Hey there,
If anyone out there is as much a die-hard blackberry user as I am(was?) then you were looking for this post.
I was using BB for 5 yrs on ATT and I loved it. I am also someone who is used to getting a new phone every 4-6 months because I get bored really easily. That being said, I had my Bold for just a bit over a year since the day it came out Nov 4th. I had tried to replace it a couple times but none of the phones excited me and I went back to the Bold. However, Ive been waiting for something new since the Bold 2 was announced back in June and its taken forever for anything to be released on ATT.
Over the past year ATT has lost ground as the premier smartphone carrier. They used to have all the latest and greatest. Now they are just behind the times. I was even waiting for the TP2/Tilt2 to be released but apparently thats just taking forever too.
Ok, so I have absolutely nothing bad to say about ATT with my Bold. I absolutely loved the service. Rarely if never had any failed calls or issues. I would, and plan to, go back to them in a heartbeat. Everyone complaining about ATT is usually on an iphone(its not the service, its the phone!)
So I took the plunge yesterday and switched to VZW for the Droid. I was extremely worried that Id miss everything a Blackberry could do for me. I am happy to report I'm about 95% satisfied with the switch.
First off, Id like to say that the phone is absolutely awesome. I do plan on probably getting the HTC Passion/HD2 if it comes out for VZW but only because I need the latest and greatest. Plus, and this might be a shocker, the keyboard does nothing for me on this phone(read:I dont even use it).
Yes, I was so worried that I was going to miss the easy typing of the qwerty Bold keyboard(that was the best Ive ever used). But with the on screen keyboard(and Im talking just vertical, not landscape) I am typing faster and cleaner than on the bold. Yes, you read that right. Ill repeat that, I type faster and with less mistakes on the screen keyboard than on my Bold. I actually have more mistakes when I use the landscape one or the pullout keyboard. I am flying through texts with this phone and I couldn't be happier.
Web browsing is not a chore anymore either. The OEM browser on the Droid is fantastic. I didn't even feel the need to download Opera or any aftermarket one. Double tapping is fine for me to use when zooming in. Seriously, if people really need to complain that you cant pinch to zoom then that must mean its hard to find things to complain about with this phone.
I thought I would miss BBM but as of yet, I don't, at all. Everyone who I had on there texts me now. Big woop. Everyone pretty much has unlimited texts these days anyway. Most OS's also wrap text conversations anyway so I can see the whole conversation on the Droid. Nothing really lost. The new BBM was cool with the barcode and group chat but you know what, sometimes its nice to not be in a group chat on a phone. If I wanted that, Id just head back to the forum. Grievance over.
Also, I found a lot of the same applications I had used on my BB through the marketplace like Pandora, iTrader for stocks, Password keeper(that was a huge find) etc. The only application I sorely miss is Viigo. I found a sorta good news reader but its nowhere as neat and organized as Viigo. Other than that though, I found a ton of applications that I didn't have on my BB which are just absolutely amazing(and free). And I'm not talking about stupid light sabers or shake-to-fart apps, I mean actually useful apps.
Blackberry Bold had great voice quality but using the Droid is like using a landline. I don't know if its verizons service, the noise cancellation feature or the phone itself. Regardless, its great. And its comfortable to hold at the same time, not hard to find the sweetspot.
Ok, now lets talk about what I miss about the BB.
First off, I miss the ability to easily assign specific rings to groups. I used to have family, work, friends etc. listed with specific ring tones so I would know who was calling. You cant do groups on the Droid but you can do specific ring tone. For that though, you have to go to each contact and set it, which can be really annoying when you have over 100 contacts.
On the same note, I miss the ability to assign tones, rings, vibrations to each notification from the phone. This phone didn't even have profiles until I downloaded an app that created them. Really tough to switch to vibrate mode from loud mode if you went into a meeting or something. I also cant just assign ring to phone and vibrate to everything else. Maybe its there or I need another app, but I'm just saying whats bugging me so far. Whats weird is it finds the ringtones that I put on the SD card to assign for ringtones(although it has all my sounds as an option for that) but it cant find them when doing notifications for anything else other than a phone call. I have to use factory sounds for them and they all suck, to be blunt.
Ok, what else. Oh yeah, apparently I live in the one deadzone for VZW 3g service. I bounce from 1x to 1 bar 3g all the time in my house. I never lost 3g once with my ATT anywhere in my area. I have yet to see full bars on the Droid anywhere. Not sure if its VZW or the phone but this has me slightly worried. However, I have yet to have interrupted service or slow browsing speeds so maybe I'm worrying too much.
I miss the bedside mode from the BB when you plugged it in the charger. I used my Bold as my clock when sleeping and the Droid doesn't have that. There is a charging dock coming out that seems to have some sort of magnetic way of turning on a bedside mode. We shall see.
Oh, yeah, I forgot. I dont think its me but I cant figure out how to get into the vidoes Ive put onto the SD card. Seriously, there is no internal video watching app that I can find on this thing. Very weird and if I missed it, please help me out here. Also, in regards to the SD card, I liked how the blackberry gave you folders when connected to the computer. There is nothing like that on the Droid. I created folders on the SD card hoping it would work. It found the ringtones and pictures but not the videos(see prior complaint though). About that though, it would be nice if I could get into the folders on the actual phone for digging around purposes.
It may sound like I have a lot of complaints about the phone but I'm chalking it up to a new OS, never using the phone before, and probably finding apps to help me with most of the stuff. But it takes a lot for me to stick with a phone and I feel I'm going to have this one for a while(at least 6 months lol).
Feel free to post up any questions or comments if you're worried about taking the plunge to the phone. Ill try to answer everything as best as I can.
If anyone out there is as much a die-hard blackberry user as I am(was?) then you were looking for this post.
I was using BB for 5 yrs on ATT and I loved it. I am also someone who is used to getting a new phone every 4-6 months because I get bored really easily. That being said, I had my Bold for just a bit over a year since the day it came out Nov 4th. I had tried to replace it a couple times but none of the phones excited me and I went back to the Bold. However, Ive been waiting for something new since the Bold 2 was announced back in June and its taken forever for anything to be released on ATT.
Over the past year ATT has lost ground as the premier smartphone carrier. They used to have all the latest and greatest. Now they are just behind the times. I was even waiting for the TP2/Tilt2 to be released but apparently thats just taking forever too.
Ok, so I have absolutely nothing bad to say about ATT with my Bold. I absolutely loved the service. Rarely if never had any failed calls or issues. I would, and plan to, go back to them in a heartbeat. Everyone complaining about ATT is usually on an iphone(its not the service, its the phone!)
So I took the plunge yesterday and switched to VZW for the Droid. I was extremely worried that Id miss everything a Blackberry could do for me. I am happy to report I'm about 95% satisfied with the switch.
First off, Id like to say that the phone is absolutely awesome. I do plan on probably getting the HTC Passion/HD2 if it comes out for VZW but only because I need the latest and greatest. Plus, and this might be a shocker, the keyboard does nothing for me on this phone(read:I dont even use it).
Yes, I was so worried that I was going to miss the easy typing of the qwerty Bold keyboard(that was the best Ive ever used). But with the on screen keyboard(and Im talking just vertical, not landscape) I am typing faster and cleaner than on the bold. Yes, you read that right. Ill repeat that, I type faster and with less mistakes on the screen keyboard than on my Bold. I actually have more mistakes when I use the landscape one or the pullout keyboard. I am flying through texts with this phone and I couldn't be happier.
Web browsing is not a chore anymore either. The OEM browser on the Droid is fantastic. I didn't even feel the need to download Opera or any aftermarket one. Double tapping is fine for me to use when zooming in. Seriously, if people really need to complain that you cant pinch to zoom then that must mean its hard to find things to complain about with this phone.
I thought I would miss BBM but as of yet, I don't, at all. Everyone who I had on there texts me now. Big woop. Everyone pretty much has unlimited texts these days anyway. Most OS's also wrap text conversations anyway so I can see the whole conversation on the Droid. Nothing really lost. The new BBM was cool with the barcode and group chat but you know what, sometimes its nice to not be in a group chat on a phone. If I wanted that, Id just head back to the forum. Grievance over.
Also, I found a lot of the same applications I had used on my BB through the marketplace like Pandora, iTrader for stocks, Password keeper(that was a huge find) etc. The only application I sorely miss is Viigo. I found a sorta good news reader but its nowhere as neat and organized as Viigo. Other than that though, I found a ton of applications that I didn't have on my BB which are just absolutely amazing(and free). And I'm not talking about stupid light sabers or shake-to-fart apps, I mean actually useful apps.
Blackberry Bold had great voice quality but using the Droid is like using a landline. I don't know if its verizons service, the noise cancellation feature or the phone itself. Regardless, its great. And its comfortable to hold at the same time, not hard to find the sweetspot.
Ok, now lets talk about what I miss about the BB.
First off, I miss the ability to easily assign specific rings to groups. I used to have family, work, friends etc. listed with specific ring tones so I would know who was calling. You cant do groups on the Droid but you can do specific ring tone. For that though, you have to go to each contact and set it, which can be really annoying when you have over 100 contacts.
On the same note, I miss the ability to assign tones, rings, vibrations to each notification from the phone. This phone didn't even have profiles until I downloaded an app that created them. Really tough to switch to vibrate mode from loud mode if you went into a meeting or something. I also cant just assign ring to phone and vibrate to everything else. Maybe its there or I need another app, but I'm just saying whats bugging me so far. Whats weird is it finds the ringtones that I put on the SD card to assign for ringtones(although it has all my sounds as an option for that) but it cant find them when doing notifications for anything else other than a phone call. I have to use factory sounds for them and they all suck, to be blunt.
Ok, what else. Oh yeah, apparently I live in the one deadzone for VZW 3g service. I bounce from 1x to 1 bar 3g all the time in my house. I never lost 3g once with my ATT anywhere in my area. I have yet to see full bars on the Droid anywhere. Not sure if its VZW or the phone but this has me slightly worried. However, I have yet to have interrupted service or slow browsing speeds so maybe I'm worrying too much.
I miss the bedside mode from the BB when you plugged it in the charger. I used my Bold as my clock when sleeping and the Droid doesn't have that. There is a charging dock coming out that seems to have some sort of magnetic way of turning on a bedside mode. We shall see.
Oh, yeah, I forgot. I dont think its me but I cant figure out how to get into the vidoes Ive put onto the SD card. Seriously, there is no internal video watching app that I can find on this thing. Very weird and if I missed it, please help me out here. Also, in regards to the SD card, I liked how the blackberry gave you folders when connected to the computer. There is nothing like that on the Droid. I created folders on the SD card hoping it would work. It found the ringtones and pictures but not the videos(see prior complaint though). About that though, it would be nice if I could get into the folders on the actual phone for digging around purposes.
It may sound like I have a lot of complaints about the phone but I'm chalking it up to a new OS, never using the phone before, and probably finding apps to help me with most of the stuff. But it takes a lot for me to stick with a phone and I feel I'm going to have this one for a while(at least 6 months lol).
Feel free to post up any questions or comments if you're worried about taking the plunge to the phone. Ill try to answer everything as best as I can.
