Treo Gal's Initial Curve Thoughts

Jennifer Chappell · 11/06/2007, 08:32 PM

This is an official Round Robin contest thread

I've put up my initial thoughts on the Curve.

Well, it's my turn to use the BlackBerry Curve 8310 in the Round Robin. Now this will really be different for me! I've used only touchscreen devices, mainly Palm, for years. The only experience I've ever had with a BB device is the older BB 7290. I got it cheap off of Woot! last year because I was very curious about BlackBerry devices. I read about them everyday so I wanted to see what one was like. I charged it up and messed around with it for a little while. I had to keep reading in the user manual how to do anything on it since it wasn't a touchscreen. I had no idea what I was doing. It took me forever just to set up the date and time. I opened the apps and made a couple of phone calls. Well, I didn't mess with it anymore and just set it aside and it's still sitting here in my office just where I left it. I wasn't all that impressed. It was big and clunky and frustrating to try to operate. I had mentioned my experience to CrackBerry Kevin in an email and he said that the 7290 was an old dinosaur. LOL, it sure is.

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justdigphones · 11/06/2007, 10:24 PM

I love reading your thoughts on each device. You seem to give each device a fair chance. Unlike some of the other editors. And reading this makes me want a curve!

jbonnot03 · 11/06/2007, 10:42 PM

How are you getting your emails? BES or Blackberry Internet or Blackberry Desktop Redirector?

hansbuehler · 11/06/2007, 10:51 PM

a few things on bb coming from a treo 700p user... I have teh 8800 for work and my 700p for home. see if you get more attached to these aspects to appreciate these by Friday

1) Battery life also on bb's is amazing.

2) The gps grows on you! I will NOT buy a NEW Palm device again unless they get a GPS in there. On business trips getting directions back to the airport is key. When I ski and hike the gps with "bbtracker" logs all gps datapoints and I can import to any mapping pc program including google earth. That is great for back country skiing routes to figure out where the heck I was.

3) thin, light.... slide it in the shirt pocket, you don't fall over. put the 700p or 680 in the shirt pocket and you think your shirt will rip.

the stuff I hate...
1) usability. the palm 3rd party apps are optimized around using hard keys that are configurable all over the place... I have my one click access to anything in any app. with blackberry... it's about hunting through menus

2) confusion on the red phone key or the "back" arrow key. What the heck does each do? Back arrow exits you from the app. the red key pulls you back to the menu but leave the app running. this gets confusing as it's not consistent in behavior.

3) How do I get to the phone? When starting in another app... most likely email... the green blackberry phone key sometimes tries to dial the phone for the contact/ email that you are resting on... and doesn't simply take you to the phone app. As silly as it seems on treo for a phone key AND a separate green key... at least I can get to the phone without fail!

KEEP up the FUN reviews. I do have to say your "treo bias" seems to come out a little too much for me so far on the BB curve review. You will have to get adicted to one of the 3 top things I mentioned above.

meyerweb · 11/07/2007, 12:12 AM

I've only played with a BB (but may be getting one from work, soon). Maybe I'll get used to it with more use, but I hate the scroll wheel (compared to the D-pad on Treo), and I really miss a touch screen.

Yeah, BB's got stability and email down, but the user interface is, to say the least, archaic.

Jennifer Chappell · 11/07/2007, 12:30 AM

Quote:

I love reading your thoughts on each device. You seem to give each device a fair chance.

Thanks! I try to look at the good and bad in each device. No device is perfect. What I might love in a device, another person might hate.

Quote:

How are you getting your emails? BES or Blackberry Internet or Blackberry Desktop Redirector?

Hi jbonnot03! I'm pretty sure I'm getting them over the internet through EDGE as I don't have BES. When the Curve is connected to my laptop and I sync the device, my Outlook mail comes through, which is where I also get my gmail.

Quote:

a few things on bb coming from a treo 700p user... I have teh 8800 for work and my 700p for home. see if you get more attached to these aspects to appreciate these by Friday

Hi hansbuehler! I'll keep checking your list and see how I feel by Friday. I can already tell from the past 3 days that the battery life on the Curve is great.
I can see how the small and lightweight Curve would easily slide in a shirt pocket and not weight you down.

I was confused on the red phone key and the back arrow key but I think I'm getting the hang of it now. I mostly use the back arrow key.

jvwong96 · 11/07/2007, 06:03 AM

Will any of the editors be using the pearl? I'm curious to see how that suretype app works with the smaller keyboard and what not.

Felipe · 11/07/2007, 10:05 AM

suretype is evil.

devils spawn.

run RUN RUN.

some ppl like it.

roams11 · 11/07/2007, 10:05 AM

I've had 3 generations of Blackberry's for work- cut my thumb-texting teeth on the original RIM pager when Palm was still using Graffiti. That was the last device from RIM that I actually might have paid for.

I agree with Treo Gal's observation about the BB browser being horrible- although some of this may be compounded by the network itself. It is the one embedded browser that I put below Blazer.

By far the worst problem I've seen with the BB of late is that it regularly disconnects itself from the Edge network. It has been a huge problem at my company, not receiving enterprise information until we notice.

My workplace has distributed several thousand Blackberries, but essentially no one uses it as their go-to device. When really needing to record or find information, people reach into their pocket for the devices they bought, usually a Treo and more recently, the iPhone.

Not to rip on Blackberry too much, but after years of using them, I don't put them in the same category of quality and usability as other devices.

gtoatley · 11/07/2007, 10:35 AM

I have been considering (just a twinge in the back of my mind) of switching to a BB or a WM device for the ease of having access to my work email and calendar. Now I have to hotsync my treo or use some email work around, while my friends at work who have a WM or BB PDA get their information instantly. I have been a treo/PALM (anyone remember the PALM III), so I have a lot of residual feelings for PALM devices.

Bla1ze · 11/07/2007, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felipe

suretype is evil.

devils spawn.

run RUN RUN.

some ppl like it.

lol thats ok, cause the curve does not have SureType, but great initial thoughts Jenn, glad to see that you are enjoying the curve so far, be a pleasure to see your final thoughts since your initial response was so good..hopefully the help you have recieved at crackberry will further along that enjoyment.

gadgetluva · 11/08/2007, 12:17 AM

Great write up, and it seems like the blackberry is really going to be the corporate email device. My initial belief is that it comes in last for multimedia but first for email, which I'm sure you'll agree with. I'm looking forward to your final thoughts to see how a diehard Palm OS user reacts to the blackberry after getting used to it for a week.

roams11 · 11/08/2007, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gadgetluva

Great write up, and it seems like the blackberry is really going to be the corporate email device. My initial belief is that it comes in last for multimedia but first for email, which I'm sure you'll agree with. I'm looking forward to your final thoughts to see how a diehard Palm OS user reacts to the blackberry after getting used to it for a week.

It does corporate e-mail okay- that is it's saving grace. When it hasn't removed itself from the network, that is.

edoan · 11/08/2007, 12:06 PM

Not only does the BB does corporate e-mail well, it also comes with the ability for IT departments to remotely manage/provision. Any device which doesn't have the capability out of the box makes it a much more difficult sell for corp IT.

Bla1ze · 11/08/2007, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roams11

It does corporate e-mail okay- that is it's saving grace. When it hasn't removed itself from the network, that is.

I'm having trouble understanding this comment, what exactly do you mean "removed it's self from the network"

BB devices are based on really 2 networks,
1) Your carriers network
2) The Blackberry network (AKA...RIM Relay, RIM NOC)

both of these elements are required for you to receive your emails on your device, help me understand which network element your referring to and in which capacity.

roams11 · 11/08/2007, 01:44 PM

Bla1ze, thanks for the inquiry.
Corporate users of the Blackberry, like myself, experieince multiple random 'Blackberry Holidays' where the device takes itself off the Edge network. It's been a huge issue at my company as it happens regularly to the vast majority of employees. Our IT department has had fits about this as I understand Blackberry advised them them they are aware of the issue but are not going to spend resources resolving the issue on our devices.
I'd mentioned it in an earlier post, but probably should have explained it better in the last post. The issue doesn't leave much love for the device; it simply doesn't perform its main purpose when taking itself off the network. Incidentally, it is not an 'out of coverage' issue.

dreadpiratedoug · 11/08/2007, 02:38 PM

How do you feel the screen quality is? Compared to say, the 755p or Centro? My cousin's Curve seemed a lot lower in res, and it bugged the hell out of me ...

roams11 · 11/08/2007, 03:13 PM

the 8700 I use is alright- 320x240. Not as good as the 755p's 320x320, but it's adequate for email and the occasional attachment.

chodaboy · 11/08/2007, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Well, the web browser just isn't much to talk about. I wouldn't want to come out and say that it sucks, but it's sure not anything to write home about. And to be fair, neither is Blazer on my Treo. After viewing the web on an iPhone, there is just no comparison. I'll be downloading Opera Mini soon on the Curve and I'm sure that will be better.

Don't forget you can run Opera Mini on the Treo, too.

sbono13 · 11/08/2007, 05:37 PM

I love that BB's support J2ME out of the box. Google Maps, Opera Mini, and Yahoo Go are some of the best mobile apps out there, and only RIM is smart enough to leverage them, among the smartphone manufacturers. Most WM and all POS devices need some hacking to get a JVM onboard. Don't get me started on iPhones... I gave up on smartphones altogether for a while, because web surfing on a Sprint flip phone using Opera Mini was better than using Blazer on my Treo 650. When Google Maps came out first for J2ME, and I was pretty psyched.