BlackBerry Forums Support Community
              

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 08-01-2012, 01:43 PM   #1
Mark Rejhon
Retired BBF Moderator
 
Mark Rejhon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Model: Bold
Carrier: Rogers
Posts: 4,870
Default QWERTY Phones with BlackBerry style keyboards (e.g. Motorola Pro+, Admiral, etc.)

Please Login to Remove!

After my BlackBerry had a catastrophic accidental meeting with concrete a few months ago, I searched around for a replacement phone that could meet my needs -- I considered switching to another platform (e.g. Android) while waiting for BB10 QWERTY devices. I chose the latter scenario -- I picked up a Motorola Pro+, which is similiar to Motorola Admiral:

Photo link of BlackBerry style ANDROID phone that I'm using:
https://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q...miral&tbm=isch

As the photo above shows, that's why it's a "lesser-of-evils" Android phone among BlackBerry keyboard zealots. It is the only semi-good Android phone with a BlackBerry style keyboard and a screen higher resolution than QVGA. It took me less than a day to do some basic thumb-touchtyping on it (see my Youtube 75 WPM video), like I could on a BlackBerry, as I hate touch screen keyboards.

...Main Pros? I love its keyboard and its screen, it's got better DPI than a BlackBerry Bold - and the web browser is better in many ways. Lots of app, I get every popular Android app; such as Temple Run and Angry Birds, to other apps such as better Skype, better Dropbox app, and more.
...Main Cons? I hate its email. Its 'push' mode is a bandwidth-heavy, battery-hog, lag-prone poor subtitute for BlackBerry's creme-de-a-creme. Its GMAIL is nice for certain things (e.g. configurable label colors) but it's not as quick and seamless as BlackBerry. I can't just take my BlackBerry out of a holster and begin reading important emails right away. Battery life is not very good, and I can't nearly completely shut down the device (like I can with BlackBerry) if I have an alarm set. Limited to Android 2.3.5. And did I say I hate the Android email?

Comments:
-- BlackBerry crutches: I have loaded it with some helper apps (e.g. GO Launcher, GO SMS, easy shortcuts, hotkey utilities, color LED notifier utility replacing BeBuzz, font size changer utility to have a more crammed email/sms list, etc.) so that I can have information-dense screens. And KiK Messenger (with its "D" and "R" checkmarks too!) stands-in for BlackBerry Messenger for now. But having so many apps, slow the memory-limited device down (it's not a high end Android device), so that's a big minus. (I will probably root soon, to try and delete some preloaded apps that are consuming memory)
-- Switching back to BlackBerry (Bold 9900) is somewhat appealing too but also at the same time unappealing (sigh) -- with RIM in precarious position, I'd like to wait until BB10 with QNX first.
-- Cyanogenmod (custom Android OS) is not available for Motorola Pro+ or Admiral, as far as I know

Alas I don't see any QWERTY phones with a VGA screen (or better), physical portrait keyboard, and something at least Android 4.0. I may be stuck with this unit till BB10 (if RIM survives!)

So, without further ado -- what keyboarded smartphones have you tried that are adequate temporary stand-ins for BlackBerry?
__________________
Thanks,
Mark Rejhon
Author of XMPP extension XEP-0301:
www.xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0301.html - specification
www.realjabber.org - open source

Last edited by Mark Rejhon; 08-01-2012 at 01:50 PM..
Offline  
Old 08-02-2012, 03:32 PM   #2
dc/dc
Spam Reporter
 
dc/dc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: IAD
Model: 6230
Carrier: Voicestream
Posts: 14,524
Default Re: QWERTY Phones with BlackBerry style keyboards (e.g. Motorola Pro+, Admiral, etc.)

I used that same device for some time, and it was the best non-BB physical keyboard I've used. Nothing else has come close.
__________________
I h8 txtspk.
Offline  
Closed Thread


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads for: QWERTY Phones with BlackBerry style keyboards (e.g. Motorola Pro+, Admiral, etc.)
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Bes 4.1.7 Mr2 Mikey_AGBoston BES Admin Corner 5 04-29-2010 02:37 PM
T-Mobile's Smart Phone Comparison Chart! UPDATED & NEW! :) secrecyguy General BlackBerry Discussion 5 06-02-2007 02:42 PM
Problem W/ the O2 Theme on 7100i Stress BlackBerry Themes 24 01-31-2006 09:32 AM


OEM Dell XPS 8910 8920 8930 Alienware Aurora R5 R6 R7 Front Cooling Fan 7M0F5 picture

OEM Dell XPS 8910 8920 8930 Alienware Aurora R5 R6 R7 Front Cooling Fan 7M0F5

$12.11



OEM Dell XPS 8910 8920 8930 Alienware Aurora R5 R6 R7 Front Cooling Fan NF-A12 picture

OEM Dell XPS 8910 8920 8930 Alienware Aurora R5 R6 R7 Front Cooling Fan NF-A12

$30.60



1PCS NEW FIT FOR OEM Dell AC Adapter Dell Alienware DA330PM190 LA330PM190 330W picture

1PCS NEW FIT FOR OEM Dell AC Adapter Dell Alienware DA330PM190 LA330PM190 330W

$117.97



OEM Dell Precision M3800 XPS 15.6

OEM Dell Precision M3800 XPS 15.6" 15-9530 CPU Left Fan 2PH36 NIA01 DC28000DQF0

$9.99



Genuine OEM Dell 2375 B2375dnf B2375dfw 110V Fuser fixing N41P2 sku 724-BBCI picture

Genuine OEM Dell 2375 B2375dnf B2375dfw 110V Fuser fixing N41P2 sku 724-BBCI

$94.99



Genuine Dell OEM G Series G7 7790 CPU and Graphics Heatsink Assembly XRF05 picture

Genuine Dell OEM G Series G7 7790 CPU and Graphics Heatsink Assembly XRF05

$20.30







Copyright © 2004-2016 BlackBerryForums.com.
The names RIM © and BlackBerry © are registered Trademarks of BlackBerry Inc.