BlackBerry to Android; What should I expect?

Shad0w26 · Feb 12, 2011

Ahhh!!! I'm so excited for the Inspire 4G! I pre-ordered mine at RadioShack on Monday. I got the call on Friday to confirm if I am going to pick it up Sunday morning, hell yes.

I currently have a sucky BlackBerry Torch 9800 (you can read my mass flame thread on CrackBerry =X Bye BlackBerry! - BlackBerry Forums at CrackBerry.com). I'm really excited to move Android after sticking with BlackBerry for so long.

Anyway, I was wondering what I should expect tomorrow. How can I transfer my contacts to my Inspire 4G? I currently have Gmail, will that be all I need to sync contacts?

I currently have an Unlimited BlackBerry Data Plan. I will be able to grandfather it into the 4G Unlimited Data Plan right? Will RadioShack know how to do that?

Thanks in advance! And PS: I'm really jealous at the people who got it early at Sam's and Costco!!!

emuneee · Feb 12, 2011

Just to get this out of the way, Blackberry provides a superior messaging and email experience. With that said android is better in almost every other way. For contacts, just use add them to Gmail. When you sign in to Gmail on the Inspire with your Gmail account it will pull down your email, calendar, and contacts associated with your account.

I am also hearing that AT&T will force you to move to the $25 2GB Data plan because your are getting a "4G" device.

PSkeptic · Feb 12, 2011

I have to second emuneee... The crackberry has the best email functionality out there, and are the masters of push/pull messaging.

If you don't have one already, sign up for a GMail account, so you don't have to go through the process of creating one on the phone.

lsutigers03 · Feb 12, 2011

emuneee said:
I am also hearing that AT&T will force you to move to the $25 2GB Data plan because your are getting a "4G" device.

AT&T said they weren't going to do this.

emuneee · Feb 12, 2011

lsutigers03 said:
AT&T said they weren't going to do this.

Oh ok cool. That's nice to hear.

Shad0w26 · Feb 12, 2011

Thanks guys. Yeah, I do have a Gmail account (since beta) and I use Google for most of my things.

g_patrick15 · Feb 12, 2011

The Gmail app is on par, if not better than, the blackberry email system. But that's only for Gmail, I've never tried out the stock email app, as I only use GMail. Coming from a former Curve 8320 and Bold 9700 user, I never skipped a beat when I switched to Android.

Shad0w26, I read that entire thread you posted from crackberry. I forgot how snobbish fanboys of any particular OS were. It's the same across the board. Not just isolated to Android and iPhone users. And of course, it's not all members. The funny thing is, not one person over there gave a good reason to stick with your torch. Only people bashing you and Christy(?) because you guys made a conscious decision to spend your $ on another platform. Believe me, I don't miss BBM, BIS, Brickbreaker, or the bland look of the blackberry OS in the slightest. There's no reason my Bold 9700 from 2009 should look and function almost exactly the same, without much added, as my Curve from 2007. You'd think people would get tired of the constant refreshes of what's basically the same phone. And I also find it ironic that they bash you for switching to Android, yet all probably rejoice at the sight of the playbook, which is rumored to run android apps.

Welcome to Android. Don't make the same mistake I did by switching out to Blackberry (when the 9700 came out and my G1 was breaking down) and the iPhone (when my contract ended). Everytime, I come back home to Android.

emuneee · Feb 12, 2011

g_patrick15 said:
The Gmail app is on par, if not better than, the blackberry email system. But that's only for Gmail

This, the GMail app on Android is stellar, absolutely beats Blackberry in this regard. The exchange mail app though isn't nearly as good as its Blackberry counterpart. I use it for work email, but I'm not really a work email king, so to me, I can get by with it. With that said, there are some decent alternatives in the Android Market, K9 is one that comes to mind.

g_patrick15 · Feb 12, 2011

emuneee said:
. With that said, there are some decent alternatives in the Android Market, K9 is one that comes to mind.

Great point. Another great thing about Android (and iOS) is that if the stock version of any app isn't to your liking, there is almost always a multitude of better apps to choose from in the market and app store. For example, I find the stock messaging app bland, but serviceable. So, I replaced it with Handcent SMS, a great alternative. If Handcent isn't your thing, Chomp is right there to do your messaging bidding. The same goes for email with K9. There are a lot of apps for blackberry, but the app world is terrible to navigate and loading apps on there from outside the app world is a pain. Plus, the apps just aren't that good anyway.

Blanco720 · Feb 12, 2011

how does it handle multiple gmail accounts? Does it prompt you with which you would like to view? or is there simply multiple gmail icons for each account you have?

RkFast · Feb 13, 2011

What about corporate email?

emuneee · Feb 13, 2011

Blanco720 said:
how does it handle multiple gmail accounts? Does it prompt you with which you would like to view? or is there simply multiple gmail icons for each account you have?

GMail handles multiple email accounts well. There is only one icon for each account, but there is a method in the application to switch between GMail accounts

What about corporate email?

Android has a built in POP/IMAP/EXCHANGE mail client that is decent, depending on your email needs. There is also an app in the Android Market called 'K9' that I've heard is better.

aekhhi · Feb 13, 2011

emuneee said:
Just to get this out of the way, Blackberry provides a superior messaging and email experience. With that said android is better in almost every other way. For contacts, just use add them to Gmail. When you sign in to Gmail on the Inspire with your Gmail account it will pull down your email, calendar, and contacts associated with your account.

I am also hearing that AT&T will force you to move to the $25 2GB Data plan because your are getting a "4G" device.

have experience with this one... blackberry going to android ... yay

and you'll be able to keep your data plan. I went from a blackberry unlimited data plan and was able to keep my unlimited plan when I bought my aria... but now I'm buying the inspire off contract

I ended up not transferring my numbers to my phone just because half of the numbers I had, I didn't really need to transfer over and I figure if someone calls or texts I'll just save it as I go

BlackBerry to Android; What should I expect?

Lurker

Android Enthusiast

Android Expert

Android Enthusiast

Android Enthusiast

Lurker

Android Enthusiast

Android Enthusiast

Android Enthusiast

Android Enthusiast

Newbie

Android Enthusiast

Well-Known Member

BEST TECH IN 2023

Smartphones

Best Android Phones

Upcoming

Best iPhones

Upcoming

Tablets

Best Tablets

Upcoming

Laptops

Best Laptops

Upcoming

Televisions

Best TVs

Upcoming

Game Consoles

Best Game Consoles

Upcoming

Wearables

Best Wearables

Upcoming

Smart Home

Smart Home Tech

Upcoming

Similar threads