[bthooper]

This is probably a boring thread for you BB veterans, but I wanted to share.

Here are my impressions of my BB Curve. I am transitioning from a flip-phone/PDA combo. The flip-phone was just a cheap flip-phone, made my Samsung, that I liked because it was very small. The PDA was a Palm Tungsten T3, which I had for several years and loved for many reasons. I was very reluctant to switch to BB on account of my long history with Palm devices. I took the plunge because I was given 30 days to return the BB and get a Treo if I wanted to. I am very happy with the Curve and will be keeping it. Impressions:

• First of all the Curve has a great form factor. It is small enough to fit in my hand or in a front pocket, and not be to obtrusive. The T3 was too big to really be comfortable, especially considering that I also had to carry a flip-phone. The biggest advantage of the T3, though, was its wonderful screen that could expand as needed. That was nice. But, the Curve's screen is adequate and the smaller form factor is wonderful.
• Since this is really my first “smart phone,” I'm really enjoying having my entire address book handy right in the phone. Before, I would look up a number in the T3 and then dial on the Samsung. Now it is all synced up with my desktop, up to date, and complete. I have hundreds of numbers in there, so I can keep handy even seldom used numbers. No big deal for smart phone veterans, but a great thing!
• I realize that the BB is not really intended to be a full-fledged PIM, and the Palm has it beat in this regard. The Palm's calendar and Tasks programs, and the many third-party additions, make the Palm a far superior platform for these PIM related programs. That said, the BB's software is adequate for my needs, and easy enough to navigate and use, even without the stylus. The BB's software is also more stable and responsive than the Palm's, which is very nice. I have also found that data syncing (via Mark/Space's Missing Sync) is more reliable and consistent than the Palm.
• This is a simple thing, but I really like the fact that the BB uses a standard USB port for charging and syncing. Why don't all phone companies do this? Makes a lot of sense.
• The battery life is good, but not great. It is good for a phone but my Palm could go weeks without a charge. The BB can go a day or two, which is good, but no longer.
• The keyboard was a big concern of mine. However, I quickly got used to it. It is really well designed, and not that hard to use - though I do not type for hours on the thing. For the quick email or chat, it works great.
• I don't really need email on the go, which I realize is sorta the whole point of BB, but I have come to appreciate it. I am using both push and the Gmail app, and both work well. It has spared me from needing to grab my laptop a few times, which is great. Plus, it is fast and very reliable - if someone sends you an email, you get it. I never used email on my T3, so I can't really compare it with the Palm.
• Other web apps are darn handy. I love having chat running (via JiveTalk), filling in down cycles with a quick read of RSS feeds in Viigo, and OmniWeb is amazing. Not to mention Google Maps and Y! Go. All those web apps are not necessary to me, but they sure do make me happy - and a few times they've saved the day.

Well, those are my initial impressions, after a few weeks with a new BB Curve. I still root for Palm, because I think they blazed a trail and provided a great product - but I'm also rooting for RIM now!

[lskolnik]

welcome to the wonderful world of Blackberry! It sounds like you've seen the light. The Blackberry is truly fantastic. I do have one point of contention however, in that the Palm is not in any way superior to the Blackberry with regard to PIM functions and in my opinion, the Blackberry is actually better given the excellent function and stability of its software and its full wireless integration with outlook. Last time I checked, the Palm T3 only dreamed of that. In between all the system freezes and resets of course!! Ah, the good ol days of the Palm era!

[bthooper]

Point taken. And I don't disagree entirely.

However, the Palm's PIM applications are superior, even the built-in ones, in terms of user interface (a personal passion of mine) and functionality. You simply can do more with the calendar in Palm than the one in BB. And it's easier to do. In terms of stability and even in terms of syncing back to the desktop the BB is better. That's just IMHO FWIW.

And though the stylus is a good, natural user interface tool, I'm very happy to be rid of it and have a device that doesn't require me to pull it out every time I want to navigate around.

And of course, the Palm platform has way more additional options to enhance the way you work with your Palm in terms of 3rd-Party apps. However, it seems to me that the BB platform, with the success of the Pearl and the Curve and the 8800, is rapidly catching up.

[KamileonX]

I just picked up a new Curve recently too. It's a great unit.

May I ask why you prefer the Gmail app instead of just having the mail from your Gmail pushed to your device?

I know the Gmail app exists, but I've never tried it, simply because I love the way the BB just pushes all the email to my 'Messages'. Just looking for an opinion on the Gmail app.

[bthooper]

I realize that my position on Gmail may be contrary to the spirit of most BB users. The basic truth is that I don't need push email. I just don't. I like being able to check my email, but I don't need it pushed to me. In fact, I find it less productive because of its tendency to distract me from what I'm trying to do in the moment.

That said, I do like being able to check my email whenever and wherever I can, on my schedule. So if I have a few spare moments, I can jump into Gmail and check out my email. The biggest advantage to using the Gmail app is that whatever I do to the email (delete or archive) that is immediately reflected online. So I am perfectly in sync. If you use POP, you have some options as to how you manage the email, but it isn't perfectly in sync. I only wish I could apply labels to email prior to archiving them in the Gmail app...then it would be perfect.

I do have a super-secret gmail account set up to push to the phone, and I give that out to the few people who might actually need to interrupt me. But not all my email goes there!