Blackberry/Smartphones

[zzzmanwitz]

I'm renewing an agreement with US Cellular and would like to get a Blackberry or Windows Mobile Smartphones. Anyone have any of these phones and have positive or negative reviews of it?

 

 

 

BlackBerry Pearl 8130, BlackBerry Curve 8330, BlackBerry 8830 Smartphone, Motorola MOTO Q 9c Lime, HTC Touch

[eanelson4]

I have the Curve 8330 and love it. These things are beyond durable. I REALLY like having the full keypad. It took a little bit to get used to, but texting and sending emails is super easy now.

 

Do you have any specific questions on the phone, or just looking for my experience with it?

[sgtcluels]

I've had the Q (launch not revision) and it was just ok. The receiption was kind of junky, and well, Windows Mobile as a platform just sucks. Can't go wrong with Blackberries (Though you are leaving SO many of the capabilities at the door when you don't run BIS or BES). The only big knock on those versions are the small key pads. The storm is nice now that they have new beta revisiions out.

[Blancofan1]

I'm in the same boat about renewing right now with verizon. I've done quite a bit of research and from what I've found I would go Blackberry Curve 8330 or HTC off of your list. I've talked to a lot of people who love their Curves and a lot who don't love the Storm with it's floating touch screen--even though the newer versions are suppose to have solved some of the Storms issues.

 

Personally I am looking at either the Curve or a Samsung Omnia. I just can't decide if I want a touch screen or not.

[sgtcluels]

The storm release OS was very junky. It was functional, but very slow. The newest beta is really nice, I've had it running on my phone for 2 weeks with out a single required battery pull. The platform will be super cool once they resolve all the issues. Just seems to be very slow updates compared to the iPhone.

[Menotti80]

i also have the storm. i have just about zero complaints, and i'm not even sure i have the latest upgrade. i cant wait to use it during mlb season...

[sgtcluels]

Mentotti: Running release (.76?). The next official version is rumored to be out by the end of the month. From what I understand its very simular to .103 (which is the beta I run). It's LOADS faster, coming from an iPhone user the storm is slick, but SLOW. This new update is way faster, I wouldn't say iPhone smooth, but very close.

 

I just wish I could use the gestures that you can in iPhone for the Storm. And they _need_ to add an autolock.

[davego]

What is this smart flip phone about? Seems interesting.

[Invader3K]

My sister just got a Blackberry Curve. I didn't care for it...maybe I'm just too used to my Moto Q, but I didn't like the keypad and scroll thingy at all.

[ryne100]

I have the HTC 6800 from USCC and I love it. There are so many things you can do to personalize it on sites like freewarepocketpc.net . Plan on getting a data plan though, having it really unlocks how awesome these phones are.

[jason21nl]

I have the curve and I'm strongly considering going to the storm

[KCBrewerfan34]

I work for Sprint/Nextel, if your business is interested in blackberries let me know, I can probably help.

 

 

The Blackberry 8830 is great but if you're looking for the next hottest thing the Palm Pre is going to be AWESOME. Should be out in June.

 

 

 

 

 

Contact me at blikemike2@aol.com

[SenatorShriv]

I have a blackberry and love it when it works. The full keyboard is super nice and convenient. The problem is that I seem to have some sort of problem with my email connections almost once a week. Usually I can just go on the US Cellular website and reconnect it, but it is a pain and since I travel a lot for work that is not always super realistic. If you're with US Cellular the iphone isn't really an option, but everyone I know with one is extremly happy with their's so you may want to consider switching providers and going with the iphone. I know that is the move I'll be making at the next available opportunity.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, I'm limited to US Cellular due to our business plan, and I really wish they would get the iphone. Like you said, everyone I know who has one raves about it.

[sgtcluels]

I don't care for the 6800. I find the slider felt... cheap? It's a pretty large phone, has some nice features (Wifi is a nice plus) but I honestly do not care for Windows Mobile, it just doesn't like to do multiple things at once and had a tendency to freak out.

 

Wow apparently I've used way to many smart phones.

[Menotti80]

sgt-

- what do you mean an auto-lock? locking the phone is super easy i think...

- do you update your phone on your computer or do you take it into the store?

[sgtcluels]

I should have been more specific on what I mean. On the iPhone when you put your face close to the phone, it locks the display. The Storm does not, I've put people on hold/hung up on them/muted them a bunch of times. Wish they had it.

 

PC, takes about 15 minutes.

[Diskono]

I have the HTC 6800 from USCC and I love it. There are so many things you can do to personalize it on sites like freewarepocketpc.net . Plan on getting a data plan though, having it really unlocks how awesome these phones are.

I also have this. I love it, because I have so much stuff that I carry around that it has essentially replaced:

 

phone

Internet tablet

mp3 player

XM receiver

 

I've also unlocked mine and upgraded the radio firmware to enable GPS, which gives me yet another gadget that I didn't have before. Battery life isn't great, but thats probably to be expected for something I use so extensively.

[Brian the Automator]

I have the HTC 6800 from USCC and I love it. There are so many things you can do to personalize it on sites like freewarepocketpc.net . Plan on getting a data plan though, having it really unlocks how awesome these phones are.

Same here... I love the slide-out keyboard (as compared to the HTC touch that doesn't have one)... and I'm a little biased, since it runs on Windows Mobile and I can develop for that platform pretty easily.

[Brian the Automator]

I've also unlocked mine and upgraded the radio firmware to enable GPS, which gives me yet another gadget that I didn't have before. Battery life isn't great, but thats probably to be expected for something I use so extensively.

Oooh, question for you. Do you have the USCC htc 6800? I've seen instructions to unlock the Alltel branded model, and I didn't want to brick mine by trying it out. I have an external bluetooth GPS receiver, but I hate carrying it around...

[Diskono]

Oooh, question for you. Do you have the USCC htc 6800? I've seen instructions to unlock the Alltel branded model, and I didn't want to brick mine by trying it out. I have an external bluetooth GPS receiver, but I hate carrying it around...

Yep, I'm on USCC. I mostly followed a howto from ppcgeeks.com, though I used a pre-built ROM from xda-developers.org instead. It wasn't too painful, but there were a few scary moments due to the guide I followed leaving out some important bits - biggest one I remember was needing to do a hard reset right before loading the ROM, otherwise it gets stuck on the bootloader screen.

[Blancofan1]

got the Samsung Omnia about a week ago and while it's taking a little getting used to the touch screen--I am very impressed with this phone. Features and operating platform have been utterly fantastic.