Initial Impressions from a CrackBerry Addict

**strick1226** · 08-10-2010, 08:40 AM

Hi, Everyone,

As a long-time BB user, I finally reached a point where I just couldn't stand the UI lag and subpar browser on my newest BB, a Tour 9630. I've been lurking around these forums for the past several months, and reading lots of Android-related news for the better part of the past year.

I chose to use my Sprint early upgrade and try an EVO 4G, not wanting to wait for the Epic 4G. I was rather hesitant about the lack of a physical keyboard and more than a bit worried about battery life, given the number of posts related to that subject.

After many weeks of searching and waiting on lists, I finally picked up an EVO last Friday (08/06/2010). What great timing--the official Froyo build had just become available from Sprint that week!

I used the phone with 2.1 on it until I reached home after a baseball game that night. Unlike with the BB, updating the device was ridiculously easy--no need to install a big, bloated desktop manager on my PC, and the process was dead simple. The entire process took approximately 15-20 minutes, and felt a *lot* less stressful than a BB device OS upgrade. Very impressed.
I also chose to switch the included Samsung 8GB micro SDHC for an 8 GB mSDHC Transcend, class 6, at that time.

What can I say? It's a terrific phone! More importantly, it's an amazing platform. The performance of the phone, whether switching between screens, opening or closing apps, browsing the web via 3G or wifi--it's a completely different experience compared to using the BlackBerry. The webkit browser is great, flash 10.1 actually works, calendar and contacts sync with Google is flawless, and I even managed to connect it to my Exchange environment at work without too many headaches (or additional apps!).
The lack of a physical keyboard proved to be an insignificant issue; I actually am finding it easier to type on the EVO's screen than the physical, cramped keys of my Tour. Personally, I find the haptic feedback really helpful. The touchscreen appears to be much more accurate than that of our iPod Touches, which both routinely miss my finger presses (my wife claims it to be the fault of my Undead-temperature hands).

What's impressed me the most, however, is my wife's reaction to the phone. She has a BB as well, but definitely isn't a geek. I happily let her try working with the phone as much as she wanted to over the weekend and was quite shocked to hear her say, "OK, I think I'm ready to leave my Berry." Even at the cost of upgrading without a discount, she's fully prepared to try an Android phone now.

The Android platform has come a long way from my earliest experiences trying out friends' G1's and Droid 1's. It truly is a worthy competitor to the iPhone and BB platforms. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, of course, but it sure is nice to have the luxury of choice.

And I, for one, am glad I finally tried it.

**mr.seth.price** · 08-10-2010, 09:13 AM

totally. I came from RIM's poor excuse for a touch screen onto this beast and have never been more happy. I do miss BBM. But texts and gtalk are working splendidly.

**Gekko** · 08-10-2010, 09:15 AM

just curious - did you consider the new BB Torch at all?

BTW - i think RIM is toast.

**scott_0** · 08-10-2010, 09:16 AM

I came from a BB as well, I miss BBM too but this phone offers so much more. you made the right choice. welcome to android!

**DonnaJ415** · 08-10-2010, 09:20 AM

I am so excited to get my EVO.... I've been trying for WEEKS to get my hands on one, and It seems FINALLY I have succeeded.

Ive been a BB Bold user for the past year or so and prior to that i had some wanna be blackberry thing. I too have been tortured by the terrible browser and flawed UI. It's as if i couldnt even run a single APP without getting a clock for forever. Strick your getting me all jazzed up to finnaly be rid of tis Beast of Burden. lol

**strick1226** · 08-10-2010, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by Gekko

just curious - did you consider the new BB Torch at all?

BTW - i think RIM is toast.

Definitely--I suppose I should have noted that I've also been actively tracking all the BlackBerry news and rumors for the past year as well. My initial impressions of OS 6 were less than favorable, but I was willing to give it a fair shot. I was worried it would be too little, too late.

Seeing the Torch 9800 running OS 6--I really wanted to like it, really wanted to see something spectacular--was the final blow, I think; only minimal changes to both hardware and software (a low-res screen? Still?!?!), and I definitely noticed some UI lag in a few hands-on videos. The Torch would have been a nice phone in mid-2009, perhaps, but I just don't think it can compete with newer Android- and IOS-based phones.

The inclusion of pretty-decent Exchange support in Froyo really makes the BB platform look more and more dated. It's incredible--I *finally* can do more stuff with my phone besides basic email!!!

**strick1226** · 08-10-2010, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by DonnaJ415

I am so excited to get my EVO.... I've been trying for WEEKS to get my hands on one, and It seems FINALLY I have succeeded.

Ive been a BB Bold user for the past year or so and prior to that i had some wanna be blackberry thing. I too have been tortured by the terrible browser and flawed UI. It's as if i couldnt even run a single APP without getting a clock for forever. Strick your getting me all jazzed up to finnaly be rid of tis Beast of Burden. lol

Well, if you do get your EVO soon, Donna, please post your thoughts about it, as a BB user. Reading other BB users' posts here, both positive and negative, about their experience in trying out the Android platform really helped me make an informed decision--and the right one for me!

**DonnaJ415** · 08-10-2010, 10:14 AM

I think for sure, this time.... I found the answer.... actually through the fourms.

I was totally a non-believer that it could be so easy.... on the Sprint waiting list for the EVO just hoping every day that they would get thier prmoised shipment. As I grew closer and closer to my AT&T billing cylcle (im switching carriers) I just couldnt wait anymore. As per the success stories of other individuals on this forum I Contacted a sprint Business Channel Rep named Art, who sells to all the police depts, school teachers, public works etc. in Dallas Fort Worth area. (If you google his name he is on all of these public works websites) I explained to him my situation and he put an order for me in yesterday, set up my sprint account, and my phone will be here within a week. I should have a tracking number by either the end of the day or tomorrow.

I can't wait to post my thoughts on my new device!

For anyone else who is having phone issues see this forum!
http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-...hands-evo.html

**Edge767** · 08-10-2010, 10:25 AM

Yay Donna!

Welcome Strick, and I'm glad to see you're having a happy transition into Android. I came here by way of WebOS which was wonderful, but the lack of apps and lackluster hardware made the decision to move to Evo/Android that much easier for me. I never had a BB, but I have many friends who do, and they always grumble when they see all the things my phone does and the speed with which it does them.

**DonnaJ415** · 08-10-2010, 10:37 AM

Yeah, I think i very well might throw my BB in the Hudson River when im done with it! LOL

**c1971ace** · 08-10-2010, 11:02 AM

I am a new EVO user and came from a Sprint Tour 9630 and let me tell you i havent looked back at all. I just got so sick of the blase UI and the lack of creativity in the newest OS's and phones. This EVO just blows me away! I have finally found a phone that lets me do whatever and everything i want. Im glad i made the switch!

**StraightWisdom** · 08-10-2010, 11:30 AM

I went from WinMo to BB to Android...

I've been wanting to jump ship from BB for a quite a while but Sprint hasn't given us very good options. As soon as the EVO came out I picked one up and that was it. My BB doesn't even compare to this. Yea I miss BBM but I think its very much worth the trade off of not having it.

I let some hardcore BB users mess with my phone and they're willing to dump their BB's like that. I'm still a BB fan, but the EVO does everything that I needed my BB to do... and then some... and some more!

**BetterMost#AC** · 08-10-2010, 11:34 AM

Good for you! I also came from that side and as much as I loved my Storm 2 the Evo and S/2 are totally different handsets. After owning the Evo for awhile now you realize how behind BB really is with there platform. I'm loving my Evo too and had no real problem adapting to the Android system as I thought I might coming from BB. One word of caution however the Evo is a more delicate handset than a BB. Put it in a good solid cushioned case because most uncased dropped Evos will get damaged and, make sure you have the Sprint handset insurance.

**dj2big** · 08-10-2010, 03:25 PM

I moved from a Sprint Blackberry 9630 Tour
I luv the Android EVO internet experience it is super fast and easy to use.
The only thing I really miss was my instant notifications from facebook myspace twitter on my blackberry and instant pushed email. Another thing I cannot figure out is how to copy and paste a text message on the EVO. Overall the EVO is a great phone. I will miss my blackberry but wont miss the internet experience on the blackberry. I will keep my EVO and stay on Android as long as the iphone does not come to Sprint, LOL!

**dwaynewilliams#WN** · 08-10-2010, 04:44 PM

I used to be a BlackBerry smartphone owner and I .loved it. Loved the operating system and the hardware. I just wanted a better multimedia experience so I went with the EVO. Love my EVO, bit after two months, I still miss my BlackBerry. I really can't identify why, but I do miss having it. I didn't mind the browser at all, and I thought that OS 5 was brilliant. Nonetheless, I moved on and am happy with my choice.

**SdotJ** · 08-10-2010, 08:31 PM

Welcome op , I too came from the crackberry ranks to android and although I'm happy with my experience I realize all phones have there faults. I'm still learning the android way and while I would like to say the transition was easy its been rough. I do miss the simplicity of the blackberry messaging and battery life. There are still some things I think blackberry has over the android system but that's more HTC sense than actual android OS. All and all I love my evo and think the move from my bold was a good one I just loved my evo more before froyo.

**rpmorri** · 08-10-2010, 09:29 PM

Good to see more Crackberry peoples here...lol. I still like RIM, but they need to step their device and OS development up badly. Comparing an Evo to a BB isn't even fair.

**Bodar** · 08-10-2010, 09:38 PM

@evo soul

What are some examples of area where BB excels over Sense/Android (in your opinion)? I'be only played around with the Bold 9000 for a few hours and I was not impressed. Quite the opposite. I agree that there's some areas where Android could use more polish, like the aforementioned copy/pasting an SMS. Not trying to go fanboi here. I'm genuinely interested.

**SdotJ** · 08-11-2010, 12:38 AM

@Bodar

Well imo the ease of use with mailing is better delivered with blackberry but it comes at a cost of truncated and screwed up formatting. Yet I still think messaging is better handled by stock blackberry over HTC sense UI. I'm not a bbm fan so that was never a major problem for me. Just wish android was up on there battery life on there devices without crippling them (ala iPhone 3g style)

**dcfella** · 08-11-2010, 12:38 AM

I was a longtime BB user(since they were black & white, primarily email only). I got most of my friends and gf on BB and was hooked on BBM. For the past 6 months, when my contract came up, I really kind of opened my eyes to how far BB was compared to the iphone and androids. People talk about how reliable BB is, but battery pulls were a daily ritual for me and it was also horrible at web browsing.

Since I got my Evo, I'm glad I made the switch...no more hourglasses popping up constantly, no more SLOW web browsing, and no more battery pulls. The only thing I really miss is the BBM. Using googletalk and SMS has been decent, but I really wish there was a chat program with a group chat option like BBM.

**li2327** · 08-11-2010, 01:16 AM

I came from a Tour and Storm 2 to the Droid and currently on the Droid Eris. I know that's a step backwards. But I liked the Eris size the most. Either way I'm enjoying Android so much more than my bb OS. There's so much available with very little hard work needed. I'm also someone that was an avid bbm user. I was still able to chat with most of my friends on gtalk and yahoo messenger so no loose there. I hardly ever go to my pc for anything. My daughters both have android phones as well. Keep up the good work Android.

**edgemaster191** · 08-11-2010, 06:51 AM

Having owned a BlackBerry Tour before my Evo there are a few things i miss.

My Tour was hands down the best keyboard i've ever used on a smartphone. i could type away on it for hours and rarely - if ever - make a mistake.

The other big thing i loved was the fact that my Tour would get a signal almost anywhere, i've been in places with both my Evo and Pre where signal strength would be so weak i couldn't make a phone call or send a Text but my Tour had no problem at all doing either.

Battery life was a big one as well, i could use my Tour non-stop for two days on a battery charge with the stock battery on OS 5. my Pre i could go two days of moderate use with the 2600mah extended battery and my Evo i have the 3500mah battery and i can barely get 18-22 hours out of it with the same usage.

i also loved the customizable LED notifications, BerryBuzz is a great little program.

Don't get me wrong, i love my Evo and everything android has to offer, if i didn't i wouldn't have kept it.

i do believe that i could easily settle back in with a blackberry in the coming year once they get devices with OS6 out in the world (yes they have the torch but there is no way i will go to AT&T) and who knows, maybe Windows Phone 7 will bring something to the table as well..

i am a firm believer that whatever device you use is based largely on personal preference. not everyone NEEDS a 4.3 inch display with 8mp camera. some people want a better keyboard, some people want easy messaging.

i am not a "fanboy" by any means, i don't have a devotion to one platform/device/company. i am in that never ending search for the "perfect device" that fits my personal needs and i'm going to have fun searching :-)

**sasha** · 08-11-2010, 11:50 AM

Well I was a faithful BB user most recently the Tour, so faithful that I almost had a panic attack when it was time to switch to the EVO..LOL I do miss my BBM messenger but not like I thought I would, and Berrybuzz was a great led notification. But I am so happy I have evolved the things I can do with my Evo is endless compared to my Tour!

**stoneworrior** · 08-11-2010, 12:21 PM

If this says anything I went from a Palm device to a 7100i, that hooked me on blackberry and then went to a 8310, then a 8350i, 8330 and finally a Tour. I was pissed when Blackberry pulled the release of the Tour 2 just to rename it. Little did I know just a few short weeks later I would read a article about a new 4G phone coming out on Sprint. Blackberry changing the release date of the Tour 2/ Bold gave me time to find something way better than Blackberry and that is the Android OS. I thought the problem for me would be the lack of a physical keyboard, but swype has made that a non issue and now I blaze through emails and text faster than I could with the Berry. Push email and keyboard is what kept me with Blackberry but my EVO does those things better than Blackberry now thanks to gmail and swype. I have changed back and forth between so many OS builds that having all of my settings, contacts and google listen downloads just "Show up" blows my old Blackberry out of the water. RIM is dead to me.

**strick1226** · 08-11-2010, 01:33 PM

Wow--really nice to see all the comments from other BB users. Thanks for the input!

I think the biggest thing I miss is the super-custom levels of notifications for alerts specific to individual contacts. On the BB I could have SMS messages from different contacts have different, specific-to-the-contact tones.

Beyond that, the lack of "Phone Calls Only" profile seems really odd in Froyo, but I'm working around it. Wish there was at least an option to create custom Sound profiles on the EVO.

The more I read about the 9800 Torch the more I realize I definitely made the right decision for me.

Searching for an EVO for my wife now