Hands0n
19th February 2010, 03:15 PM
Let me put my cards on the table right up front. I intensely dislike all things to do with Blackberry. There,. I've said it. Now lets move on. ;)
The wife's Vodafone contract has run its 18 months and the someone else's-dog-chewed Samsung slider something has seen better days. She liked it "because it is pink". A comment that made this old tech-head shudder to his core! No amount of "But... but ... but ..." would shift her, pink it was and pink it had to be, and so this awful Samsung entered the family. Gladly, now, it is going to be given to the person who's dog chewed it because she's deposited hers down the toilet - something that happens annually, it seems. I can't help feeling that the mobile manufacturers are missing out on an entire market - even if it were to get them branded sexist in the process :cool:
Swiftly returning to topic - as the contract neared its end my eldest lad, who now works at P4U, turned on the thumscrews. He's had a very happy experience with his Blackberry Bold 9700 and put on his best sales pitch at the missus. She got interested and a few days ago he took her on a test drive of his.
"But I don't want email and web browsing on my phone" my nearest and dearest Luddite retorted. Undeterred, eldest lad pressed on. We set up her own email on it, sent her a few, got a few back, took her for a browse around the Internet and generally got her to do a load of stuff on it. The thinking being that if she really doesn't like it we'd go see what new pink phone we can find on the shelf.
Anyway, she came away from the experience quite enthused and so, today, she has contracted for another 18 months at the big red V for a Blackberry Bold 9700 on that network.
I have had to do a little work to get her on to my WiFi here, also to install the obligatory Facebook app - so much for not wanting the Internet on her phone then.
Now, bearing in mind that I detest* Blackberry devices, that I have almost zero end-user experience, was in a rush and couldn't be bothered to read the manual, it was surprisingly easy to get on to the WiFi. The touch-sensitive scroll button is a dream to use, registering the least movement of the thumb across it. All of the menus and screens are entirely intuitive, suggesting to me that a manual is not really necessary for anyone with a modicum of familiarity with a modern smartphone. The WiFi is very fast - is it 802.11n on the phone? I don't know, but it certainly felt like it.
The screen is easy on the eye. I am not used to a landscape screen, but it is not at all unpleasant. The font used is very clear even for me with my glasses. Contrast ratios seems perfect.
If I have one persisting brickbat against the Blackberry Bold 9700 it is that damned keyboard. On the 9700, because of its smaller dimensions, the keyboard is miniscule. It is useable, just, but for me quite a chore. I am told to use my thumbs like I do on iPhone and Android touchscreen devices. My hands are not exactly huge, very average I'd say, but users of the the 9700 need the hands of a Geisha to be comfortable on that. No sir, I don't like it.
The Blackberry Bold 9700 has had critical acclaim in circles. It is a 3G device which is quite a departure for RIM who always believed 2G was good enough. It really isn't. And it is nice to see 3G so well implemented on the Blackberry Bold 9700.
... earlier BlackBerry machines were just too wide to hold to your ear for a phone call. The slimmer Bold 9700 is the best balance yet between comfortably narrow phone and conveniently wide keyboard.
Source: The Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/blackberry/6508898/BlackBerry-Bold-9700-review.html)
And that may well be the reason for the success behind this handset. It is certainly quite popular.
I doubt that it will put up with much of a chewing of the friend's dog, being mostly plastic and plastic. But it has a nice leather slipover to live in. And I have issued a stern warning about such goings on. I've not seen an 18-month-old Blackberry Bold 9700 so only time will tell as to its overall longevity. I mistrust plastic a lot.
So could I now recommend a Blackberry Bold 9700? Yes, albeit reservedly.
NB: * - my intense dislike of Blackberry comes from several experiences with their BES technology linked back to MS Exchange Server. It works, of course it does. But it was a nightmare to set up, develop and support. Such a clunky and clumsy approach to how to do push email. But an entire culture has sprung up around BB that no one can deny it an existence.
The wife's Vodafone contract has run its 18 months and the someone else's-dog-chewed Samsung slider something has seen better days. She liked it "because it is pink". A comment that made this old tech-head shudder to his core! No amount of "But... but ... but ..." would shift her, pink it was and pink it had to be, and so this awful Samsung entered the family. Gladly, now, it is going to be given to the person who's dog chewed it because she's deposited hers down the toilet - something that happens annually, it seems. I can't help feeling that the mobile manufacturers are missing out on an entire market - even if it were to get them branded sexist in the process :cool:
Swiftly returning to topic - as the contract neared its end my eldest lad, who now works at P4U, turned on the thumscrews. He's had a very happy experience with his Blackberry Bold 9700 and put on his best sales pitch at the missus. She got interested and a few days ago he took her on a test drive of his.
"But I don't want email and web browsing on my phone" my nearest and dearest Luddite retorted. Undeterred, eldest lad pressed on. We set up her own email on it, sent her a few, got a few back, took her for a browse around the Internet and generally got her to do a load of stuff on it. The thinking being that if she really doesn't like it we'd go see what new pink phone we can find on the shelf
Anyway, she came away from the experience quite enthused and so, today, she has contracted for another 18 months at the big red V for a Blackberry Bold 9700 on that network.
I have had to do a little work to get her on to my WiFi here, also to install the obligatory Facebook app - so much for not wanting the Internet on her phone then.
Now, bearing in mind that I detest* Blackberry devices, that I have almost zero end-user experience, was in a rush and couldn't be bothered to read the manual, it was surprisingly easy to get on to the WiFi. The touch-sensitive scroll button is a dream to use, registering the least movement of the thumb across it. All of the menus and screens are entirely intuitive, suggesting to me that a manual is not really necessary for anyone with a modicum of familiarity with a modern smartphone. The WiFi is very fast - is it 802.11n on the phone? I don't know, but it certainly felt like it.
The screen is easy on the eye. I am not used to a landscape screen, but it is not at all unpleasant. The font used is very clear even for me with my glasses. Contrast ratios seems perfect.
If I have one persisting brickbat against the Blackberry Bold 9700 it is that damned keyboard. On the 9700, because of its smaller dimensions, the keyboard is miniscule. It is useable, just, but for me quite a chore. I am told to use my thumbs like I do on iPhone and Android touchscreen devices. My hands are not exactly huge, very average I'd say, but users of the the 9700 need the hands of a Geisha to be comfortable on that. No sir, I don't like it.
The Blackberry Bold 9700 has had critical acclaim in circles. It is a 3G device which is quite a departure for RIM who always believed 2G was good enough. It really isn't. And it is nice to see 3G so well implemented on the Blackberry Bold 9700.
... earlier BlackBerry machines were just too wide to hold to your ear for a phone call. The slimmer Bold 9700 is the best balance yet between comfortably narrow phone and conveniently wide keyboard.
Source: The Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/blackberry/6508898/BlackBerry-Bold-9700-review.html)
And that may well be the reason for the success behind this handset. It is certainly quite popular.
I doubt that it will put up with much of a chewing of the friend's dog, being mostly plastic and plastic. But it has a nice leather slipover to live in. And I have issued a stern warning about such goings on. I've not seen an 18-month-old Blackberry Bold 9700 so only time will tell as to its overall longevity. I mistrust plastic a lot.
So could I now recommend a Blackberry Bold 9700? Yes, albeit reservedly.
NB: * - my intense dislike of Blackberry comes from several experiences with their BES technology linked back to MS Exchange Server. It works, of course it does. But it was a nightmare to set up, develop and support. Such a clunky and clumsy approach to how to do push email. But an entire culture has sprung up around BB that no one can deny it an existence.