3 reasons why I am NOT getting the blackberry 9700

Do I want the blackberry 9700? Of course I do. Do I need the blackberry 9700? No I don't. Will I upgrade or purchase the blackberry 9700 off contract? NO. Here's three reasons why.

First of all let me start with the fact I love the trackpad and keyboard on the 9700. My trackball gets stuck once a week and its always at the worst times. I own a 8900 and though I have adapted to it, I feel that the keyboard is too small for me. I have always envied the keyboard on the bold because of its size. Now, lets to get to why I will not be getting this highly anticipated 3G blackberry on t-mobile.

1. 3G is great addition and to some is over due on a blackberry, but for me 3G is not a deal breaker. Not on a blackberry. 3G allows you receive data while on voice calls. This good but uh, I very rarely talk on the phone, and even more rare for me to hold long conversations. So for that perk of 3G I really don't care for. 3G also gives you faster web browsing. I'm all for faster web service but everyone knows blackberry has the worst, and slowest browser on any mobile device. As much as I hate Microsoft and Windows Mobile I have to say even Windows Mobile has a better browser than the blackberry. Even with my 8900 on wi-fi my blackberry is still slow and is no faster than my edge connection. So if my blackberry browser is slow on wi-fi then I don't see 3G giving me a faster browsing experience. So 3G on this blackberry does nothing for me.

2. Whats the difference in a blackberry 8900 and 9700? Basically a trackpad and different style keyboard. Is that worth $449 or an upgrade if you own a 8900? I don't think so. The 8900 and 9700 both have a 3.2mp camera, and both share the same processor. Even though the 9700 processor is overclocked to a slightly faster speed, I don't see this as a huge difference. Yes the 9700 ships with OS 5.0 but once officially available by RIM it will be on my 8900 as well. Bottom line here is the blackberry 8900 and 9700 are the same phone with a slightly different appearance.

3. Android 2.0. When Verizon announced the Droid and I got a look at Android 2.0 I got a gadget erection. Capacitive touchscreens are becoming standard on smartphones now and blackberry has only produced two. When blackberry decides to give us the best of worlds, capacitive touchscreen and qwerty keyboard, then I will consider upgrading. And lets do something about this ancient OS on the blackberry please RIM. In less than one year Google has moved there OS from 1.0 to 2.0 while RIM is steady taking baby steps with theirs. I still don't understand why RIM is calling this latest OS upgrade 5.0 when its not much different from 4.6. But anyway, android 2.0 new features are good additions on a up and coming OS. And might I add free google turn by turn gps looks nice, and from the looks of it I'm sure it will take a unanimous victory over blackberry maps app. And the Droid docking as a alarm clock is genus to me. I use my 8900 as a alarm clock every morning. I'm not a huge HTC fan but they did announce they are working on some android 2.0 devices and I'm sure t-mobile will be landing some. I love my blackberry but other mobile OS's are advancing so fast that blackberry will soon be left at the back, and I refuse to be on the bottom with a mobile device looking up to other mobile OS's. I'll hold out for some Android 2.0 devices to come to t-mobile.

I'm not saying you shouldn't buy the blackberry 9700, I'm saying if you have a 8900 I don't see a reason to upgrade.

my thoughts on my first Blackberry, the Curve 8900

So today is March 12th, which means I have now owned my Blackberry Curve 8900 for a month. Now its time to tell my likes and dislikes about my first Blackberry. Overall I absolutely love it and all my complaints I consider minor. The phone is sexy, slim, and the UI is sleek and fast. I mainly got this phone because I've always wanted to try a Blackberry, and I wanted something that will easily handle all my email accounts on the go. I didn't realize how popular Blackberries were until I got mine. On my trip to NY last weekend I swear I saw over 30 Blackberries. I mostly saw older models, a few storms, and plenty Bold 9000's. However, I didn't see anyone with my 8900. Every person who sat next to me on the flight to NY, and back to Nashville was rocking a Blackberry. Coincidence? Maybe. But here is what I love and hate about the Blackberry 8900.

Love about my Blackberry :)

1. Near push email to Yahoo, Gmail, and AOL
2. Apps improve the functionality of the phone (you can learn something here apple!)
3. Hands down the most customizable phone I have ever owned
4. Best IM messenger apps I've had since my Sidekick
5. Its a true smartphone, I'm a huge shortcuts fan
6. 3.2mp takes nice pics, best I've had on a mobile phone. I never really cared about camera's on my cell until I discovered twitpic
7. The Blackberry community is extremely helpful, specifically at www.crackberry.com/forums which is a lot more than I can say for the assholes I encountered at http://androidcommunity.com/forums/ while I was thinking of getting a G1.
8. Bedside mode is a genius move by RIM. Bedside mode kills the flashing LED light so you can sleep go to sleep peacefully.
9. The phone starts up in 7 secs! I've never seen a phone do this before.
10. Standby mode is another genius move by RIM. In standby you kill the battery usage of the phone while maintaining the ability to receive emails, SMS messages, IM, etc. which really saves battery power at the end of the day.

Hate about my Blackberry :(

1. I really wish when I reply to an email or SMS I could have a small arrow pointing backwards to let me know I replied
2. Can't save apps to media card
3. Can't download files over 2.7mb. I"m in the audio industry, I have clients send me audio files all the time and it would helpful to download these files on the go and here them.
4. The keyboard is just a lil too small for me, I often hit wrong keys but I will get use to it. I think I would enjoy the feel of a 9000 better since its bigger
5. Poor support for Macs, All I own is Macs and its sad that I can't even upgrade my OS without a PC.
6. Poor youtube quality, the 8900 screen is beautiful, just not when a youtube video is playing
7. RIM really needs a much improved notification system for alerts. Android has a great notification system as well as the Palm pre. Even my hated with a passion windows mobile phone did a good job of notifications.
8. No 3G. This for most people is #1, but I"m in Nashville and we don't have 3G anyway, but it would be nice to have it on the phone.
9. Can't add MMS pics to contacts, this seems like it would be a no brainer option for receiving a pic by MMS. Instead you have to save the pic, then go to pic, open it, and then save the pic to a contact.
10. You can only add two email addresses per contact, I have some contacts with more than 2 email addresses so I have to make two contacts for 1 person.

my 3 favorite gadgets

On my way back to Nashville from Albany today my flight was delayed. Luckily I had my 3 favorite gadgets to keep me company: macbook, ipod touch, and blackberry 8900. Since I do a lot of audio work the macbook is a must for me. Loaded with Logic Studio, M-powered pro tools 7.4, and Reason 4, I'm always able to work on audio tasks on the go. Though the app store has taken a nose dive to me, the Ipod touch still remains on my top list. I have tried to use my t-mobile shadow and my blackberry for media, but they just didn't cut it. When it comes to media, nothing handles it like an ipod. The ipod touch has a beautiful screen thats great for viewing movies, podcasts, and even youtube videos. Other mobile devices I try to view youtube on (ex blackberry) the quality is very poor. The Ipod gives me desktop quality and the best youtube experience I have seen on a mobile device. My blackberry is the newest gadget I have acquired recently and I love it. My last phone was a windows mobile phone which I grew to hate more and more each month I owned it, but thats another blog. When it comes to email, nothing handles it like a blackberry, and with yahoo, gmail, and AOL now getting near push email service to blackberries its only getting better. Though the user interface isn't user friendly to me (took me half a day just to figure out how to change the ringtone) I still love the blackberry and learn more about it the more I play with it. I was real close to getting an Iphone but decided to hold out for t-mobile to drop the blackberry 8900 and I"m glad I did.