[Crusher3200]

Hi everyone I'm new to the blackberry forums and have an important question to ask. Why go Blackberry? Would someone enlighten me and suade me over to the blackberry side? Let me start off with myself. I am a university student by the way.

I currently own an android (HTC Desire) and a previous iPhone 3g owner. I've played with the android OS as well as iOS for a while now and I'm very bored of both devices. My iPhone 3g had great games and apps, but I never really use the apps. I believe that apps are for little kids and a waste of my time anyways. What the android operating system excels is the amount of customization which I love. But one grip I have about both phones is the BATTERY life which sucks. I have two batteries for my current Desire and I could barely make it through the day with moderate usage (I'm not even kidding). I wake up at 8 in the morning, listen to music for a while, use 3G for an hour or two web browsing at school, then turn everything off including screen brightness, background sync, or anything (includng push mail). Then I get home, turn on Wifi when needed and continue a little browsing and phone calls. I mainly text during the entire day and by around 9 o clock, my phone dies completely.

What I love about blackberry is the battery life. I heard you could last DAYS with one battery with sync and 3g continuously on. I would honestly die for that. I also love the professional looks of the blackberry. On the otherhand, I've never used a blackberry and I'm not really a business type of person. None of my friends have blackberries so BBM is useless, I never really care about PUSH email as well. I could check every hour or so for all I care (I never have important mails). So really the points that blackberry excels don't really apply to me. I also fear that I will get bored of the phone within 3 years of my contract. The great thing is i text crazily and the keyboard would be an asset. I'm talking about 3000 texts per month or so.

So my question for you is, do you think a blackberry is worth it for me as a general consumer? If so, I will be purchasing a Blackberry Torch immediately (: Thanks!

[Max Peck]

Hey Crusher,

I'm a relative newcomer to BB myself. I've used a lot of different cell phones including Windows Mobile devices, etc. I haven't yet had an iPhone as Verizon didn't carry them until just now.

My present device combination is a Blackberry 9650 (OS6) and a 4th generation iPod Touch (32GB). I think I'm going to stick with that combination for the foreseeable future.

The BB is solid. Best voice quality of any phone I've owned. The keyboard is excellent: makes you WANT to write a text message! The e-mail handling is as good as I've ever seen in a pocket device. It's well built, the software runs well - excellent camera (far better than any phone I've used to date), great screen.

I briefly considered waiting Verizon out and getting an iPhone4 but what you've said here confirms what I was concerned about. I like having the BB as a solid "communicator" with a few side things like weather, GPS and stuff like that. The iPod I use for reading, as a calculator, games and everything else. When using the iPod I am not concerned about burning through my phone's battery. When I take them both for the day I've barely used 25% of either battery even on days where I use them a lot.

After all that, the answer to your question is - yes: get the Blackberry. Buy yourself an iPod Touch if you want all the "fun" stuff. To me it's a really rock-solid combination. Best of both worlds without the limitations.

HTH,

-Max

[Dubdub]

A BB will not last days using it as you describe. Maybe a day but probably less. Battery life depends on many things, and your use pattern would seem to me that it wil not last a day.

If you like customizing and toying with the OS, a BB is not for you. What you see with the OS is what you get. No hacks or customizations at all.

Can't change the push email, it comes every 15 minutes or so. That is how the BB works, no manual email check.

Given what you wrote and how you use it, stick with Android. The BB won't be the device for you.

[araskin]

with all due respect, I disagree with the above comments. My torch will last 1.5 to 2 days without charging and I am a very heavy user. Though I should point out that my Torch is mostly on wifi which saves a lot of power not having to communicate with the cell towers. The Torch keyboard is great though not as good as the 9780 which easily the best mobile device keyboard. As far as customizations there are lots of themes out there that will give you a different look and feel when you crave a change.
I love the Torch. The browser is brilliant and the touch screen is great on it.
Posted via BlackBerryForums.com Mobile

[aiharkness]

I'm not try to be clever but if you have to ask if a blackberry is what you need, and if you are thinking about a blackberry because you are bored with what you are using, then a blackberry is probably not going to be a good fit for you. But only you can really answer.

Browse the forum and pay particular attention to the new members who complain about something they can't do and say something like, "I can't believe the famed BlackBerry can't do this. Even my old Nokia could..."

Also browse the articles at blackberryfaq.com. Read the articles near the top of the page and the general articles on BIS and email.
Posted via BlackBerryForums.com Mobile

[joginder]

Battery will last for 1+ day with heavy use including email/Posdcasts/music etc but BB's usage is lot different so bottom line is you might have to charge it every night.

Professional look: YES, Even in the country name India its considered as status mark to own a BB with full keyboard.

BBM: I am not heavy user but its handy tool if someone is on it. otherwise Yahoo and G-Chat are all over BB device so all time presence is here on BB as well.

In a Nutshell: Love the device and I am pretty sure once you jump on the BB side of world you will like it. This is the only device that I consider as "task-Oriented" even I have tried Androids and Symbions in deep details.

Good luck.

[tsac]

I have to agree with aiharkness on his points. to me it seems you will be using a cell phone for music and internet both of which can draw down a battery quick on any phone. It may be very wise to do as suggested and search for "complaints" to be sure of your selection. Remember the BB is a business device first and although many apps are now offered it may not be a good fit for you.