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bin the blackberry and try Android?
MK9R - 27/1/12 at 07:36 AM

Had blackberry for years, currently have a 9800 torch but after 18months and 3 of them I'm starting to get frustrated the RIM expirience. Lack of fun apps, terrible touch screens, clunky OS (os 6) and realiability issues. I must have a proper keyboard, I can't stand touch screen for typing (tried iphones etc), don't want an apple product (and they don't do keypads), and would like to try android, so at the moment leaning towards a sony. Xperia pro mk16 (not the mini) or amybe htc deesire Z.

Anyone made the swap from bb and happy? Or done it and regretted it? Has anyon got one of the above phones or hasve another suggestion?

lsdweb - 27/1/12 at 07:59 AM

I had a Blackberry with work for years. I now have an HTC Desire and it's so much better! Touch screen took some getting used to but that was the only hurdle!

And the HTC has been abused but (touching wood) never let me down!

Regards

Wyn

britishtrident - 27/1/12 at 08:03 AM

Having changed from a QWERTY phone to a Android (Orange San Francisco) I found a touch screen is OK for txt and email after installing the Swype app.

llionellis - 27/1/12 at 08:19 AM

I habe a tiutch screem asd find ig ok

ashg - 27/1/12 at 08:21 AM

went from a 9800 to a htc desire. have never looked back. want keen on the touch screen keyboard at first but i now love it as the keys are bigger than the bb

McLannahan - 27/1/12 at 08:22 AM

quote:
Originally posted by llionellis
I habe a tiutch screem asd find ig ok




Touché

speedstar - 27/1/12 at 08:23 AM

I'll have a HTC sensation for sale next week if you're interested? Need to swap to a blackberry for work so its surplus to requirement

MK9R - 27/1/12 at 08:36 AM

quote:
Originally posted by speedstar
I'll have a HTC sensation for sale next week if you're interested? Need to swap to a blackberry for work so its surplus to requirement


How much?



Thanks for all your replies. Still can't get rid of the feeling I need a physical keyboard though....

dhutch - 27/1/12 at 08:44 AM

quote:
Originally posted by MK9R
Thanks for all your replies. Still can't get rid of the feeling I need a physical keyboard though....

Depends how much typing you do, thinkg moving to a htc (used legend) I have taken to calling people more, but was already making the transition that way anyway. Larger screen makes a lot of sense for everything else, using it as a satnav, surfing the net, booking train tickets, etc.


Daniel

stevebubs - 27/1/12 at 08:56 AM

quote:
Originally posted by MK9R
quote:
Originally posted by speedstar
I'll have a HTC sensation for sale next week if you're interested? Need to swap to a blackberry for work so its surplus to requirement


How much?



Thanks for all your replies. Still can't get rid of the feeling I need a physical keyboard though....


I have both in my pocket - a BB Bold 9780 (work) and a Galaxy S2 (home)

If you're not using the Swype Keyboard, typing on a touchscreen can be a painful experience. Swype takes a little getting used to, but is fantastic and you will soon find that you can type as quickly using it as using the keyboard (imagine that instead of typing on your computer keyboard, you just dragged your index finger from one key to the next and lifted off at the end of the work - it's that easy).

Played with the Touchscreen BB and they're, frankly, rubbish. Wouldn't go near them.

Until I got the S2, I found Android battery life poor; and if the batteries weren't rubbish the processor was too slow to be effective. The S2 will easily see me through the day and if I could get work email on the S2 I would be tempted. However the Bold battery lasts 2-3 days which is far more than most and probably the reason why I won't explore moving away from it in the near future...

[Edited on 27/1/12 by stevebubs]

Humbug - 27/1/12 at 09:22 AM

quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Having changed from a QWERTY phone to a Android (Orange San Francisco) I found a touch screen is OK for txt and email after installing the Swype app.


ditto - I had an old fashioned Nokia and was a bit wary about switching to touch screen for typing. I looked at the HTC Desire Z which has a "real" keyboard you slide out from underneath but in practice it is much bigger and heavier than what I ended up with: an HTC Wildfire S. I did find the touch screen keypad a bit fiddly with my fat fingertips, even in landscape mode , but I love Swype, which is a lot faster and more accurate.

scudderfish - 27/1/12 at 09:28 AM

I came from a Nokia N900 and thought I'd have to get a Desire Z for the keyboard. However I was swayed by the smaller size and better performance of the Desire S and I now don't miss the physical keyboard.

speedstar - 27/1/12 at 09:33 AM

quote:
Originally posted by MK9R
quote:
Originally posted by speedstar
I'll have a HTC sensation for sale next week if you're interested? Need to swap to a blackberry for work so its surplus to requirement


How much?



Thanks for all your replies. Still can't get rid of the feeling I need a physical keyboard though....


Am after £250 and for that I'd include everything that came in the box, plus a car holder (had to buy a specific 1) and a leather sleeve... And postage (i'm nice like that :p)

The Venom Project - 27/1/12 at 10:09 AM

Blackberry have good battery, much better than other smart phones, I have a desire and the battery is horse shit. However the phone is much more useful than Blackberry.

It would be worth waiting till the Motorola Razr Droid Maxx hits the UK, might be closer to Christmas, but the battery is twice the capacity of all the new phones now including all the Android, Windows, Blackberry and Apple.

A nice bit of kit, on Android

Well worth the wait.

It will be the only phone I get when my contract is up in May

andrew.carwithen - 27/1/12 at 10:57 AM

I've recently bought a second-hand Samsung galaxy S i9000 (now superceded by the galaxy S2) and I think its excellent.
I'm a techno dynosaur but find using the touchscreen no problem at all (probably due to it having a large 4" AMOLED screen which is superb)

[Edited on 27/1/12 by andrew.carwithen]

MK9R - 27/1/12 at 12:05 PM

Interesting I'm not gettin any replies saying to stick withh BB!! And this the same day that a survey showed 75% of BB users questioned want to drop them in favour of other brands!

britishtrident - 27/1/12 at 12:49 PM

quote:
Originally posted by MK9R
Interesting I'm not gettin any replies saying to stick withh BB!! And this the same day that a survey showed 75% of BB users questioned want to drop them in favour of other brands!


Blackberry are getting left behind in an operating system war which I fear MS will win, Android is currently the mass market front runner but will be undermined by shear corporate power of MS , while Apple will of course be the king of fashion niche market .

britishtrident - 27/1/12 at 12:52 PM

ISTR Some android phones can use a bluetooth or USB plug in mini keyboard.

HowardB - 27/1/12 at 01:10 PM

Austen,

I have a Nokia E7, it has a brilliant keyboard, but since they have joined forces with the darkside all new Nokia phones are likely to be Windoze.

I like the look of the Sony, and the good thing about a fold out keypad is that it leaves all the screen clear to see what you want,....

Not seen the Xperia in the shops, but would try before buy in case the slide mechanism doesn't meet your expectations, or the keys are too small.

hth

gazza285 - 27/1/12 at 02:44 PM

quote:
Originally posted by llionellis
I habe a tiutch screem asd find ig ok


Well done that man, have a

twybrow - 27/1/12 at 04:24 PM

I have a Nokia E6, which is Nokia's version of a Blackberry. It has a fully keyboasrd, and a touchscreen so the best (or worst) of both worlds. I am very pleased with it!

Simon - 27/1/12 at 04:58 PM

quote:
Originally posted by The Venom Project
.... I have a desire and the battery is horse shit. However the phone is much more useful than Blackberry.



I got one of these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Tech-Capacity-Replacement-3500mAh-Battery/dp/B004T2S1FG

3500mah to replace the standard 1600. Not bad for 14 quid ish iirc

ATB

Simon

The Venom Project - 27/1/12 at 06:32 PM

I bought an aftermarket battery claiming it was 3300mh but it was worse than the original, for me the Razr Maxx will be a breath of fresh air.

I like everything else about my phone. I have had 4 iphone's, they are simply a fashion phone, no better than any Android smart Phone, and in many ways much worse.

I love Apple products, but find a lot of stuff is way way over priced for the technology included.

plentywahalla - 27/1/12 at 06:55 PM

Forgive my ignorance on this new generation of smartphones, but I need some advice.

I am on my 5th Blackberry. I am frustrated by their poor reliability (nearly all have been replaced under warranty) and the lack of decent web browsing (I got an iPad instead).

But for work, I am addicted to the 'live' email feature, its about the only thing that Balckberry do well. Is there another smartphone that does the same? If there is then I will be another to say "switch"

UncleFista - 27/1/12 at 07:13 PM

quote:
Originally posted by plentywahalla
Forgive my ignorance on this new generation of smartphones, but I need some advice.

I am on my 5th Blackberry. I am frustrated by their poor reliability (nearly all have been replaced under warranty) and the lack of decent web browsing (I got an iPad instead).

But for work, I am addicted to the 'live' email feature, its about the only thing that Balckberry do well. Is there another smartphone that does the same? If there is then I will be another to say "switch"


Do you mean Blackberry messenger or "push" email (instant) ?
If you mean instant email, gmail does this on android devices.

McLannahan - 27/1/12 at 08:33 PM

quote:
Originally posted by plentywahalla
Forgive my ignorance on this new generation of smartphones, but I need some advice.

I am on my 5th Blackberry. I am frustrated by their poor reliability (nearly all have been replaced under warranty) and the lack of decent web browsing (I got an iPad instead).

But for work, I am addicted to the 'live' email feature, its about the only thing that Balckberry do well. Is there another smartphone that does the same? If there is then I will be another to say "switch"


If you have a decent email server at work (Exchange) then the iPhone is a surprisingly good phone. Mail is pushed to that and instantly too. If I have my iPhone on my desk and Outlook open, the mail can often appear on the phone half a second before Outlook, it's bloody quick!

I used to perceive the BB as the business phone but honestly the iPhone is better. If you have BES then it's a better device than without but the iPhone supports calendars out of the box, shared mail lists, address books etc...all with no extra software or hassle.

The service outage last year really dented my image of BB. I'm not a complete iPhone convert but the BB will be a lot lower on this list come upgrade time.

MK9R - 29/1/12 at 11:16 PM

Well just ordered the Xperia, bloody good value at £208!!!! Just trying to find a flip leather case now, proving tricky for this phone though!!