BB rules, even to a smartphone addict
I just got my new BB8700r, having just came back from the post office where I HAPPILY mailed my Treo 650 to its new owner via eBay. The 8700 is my 4th BB after a 7780 and (2) 7290s (still have a 7290, great unit). I am a techno geek and so am surprised that my biggest gripe with the Treo was its mental overload factor, i.e. simply too much. A personal opinion, but that said there are a few key issues that really put me over the top:
- Very crappy phone. Drops calls all the time, often as soon as you press Send (often multiple consecutive times). Dialled number simply disappears. Also needs aftermarket software to boost volume functions to a usable level. Absurd.
- Tiny keys. I have tiny hands yet still was constantly mistyping numbers and text (infuriating since I am an SMS fanatic, 300+ / month). You can use the touchscreen to dial instead but this creates a new problem which is your ear inadvertently pressing virtual keys on the screen (i.e. "hang up in the middle of a call") when you don't have the screen disabled. Useless.
- Obsolete/abandoned OS. Despite the OS being over 10 years old, when using messaging you still have to force caps when starting a new sentence that is preceded by an exclamation or question mark. Autocaps work only when preceded by a period. Hello?
- Incomplete data export from Outlook. They don't tell you this, but if you choose to sync to Outlook instead of the seriously-obsolete Palm Desktop software, you only get some of the fields. Had to buy yet another expensive aftermarket app to bypass this. Garbage.
I'm just venting here but I am very happy to be back with the BB and its extremely mature, simple OS and interface. I love my 7290, but so far the phone quality of the 8700 is a big improvement, not to mention the upgraded screen. Only gripe so far is the cheesy SIM card slot under the battery (no more hinged holder but rather a slide-in friction-fit slot. Whatever.
Those still risking seduction by Treo might want to reconsider!
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