Any former BB users?

[SteelGator]

I have to agree with many here. I owned BBs going back to the 7800 model. Then they were technologically ahead of everything else out there. Now they are behind in every aspect but email. Unless you are chained to a MS Exchange server, I cannot imagine why you would pick BB at this stage. I am chained to one, and I still made the switch in December to a GN. I have to use web mail, but i find the sacrifice to be worth it I hope our IT will let ICS connect to MS Exchange soon.

 

[davidnc]

I owned a BB 8330 ,got it in 2009.Switched to android in 2010.The BB did seem to have a very good radio in it ,hmmm thats about all tho .Everything else about it was outdated.

sent from my Htc Incredible

 

[pchain]

I've had blackberries for work and personal use for 10 years. I never realized how aggravating it was to use until I got my first Android the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on launch day. There is no way I would voluntarily go back to Blackberry now. Apart from slightly better reception and overall battery life I can do 10 times more on Android and do it 10 times faster. Funny to say but the reason I waited so long to make the switch was because I wanted the LED indicator light. Anyhow unless you absolutely require a physical keyboard there isn't a reason to get a blackberry now. Having said that though I am very curious about the next generation Blackberry with the QNX OS.

 

[amstre]

I had a storm 2. I liked it. Great for email and text and calls but that is about all.

 

[pauldroidr2d2]

I had a storm 2. I liked it. Great for email and text and calls but that is about all.

Unfortunately, bb never solve the main problems with the Storm when they released the Storm 2. First and foremost, the memory bleed that was a problem in the original storm was still present in the 2.

One of the features that I miss most though on Android is being to go into the ontacts list and attach specific ringtones to messages, email, and calls for people that you have stored on the phone.

Outside of that, the web browser was ridiculously slow.

 

[anon(1042122)]

BB veteran here, trying Galaxy Nexus, just picked it up today, I am still keeping my BB with AT&T just in case, and will cancel service if I end up keeping VZ after 13 days. So far not truly impressed, but waiting for Exchange to be set up so I can truly try it for a week and decide if I will keep it or will go with 9900/9930..

If any BB to Android switchers have anything to comment/suggest, please do so. Anything to make the switch easier.

 

[ibcop]

BB veteran here, trying Galaxy Nexus, just picked it up today, I am still keeping my BB with AT&T just in case, and will cancel service if I end up keeping VZ after 13 days. So far not truly impressed, but waiting for Exchange to be set up so I can truly try it for a week and decide if I will keep it or will go with 9900/9930..

If any BB to Android switchers have anything to comment/suggest, please do so. Anything to make the switch easier.

I've been a BB user for many years now and just making the switch from a 9930 to the GN. BB is able to perform some tasks easier than Android or Apple, but on the same token they both do some things much simpler too. My biggest drawback to BB is the screen - I guess I prefer a bigger screen now and BB doesn't offer much with Verizon except for the Torch 9850. I played around with one and was not impressed. And the lack of themes with OS 7.0/7.1 - I mean are you kidding me? You release the new OS and no support for theme developers? I do like the LED notification at the top on the BB's - don't understand why the GN has theirs at the bottom - I tend to like the pocket type case that BB's have and found one for the GN, but you can't see the LED unless you invert it. I also don't like the volume issue in the GN - there is an app that will fix it but from what I read, this is addressed in the 4.0.4 update - if we get it.

The battery with the GN is sub-par to say the least and well, you do what you have to do to get through the day. The battery with my 9930 will last most of the day, but that's dependent on how hard I use it. Have an extra A/C charger at work and/or a car charger and all is well.

Android is a much better platform than BB for me at this point. Good luck in your choice.

 

[Laineyc]

I had a BB Storm 9550. I loved the email, BBM, calendar and all but it was soooo slow on the Internet. Camera wasn't that great either. Almost got the iPhone but did a lot of research and got the GN. I love it; have had it since December. Customizing is awesome, tons of apps, etc.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Pink Tapatalk

 

[greyhd]

I had a BB Storm 9550. I loved the email, BBM, calendar and all but it was soooo slow on the Internet. Camera wasn't that great either.

Same reason I left BB.I don't miss it at all since getting the GN in Dec.

 

[anon(1042122)]

Wow, I just got punched in face by ICS.
There is no search button for e-mails. So, what do I do now? Do I rely on an 3rd Party tool (Touchdown) who may or may not work, and of course costs money, or just return this phone until they implement true search into ICS?
Any former BB user with heavy e-mails would know the extremely useful feature of being able to search by sender, search by receiver, search by subject, or just plain old universal search. I did not expect "search by subject" or others in ICS, but not having any search at all is pretty hard to ignore.

How come this wasn't mention so far?

 

[greydarrah]

Wow, I just got punched in face by ICS.
There is no search button for e-mails. So, what do I do now? Do I rely on an 3rd Party tool (Touchdown) who may or may not work, and of course costs money, or just return this phone until they implement true search into ICS?
Any former BB user with heavy e-mails would know the extremely useful feature of being able to search by sender, search by receiver, search by subject, or just plain old universal search. I did not expect "search by subject" or others in ICS, but not having any search at all is pretty hard to ignore.

How come this wasn't mention so far?

I'm not sure what your referring to. When I launch my native email app, at the bottom, I have a magnifying glass search icon that lets me search my emails.

 

[greydarrah]

I've had both BB (a number of devices) and Android (also a number of devices). For me, Android wins hands down...not even close. I would probably switch to iphone (never) before I went back to BB. The ONLY thing BB has over Android is longer battery life, because it does everything so slowly. And who cares about BBM? That's so 2008!

It basically comes down to this...do you want to like Android or not? If you do, you'll find all the many alternative ways there are to do things on Android and quit hating the way your calendar is not exactly the same, or your dialer is not exactly the same, or your notifications are not exactly the same, etc... You have been held captive by BB's limited way to do everything on that phone. Open up to all the apps that may not be identical, but get the job done in an assortment of ways, instead of the one way that BB gave you. If you want to focus on how much you hate how it's not the same, then sell whatever you bought and get another BB. It's no different than a major Windows update, it sucks at first because it's not like the older version, then after you get used to it, you'd never want to go back.

 

[anon(1042122)]

I'm not sure what your referring to. When I launch my native email app, at the bottom, I have a magnifying glass search icon that lets me search my emails.

Are you sure you are not using gmail? I have multiple hotmail accounts and a few more, but non of them have the magnifying glass at the bottom, and it was mentioned in few other places that you could not search e-mail. What kind of account are you using?

 

[anon(1042122)]

I've had both BB (a number of devices) and Android (also a number of devices). For me, Android wins hands down...not even close. I would probably switch to iphone (never) before I went back to BB. The ONLY thing BB has over Android is longer battery life, because it does everything so slowly. And who cares about BBM? That's so 2008!

It basically comes down to this...do you want to like Android or not? If you do, you'll find all the many alternative ways there are to do things on Android and quit hating the way your calendar is not exactly the same, or your dialer is not exactly the same, or your notifications are not exactly the same, etc... You have been held captive by BB's limited way to do everything on that phone. Open up to all the apps that may not be identical, but get the job done in an assortment of ways, instead of the one way that BB gave you. If you want to focus on how much you hate how it's not the same, then sell whatever you bought and get another BB. It's no different than a major Windows update, it sucks at first because it's not like the older version, then after you get used to it, you'd never want to go back.

If one did not want to like Android, I don't think they would give it a try. It is not cheap or easy to just switch phones or systems like this. But honestly, I loved the Galaxy Nexus as an entertainment & social communication tool, but as a business tool, I think it needs more work. What I can understand is that most casual BB users do not take advantage of most of the features it offers in its email client. I know some BB users who does not even know that they can access remote folders search them or even see others calenders to see if they are available.. There is truly so much that BB can do that non of the other platforms can come close to.

As for being slow, I will have to disagree. Most people judge the speed by how fast it downloads or how fast it opens a webpage. That's not the speed most BB users care about. You rarely have to reboot it (on a stable version OS) you dont really care about the boot time (now down to just 1-2 minutes from whopping 5-6 minutes before).

Anyway, I am waiting for Exchange to be activated for Android so I can fully try it. Will report back soon.
However I am disappointed at VZ's coverage in my area so far.

 

[greydarrah]

Are you sure you are not using gmail? I have multiple hotmail accounts and a few more, but non of them have the magnifying glass at the bottom, and it was mentioned in few other places that you could not search e-mail. What kind of account are you using?

I'm terribly sorry. I did not read your initial post well enough, so I missed that you are using touchdown. Have you tried K-9 Mail or MailDroid. Both are free and can be configured to get mail from multiple sources.

 

[anon(1042122)]

Hi, that's perfectly fine, but I removed Touchdown for the time being. I am really referring to the native e-mail client (not native gmail, but the corporate e-mail client). There is no magnifying glass.
I have tried Moxier Mail, but was surprised that it does not offer editing contacts (which requires another application)

I will try K-9 Mail or MailDroid.

 

[anon(1042122)]

Update. Maildroid is much better than moxier.
And now I am trying K-9 mail, and this seems to be another very nice client, it has "more from this sender" and pinch and zoom. Although I can't seem to find "Move".. in unified inbox, for some reason it registers Hotmail as POP instead of IMAP. It also does not provide access to contact details during composition of new e-mail.

 

[anon(1042122)]

Another update: Looks like activesync is now finally working, and I got my e-mail search button.
But with exchange accounts, the e-mail search button disappears, same with hotmail (no way to search hotmail)..
Same with Combine View.. If you use unified inbox, there is no way to search..

 

[booboolala2000]

Thanks for the response T. I do love my gnex. Maybe I'll look for a cheap BB on Craigslist and just pick it up to play with for a while, see what fits.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Was thinking about another blackberry along with my GNex, but I am gonna wait for a BB10 device. So far those are looking good.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk