So, I’m looking into getting a Blackberry 9700. Seems pretty awesome so far, but I’d like to know more as I’ve never owned one. I’m also wondering what your experiences are with a locked Blackberry? How limited would I be taking it to another country? Thanks.
Check out www.blackberryforums.com.
The advantage of blackberry’s over other smartphones is that you don’t have to go and poll (request or look) if you have new e-mail. As soon as your account receives e-mail it is automatically delivered to your device (push technology vs. pull technology). Blackberry App World also has thousands of Apps similar to the Apple apps for the Iphone. Most blackberry devices also have media capabilities as well. Historically the blackberry has been the primary smartphone for the business community, but they have become more mainstream in the last few years.
When you say locked, I assume you mean dedicated to a single provider (ATT or Verizon). You can get your phone unlocked via many unlocking services for a fee. The forum link I posted above, can provide info on that. If you are moving to another country and want to subscribe to a carrier overseas, you would likely need to get it unlocked. If you mean just traveling overseas and using your phone while there, trust me ATT or Verizon are more than happy for your to use international roaming while you are traveling. They work fine anywhere in the world with some exceptions, mainly Japan.
Good luck. I have a Bold 9000.
Nailed it in one.
I have a Tour with Verizon wireless. I love the size, the ease of email, the keypad (the keypad is a marvel of design, IMO), the aftermarket 16GB chip that’s the size of my fingernail. The phone function is fine. One thing I use a hell of a lot that I didn’t think I would is the stills/video camera. It actually takes pretty good pictures and whipping the phone out and shooting decent video is a blast.
I don’t like the trackball much (I think the Bold doesn’t use one). It feels like it needs more resistance and it doesn’t seem to respond consistently. The App World isn’t as slick as Apple’s, but I don’t use many apps anyway and the ones I do use are mostly free.
Web-wise, pages are increasingly adapting to mobile (or vice-versa) so when the page loads the print isn’t so tiny that you can’t read it and/or the layout isn’t incomprehensible. This seems to be improving with time. If you have to do a lot of zooming and panning it’s pretty much a pain in the butt.