11 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
Blackberry Bold - A Work Horse!
Date of Review: Jan 22, 2009
The Bottom Line: I love my "Crackberry" Bold!
I have owned several Smartphones over the years. I have basically stayed with Treos and Palms since they work with the software that opens lockboxes since I am a real estate agent. I got very excited about the possibility of a Blackberry when GE Securities (the makers of the Supra Lockbox) that the software would be available in the first quarter of 2009. I was always in awe of everyone with their Blackberries as they almost instantaneously received their emails. My last phone, the Treo 700 wx, logged on the system every 20 minutes to "synch" the emails. Sometimes it would take over 2 hours for me to receive some emails. Surfing on the web - you could just forget that!
I made the switch from Verizon Wireless to at&t. The number porting was seamless. When I did receive a problem, the sales agent resolved it within a minute.
Size: Blackberries are not small devices but it is slimmer than my old Treo. I think that anything much smaller would be hard for me to hold in my hand and type on the QWERTY keyboard. Since it is not a small device, the screen is a great size and the color is crystal clear and brilliant. I especially like that the back of the device is textured for a better grip.
Emailing: This is one the main reasons why I switched and have not been disappointed. Setting up my multiple email accounts were a breeze. The Email Wizard just asked for your email address and password and poof - it was all completed. The Blackberry easily synched the information from my Outlook. Everything transferred with ease.
The best feature of emailing is the system asks you whether you would like to delete the email off the handheld and or the mailbox. No more duplicate emails on your computer when you return to your office!
Downloading attachments are a breeze too. The 3G system is fast. The system changes depending on your location. It will first try to log on to a wifi connection, as it will be faster than the 3G. If it doesn't find one, it will be on the 3G and sometimes on the slower Edge. I can see PDF's and web pages clearly. You could just forget about viewing PDF's on my old Treo.
Keyboard: I didn't want a iPhone because of the lack of a true keyboard. I can barely type on my iTouch and knew that would drive me crazy. I also eliminated the Blackberry Storm too because of the flat screen. I don't need sleek, I need keys to work and be accurate. If you have big thumbs like me, a touch screen does not work well for us. I also eliminated the Blackberry Pearl as it does not have a full keyboard either. Spell check can be turned on without having to run it separately. Thumb typing is a breeze.
Sound Quality: So far so good!
Voice Dialing: You can set up several hot keys to operate specific applications. I am use to having the left key as the button for Voice Dialing. The system does not required to be trained and has worked well too. I did receive an error one day and had to research it. The Blackberry homepage is a wealth of information and the built in help is also very helpful. Anyway, I discovered that I had too many applications opened. Wait - how can I tell I have applications opened? Oh forget it, I will just go through the list closing everything. I will read more about it when I have time. That solved the problem!
Camera: It has a 2 mega pixel camera. The camera takes very good photos. Now it is a phone, so don't ask for too much, but not bad.... It also has a built in flash - very cool! I sneak up on the animals in the house and snap photos and shoot them off from the phone. The critters are getting very annoyed. You can also take photos of your contacts so that their mug shot shows up on the display when they call.
Organizing you icons: I have been using a stylus for years so a trackball is new to me. I like that I set the sensitivity for the trackball on the vertical and horizontal axis. The icons are not as intuitive to me, but the learning curve is not that bad. I also like that I can organize, move, whichever applications that you use the most.
Battery Life: I am super paranoid about my phone dying so I always carry a car charger and charge the phone every night. I suppose that the battery life is sufficient, but I never let the battery level get low. You can also charge your phone from the USB cable on your computer so no need to purchase a desk charger too.
Bluetooth: The connection is established quickly in my car. The Bold made the connection much faster than my Treo (sorry for more Treo bashing but it is my point of reference) I also noticed that I have additional icons on my car's display screen. Who knew that I had Bluetooth strength and cell phone signal strength on my car's display too? No one has commented that I sound like I am in a vacant house while talking via Bluetooth in my car. I have also noticed that my steering wheel controls for the phone are more responsive too.
Contacts and appointments: It looks just like my Outlook, so no learning curve. I was amazed that I could send appointment requests from the Bold too. If I made an appointment on my Treo and sent it out, it never translated well to the recipient. Not a problem any more!
Profile Settings: I don't want to be totally connected all the time. There are different settings and at night I can set it to phone only. You will still get your emails but it will not buzz or vibrate. Ah, sleeping through the night without having emails buzz constantly.
Mobile Office: There are mobile applications for Word, Excel and Power Point. I haven't used it yet, but at least I have it.
Price: $399 with a $100 mail in rebate that comes via a pre-paid Visa credit card. Come on, just give me $100 off and call it a day.
Summary: Does it have all the cool apps that you can get from Apple? No, but that's not why I chose the phone. I needed a reliable work horse for emailing and a cell phone. The Bold has not disappointed me. So far, I have not been disappointed and do not have that impending urge that I have to get to my laptop to complete business. On slow days, I rarely fire up my laptop because I can use my Bold. I now understand the Blackberry addiction. I am now a proud owner of a Crackberry Bold!
Badass Wireless
