RIM BlackBerry 9000 Cell Phone

I have been a blackberry addict for the past 7 years and upgraded to the Blackberry Bold 9000 from the BB Curve 8310.  I purchased the BB Bold in August 2008 and after using it for a few months, it is by far my favourite blackberry unit.  I have owned 7 blackberries, and still currently own and use the Blackberry Storm as well.  I am currently using a BIS (Blackberry Internet Server) as opposed to a corporate BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server).

My First Physical Impression when I opened the box and took the unit out was not as expected and was a bit of a disappointment based on just the physical feel of it.  Compared to all the past BB’s that I owned, it did not feel as solid and indestructible.  This was probably because of the silver metallic trim that surrounds the entire face of the unit as well as the “leather-like” battery door.  All previous models were hardened plastic with no trim whatsoever.  In the worst case scenario, if one were to drop this unit on the ground, there is a very high probability that the silver trim will crack or show signs of scarring much worse than the previous models.  The metallic silver trim is also much more vulnerable to day to day surface scratches. 

My First Operational Impression was WOW, what a screen.  The picture quality and resolution of the screen made me completely forget about the downsides of my initial physical impression.  It also made me realize that I need to baby this blackberry to death and never to let it slip out of my hands.  Everything looks so bright and sharp on the screen.  The screen size is about the same as an Ipod Classic.

EMAIL / KEYBOARD :
I receive about 200 emails a day and write about 10 emails, and 25 SMS texts a day.  Coming from the BB 8310 and the BB 8700 before that, the 2 immediate differences that one will notice immediately are :  1)  The BB Bold keys have no space in between them, and 2)  The BB Bold keys are very soft when pressing down on them.  For those who may share the same concern as point 1 above, I have to say that after using the Bold for over 6 months now, I can type just as fast as I could with all the other BB’s I had before.  It did take some adjusting to but having the keys closer does allow me to type very fast once you get used to it.  The only downside is that I was able to type without having to look at the keys with the 8310 and 8700 because of the spacing in between the keys.  With the Bold, I do have to look down at the keys when I am typing.  The 2nd point of the keys being softer also became a non-issue after getting used to the Bold.  The softer keys did allow for faster typing as well.  With the BB 8310 and BB 8700, one would have to use alot more force to press down the keys, and the keys would make a very loud clicking noise.  I used to like the loud click because it provided good feedback that I had typed the character.  Now I like the fact that I don’t have to press as hard to type the characters.

BB’s are known for their excellent email functionality.  For me, the purchase of my Bold coincided with the release of a new BIS which made the email features of the Bold feel more user friendly and complete.  If using a BIS, you can program the Bold to “push” 10 different email accounts to the device.  The new BIS showed a different icon for each email address.  This allowed you to create emails with the sender’s email address unique to that email.  Ex.  You have mailto:abc@gmail.com, mailto:def@hotmail.com, mailto:ghi@yahoo.com.  Each of the 3 email addresses would have an icon on your BB.  When you send an email, you can choose which sender’s email account to use.  Before, with the old BIS, all sent out emails would be from one BB address only, ex. mailto:xyz@verizon.blackberry.net.  It is much more convenient for recipients to think that emails were sent from your specific email accounts as opposed from your blackberry email address.

SCREEN / CAMERA / MEDIA PLAYER:
The screen is absolutely amazingly sharp and crisp.  It is great for web browsing and watching movies.  To watch movies, it does take some effort to learn in the beginning but once you get the hang of it, you should be able to convert a DVD or a movie that you downloaded in about an hour if you are using a Core2Duo or Core2Quad computer.  Free converter programs that you can download are “Handbrake” and “XVid4PSP”.   Choose the output image to be 480 x 320.  You can convert the movies and then save the files onto a MicroSD card, which then goes into the BB.  Each 2 hour movie takes about 350-500 megabytes of space.  The built in speaker is loud and good enough to play your music and movies. 

The camera is ok, and not the greatest.  When I first got the Bold, I thought the camera was great since it was much better than my 8310.  But now that I also have the Storm, the camera on the Bold doesn’t compare well at all.  The camera on the Bold lacks auto-focus, so there are 2 main issues.  1) Close up macro shots are not great.  If you put the camera closer than 8” to the subject/item, the pictures come out very blurry.  The shots that are taken beyond 8” to the subject are okay and good for showing on the computer but printing them out are still not very comparable to a digital camera.  The video camera feature is okay.  The video camera does require a lot of light for good quality recordings.  The phone video camera I’ve used so far is the Samsung Instinct.  It is extremely clear in low light situations. 

I use my Bold as my portable media player.  I bought an 8GB Micro SD card and have 1000 songs + 5 movies and still have lots of space left on the memory card.  The Bold has a standard headphone jack so you can go buy any headphones that you like to listen to the music. 

PHONE FUNCTION :
PROS : Blackberries are have some of the loudest earpiece volumes and most sensitive microphones compared to any phone on the market.  This is a huge plus for people who work in manufacturing, outdoor, or environments where there is a lot of background noise and difficult to hear.  As for business discussions where you don't want others around you to hear what you are saying, the microphone picks up a whisper and allows the other party to hear you easily. 
CONS :  The earpiece and hands-free speaker volume on the Bold is not as loud as the 8310.  There were some reports that previous models had issues with speakers blowing out.  For most people, the volume should be sufficient for their use.

WEB BROWSER / Internet :
Coming from the BB8700 and the BB8310, the BB Bold’s web browser is much better for 2 reasons.  1) Screen clarity is amazingly sharp. 2) 3G speed has improved the lag time and loading time of the webpages.  Note :  The BB Bold’s internet speed and page loading is still significantly slower than the Iphone.  Even with 3G, some webpages take close to a minute to load.  I do alot of reading on forum groups, craigslists, ebay, etc.  To speed up your browser, you can go into the internet options and uncheck the “Support JavaScript” and check the “Prompt to enable JavaScript”.  This seems to help webpages load faster.  Depending on your service provider, YouTube seems to cut out after about a minute using 3G, but works fine when you are using WiFi.
Another great feature of the BB Bold’s 3G network is the capability of tethering to a laptop.  Tethering is when you connect your BB Bold to your laptop using the USB cable.  You can configure a dial up modem using your BB Bold.  This allows you to surf the web on your laptop using your BB Bold as the modem.  The web browsing speed is impressively fast on the laptop when tethering.  Note :  Tethering you BB Bold to your laptop uses data for every page you surf and load.  Depending on your service provider, the data you use when tethering may or may not be included with your monthly service plan.  I am fortunate to have a 6 GB blackberry plan so tethering data is not a concern for me. 

GPS :
The GPS on the Bold comes standard with Blackberry Maps.  I downloaded Google Maps buy going to http://www.google.com/gmm.  The Google Maps seem to be slightly newer than the Blackberry Maps.  The map and satellite database is still a few years out of date so some streets and satellite views are not current.  There is not voice navigation that is standard, it is optional through 3rd party software.  The GPS is not something I use everyday as it very difficult to view while driving since the screen is so small.  I do use it on out of town trips time to time when I am driving to get general directions. 

Microsoft Office Features :
Depending on the service provider, the BB Bold has the capability of viewing and editing MS Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files.  Previous BB’s allowed viewing only, but now you can edit and save back into an office file format.  Only MS Word is reasonable to use.  Trying to scroll and edit an Excel file is not very practical.
  
Other Cool Features :
The BB Bold is a GSM device and can easily be “unlocked” for about $5 to $20 online in under 24 hours.  This allows the user to put in any GSM Sim Card and be able to use the BB Bold for either voice or data.  Ex. On an unlocked T-Mobile BB Bold, you can use an AT&T sim card or vice versa.  If you go out of country traveling, you can go and buy a pre-paid sim card and put it into your unlocked BB Bold and take advantage of those foreign countries local airtime rates instead of paying the extremely high roaming charges.

Blackberry now has a BB App World where you can download hundreds of programs, many free, and others ranging from $2.99 to $9.99.  You can load the BB App World software free by going to http://www.blackberry.com/appworld/download using your blackberry browser.  NOTE :  Remember to configure your blackberry browser to “Blackberry”.  The BB Bold allows you to choose your browser to be Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Blackberry.   In order to download many of the programs using your blackberry, the browser needs to be set on “Blackberry” emulation mode.  I downloaded Yahoo Mail, Facebook, Flickr, MSN Messenger.

The BB Bold’s operating system (OS) if frequently upgraded every few months with unofficial versions and official carrier versions.  The OS is easily upgradeable by the user and takes about 20 minutes.  The upgrades usually improve signal quality, voice quality, camera and media issues.

BATTERY LIFE :
Battery life on blackberries are the best.  The battery quality is also the best.  I have charged by blackberry every single night for years have never had a battery die yet.  Some of my batteries are 3 years old and still are going strong.  I usually get 200 emails, surf the web for 30 minutes, leave my screen at 50% brightness, talk for 20 minutes a day, listen to 10 minutes of music per day.  After 16 hours on, with the above activities, the battery level is at 70% at the end of the night.  Note :  I did notice that when roaming on different carriers in the various US States, that my battery life varied.  In California and Las Vegas, for the same usage or less, I only had 35% battery life left at the end of the day compared to my usual 70%.


DURABILITY :
I do worry about my BB Bold.  If I dropped it, I think the outer silver bezel would scar badly or maybe even dent or crack.  I use a screen protector on mine, you can buy one for about $5 online.  The one problem that I found with the BB construction and layout is the rear side metal bezel surrounding the camera and flash.  The design is terrible.  It is not flush with the battery door and sticks out.  2 problems result :  Every time you place the BB Bold on the table and move it around, place it down, pick it up, etc, it scratches both your table and leaves scuff marks on the silver bezel.

In summary, the BB Bold is my favourite BB because of its size and quality of its screen, its keyboard quality and layout. 

Thanks for reading.