Lots of BB converts

[milesjohnson]

I've noticed a lot on here that tons of people are switching over from the BB to the Atrix. I personally came from a 3GS and I haven't really noticed one group switch from one phone to another like this. Just curious about the switch. Also if you did switch how does it compare to your blackberry. To me its a great phone compared to my iPhone. On that note any iPhone 4 converters?

Sent from my Motorola Atrix using Tapatalk

 

[sublime187]

I used BBs for about 5 years. They're great devices, but I figured if I was going to spend $120 a month on a phone, I'd rather get something with more capable hardware/software.

I'd been holding out since last August. I considered the Captivate, but there were too many things missing for me like no front cam, camera flash, notifier LED.

So far, I'm loving the Android experience. This device can do 100X more than my 9700. The only thing I miss about it was the awesome keyboard. Never made any errors, and I could type on it without looking.

 

[ka3yan]

Like sublime, I was holding out for a new phone for a little while. Once CrackBerry.com (or credit to whichever website actually leaked it) revealed the lineup of 2011 BB smartphones, I knew it was time to switch. RIM believes in incremental upgrades, nothing earth shattering. If they had come out with a phone that had a front facing camera, I might have stayed. The OS is stale. We all hoped for big things with OS 6.0 and the webkit browser, but it was just a nice incremental upgrade to 5.0.

There is no doubt that for business, the BB is the way to go. I really really miss the e-mail and BBM of BlackBerry. For all that Android is, it severely lacks in handling of messages IMO. Some will dispute this, but in my experience, I prefer BB for this. If I could afford two phones, my second would be a BB for sure.

RIM's hardware is also excellent in my experience. Coming from a BB Bold 9700, and a Bold 9000 before it, they just have great build quality. The handsets feel very solid and can really take a beating. I feel like the Atrix is going to break in my hands compared to my BBs. I dropped my Bolds several times on concrete and they just kept on ticking. Yesterday I dropped my Atrix for the first time...luckily I averted disaster by absorbing most of the impact with my shoe, but there are now gouges in both ends of my bezel. Sucks. I feel like if I hadn't blocked the fall, the Atrix would be history.

I definitely like the large 4" screen over the 2.5" screen on my 9700 (or whatever size it is...I think 2.5"). The capacitive touch screen is outstanding on the Atrix. Android OS is way more exciting than BB OS. We were all hoping to have QNX OS on a handset from BB, but it doesn't look like RIM is going to be doing that anytime soon. That was another reason why I switched to Android.

This isn't to say that I would never switch back to BB, but I'm happy with the Atrix for now.

 

[justinangil]

I too had BB phones for the last 5-6 years. Seeing the leaked specs of the 2011 BB Line-up was the final straw for me.

Loving android. I do miss BBM. I hope they release the Android BBM app soon.

 

[ardailey]

I converted after 4-5 years of Blackberry use. I love the larger display, the touchscreen, the number of available low-cost apps and the ease of downloading and installing them -- also the sheer power and speed of the device compared to my Blackberry Curve.

 

[kid108]

Like the rest of you I've been with Blackberry for the last six years. The OS is the my main and only reason I'm going to jump ship. I currently have a 9700 and like other after the leaks for the 2011 lineup I just say enough is enough. The new Bold looks tempting but even then it still wouldn't be close to anything that other OS's can offer like Android.

My only concern with leaving BB is security. I guess I will see when I get my atrix in a week or so. Also like others, it doesn't mean I wouldn't come back. If Blackberry comes out with a promising QNX OS device then maybe I would go back. Maybe...

 

[JusticeCalibur]

im pretty much in the same boat with all the previous posts. there was really nothing dramatic over the changes of the phone. the leap BB made from 9000 to 9700 was pretty big. but those that bought the 9700, just a few months later, they released the 9780 that only had a very small upgrade in hardware that could have been released for the 9700.

the apps on the BB did serve me a purpose in notifications and it was awesome on email but it just wasnt enough to say " hey, stay! i can alot more" like the android.

the selections of apps for the android is 3fold more than bb offered and the android market is friendlier than BB app ever did in reviews, trials and updates.

I'm a social net user, i have and use facebook and the facebook app on bb was just not all that. it looked plain,out of date and updates took forever to come out. when they do come out, its small things. granted they have a beta testing section but its wasnt toward the market im in.

in all, the atrix made my 9700 look like an antique in every way. i still have it (using it as my secondary alarm) and plan to keep it as backup.

the android can offer me what BB has already offered and more. So i took the more.

 

[dLo GSR]

i'm in the same boat as well. huge crackberry fan and member. i've had OS4, OS5 and OS6 devices. they all feel pretty much the damn same as an OS. i had a 9700, i loved it. i got really bored of OS5 and contemplated the samsung captivate for a few weeks but held out. then the torch came out and it was SUCH a disappointment. i felt like i was holding a 2-year-old storm with my 9700 keyboard attached to it. i upgraded my 9700 to OS6 in hopes of a new experience, and it made me like my phone again for about a month, but after that I realized it just seemed like a fancy theme.

i finally gave in to android when i saw their lineup at CES; i was in taiwan over winter and really wanted the desire HD, but after they brought it over sans-FFC, the atrix became my new target. all the while, NOTHING leaked from RIM seemed remotely as capable or interesting as anything else any other phone manufacturer was bringing out. They FINALLY upgraded to a 640 x 480 screen spec for their next leaked device; weren't we sitting on those specs 2 years ago??

moving on to the atrix, i felt almost nothing buy joy and excitement. i miss BBM like crazy, but surprisingly the lack of hardware keyboard wasn't as bad as i thought, and swype has mitigated that a lot. but there's so much customizability on this OS that i'm just elated to be free of RIM's molasses shackles.

 

[gnahc79]

My atrix arrives tomorrow, I've been using the BB 8900 for the past 2 yrs and really liked it. I agree that the 2011 lineup for BB looks really stale and not exciting at all. For the BB->Atrix converts here, what apps/widgets/etc have you done to get some of the BB functionality? Specifically:

- BBM replacement. I really hope BBM for Android comes out soon. My wife has a 9000 and I have yet to find anything equal to BBM. Nothing I've found has both the 'delivery confirmation' and reliability of BBM. Google chat is ok, but there was an 'incident' of when I did not receive a grocery list from my wife while I was at the grocery store. When I sign off google chat/get booted, it does not broadcast and my wife still sees my status as online. Whatsapp is ok, but their blog has way to many 'oops the server was broken' posts.

- something like 'Manage Connections' to enable/disable wifi, bluetooth etc. and also to set the sound to silent/normal. It looks like Widgetsoid fulfills this requirement.

- anything else??

 

[justinangil]

My atrix arrives tomorrow, I've been using the BB 8900 for the past 2 yrs and really liked it. I agree that the 2011 lineup for BB looks really stale and not exciting at all. For the BB->Atrix converts here, what apps/widgets/etc have you done to get some of the BB functionality? Specifically:

- BBM replacement. I really hope BBM for Android comes out soon. My wife has a 9000 and I have yet to find anything equal to BBM. Nothing I've found has both the 'delivery confirmation' and reliability of BBM. Google chat is ok, but there was an 'incident' of when I did not receive a grocery list from my wife while I was at the grocery store. When I sign off google chat/get booted, it does not broadcast and my wife still sees my status as online. Whatsapp is ok, but their blog has way to many 'oops the server was broken' posts.

- something like 'Manage Connections' to enable/disable wifi, bluetooth etc. and also to set the sound to silent/normal. It looks like Widgetsoid fulfills this requirement.

- anything else??

Try Pingchat

Download LauncherPro and use then Power Control Widget. It'll let you enable/disable Bluetooth, Wifi, GPS, Screen Lighting and Background Download. Better UI than BB's Manage Connections

 

[Cyanide41]

I too jumped from the BB ship. After 2 BBs I was a fan, but the power of Android was too appealing.

 

[garetford]

I have actually used 4 different Blackberry's- AT&T(Curve, Bold) Verizon(Curve2, Tour.) As well as an Iphone 3g, 3gs, and 4. I was hesitant at first to go with an unfamiliar OS and a new type of phone, but I will say I am very glad that I did. While I am quite unfamiliar with some of the ways of "Android", I couldn't be happier with the switch.