BlackBerry Bold 9900: my initial impressions

Having used the Bold 9900 for the past 2 weeks, I thought it was about time to put pen to paper and describe my impressions thus far.

A lot has already been written about RIM's newest flagship device, both good and bad, but having used a BlackBerry of one from or another since 2004, I think it is my turn.

One of my favourite devices, size wise, especially keyboard, was the first Bold.....the 9000. and I was one of the many BlackBerry users shattered when RIM introduced the successor to the 9000, the 9700, and, for me, its cramped keyboard. That said, we are a adaptable bunch, for it wasn't long before we were all rocking the 9700 and thumbing out emails, tweets, posts and the like from its keyboard.

So I move onto the Torch 9800 and then the Bold 9780......and now the Bold 9900. And it took me all of about 2 minutes to re-accquaint back with the larger keyboard....welcome home!  And loving it! And while we are on the keyboard etc, I really do like the highlighted surrounding of the trackpad......rather cool.

The Bold 9900 is of course hefty but oh so slim (for a BlackBerry) and feels great cradled between my hands, or in one hand......but, and yes I understand the NFC requirements, but a smooth back plate??? Hmmm, not too happy about this, and already I have caught my Bold twice as it slid off a couple of places (where normally a BlackBerry would not). Unfortunately for me, I prefer my BlackBerry devices to be naked, so a skin is not the answer. Need to be a little more careful though.

OS7: well yes, it is an evolution of the BlackBerry OS and a nice one. Anyone coming from OS6 will immediately feel at home. I like the icons and colours. I also like the way you can manage the panels (yay.....now only have one panel: All).

The higher spec single core processor was both urgently needed but gratefully received. There is significantly less hour glassing than ever before, and things do seem to move around much more fluidly. Yep, happy with this. The increased RAM is also appreciated. Boot time has been reduced further....nice (not that you have to reboot the 9900 as often as previous devices, but good to know, nevertheless).

Touchscreen: I wondered whether this for me would be a redundant feature, and pleased to say I was wrong. The touch screen for me is very useful to hunt around for the needed application & to click on it to open, something easily achieved while holding the 9900 in one hand (and there are lots of times you only have one hand to operate your BlackBerry with).

Battery Life: in one word; hopeless. Sorry, but I cannot get through 2/3 of a day without running out of juice. Screen brightness is set to 10%, most apps set to either not auto-refresh, or set at a longer refresh interval, WiFi switched off (don't really use it too much anyway), and while this has made a little difference, there is still a way to go. Spare battery has been ordered and that will sort the problem for now. Perhaps later OS upgrades may/may not alleviate the problem. But in essence, running a smaller battery, than the previous 9780, but with bigger screen, and touch, etc, doesn't quite add up.

Charging: Here's a little hint. If you have a PlayBook, use the rapid charger for your Bold 9900 (charges oh so much quicker). I have also found that the previous car chargers I have been using, now no longer charge the Bold 9900. So I purchased a Motorola Rapid Charger for the car, and this one works perfectly.

But the battery life is something I can put up with, especially given the improvements to both hardware and software, that RIM have implemented.

Challenge: to all of you who went to another manufacturer: try out a Bold 9900, and see what you think. For me, staying with the BlackBerry brand has been worth it (and the sometimes pain associated with previous lesser spec devices). Try it for yourself.

Good job RIM.

TferThomas

Why I chose the BlackBerry Torch 9800 over the Bold 9780

If anything is perfectly clear, when it comes to me and my BlackBerry preferences, one thing is abundantly clear... I am not a fan of touch screens. In fact, you could say I dislike touch screens.

So the simple question is, seeing as my Torch arrived today (well at least I believe it has (I am in Melbourne at the moment, and it arrived at the Brisbane office today, and I won't get to confirm this, until Friday evening), is .... why?

If you follow me on twitter, you know my perfect BlackBerry device is one with the qwerty keyboard; the type RIM has spent so much time (and no doubt money) perfecting. And that is not a term taken lightly. But I simply haven't come across a better mobile device keyboard, that I can thumb out emails, tweets, etc more efficiently.

I recently purchased a Torch, but that was for my wife (she served out her apprenticeship on a 9630 Tour), and what I can say, is she took to the Torch, like a duck to water, and it is quite impressive to watch her put the Torch through its paces. But she mainly prefers the touch screen.... almost always ignoring the keyboard.

Now my day to day job is an International Business Manager for a global training company, which specialises in time management, workload management, project management and productivity training. One of our signature programs is Working Smart with BlackBerry (http://www.prioritymanagement.com.au/training/time-management/blackberry), and one that fellow BlackBerry Alliance Members have started taking notice of. The reason? Well, there are phones out there which are more personal devices but have some business tendencies...... and most are touch screens. And there are decision makers out there who prefer the touch screen devices. Our training provides the BlackBerry user with a solid grounding in not only the functionality of the BlackBerry device, but more importantly, how they can save significant time, and plan their days more effectively, by using the BlackBerry as their productivity tool. And a happy BlackBerry user will not have to look elsewhere at other devices. So now, I have fellow BlackBerry Alliance Members starting to refer their clients to myself and Priority Management.

Invariably, during meetings, there will be, as a general rule, BlackBerry users and other devices (touch screens) are normally present.... how to bridge the gap with both? Quite simply, the BlackBerry Torch covers the ground beautifully.

For the touch screen device user, the Torch touch screen walks the walk (and remember, the Torch was specifically designed to operate as 1. a touch screen device only, 2. a keyboard device only. and 3. a combination of both) so we have that type of user covered. For the traditional BlackBerry user (or other lesser keyboard devices) slide out the Torch's keyboard, and let your thumbs do the talking (of interest, apart from the raised lips around the keyboard, the Torch's keyboard is a dead ringer for the Bold 9700's keyboard, and that, my friends, is a good, no, great thing).

So for business, networking and to support our position as a BlackBerry Alliance Member, the BlackBerry Torch 9800 was the most appropriate BlackBerry device, and the Bold 9780 became an also ran.

And that is why a new BlackBerry Torch 9800 arrived for me today (not that I can get my hands on it until Friday evening).

TferThomas