Blackberry Bold 9900

DonFred

Anyone have this Blackberry Bold 9900 phone? Can ye give the pro and cons of it. Am thinking of getting it soon but undecided which network. Currently have a Nokia N8 and kinda bored of it. Cheers

NightStrike

I have it, nice phone to use very good for texting etc.

Three main pros would be ease of texting/emailing, touch screen is fantastic and it has great call quality.

Main, and perhaps only, con would be battery life isn't wonderful opposed to other Blackberries (there is an update I have to do which improves it apparently). Another slight moan is that the app store wouldn't be on a par to Android or iPhone.

drunkmonkey

If your too busy to be playing with apps and just want a workhorse of a communication device the 9900 is the business. You can't deal with emails, txts as easily in the same volume as you could on most other phones.

If you want apps and aren't a heavy phone user an android or iphone would probably more suitable. The blackberry app store is probably the worst app store out there. It's complete rubbish.

I use a 9900, perfect for what I want but i've a constant barrage of emails, calls and texts from the minute I wake up. If you don't have that and a lot of people wouldn't i'd opt for a different phone.

The 9900 keyboard is the best i've ever used.

I moved from an iphone4 to the 9900, the main reason is I want my phone to be just that. Surfing the internet and apps are not a priority for me there more of a distraction than anything, something I don't need during the day.

godtabh

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I moved from an iphone4 to the 9900, the main reason is I want my phone to be just that. Surfing the internet and apps are not a priority for me there more of a distraction than anything, something I don't need during the day.

I have an iphone 4. I am thing of a change and the 9900 looks good to me but I would use email and facebook on it a lot. What is it like for things like that?

strecker

As someone "testing" phones for a living: best of the 20 or so phones I used this year.
Standout feature; best hardware keypad. Ever. No debate.

Browser - though Flash-less, a joy to use even on crappy west-of-Ireland 2G!
Plenty of neat subtle improvements in OS7.0 - shortcuts aplenty!
Very fast, stable OS/UI! Hardly any lag. No freezes or force closes with very heavy use.
Screen crisp and nicely legible in direct sunlight.

I could go on...
I won't. Try it.

DonFred

AM thiinking of getting it now I played around with it in the shop. But dont know whether to go with Vodafone or stay with Meteor. 39euro on Meteor 200 mins and 200 txt (inc BIS and BBM) Vodafone same.

LH2011

strecker wrote: »

As someone "testing" phones for a living: best of the 20 or so phones I used this year.
Standout feature; best hardware keypad. Ever. No debate.

Browser - though Flash-less, a joy to use even on crappy west-of-Ireland 2G!
Plenty of neat subtle improvements in OS7.0 - shortcuts aplenty!
Very fast, stable OS/UI! Hardly any lag. No freezes or force closes with very heavy use.
Screen crisp and nicely legible in direct sunlight.

I could go on...
I won't. Try it.

you left out the important bit, the battery is not great on the 9900...

cookie1977

I've got the 9900 and for email it rocks. I've tried iOS and seen android and I think they're not as good. Email is so well integrated into the OS. It's fast and the battery life has improved with recent OS updates but it's not as good as older BlackBerry devices. You've got to remember though that the device now has a 1.2GHZ processor and a touchscreen which does soak up the battery power.In saying that you can do a lot to make sure battery life is maximised. I'd easily get 48hrs out of a full charge and heavy use. I use lots of apps on it but I dont think it's the best for playing games, so if you like games then it probably isn't for you.

The keyboard is glorious and the touchscreen/trackpad combination is very useful.

strecker

LH2011 wrote: »

strecker wrote: »

As someone "testing" phones for a living: best of the 20 or so phones I used this year.
Standout feature; best hardware keypad. Ever. No debate.

Browser - though Flash-less, a joy to use even on crappy west-of-Ireland 2G!
Plenty of neat subtle improvements in OS7.0 - shortcuts aplenty!
Very fast, stable OS/UI! Hardly any lag. No freezes or force closes with very heavy use.
Screen crisp and nicely legible in direct sunlight.

I could go on...
I won't. Try it.

you left out the important bit, the battery is not great on the 9900...

That is because "not great" is relative. I get a day and a half on a charge. 3 email accounts on push, modding two websites etc etc! For a phone with a bright responsive touchscreen and an OS almost as speedy as the SGS2's that isn't bad. I had a Nokia E6 until recently. Smaller touchscreen than the Bold's and overall slower. Had to charge it daily.
That the Bold 9900 has "poor" battery life compared to non-touch Curves or Bolds is kind of obvious. I didn't leave it out to deceive

drunkmonkey

cookie1977 wrote: »

I'd easily get 48hrs out of a full charge and heavy use. I use lots of apps on it but I dont think it's the best for playing games, so if you like games then it probably isn't for you.

How are you doing that cookie, I can't make it 12hrs without having to charge it, I don't use apps, just email, calls and texts.

cookie1977

Currently running OS 7.0.0.540 Dont use bluetooth and use wifi were possible. I make sure I shut down apps following use. Screen brightness is set to 10% and with auto brightness turned on. Phone usually is on silent apart from flashing led but dont use vibrate too much.

strecker

cookie1977 wrote: »

Currently running OS 7.0.0.540 Dont use bluetooth and use wifi were possible. I make sure I shut down apps following use. Screen brightness is set to 10% and with auto brightness turned on. Phone usually is on silent apart from flashing led but dont use vibrate too much.

Yep, on 10% brightness the screen's perfectly viewable even in sunlight.
I also have 3G disabled - RIM's data compression let's you comfortably collect email and browse web on 2G/EDGE. You really only need 3G to stream videos. Only turn wifi on when you need it. Kill apps when not using them, and a day and a half to 2 is no problem.
I had the same experience with the Torch 9800 - loadsa people saying, booh, have to charge after 6 hours. I always got a full, busy workday out of it.

cookie1977

I do a lot of customizing by stripping the crap out of the OS before installing (unused fonts etc..) I also got fixmo tools which is a handy app that turns off wifi when there's no wifi around and turns it back on when it detects wifi (there's 17 other tools with it too, very handy indeed).

DonFred

What is the vibrating like? I always use my phone for alarm and its the vibrating that wakes me up not sound. Is it good? Also does the phone lite up when you receive a txt msg or phone call?
Cheers.

cookie1977

Vibration is strong and I use it as an alarm too. Phone will light up if you get a call and there's an LED/Ringtone/Vibration (or combination of) to alert you to the SMS/MMS but the phone screen doesn't turn on. The device can be set up to not notify you of anything if you're in a meeting.

cookie1977

drunkmonkey wrote: »

How are you doing that cookie, I can't make it 12hrs without having to charge it, I don't use apps, just email, calls and texts.

I meant to add that I have my device set to turn off at 12am and turn back on at 6am. This would also help the battery life.

DonFred

Quick question Cookie1977. When you set the alarm does the phone light up and vibrant? Had a E72 and its the best alarm clock to date. Cheers.

cookie1977

Yes it lights up and offers to snooze/dismiss. Just tested it there as I couldn't remember

DonFred

Oh think I be asking Santa for this now!! I miss the keypad. Basically I dont use apps much and sure can always carry a proper Canon camera to take pics.

alsiet2011

best phone iv ever had and i've a lot of fancy phones. deffo be keeping this one!