49 replies to this topic

[CoRP]

Call me old. Call me a loser. But I just picked one up to replace my aged Curve 8830. I agree with The Boy Genius, this thing is sweet. Keep in mind that I don't give a shit about apps. Most of them are useless to me and the things that I care about most are damn near perfect on this phone:

1) Physical keyboard
2) Great battery life
3) Great call quality
4) Great email client with universal inbox
5) Solid browser

Everything after that is gravy. If I could have an iPhone with a real physical keyboard (not a bluetooth add-on) and long battery life I would switch. But until then this is my phone.

Edited by CoRP, 06 January 2012 - 07:16 AM.

[EddieYost]

Looks like a nice phone to me. Will you be disappointed if I don't call you an old loser?

[kneemoe]

I guess Corp will 'buy that pie'
Not that that will really affect you during the lifetime of the phone, but the writing's been on the wall for RIM for a while now. It does look like a nice phone overall, but that keyboard better make up for a tiny screen. Can old men read font that small?

[CoRP]

I guess Corp will 'buy that pie'
Not that that will really affect you during the lifetime of the phone, but the writing's been on the wall for RIM for a while now. It does look like a nice phone overall, but that keyboard better make up for a tiny screen. Can old men read font that small?

Of course I am wearing my readers right now. The interesting thing is that the screen is slighter larger than the one on my old curve so I can go with a bigger font and can ALMOST read the thing with my naked, aged eyes.

And yes, RIM is fucked in the long term. We were short the stock for a while but it's gotten so cheap that we closed it out and took our gains (same with HP). QNX is DOA.

Who will buy RIM? At $16 billion, probably no one.

[TheRooster]

And I got my Torch 9810 Monday. Pretty pleased so far. Screen is plenty big and I still get a keyboard. By the time RIM really starts to fade away my 2 years will be up.

[NortheasternPJ]

I started at my new job last November, and they would only give us a BB at the time. I kept my iPhone as a personal one.

My BB died the other day and they're out of the Bold. So I'm getting the Bold 9930 tomorrow. I played with one last night. I know its a BB and I hate RIM, but for a BB it seems like a damn good phone. Looking forward to getting it tomorrow.

[CoRP]

I started at my new job last November, and they would only give us a BB at the time. I kept my iPhone as a personal one.

My BB died the other day and they're out of the Bold. So I'm getting the Bold 9930 tomorrow. I played with one last night. I know its a BB and I hate RIM, but for a BB it seems like a damn good phone. Looking forward to getting it tomorrow.

You will love it. As a hardcore BB user I can say that I am the most annoying customer of my local Verizon Wireless store (which happens to be owned by a friend). I have tried to get away from BB. I've tried 3 different Android phones and the iPhone 3. Returned them all within the allotted 30-day time frame. The kid that works there saw me walk in this morning and said "Are you here to buy the only phone in the store that I can guarantee you won't return? I've been expecting you." He knows me a little too well.

[AlNipper49]

CoRP your best bud Johnny calls it the best phone that hes ever used

[CoRP]

CoRP your best bud Johnny calls it the best phone that hes ever used

Figures. Smart kid.

I have never loved a phone like I love this phone. It is absolutely perfect. It's funny Nip, because Joe now says he might get one after I spent all afternoon crowing about it. I just laughed and told him I'm glad we closed out the RIMM short.

I may get a Playbook too just to be a complete dick.

[NortheasternPJ]

I got mine around 10 today and I have to say i love this phone already. I am an avid RIMM/Blackberry hater and mostly apple fanboy.

Since my Bold died on Tuesday, I've used my iPhone for work heavily and I have to say I really didn't like it. The calendar features, some of the WebEx integration etc. just wasn't there. I think in general the iPhone is far superior to the blackberry. But for heavy email, calendar and conference call use I love the Bold Touch so far. The keyboard is really large (ohh yah, I also hate physical keyboards and think the iPhone's is better than anything) but its actually really good. The touch screen isn't nearly as good as the iphones in terms of accuracy etc. but it makes a huge difference.

I was going to throw my Bold into a river and get an iPhone for work, but I'm sticking with the Bold touch. Its the perfect work phone.

Is there any way I can disable it from waking from sleep unless I hit a specific button? I ended up pocket-dialing with my old Bold all the time. I hit the top button 90% of the time, but when I don't i end up leaving people 5 minute messages from my car. I wish this had slide to unlock on the screen as an option and ignored the keyboard completely.

[NortheasternPJ]

I can't believe I just posted a positive post for RIMM. I thought it was something I'd never do in my life.

[CoRP]

Me either. My firm has been pissing all over RIMM for the past 2 1/2 years.

The bottom line is that they make very good hardware and if you really don't give a shit about Angry Birds or the million other bullshit apps out there and just need a quality phone with flawless email then the Bold is a solid choice.

[CoRP]

Have I told you that I love this phone? Because I do.

[Montana Fan]

Cripes this is good to read. I'm a Blackberry addict and want to move to the Torch when I'm up in November but Verizon isn't tied in with it. Looks like the Bold should serve me well.

[teddykgb]

I take serious issue with the BB flawless email mantra. BB was incredible at email when everyone was terrible at it, but unless things have changed, there's still a ton of annoying crap in using BB's email application on a day to day basis. I want to murder my work BB everytime i have to hit that stupid "more" button to read more content in a work email. I'm incredibly frustrated every time i need to dial into a teleconference as there is no simple way to pop between the phone and email applications so that I can put in the stupid conference passcode. Figuring out how to forward a meeting invite requires a doctorate. It's hardly flawless, it's just....familiar.

At the end of the day, the BB does email simply and it has the flashing red light, which in some ways may be enough. I can understand someone preferring a blackberry to some of the other options, but I do keep reading here and elsewhere that the BB does email so much better than everyone else, and i'm just not seeing that.

[CoRP]

How old is your blackberry? Get your company to get you this one.

[Rudi Fingers]

I take serious issue with the BB flawless email mantra. BB was incredible at email when everyone was terrible at it, but unless things have changed, there's still a ton of annoying crap in using BB's email application on a day to day basis. I want to murder my work BB everytime i have to hit that stupid "more" button to read more content in a work email. I'm incredibly frustrated every time i need to dial into a teleconference as there is no simple way to pop between the phone and email applications so that I can put in the stupid conference passcode. Figuring out how to forward a meeting invite requires a doctorate. It's hardly flawless, it's just....familiar.

At the end of the day, the BB does email simply and it has the flashing red light, which in some ways may be enough. I can understand someone preferring a blackberry to some of the other options, but I do keep reading here and elsewhere that the BB does email so much better than everyone else, and i'm just not seeing that.

1) What model Blackberry do you have? There are easy ways to cut and paste, and to switch between apps. Typically pushing and holding the Blackberry button does the trick.

2) Ask your company if they can increase the default size of your work email messages (the amount before the more button kicks in) -- they have the power to increase it...

3) I monitor 5 email accounts constantly - one standard Exchange work email account, 2 Gmail accounts, a Yahoo account, and a "standard" sendmail server using IMAP. My Blackberry not only keeps each account up to date - it puts them in nice, separate folders. For me, no other solution comes close to Blackberry, but everyone's needs are different.

I have also been running a Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet - for purposes that have nothing to do with email - but have used it to see if I could/should move off of Blackberry.

General Android findings from my perspective:
1) I have found Gmail to be incredibly awesome (and reliable) on Android Honeycomb, including multiple Gmail accounts. For Gmail-only users, Android is clearly the choice over Blackberry.
2) For my exchange account, the support is good, but is inferior to the Blackberry. ActiveSync pulls in my Exchange email, but it is not as fast, or as reliable as my Blackberry. Messages appear on my Blackberry before they appear on my Tab. In fact, I have to hit the "more" button more often on my Tab than on my Blackberry.

3)IMAP support is fine on Android, but I would prefer having the messages from my sendmail in a completely separate folder.


Also, I just bought an HP TouchPad for home. If you want all your email messages from all your accounts combined into a single view, WebOS (based on my limited testing) is superb.

[OCD SS]

... I want to murder my work BB everytime i have to hit that stupid "more" button to read more content in a work email.

This is one of the reasons I've come to hate BB. If text is data-light then why cut off a few extra bits/bytes when this is supposedly your device/ system's core strength. I will invariably be somewhere without a signal (like under the East River) and trying to go through a particular email when a "Message truncated due to size" error stops me in my tracks.

[phrenile]

And I got my Torch 9810 Monday. Pretty pleased so far. Screen is plenty big and I still get a keyboard. By the time RIM really starts to fade away my 2 years will be up.

What are you getting for a case? (Family member just got a 9810.)

[TheRooster]

What are you getting for a case? (Family member just got a 9810.)

None, sorry. It lives in my pocket, or on my desk. One week in, I'm officially a fan of this thing. A couple of the apps (Google Maps, the Weather Channel) are quite slick.

[johnmd20]

None, sorry. It lives in my pocket, or on my desk. One week in, I'm officially a fan of this thing. A couple of the apps (Google Maps, the Weather Channel) are quite slick.

People really seem to love the new phone. I cannot wait to get the new Torch. I have to use a Blackberry for work but I have the old Torch and I am very happy with it. It's fast, the keyboard is fantastic, and there is no better phone if you're interested in battery life. I wouldn't get an iPhone if my company even allowed it because of the keyboard factor. The second the new Torch 9810 is approved, I'm all over it.

I have a iPad and I have a Droid2, I don't really care that much for Apps. I guess on the iPad I care the most because gaming on an iPad is a lot of fun. I think the rumors of RIMM's demise have been exaggerated. Not greatly exaggerated, but exaggerated nevertheless.

Edit - 9810, not 9800, I currently have the 9800.

Edited by johnmd20, 30 August 2011 - 03:54 PM.

[CoRP]

Engadget loves/hates the 9900/9930 pretty much the same as The Boy Genius Report.

[CoRP]

Wait...no CBS Fantasy App for my Blackberry??? That's strike one.

[WinRemmerswaal]

Since you all sound like blackberry enthusiasts, this seems like a good place for a question:

Background: Currently have 8310, it is getting beat up and a bit flaky. I am locked into AT&T through work. Torch 9810 is available but Bold 9900/9930 is not and I am not sure when/whether it will become available.

What are people's opinions about the Torch 9810 versus holding out for the Bold 9900/9930? I am not a highly sophisticated user, on my email all the time so need a good keyboard and a decent phone, but don't do a lot with apps or customization.

Thanks

[TheRooster]

Since you all sound like blackberry enthusiasts, this seems like a good place for a question:

Background: Currently have 8310, it is getting beat up and a bit flaky. I am locked into AT&T through work. Torch 9810 is available but Bold 9900/9930 is not and I am not sure when/whether it will become available.

What are people's opinions about the Torch 9810 versus holding out for the Bold 9900/9930? I am not a highly sophisticated user, on my email all the time so need a good keyboard and a decent phone, but don't do a lot with apps or customization.

Thanks

You sound like me. I can't see why you wouldn't at least try the 9810 in store to make sure you like the form factor. It is a BB for email, phone works fine and a couple key apps (Google Maps, the Weather channel) are slick. I'm not quite used to having to slide out the keyboard, but I think the extra screen real estate is worth it.

[Montana Fan]

I'm on the Curve and my buddy had the same phone for a year. He recently moved to the Torch and loves it. He's an AT&T guy who also carries an I-Pad and I-Pod. He has the 9810 with Qwerty.

I'm with Verizon and they aren't tied to the Torch though I read that the newest version without Qwerty is supposed to be avail through Verizon soon. I'm a keyboard type and if Verizon gets the 9810 I'll be down there switching to it.

He likes the internet (bigger/faster) and the apps.

Edited by Montana Fan, 08 September 2011 - 06:49 PM.

[NortheasternPJ]

I really hope a software update comes out for this phone soon, there's definitely some bugs. I've had to pull the battery 3-4 times in the last week because random things stop working.

[CoRP]

I really hope a software update comes out for this phone soon, there's definitely some bugs. I've had to pull the battery 3-4 times in the last week because random things stop working.

That's weird. I have not had this problem. You might have a bad unit. Why not return it for a new one?

[NortheasternPJ]

That's weird. I have not had this problem. You might have a bad unit. Why not return it for a new one?

I had read several online reviews that basically said the same thing. If another software update doesn't fix it our phone manager person is going to exchange it.

I can't say how much I love this phone as a, to quote Steve Ballmer, "email machine" it sucks for web browsing and apps still, but at least those are now functional.

The size of the keyboard, the resolution of the screen and the touch interface are great. Its too bad RIMM is a bunch of morons and didn't release this phone in say....2007-2008 when it should have come out. Its sad my 3GS is still more capable than this phone in nearly everything, except hardcore email, calendar and conference call use and its 25 months old. And in those 3 categories 90% of people wouldn't notice the difference but they'd notice the difference in every other category.

[CoRP]

Wow, RIM only shipped 200,000 Playbooks to stores in the quarter.

[Fisks Of Fury]

My company is a Blackberry-only organization, and as such, I've had to carry a bare-bones model for years. As soon as they opened up the corporate email servers to allow us to connect our personal i-devices, I switched doing my email almost exclusively on my iPhone or iPad (I actually prefer the soft keypad to the normal BB keys most of the time.) The Blackberry (early model Curve then Bold) was relegated to phone calls and BBM with co-workers.

Then IT finally opened the doors to a corporate agreement with AT&T, whereas we'd formally been a strictly T-Mobile shop (German companies like to keep the $$$ in the family). When I moved last month, my T-Mobile coverage in my new home office was complete shit... varying between 0 and 3 bars all day, chewing up battery time in hours instead of days. So I called and got my line switched over to AT&T... and they sent me a 9810 Torch. Now THIS is a Blackberry I can get behind. Aside from the vastly improved signal, the option of soft or hard keyboard is great, touchscreen is pretty sweet, and the app choices (and speed) are much improved. I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.

PLUS, now I just need to justify an Android and perhaps a Windows phone to enable full-spectrum mobile demos to customers, and my utility belt will be complete.

[johnmd20]

Wow, RIM only shipped 200,000 Playbooks to stores in the quarter.

iPad sold a million in the first day, RIMM can't ship a million in a year. Still, the company's performance is more than just the pathetically made Playbook.(no Email app is just beyond stupid for a company like Blackberry)

Management's ability to turn this around is in question, but there is value in the franchise. The new phones have been received well and if you were a value player, RIMM's stock is back to 2006 levels. 140 seems a long way away, however. It's amazing the stock was at 70 in February.

[CoRP]

iPad sold a million in the first day, RIMM can't ship a million in a year. Still, the company's performance is more than just the pathetically made Playbook.(no Email app is just beyond stupid for a company like Blackberry)

Management's ability to turn this around is in question, but there is value in the franchise. The new phones have been received well and if you were a value player, RIMM's stock is back to 2006 levels. 140 seems a long way away, however. It's amazing the stock was at 70 in February.

Yeah, we're no longer short RIMM. We got out before the last rally. Would have loved to have re-shorted it ahead of the quarter but that's playing with fire. Sure, it's stupidly cheap if they're going to turn the business around, but I really wonder if they can.

[johnmd20]

Yeah, we're no longer short RIMM. We got out before the last rally. Would have loved to have re-shorted it ahead of the quarter but that's playing with fire. Sure, it's stupidly cheap if they're going to turn the business around, but I really wonder if they can.

One of these days, I tells ya, RIMM will beat their expectations. Probably 2015, but one of these days. . . .it's going to happen.

[CoRP]

Cheeky.

[CoRP]

I just unlocked my Blackberry and put in a SIM card so I can use it in Argentina cheaply. I can call and text but for some reason can't get data on the network and on Wi-fi my email doesn't work. Annoying.

[sox311]

I started carrying the Blackberry Bold 9900 last week, it was released for ATT last two Sundays ago.

I love it as a work phone. For calls, calendar Email & text it is awesome. The keyboard is great and the touchscreen works well for what I use it for.

It is thin and light but feels awesome in your hand and is one of the best looking phones I have ever seen.

I carry an iPhone 4S for my personal phone for all things fun and cool, but for business needs and just the bare basics the 9900 is great.

[CoRP]

Bold 9930 + $199 Playbook + $49 iPod shuffle.

Not sure I could come up with a better deal for the money (or the battery life).

[mt8thsw9th]

Figures. Smart kid.

I have never loved a phone like I love this phone. It is absolutely perfect. It's funny Nip, because Joe now says he might get one after I spent all afternoon crowing about it. I just laughed and told him I'm glad we closed out the RIMM short.

I may get a Playbook too just to be a complete dick.

Please tell me you reopened the short. You may have been the only one to buy a Playbook.

RIPP

[CoRP]

Please tell me you reopened the short. You may have been the only one to buy a Playbook.

We didn't. It's too cheap now. Someone could make a bid. Don't want to stand in front of that steamroller. We rode it down from $64 to the low $20s and got out.

Regarding the Playbook, if you have a Blackberry you were nuts not to pick one up when they went on sale for $199. Saving the $10 on Wi-Fi at airports will pay for the thing for me in a few months. It's faster than the iPad and the videochat renders beautifully. I bought a second one for my sons and they love it. We chat when I am on the road. No, it doesn't have a lot of apps but the browser is so fast that I don't really care. And once an easy root comes along, running the Android apps shouldn't be a problem. Or, alternatively, now that RIMM is licensing their blackberry software full integration with Android could be on the horizon.

[jayhoz]

RIM is in freefall. You better hope for an Android port.

[NortheasternPJ]

It's faster than the iPad and the videochat renders beautifully.

Are you referring to the iPad or the iPad 2? I've used one a number of times and the speed didn't really jump at me. I didn't notice it being slow either though.

Although, if you have no apps or games, I'd imagine the speed difference is not much for common tasks.

I have the BB 9930 for work and never thought of picking one up and tethering it. I may give it a shot if they come down to $199 again. I love my iPad 2 but there are cases where a playbook may be handy. Can you root these things and just make them a Kindle Fire since they're essentially the same?

[CoRP]

RIM is in freefall. You better hope for an Android port.

I don't think RIM is going away anytime soon. Even at 10% they're viable. And below that someone will buy them. Will be interesting to see how their licensing deals pan out.

[jayhoz]

I don't think RIM is going away anytime soon. Even at 10% they're viable. And below that someone will buy them. Will be interesting to see how their licensing deals pan out.

Research In Motion pushing for sale to Samsung

Research In Motion is currently weighing every single option it can think of in an effort to reverse a negative trend that is approaching a boiling point for investors. Reports that RIM is currently in talks to license its software to other vendors are accurate according to our trusted sources, though we have been told that RIM is most likely leaning toward an outright sale of one or more divisions, or even the whole company. The front runner, we have been told by a trusted source with knowledge of the situation, is Samsung, which might be interested in RIM for a number of reasons.

[CoRP]

OS 2.0 with Android Apps due Feb. 21

[NHbeau]

RIM is in freefall. You better hope for an Android port.

And in the rest of the world they are doing just fine..http://www.bgr.com/2...-brands-in-u-k/

The company has billions in cash, billions in assets and enough patents to put the screws to plenty of players in the mobile device market. Being in on the winning side of the Nortel patent purchase won't hurt things either.

[jayhoz]

From the Q3 earnings report.

The Company’s GAAP net income for the quarter was $265 million, or $0.51 per share diluted, compared with
GAAP net income of $329 million, or $0.63 per share diluted, in the prior quarter and GAAP net income of
$911 million, or $1.74 per share diluted, in the same quarter last year. Adjusted net income for the third
quarter was $667 million, or $1.27 per share diluted. Adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per
share exclude the impact of pre-tax charges of $54 million ($40 million after tax) to revenue related to the
service interruption experienced in the third quarter, $485 million ($356 million after tax) for the PlayBook
inventory provision taken in the third quarter and $7 million ($6 million after tax) for the Company’s cost
optimization program that was implemented in the second quarter of fiscal 2012. These charges and their
related impacts on GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share are summarized in the table below.

(1) During the third quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company recorded a pre-tax provision of approximately
$485 million, $356 million after tax, related to its inventory valuation of BlackBerry PlayBook tablets.
The charge was predominantly non-cash.


(2) Cost of sales, research and development, and selling, marketing and administration expenses included
approximately $7 million in total pre-tax charges, $6 million after tax, during the third quarter of fiscal
2012 related to the cost optimization program to streamline operations across the Company. Included
in the cost of sales, research and development, and selling, marketing and administration expenses for
the third quarter of fiscal 2012 were approximately $1 million, $3 million, and $3 million,
respectively, of pre-tax charges related to the cost optimization program.


(3) During the third quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company experienced a service interruption which resulted
in the loss of service revenue and the payment of service credits in the quarter totalling approximately
$54 million, $40 million after tax, related to the interruption in the availability of the Company’s
network.

The finance dorks will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe point (1) means they had a shit ton of playbooks in their inventory because it isn't selling.

Edited by jayhoz, 27 February 2012 - 08:46 AM.

[mt8thsw9th]

And in the rest of the world they are doing just fine..http://www.bgr.com/2...-brands-in-u-k/

I don't think you could classify the UK as "the rest of the world". First off, that's a report with data through July (which is a lifetime in the tech world), and you need to have an understanding of the market they are researching. Are companies in the UK allowing corporate users to replace their BlackBerrys with other smartphones? All the loyalty figures tell you is that they're not switching to other brands.

The most important thing is left out of that report: what is RIM's market share in the UK?

[Worst Trade Evah]

Their new ad is kind of funny. They advertise "no distractions", which seems like a nice way of saying that it just can't do as much as other smart phones. It's kind of like the old Ford ad, "have you driven a Ford lately?", which was an acknowledgement of the fact that for years they'd made crappy products. Dominos is doing a similar thing now -- yes, we used to suck, but now we are much better, so try us, please. But I'm no Blackberry maven, so possibly this is unfair.

[johnmd20]

Their new ad is kind of funny. They advertise "no distractions", which seems like a nice way of saying that it just can't do as much as other smart phones. It's kind of like the old Ford ad, "have you driven a Ford lately?", which was an acknowledgement of the fact that for years they'd made crappy products. Dominos is doing a similar thing now -- yes, we used to suck, but now we are much better, so try us, please. But I'm no Blackberry maven, so possibly this is unfair.

No, it's pretty fair assessment, their phones do Emailing really well and everything else not well.

And RIMM is far from fine. The stock is trading 3-4 dollars below its book value, as the market is saying the company is worth more if they weren't a company at all and just sold off all their parts. The business is valued with a negative worth. Either RIMM does something drastic to gain some traction or they will slowly wither away. They are so far behind and once people abandon RIMM, and many have, I imagine it's rare people come back.