Life after Blackberry

[bottlecap]

On December I was given an Eris from my beautiful wife, (I have her a jewelry torch and jewelry making tools). And started playing with the Eris.

By the end of the day I was hooked. From the touch screen to the apps, it's just so much fun!

Does anyone REGRET going Android after the world of Blackberry?

 

[vapordub]

I hope to be joining you soon.

I sold my Storm and I want to pick up one until something super comes out that I can use my upgrade on.

A few guys at work have 'em and they make my Storm feel like Zack Morris' phone.

 

[Caddyman]

My storm was faster.....I like the eris more though

 

[OfTheDamned]

Regrets? None. I miss an app here or there and I am pissed that Urbanspoon came out for BlackBerry right after I switched, but most of the apps I used have alternatives in the Android world.

 

[smacky]

It's my first smartphone and I was coming up from an LG EnV. Great phone, but just about everything is better on the Eris compared to that.

Blackberries are so cliche now. It seems every high school kid wants or has one. No different than the iPhone. The Android phones are all unique; you see one, you know which one it is. You got the kooky designed G1, the Eris, the Droid, the Cliq. It's good being different, and while I hope Android takes some more share of the market, I hope it never becomes so big that everyone has one and knows what it is.

 

[DawnGP143]

Well....I came from a Storm 2. When I first got the Eris, it went back to the store after 2 days. I really didn't give it a fair shot to be honest. Then the Bing debacle happened...and I swapped BACK to the Eris, and I haven't looked back. Like OfTheDamned said, once I looked, I found alternatives for almost all the apps I used on my Berry...and I love my Eris now. I'm sure I will love it more after the 2.x upgrade.

 

[bottlecap]

Then the Bing debacle happened...

The Bing push pissed me RIGHT OFF!! I mildly freaked out on the phone rep, ( I was talking to me because for the 3rd time my Blackberry account was deleted by Verizon). And I look at my browser and it says Bing, WTF!?

 

[DawnGP143]

The Bing push pissed me RIGHT OFF!! I mildly freaked out on the phone rep, ( I was talking to me because for the 3rd time my Blackberry account was deleted by Verizon). And I look at my browser and it says Bing, WTF!?

Well, in my case, it happened thirty ONE days after my Storm 2 purchase. I threw such a fit with Verizon Corporate that they finally agreed to take the Storm back and refund my money for it...plus cancel the line I used to buy my Eris on with no ETF. WOOT!!!!!

 

[OfTheDamned]

What happened with Bing? I missed all of this.

 

[smacky]

What happened with Bing? I missed all of this.

Verizon forced Bing on your phone. You couldn't lose it. Or something.

 

[DawnGP143]

What happened with Bing? I missed all of this.

Verizon and Microsoft made a deal where Bing would be the "default" search in the Blackberry browser on "certain" devices, the Storm 2 and Curve 2 being the first. Well, instead of making it the DEFAULT, they made it the ONLY...removed all choices (google, wikipedia, dictionary.com) from the start page of the browser and made it so you can ONLY use Bing there. Yes, you can still type in google and go to the page, or add the "SEARCHIT" app...but that's not how my phone was when I bought it....and I didn't want it that way.

Lots of folks were really upset about choice being removed...that's what it all came down to. It was forced on folks.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Lots of folks were really upset about choice being removed...that's what it all came down to. It was forced on folks.

Well, that is a big reason people don't want the iPhone. I couldn't blame anyone for being pissed about that.

 

[Steve Lokenheimer]

I don't miss my Storm 1 at all. My Eris has a little lag but overall its leaps and bounds ahead of any BB device for a non buisness user IMO.

 

[tjbessey]

I am a business user and I got rid of my BB Curve 1 the day they pushed Bing onto the phone. The reason I like the Eris, or any droid for the matterm, is that Google made sure Verizon could not push crap onto the phones we did not want. No stupid Verizon App Store and other stuff that comes with other phones. The whole Bing thing pushed me over the edge. Have there been issues along the way sure, but they have been fun to work around.

tj

 

[Frisco]

Interesting thread; I like the idea of direct comparison of the Android Eris to user's former devices.

I read around about the Android phenomenon and it reminded me of back when PDAs and Blackberries were getting popular and even making the news as revolutionizing cell phone usage; little computers in the hands of people who wanted to do much more than merely make phone calls.

I went from a Razr to a Blackberry Pearl to a Curve 8330 to a Samsung Instinct to a Nexus One (junk) to the Eris, all in the space of about four years.

I miss some features of the 8330, but most of that has to do with what others are saying here: finding the Eris versions of said features ("real" keyboard be damned ).

I like the Eris very much.

 

[tjbessey]

BTW, I have found Verizon Sales and Tech Reps are not very good at dealing with Droid owners. I had one rep try to talk me out of exchangine one droid for another. I guess this phone is a major headache for them. After the last month I think the problem is not so much the phone, but the lack of experience with the system.

The above mentioned Rep then looked at how my Eris was set-up and told me he had never seen another Eris user max out or customize thier phone like I had. He asked me what I used it for, and I told him EVERYTHING. I work on the road and the phone is my lifeline. He looked confused. It was kind of funny. There are people who have smartphones because they are cliche, and others like me who actually use them.

One thing I don't like is the lack of HONESTY when it comes to what is going on. Sales Reps won't admit anything. The Bing issue is a good example. When it got pushed to my phone they blamed blackberry.

 

[arock]

I have to say the only thing I miss from my bb is the email. RIM definately has the best email system on the market.

 

[tjbessey]

I have to say the only thing I miss from my bb is the email. RIM definately has the best email system on the market.

I have thought about that and I cannot say I agree. I did not like the way everything got integrated. I am using activesync for my office email and calendar. I have been able to set up unlimited other accounts as POP3 accounts on the phone and I like that I can keep them separate and check them all from one location. If you click on the Mail title bar it will allow you to switch between the various emails on the phone.

I think the problem most people have is the Blackberry sets all this stuff up automatically, whereas the user has to do this manually on the Eris. Once you know how to do what you want, the phone delivers a much better package of services. Of course you need to have the patience to try new things.

One Example would be the famous Eris Freeze. This little problem almost lead me to strangle a Verizon Rep. I took a little extra time to document what was going on and discovered that having my activesync push to the phone automatically caused this problem. I changed all email push services to be manual and have not had a problem since. I don't mind the manual setting because the phone is a tool to use for my benefit, not to become a slave to.

Just my two cents. I love the phone.

tj

 

[Frisco]

I have to say the only thing I miss from my bb is the email. RIM definately has the best email system on the market.

I agree! And I'd forgotten about that (maybe that means I'm learning to use the Android/Google system now ).

I was just thinking, on a different note, that the internet browsing experience on the Android Eris is far and away better than the Blackberry. Just the clarity of the screen itself.

I'm sure the Bold and the Tour got better than the Curve, but I am very impressed with this Eris display.

 

[arock]

I have thought about that and I cannot say I agree. I did not like the way everything got integrated. I am using activesync for my office email and calendar. I have been able to set up unlimited other accounts as POP3 accounts on the phone and I like that I can keep them separate and check them all from one location. If you click on the Mail title bar it will allow you to switch between the various emails on the phone.

I think the problem most people have is the Blackberry sets all this stuff up automatically, whereas the user has to do this manually on the Eris. Once you know how to do what you want, the phone delivers a much better package of services. Of course you need to have the patience to try new things.

One Example would be the famous Eris Freeze. This little problem almost lead me to strangle a Verizon Rep. I took a little extra time to document what was going on and discovered that having my activesync push to the phone automatically caused this problem. I changed all email push services to be manual and have not had a problem since. I don't mind the manual setting because the phone is a tool to use for my benefit, not to become a slave to.

Just my two cents. I love the phone.

tj

Setup with blackberry was way easier, just put in the email address and pw and that was it. It just worked. I dont mind having to manually enter the info for setting up email on android, actually it makes feel "smarter" when I finally get it to work . But I still cannot for the life of me get my school email set up on this phone. I have it forwarded to gmail so at least i get the messages but it just irritates me that i cant figure it out. Hopefully down the road the android email system will get better, but thats just wishful thinking i guess.

 

[trekgraham]

I went from a BB Curve 8330m to motorola Droid, never looker back love my Droid it runs circles around my old berry

 

[WARRIIOR]

I must admit I am a long time Blackberry user that recently converted. I never thought I would use any other device. I switched to the Eris recently and I may love this device more than my family. Don't tell! Just to test myself, this week I switched back to the Berry for about 2 hours...that was 2 hours to long, I switched right back to my Eris. I love everything about this device and all it can do...I am sold. I have never been happier. Hope my wife and kids understand.

 

[cmack]

I agree! And I'd forgotten about that (maybe that means I'm learning to use the Android/Google system now ).

I was just thinking, on a different note, that the internet browsing experience on the Android Eris is far and away better than the Blackberry. Just the clarity of the screen itself.

I'm sure the Bold and the Tour got better than the Curve, but I am very impressed with this Eris display.

When I switched from the Alias to the Tour, internet browsing was just as slow. I thought that's just how phones were and it couldn't browse faster. After having so many problems with the Tour, I went and tried the Eris. I couldn't believe at how fast all the websites I used on the Tour would load on the Eris. I was completely sold and love this phone so much better. Granted I only had the Tour for a month, but for my purposes, Adroid OS is far superior to BB.

 

[ChiTownJim]

I have and use both, besides the email on the BB and BBM the Eris blows it away in every way

 

[CycloneFever]

I'm a loooong time BB user. I've had more than I can remember. 7 or so I think going back the the 857. My most recent was a Curve.

The Eris kicks the crap out of it. At heart, BBs have the same OS that they had back then. Back when they were the only game in town for mobile email, calendar, and contacts, they were revolutionary. But they've been passed by in a big way. You still can't flag a message for follow up. Pretty pathetic for a device that build its reputation on seamless Outlook integration.