The Blackberry Bug has bitten again

[broken1]

My first blackberry was the 8310 Curve. Hated it, used it for a day and moved on with my life.

I hesitantly got the Bold 9000 when the need for work emails became important, and work only supports blackberry. I had the phone for about 9 months. It was a great phone, solid as a rock, email was great and I enjoyed it. My biggest gripes were the small screen for internet browsing (and I guess the limited browser) and the media player (for pictures and music). These gripes were because I came from an iPhone 3G. Moved jobs, and the need for email on the go dissapeared. A friend came along with his iPhone 3G and I made the switch back.

Fast foward 3 months and suddenly everyone and their dog has a blackberry. I pay for sms's (I sent about 1000 odd a month) while they all BBM for free. My iPhone can't even keep a gchat session open while I check my mail so I can't even get away with IM'ing some people. 90% of the people I sms have blackberries.

So, in order to reduce my cellphone bill I am going Blackberry again. I still have the cash I sold my Bold for, but this time I am going for a Storm. Bought one on bidorbuy in so called "immaculate" condition for R3500 - bargain IMO and hopefully it comes as advertised! Should be arriving later this week. Hope I enjoy the phone as much as my iPhone and I dont get frustrated by the clicky screen. 20 Youtube video's later it seems like something I can live with.

I hope to save about R200 on the sms's and R250+ on data and then pay my R60 BIS fee. I don't really need the work emails yet, so I am going to skip the BES thing for now.

Thoughts/Comments/Questions?

 

[Sensorei]

I have a Blackberry Bold now and actually made the switch from Apple to BB. I prefer the Bold to the iPhone and don't see myself moving away from BB anytime soon. The only thing I don't like about the Bold is the crappy camera. BIS is especially a real bonus here in SA where data is so pricey.

 

[assagai]

i've heard mixed reviews of the storm, maybe do some research before purchasing.

I have both the iphone and a bold, bold wins hands down as an actual comms device, iphone in the entertainment department.

 

[limnos]

My iPhone can't even keep a gchat session open while I check my mail so I can't even get away with IM'ing some people.

BeeJiveIM and IM+ both keeped you logged in. BeeJive keeps you logged in for up to 7 days. If you receive an IM while doing something else, you will be notified via 'Push Notifications'.

BB wins hands down when it comes to its BIS offering and BBM service - but since you say 90% of your friends have BBs - then I guess it would be worth it.

PS: In my case it's the other way around, majority of my friends use iPhones so we just remain connected to BeeJive constantly and use GChat or MSN chat. My friends that don't have iPhones and use BBs - i just simply email them and their email gets pushed immediately to their device. To receive their reply immediately without needing to fetch all the time, I use GPush. This way I have cancelled my 1000 SMS bundle and don't even use up my 'free' 100 that come with my Talk 500.

Enjoy your BB

 

[broken1]

I tried IM+ an although the push notifications work, when you hit view it still has to open the program which has a delay which just annoyed me.

Still keeping the iPhone as my primary media player (iPod etc) so we will see how the blackberry fairs!

 

[Sensorei]

BeejiveIM is better than IM+ I reckon. I've had zero issues with it and the facebook chat always stays logged in.

I don't miss the Apple cover flow and video player. The Bold has great sound quality and the mp3 player is adequate. Touch screen became a hassle for me. Flipside for blackberry has coverflow like the iPhone that you use your trackball to scroll through. Quite nice and there's a way to get around paying for it too.