We are well into Week #2 of the Round Robin, with everyone now onto their second smartphone of the month. I survived a week with the AT&T Tilt and am now using a Palm Treo 680. I don’t have my initial impressions up yet as I ran into a small snag – the unlocked Treo I received didn’t like my Rogers SIM card so I haven’t been able to get fully intimate with it just yet. I’ve still managed to play with the 680 and get to know it, but without a SIM card inserted it’s just not the same. I received another unlocked Treo 680 today (SIM card is working and the battery is charging as I type this) so look for my initial impressions tomorrow.
In the meantime, I thought it would make sense to check in on how the BlackBerry Using Editors in the Round Robin have fared so far. Mike at PhoneDifferent spent a whole week with the BlackBerry Curve 8310 and has now moved onto the AT&T Tilt I was using, while Jennifer over at TreoCentral has passed the iPhone she was using onto WMExpert's Dieter Bohn and is now using the BlackBerry Curve 8310. Confusing I know, but THAT’s why it’s called a Round Robin! The best way to stay on top of who has what is by checking out the Latest Updates section on the official Round Robin website. Read My take on Mike and Jennifer’s BlackBerry Curve take after the jump!
Don't forget, a comment to this post counts as an entry in the Round Robin Contest! Be sure you're logged in before you comment.
Mike’s Final BlackBerry Curve 8310 Impressions [ read article ]
Mike is an iPhone guy, who didn’t have any experience (or much hope/love) for the BlackBerry coming into the Round Robin, so I was really curious as to what he would think of the BlackBerry Curve. While he did like some aspects of the Curve, such as the form factor, great battery life, solid specs (good camera w/ flash, built-in GPS) and the way it handles email, overall it fell up short for him.
It's been an interesting week with the Curve, but the limitations of it started to wear pretty thin on me as the week progressed. Once the newness of the curve wore off, I started eyeing my iPhone a lot more. I've been looking forward to shipping the Curve off…
Ouch. I know, it hurts. Mike’s gripes? Considering he’s coming from the iPhone, two of them were to be expected – he didn’t like the web browser (can’t really knock him there) and he didn’t like the lack of touchscreen (understandable but arguable for many reasons). Another area Mike didn’t like (which surprised me a bit) was with the BlackBerry operating system. He thought it was more like a feature phone on steroids than a smartphone and expected it be more further along. He didn’t like that settings were all over the place instead of being just under Options. He didn’t like the default icons/themes (too many icons and hard to tell what they’re all for) and had some nitpicks such as homescreen settings not remaining the same when you switch a theme (valid point).
If you listen to the PhoneDifferent Podcast published yesterday, Mike sums up his experiences. Does he come away liking the BlackBerry? Not Really. But does he respect it? You Bet. Mike summed up the BlackBerry Curve as being the anti-iPhone. What the BlackBerry does well the iPhone sucks at. What the iPhone does well, the BlackBerry sucks at. In Mike’s opinion both RIM and Apple should (hopefully will) start stealing from each other a bit so in a year or two there are no sacrifices with device choice.
Mike also gives a big shout out in the Podcast to all of the CrackBerry.com members who helped him out of the course of the week. He may not be in love with the Curve, but he’s loving the CrackBerry community we have built here!
Be sure to read Mike’s Post and leave a comment to let him know your thoughts!!!
Jennifer’s First Impressions of the BlackBerry Curve 8310 [ read article ]
Jennifer has had the Curve for a couple of days, and so far she seems to be really enjoying it! She has the same big gripes as Mike – poor web browsing and no touchscreen (this is the first device Jennifer has ever used without a touchscreen), but the lack of touchscreen really hasn’t lessened her overall like for the device. She adapted to the trackball and control buttons very quickly and is loving the Curve’s keyboard and overall form factor. She’s not crazy about the miscroSD card going under the battery (neither am I!) and she’s surprised at how long it takes to boot up the phone.
Jennifer set-up her email with ease, and is really impressed with the way the Curve handles her messages. She likes the camera (was impressed it had flash) and gave the GPS a thumbs up. She doesn’t like that there’s no threaded-SMS (like on the Treo), and when I read that I sent her an email telling her about the joys of BlackBerry Messenger. Who needs threaded SMS when you have BlackBerry Messenger which is soo much better. I guess the only problem with BlackBerry Messenger is that your peeps need BlackBerrys too, but really… do you want to associate with someone who doesn’t use a BlackBerry as their phone of choice?
I think there’s hope we convert Jennifer into a BlackBerry addict yet, so make sure you give her a hand in her last couple of days with the device. You can post in CrackBerry.com’s Round Robin Forum or head over to TreoCentral and make your comments there.
Ta Ta for Now
As for me… I jonesing for my BlackBerry pretty hard. I am managing to cope without it, but I just don’t feel “connected” anymore. It’s weird. The AT&T Tilt and Treo 680 still get email and phone calls and SMS and manage contacts and calendar… but there’s just some sort of missing “come up with word for it here” that has me feeling lost. Treo 680 first impressions coming soon…stay tuned!
