So for my belated Christmas gift my girlfriend wants to get me a little portable dealy that I can use to access the net, play music, have GPS etc. In a recent thread **Sarahfeena ** mentioned that she could Dope using a Blackberry so I’ve been looking at a couple of different PDA style phones. I don’t know if I want something as bulky as the Blackberry and as I’m an AT&T mobile phone customer so the Blackjack II is looking like a decent option. I’m just looking for opinions on the phone if anyone has one or knows someone who does and if they like it or not, or for other suggestions of mobile devices that can do the same stuff.
I don’t know anything about the Blackjack, but not all BlackBerrys are bulky. I had an 8700g and hated it (that was definitely bulky) but now I have a Pearl and love it. It’s no bigger than a regular phone-only device.
I also really like the Nokia N95 but it doesn’t have a QWERTY keyboard for some unknown reason, so it’s not something I’d buy.
I’m doping from my BlackJack right now!
I highly recommend this phone. The functions are simple, and 3rd party downloads like google maps are invaluable. With the network, if you live in a big city and have 3G coverage the speed is great.
I find the keyboard easy to use and type with and you can set up “speed dial” for applications, for example holding 8 will load internet explorer for me.
The camera is pretty good for a phone, not outstanding but it takes a good still shot. It definitely has trouble with motion.
But overall I love it.
Awesome. Doping from a smartphone is the main reason for wanting one in the first place, well that and after getting horribly lost out in the sticks on Christmas eve having a GPS map on there will rock too, which the Blackjack II can do for only an extra $10 a month. What size Micro SD card would you recommend?
Newegg has 2GB MicroSD cards for as little as 16.99 right now. 4 and 6 giog cards are over 50 bucks.
Yeah, I’ve found some pretty cheap and there’s no way I’m dumb enough to buy any accessories from AT&T directly, but I’ll admit that I’m not the most tech savy guy in any given square meter. Do you need those cards to make the phone work or do the things I want, or just for more space for music, video etc?
They are separate from the phones sim card, they allow you to store the photos , mp3s,ebooks, maps and almost any other thing you can think of.
Declan
What’s the battery life like on the Blackjack II? I had the Blackjack I and the battery life was pretty awful. Even with the extended battery (which made the phone noticeably thicker), it would be on its last legs by the end of the day. I found that if i turned off the 3G for when I didn’t need it, it would last a bit longer, but to do that I had to search in the phone for the executable that would allow me to do that. Basically, it was sort of a pain in the butt. I’m assuming with the new chips that suck less power it should be quite a bit better, right?
I have the original BlackJack, not the newer one, but as far as battery life goes it depends on how many programs you have running. One thing to remember is that simply closing out a program and going back to your menu doesn’t quit it, to stop a program you have to go into your task manager. I have let my battery run down accidentally by failing to close down programs. They can drain your battery quickly if you don’t. I’ve never noted how long I get for talk time, but it’s comparable to other phone models I have. I also use the extended life battery exclusively. Yes, it’s thicker, but I don’t care either way as long as it lasts longer. The good thing though is that they give you two batteries (regular, and extended) with the phone so you can have one all charged as a backup in case you forget.
I’m interested to see if the BlackJack II has a longer battery life as well.
I have the original BJ and use it about 1 week a month when I go to Hong Kong. All in all a good device.
Double check to see if it is Windows Mobile 6 or 5 operating system. 6 has a lot of advantages, especially in the initial configuration.
I think the key question is what you want to use it for and how much typing you’ll do. If it’s basically surfing the Dope, reading and deleting email, short occaisional email replies, text messaging, surfing some mobile friendly email sites, playing music occaisionally, etc, then a smart phone like the BJ is great.
I personally *need * a pocket PC for all the stuff that I do (meeting notes, long emails, ebooks, etc). Also, I tape on a virtual keyboard quite quickly but really suck at typing on a phone keyboard. Therefore, my primary device is a pocket pc.
Double check what the battery life is like on the BJII? And if you need to invest in a spare battery. As pointed out earlier, devices last a lot longer if the backlight setting is reduced, turn off push mail, and make sure programs are closed (I think WM6 really closes programs). Change the internet explorer settings so it doesn’t save history files. Also another trick to remember is to reboot the device occaisionally. I also find that a 1 or 2 gig card is plenty of memory.