Considering the switch from BB to Android

amojeba

Well-known member
Feb 11, 2010
54
0
0
Visit site
This is not an Android vs Blackberry bashing by any means, so no flaming please.

I'm currently a proud owner of a Blackberry Storm 9530, but as most BB users can admit, the OS is pretty outdated, there's a lack of both quantity and quality of apps available, etc. So I'm thinking about making the switch to the Android platform. But I have a few questions.

Specifically to former / simultaneous users of Blackberry (Storm).
1. As an Android user, what do you miss about your Blackberry? My biggest concern is push email. Currently I use gmail and yahoo. Will I get my email pushed instantly to my Android phone? How does it work? Can I have multiple email accounts, as on the Blackberry?
What else does the Android phone lack, in comparison to a BB? (aside from BBM, which I couldn't care less about).

2. What does your Android phone do better, than the BB ?
Is the OS smoother, more fluid, than BB OS 5.0? Is it a lot faster?

3. How's the native browser quality and speed?

4. Do you really have a lot of "free" quality apps on the Android? (or at least in comparsion to the BB).

5. What Android phone do you recommend? It seems the Moto Droid is the most advanced, but I'm hearing the Moto Devour is coming out within the next month or so. Is this an "upgraded" moto droid, or something else altogether?
(I'm on Verizon, so only Verizon phones would apply to me).

I'm interested to hear what you all have to say. Again, no bashing. Just trying to do a fair compare / contrast here between the 2 phones. Thanks!
 

mcgeorge36

Well-known member
Dec 8, 2009
281
0
0
Visit site
This is not an Android vs Blackberry bashing by any means, so no flaming please.

I'm currently a proud owner of a Blackberry Storm 9530, but as most BB users can admit, the OS is pretty outdated, there's a lack of both quantity and quality of apps available, etc. So I'm thinking about making the switch to the Android platform. But I have a few questions.

Specifically to former / simultaneous users of Blackberry (Storm).
1. As an Android user, what do you miss about your Blackberry? My biggest concern is push email. Currently I use gmail and yahoo. Will I get my email pushed instantly to my Android phone? How does it work? Can I have multiple email accounts, as on the Blackberry?
What else does the Android phone lack, in comparison to a BB? (aside from BBM, which I couldn't care less about).

2. What does your Android phone do better, than the BB ?
Is the OS smoother, more fluid, than BB OS 5.0? Is it a lot faster?

3. How's the native browser quality and speed?

4. Do you really have a lot of "free" quality apps on the Android? (or at least in comparsion to the BB).

5. What Android phone do you recommend? It seems the Moto Droid is the most advanced, but I'm hearing the Moto Devour is coming out within the next month or so. Is this an "upgraded" moto droid, or something else altogether?
(I'm on Verizon, so only Verizon phones would apply to me).

I'm interested to hear what you all have to say. Again, no bashing. Just trying to do a fair compare / contrast here between the 2 phones. Thanks!

Hey. Welcome, and hope you find everything you are looking for. I came from a Blackberry curve, so hopefully some of this will fit what your looking for.
1) If your using G-mail, you will have no worries whatsoever about getting your emails on the droid. They show up pretty quick, if not instantaneously, so no issues there. As for yahoo, if you check out the threads, you can find a way to get your yahoo mail sent to your droid. Honestly, I don't think that the Droid is lacking anything really that you can get in a Blackberry, other than the Blackberry Messenger.
2) I didn't have 5.0 on my curve, but the android interface is definitely very user friendly, and very smooth to transition to. I have used several phones over the last year or so, and the android platform (for me at least), is definitely the easiest and best for me to use.
3) I have no issues with the native browser, but some people prefer the dolphin browser that you can get from the android marketplace. Never tried it personally, but it's an individual preference I guess.
4) There are plenty of free apps on the marketplace, all depends what you are looking for as whether or not you would call them quality. I have only paid for a few apps, and the ones I did purchase, they were only a few bucks a piece.
5) I love the Droid personally, I am not really sure about the devour. I'm sure you can find info on here about it if you want.
Hope your questions got answered, and welcome once again.
 

brdl04

Well-known member
Jan 12, 2010
92
4
0
Visit site
Ive been a storm owner and Droid and Eris owner.

The Blackberry is more fluid, and easy to send texts, emails, and messaging in general. The push email is obviously great. If you can live without instant email, then its not that big of a deal, but my opinion, The messaging is a little more taxing on android.

The Android OS is great, very fun and neat. Its cool that you can put all sorts of widgets and neat customization.

I think the native browser on the Droid is awesome. Its very convenient. Its fast, and almost easier to check via Droid than laptop.

There are a ton of free apps. So thats always cool to go to the market and see whats new.

Right now I recommend Droid, if you want to stay on verizon. Dont waste your time with the Eris. Its a great little phone, but its kinda slow. If you can wait till spring, you can get the Nexus One on verizon.

Overall....and I own a blackberry... I think Android is a much more updated OS, with some fresh new features, and you will probably not miss the push email. Go for it, the worst thing that can happen is you miss your blackberry, and can always sell the new droid for 350 or so and get a tour or STorm 2
 

amojeba

Well-known member
Feb 11, 2010
54
0
0
Visit site
Thanks for the detailed info guys.
Quick question regarding the email - aside from Gmail and Yahoo - it seems there's a "polling interval" you can set. How frequently can you set it to check your email?
Also, does the Droid have the ability to check OWA (Outlook webmail access) email?
 

sethjk

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2009
159
2
0
Visit site
This is not an Android vs Blackberry bashing by any means, so no flaming please.

I'm currently a proud owner of a Blackberry Storm 9530, but as most BB users can admit, the OS is pretty outdated, there's a lack of both quantity and quality of apps available, etc. So I'm thinking about making the switch to the Android platform. But I have a few questions.

Specifically to former / simultaneous users of Blackberry (Storm).
1. As an Android user, what do you miss about your Blackberry? My biggest concern is push email. Currently I use gmail and yahoo. Will I get my email pushed instantly to my Android phone? How does it work? Can I have multiple email accounts, as on the Blackberry?
What else does the Android phone lack, in comparison to a BB? (aside from BBM, which I couldn't care less about).
Personally, the only thing I miss is BBM. Everything I could do on my Storm 9530 I can do better and faster on my Droid.

2. What does your Android phone do better, than the BB ?
Is the OS smoother, more fluid, than BB OS 5.0? Is it a lot faster?
THe OS is about 500 times more fluid and smoother. I had OS 5.0 and as I'm sure you know, it requires at least 1 restart every day and that doesn't even guarantee stability.

3. How's the native browser quality and speed?
Native browser is fine and Dolphin is even better, especially if you're married to "pinch to zoom." Pages render like they do on a computer and they do so fairly quickly, much more so than on a BB.

4. Do you really have a lot of "free" quality apps on the Android? (or a least in comparsion to the BB).
The only app I've paid for was the full version of docs to go. There are tons and tons of quality free apps and I ahve quite a few. Most games I've seen seem to have a lite version which is great for allowing you to thoroughly check them out. And, the ones that aren't free are priced well enough that it's not so bad to purchase them. Generally speaking, there seems to be a free version of almost anything you could want though.

5. What Android phone do you recommend? It seems the Moto Droid is the most advanced, but I'm hearing the Moto Devour is coming out within the next month or so. Is this an "upgraded" moto droid, or something else altogether?
(I'm on Verizon, so only Verizon phones would apply to me).
I would not get the Devour. It looks cheesy to me and it's not going to be nearly as powerful as the Droid from what I can tell. I have the Droid and I love it. I'll love it even more when we get 2.1, but it's really more for some aesthetic reasons- I really want 5 home screens natively and I like the flying icons. I would totally recommend the Droid, or wait a few more months for the Nexus 1. Given the optiion, I might very well ahve gone with the N1, though I'm hearing stories of all kinds of bugs so maybe I'm glad I don't have that option.
I had the Eris for 3 weeks to start becuase I really liked SenseUI but I returned it. It was a great little phone BUT battery life was downright horrible (4-6 hours if I used it) and the little guy was slow.

I hope I've helped. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions
 

xliderider

Well-known member
Nov 13, 2009
876
75
0
Visit site
The Devour is a "lite" version of the Droid, and it has Moto Blur on it for increased social connectivity. Get the Droid, or wait for the Verizon version of the Nexus 1.
 

amojeba

Well-known member
Feb 11, 2010
54
0
0
Visit site
Thanks for all the insight guys, it's really helpful! :)
Any thoughts on email ? What's the time interval to get your email (aside from gmail and yahoo).
 

MissMe

Well-known member
Jan 8, 2010
57
0
0
Visit site
Personally, the only thing I miss is BBM. Everything I could do on my Storm 9530 I can do better and faster on my Droid.

I'm so glad you said that! my friends ALL have BB and I had a Curve for my last job. I'm waiting for an upgrade on Verizon and the ONLY thing I miss about my Curve is Ubertwitter and BBM.

Looking forward to my Android phone!
 

takeshi

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2010
969
30
0
Visit site
Will I get my email pushed instantly to my Android phone?
Depends on the email account. Just like BIS, the Android can't turn a non-push email account into push. POP will always be polled. Gmail is pushed. Not sure about Yahoo. Exchange can be pushed depending on the connectivity options you have. IMAP should be push if IDLE is supported.

What else does the Android phone lack, in comparison to a BB? (aside from BBM, which I couldn't care less about).
Profiles -- like on the BB, that is. You can get fairly close with apps like egg 'n stone's Profiles and similar apps.

A good physical keyboard. I came from an 8310.

Built-in centralized management but that probably won't matter to you.

2. What does your Android phone do better, than the BB ?
Is the OS smoother, more fluid, than BB OS 5.0? Is it a lot faster?
Just about everything except Exchange integration. Again, probably doesn't matter to you since you don't mention having an Exchange account. Still, Touchdown works well for Exchange IMO.

How's the native browser quality and speed?
Better than any BB I've used but I personally prefer xScope.

Do you really have a lot of "free" quality apps on the Android? (or at least in comparsion to the BB).
More than the BB. Less than iPhone. Keep in mind that "quality" is subjective.

What Android phone do you recommend? It seems the Moto Droid is the most advanced, but I'm hearing the Moto Devour is coming out within the next month or so. Is this an "upgraded" moto droid, or something else altogether?
Definitely read the specs. Newer != better. I recommend whatever suits you best and finding that out involves looking at the features as well as trying out the options.

Yes, thank you for the update. 5 minutes is the shortest polling interval? Hmm, something to think about.
Thanks for your help! :)
Keep in mind that constant polling will have an impact on your battery life.
 
Last edited:

shotgunbelly

Member
Feb 8, 2010
17
0
0
Visit site
Give the Droid a day or two and you will forget all about BlackBerry. Email, to me, acts the same, as far as retrieval goes, as Blackberry. Everything else Android does better except no BBM as a previous poster noted.
 

corydunbar

Well-known member
Dec 31, 2009
759
44
0
Visit site
1. As an Android user, what do you miss about your Blackberry? My biggest concern is push email. Currently I use gmail and yahoo. Will I get my email pushed instantly to my Android phone? How does it work? Can I have multiple email accounts, as on the Blackberry?
What else does the Android phone lack, in comparison to a BB? (aside from BBM, which I couldn't care less about).
The e-mail on the droid is great if you are a primary gmail user, you can have multiple accounts, but you have to switch between them (which is only 2-3taps). as for other e-mail types, i'm uncertain, but i've heard they're not as good as gmail (obviously it because gmail is integrated). but they do work. The push for gmail is a tad bit slower than BB, but its not anything you should be that concerned about. its a matter of a 20-100 seconds.
2. What does your Android phone do better, than the BB ?
Is the OS smoother, more fluid, than BB OS 5.0? Is it a lot faster?
The OS is an absolute dream compared to the BB OS. I loved the BB OS 5.0, but when i got my droid i new it was permanent, its BB OS version 2.0 and its really intuitive to use for a former BB user. nearly the same controls and way more user friendly. Good thing you don't like BBM, because that is all Android is lacking.
3. How's the native browser quality and speed?
The Native browser is 100% better than blackberry. The BB browser was like a baby compared to "Michael Johnson" and the iphone browser is "Usain Bolt". The android browser is soon to be the mobile king because they'll harness the power of true Adobe FLASH. Once again coming from a storm which i loved, i love this new browser!
4. Do you really have a lot of "free" quality apps on the Android? (or at least in comparsion to the BB).
I have downloaded over 100 useful apps, and never paid for one of them. The developer market for Android is growing faster than any other platform because of its common platform development and a completely open market. Look to see Android having 100,000 apps in the near future, because everything for the iphone is becoming available to Android as well as new stuff. And because of Google's purchase of AdMob most every app is free with a advertisement bar included.
5. What Android phone do you recommend? It seems the Moto Droid is the most advanced, but I'm hearing the Moto Devour is coming out within the next month or so. Is this an "upgraded" moto droid, or something else altogether?
Although the Devuor looks like the Droid 2.0, it is more like the Droid's kid brother. Its newer, so it looks sleek. But it has a smaller screen, a slower processor, a weaker camera, an older OS (will be updated to 2.1 promised), screen resolution is more like an low budget device. But if money is an issue, the devour looks to be a very nice kid brother to the droid, and i wouldn't be surprised to see it as a success. But i think with Moto Blur on it, its overall usability is a bit hindered (and OS upgrades will take longer).


I hope this helps, Android is a great move from a former BB storm 9530 lovers opinion. I miss the constant OS leaks, but The official Android OS's are actually great. so its not hard to cope with.
 

loooney2ns

Well-known member
Nov 21, 2009
53
3
0
Visit site
All I can say is go for it! I am so happy I switched from the 9350 to the Droid. I never used BBM or push email. The only thing I miss is being able to initiate a call with a Bluetooth headset. I use the car dock and the speakerphone instead and it works okay. The pluses more than outweigh the minuses. There is a learning curve, but there was one with the BB also. Once you get used to how everything works, you will be sold!
 

Forum statistics

Threads
942,112
Messages
6,912,525
Members
3,158,236
Latest member
itamargs