackball and the simple layout make it great for those who don’t want the complexity of a WinMo device. I think you said it best, “I think Microsoft can learn a lot from the great user experience BlackBerry gives.”

Excellent article.