Should Tom Give Up His Blackberry?
Recently Tom, a friend and regular reader was telling us about his Blackberry Curve and asked us a great question.
Should I replace the BB with a new blackberry, an iPhone or an Android? I don’t have a lot of photos, or feel the need to carry around music, or even have “always-on” web access.
Apparently, the phone used to show he was connected to the EDGE network but now he’s only connected on GSM. And now, he no longer receives email on GSM. Sadly, the AT&T guy (so it appeared to me as someone getting the news 2nd hand), was not too helpful and encouraged him to upgrade. Perhaps because there’s something in it for him 😉
Anyhow… regarding the problems receiving emails and the change in network. Unfortunately, I am not too well versed with the ins and outs of the cell phone technology. What I know is surface knowledge – From what I understand, when on GSM, there is no full data capability and this is not necessarily something wrong with the phone itself, more of a network issue. Some people have discovered when a tower is down nearby, the only thing they get is GSM. Sometimes calling tech support can resolve it, sometimes not.
Beyond that I really am not in the position to say. I suggest calling tech support directly and not go into the store. From my experience, no matter which company, the guys at the store are only interested in selling you a new phone, not solve existing issues.
As for whether you should give it up. That’s rather hard to say. The geek part of me says Yes! But realistically, this is very much a personal preference.
Not too long ago, I was in a similar situation. I had an old, one of the earlier smartphones. The thing works period. It has a good enough camera, I could expand the memory, I didn’t need all those apps others have. In short, I was pretty happy with it, despite its age.
Then I had an incredible opportunity to upgrade to the HTC Incredible (pun not intended) – an Android, for an insane price. There were other factors too that made my decision a no-brainer so I went with it. Despite being a previous smartphone owner, I felt it was like stepping into a new world.
Like Tom, I didn’t carry around music – I did carry around a lot of seminar recordings though 😉 – and I didn’t need to be always online. But now… though the phone is always online, it doesn’t necessarily mean I am. It’s a choice. I also turned off automatic syncing for many of the apps. This way, the phone doesn’t bug me every time there’s something new to report.
Then there are the apps. Oh the apps! I didn’t think I needed them and I guess you can say I still don’t. But now that I do have access to them, they make things so much easier – and fun! Like with the Kindle or Nook app, I’m certainly reading a lot more than before.
Also, I’ve found some days, I can (and even prefer) not to turn on the computer.
How can this be good? Well, sometimes the best work is done offline. But you may need to get online just to find a piece of information or refer to an email. On the phone, I don’t get as easily distracted. Maybe its the screen size, maybe its because you are *somewhat* limited in what you can do. You tend to stay online for shorter periods vs on an actual computer. This may not be true for everyone, but certainly is true for me.
Having said all that… should you give up your Blackberry? I don’t know. Perhaps. If you’re only thinking of switching because of the EDGE/GSM problem, then I wouldn’t. I’d make support help me fix it.
But if it is something you’ve been considering for a while, maybe this is the perfect excuse.
Any BB users here? Do you have a suggestion for Tom? Help me (and Tom) out. Pipe up and let us know if you have a fix or give us your two cents.
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It may also come down to whether you want a physical keyboard (crazy, I know). Although, if you switch to an iPhone, there is a case out there with a keyboard (which I covet, by the way). Having come from a Blackberry to an iPhone, the only thing I missed was that keyboard. What I don’t miss is the wonky website views and unavailable apps. (I also had reservations about being “always on”). But, I agree, it’s a personal decision.
Thanks Brandie, that is interesting. I too come from a phone with a slide out keyboard to an onscreen keyboard but it’s not something I miss terribly even though I thought I would. But yeah – app envy LOL don’t miss that at all.
Either stay with the Blackberry or switch to an android with a physical keyboard like the HTC Dream.
I see you like your keyboards Darrell. What do you use now?
Whichever smart phone you chose, for those in or visiting the UK, please see http://www.mycall.mobi.
The most useful site on mobiles Lynette.
Hey JT, thanks but I had hoped the site you listed would help with the decision process.
Ok, Tom here!
I must admit I did not know the difference between GSM and Edge. I had the Blackberry Curve 8310 for 18 month and had *always* been on Edge Network. In mid-December, I noticed GSM appearing and emails no longer appearing.
Lynette was right: My trip to the local AT&T store made me feel foolish. The snarky guy there convinced me “GSM is what I signed up for…it’s a miracle you’ve been getting emails as long as you have…” followed up quickly with, “if you want your emails, you better get a 3G phone, buddy.”
Wow. I was surprised he didn’t ask if I wanted to get the undercoating and the interior scotchguard too. (if you ever bought a car in the 80’s, you know what I’m talking about).
I looked into the iPhone4. Seemed like more of a media tool than a business tool. But the touchscreen did have the “coolness factor” baked right in.
I run three businesses, so I need to rely on the phone as a business tool for emails, texts and calls. Which led me to look at the Android platform.
Again, I liked the speed and coolness factor. But in reading all the comments and reviews, I kept seeing a recurring theme: if you rely on email/or if the phone is truly a work tool, Blackberry (for all its’ faults) is really what you need. Blackberry has won the prize for the speedy delivery of email to the phone. In many cases, I receive the email before it arrives on my desktop.
The Blackberry Bold did not seem to score too well, and I got the distinct impression BB is moving on from that model (not sure). I started reading reviews on the Blackberry Torch and found a lot of comparisons between Torch and other phones.
The Blackberry Torch has the coolness factor with their beautiful touch screen, but it also has the slide-out qwerty keyboard I was so used to having with my old BB. Seems like the best of both (my opinion).
I think what riles up some reviewers of the Torch is the Torch is *not* an iPhone. The Torch never will be a direct competitor with an iPhone, and (my opinion) should not be compared to the iPhone. The Torch and the iPhone are for completely different demographics. I run two of my three businesses through the phone, I do not store lots of photos, videos or music on the phone.
In the end, I bought the Blackberry Torch and have been very happy with it.
Thanks Lynette!
Thank you so much for the update Tom! I’m glad you’re enjoying your
phone. Although I must pipe in on the BB is for business thing… I’m
not so sure anymore. When smartphones were pretty new and all that
BB’s strongest technology was the push email technology. Meaning when
an email comes it gets pushed directly to your phone and not pull –
meaning the phone has to automatically check it. While that may still
be true, personally, I’ve never had trouble with the speed of emails
on my phone even the old Windows one. Maybe its because I’m really not
in such a hurry to receive my emails LOL.
But in the end I guess it depends what kind of business you run
really. For an online business like ours, I don’t think it really
matters which phone. My brother-in-law is a painter. His business is
primarily done via phone OR push-to-talk. Anything else is not needed.
So he uses Sprint exclusively on phones that push-to-talk
capabilities.
Just came across this webpage, this is really constructive information and I hope i’d seen this before. I’m grateful for mentioning this and looking forward to return very shortly. Really like finding stuff regarding the Torch.