BlackBerry Bold - new user's thread (old geezers with advice welcomed)

I bought a new battery for my 9700 and the battery still sucks down. I told my IT dept and I should get a new BB next month. I'm going to try to get the 9900 as it is shweeet.

wprager wrote:I don't really get it. I assume the PB can be controlled by just touching the screen. So are you sitting so far that you can't reach? Or you don't want to smudge the screen? Or what?

The benefit is that it can be used from a distance over Bluetooth. When you hook up your PB to a TV via HDMI cable, you'll be limited by the reach of your HDMI cable. Also, the keyboard on your BB can be used for text input. So, think boardroom presentations, sitting on the couch at home relaxing, in the hotel watching a movie on the TV etc...

I never thought of hooking up a PB to a TV. It doesn't play blu rays so you're talking about downloaded or streamed content? That's what my PS3 is for. Look, I don't *have one* so I don't know. But I had assumed a PB would be to watch stuff at arm's (forearm to be precise) length.

Yeah, when you hook it up, you gots a PB on your TV. Sweet stuff. Videos, web, youtube, apps, email etc... all up there. We do the same thing with my wife's iPad via our Apple TV.

Mr. Basile er... Shabbs. I got the ok to upgrade my 9700. I'm leaning towards the 9860 (iphone clone) vs the 9900.

Any pros / cons with these to models? I don't mind screen keyboard at all really - I don't thumb type that fast anyway.....

I don't thumb type that fast either, but I have to admit, I've been quite impressed with the 9900's keyboard. I tried using my son's iPod and it's on-screen keyboard last year, and I have to say the BB experience is very, very different.

Number Twenty Nine wrote:Mr. Basile er... Shabbs. I got the ok to upgrade my 9700. I'm leaning towards the 9860 (iphone clone) vs the 9900.

Any pros / cons with these to models? I don't mind screen keyboard at all really - I don't thumb type that fast anyway.....

If you don't care for a physical keyboard, then go with the 9860. I need a physical keyboard and thus, love the 9900.

need a phone upgrade and I am debating between the Bold 9900 and some sort of Android phone...do you love your 9900 BBites?

I love my 9900. The touch screen/keyboard combo is nice. I'm a typer, so a physical keyboard is a must. The 9900's keyboard is 2nd to none. By far the best out there and quickest to type on. If you like the big screen, look at the 9850/60.

BB and Android are two very different worlds. They can all do the core "phone" stuff. Where they differ is the OS and the look and feel. The Android phones will have big, brilliant touch screens. Some have slider keyboards. Android has a TON of apps as compared to BlackBerry.

The only way to decide is to go and play with a live one, not a demo that's not powered on. Go to the store and ask the guy to see some that are actually working and get a feel for the menus and GUI.

Android's battery life has been a big question mark. There is a new Motorola Razr Maxx Android phone with a longer lasting battery. Most people can re-up their phone during the day these days so it's not too huge of a deal unless you are on road a lot and not near power sources.

Sorry, I have an ancient phone with no data so I'm just wondering how that works. Do you always have to use the 4G network or whatever, or can you just use wifi if that's available? If so, does wifi not count as "data use". Also, let's say I don't get a data plan - is the phone basically useless then?

I'm a noob at this haha.

My guess would be that the newer ones all are wifi capable, but my first-hand experience is limited to the 9900, which sure is. The other day, I was walking from the parking lot inside, listening to Team1200 on my BB (the BellMedia app). There was a slight pause when it automatically connected to the wifi network as I walked into the lobby. Listening to live streaming radio, of course you notice the switch, but if I had just been reading e-mail/surfing/whatever I would not have even noticed.

Although, the other day I had started downloading something while inside the house (wifi), then got in the car and drove away. A little while later I noticed that the d/l failed and had to be re-started. So at least one app doesn't do very wellin switching over from one to the other.

Big Ev wrote:Sorry, I have an ancient phone with no data so I'm just wondering how that works. Do you always have to use the 4G network or whatever, or can you just use wifi if that's available? If so, does wifi not count as "data use". Also, let's say I don't get a data plan - is the phone basically useless then?

I'm a noob at this haha.

Without a data plan, your smartphone will behave like a regular phone (calls, sms, mms, voice mail etc..). You won't be able to take advantage of all the cool features though. But, when you can connect to wi-fi, you'll be able to surf etc... for a BlackBerry, you need a data plan in order to make use of the email functionality etc... and some apps won't work over "just wifi" and need a data plan. Not sure if the same can be said for Android. And for BlackBerry, you need a dataplan/BIS plan for BBM. And once you get hooked on BBM, you ain't going back...

What, exactly, is BBM? Isn't that just the BB to BB messaging? I've never used it. Asked my boss and he's never used his.

wprager wrote:What, exactly, is BBM? Isn't that just the BB to BB messaging? I've never used it. Asked my boss and he's never used his.

I don't work for RIM, like shabbs does, but I believe that's exactly what BBM is.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

wprager wrote:What, exactly, is BBM? Isn't that just the BB to BB messaging? I've never used it. Asked my boss and he's never used his.

I don't work for RIM, like shabbs does, but I believe that's exactly what BBM is.

Yeah, apparently RIM didn't think there was already enough ways to communciate (email, text, phone) so they made their own messenger service.

It's another misstep by a company famous for them (sorry Shabbs).

Still, Shabbs said if you get hooked you "ain't going back" so that's got to count for something.

yeah I don't understand why you have to BBM when you can text?

Big Ev wrote:yeah I don't understand why you have to BBM when you can text?

I don't have texting as part of my plan.