Guest glavacem Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 I am curious as to who owns a Blackberry phone? Has anyone bought one with the thought in mind that Fairfax owns a large portion of BB. I recently purchased a Blackberry passport after owning an android phone. I must say after three years of being away from Blackberry it is good to be back. The passport is hands down the best phone I have ever used, and it grows on you a ton over time. It's to bad Blackberry doesn't really do marketing anymore. I didn't make the purchase because of Fairfax, but it's good to support a Fairfax investment. I sure missed the physical keyboard. I try to promote blackberry where I can. It's amazing how many people think the company is going out of business. I think some marketing on this point alone would be worth the effort. No one really knows these guys are surviving.
beerbaron Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 I own a Z10 and I love it, the Android emulation works very well for all my applications. Overall, I would give it a 9. BeerBaron
augustabound Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 The guys I work with and a couple of the other contractors we sub contract with/for have Blackberry. We all started because of the email and BBM. It was just an ease of use thing so we're all on the same page so to speak. I got a BB Bold 9900 free from one of them and just put my sim in from my old Curve. So I haven't had to pay for a phone in years. One by one they're all changing over to iPhone or Android. When I'm at the point of needing to switch over to Samsung I will. I don't want to go iPhone, I've heard it's a cult. Once they have you in their grasp, on go the track suit and velvet running shoes. Onward and upward to meet The Jobs. :P But really, I have an Android tablet and I love it, that's why a Samsung for me. There seems more selection even with Samsung over the other Android phones. With iPhone there's only one phone at a time. Unless you opt for the 6XL thingy over a 6. Options are nice. As the days go on I'm finding the apps more and more useful, something BB doesn't have, or at least doesn't have an abundance of. And the camera in BB suck. I need it sometimes to send pics of progress or a clarification on something on the jobsite and the BB is frustrating since the pics are of such low quality. Sometimes I have my wife's old iPhone on days I know I need pictures. It's so much better.
Aberhound Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 I have the Passport and love it. The speakerphone is excellent. Reception is solid due to the directional Paratek antenna. Excellent camera. Battery lasts days. I need to read and reply to office emails and documents so I need the thumb keyboard to be efficient. It is faster to reply on the Blackberry than on a regular keyboard becase the word prediction and keyboard are so good.
StubbleJumper Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 I confess that I use a BB and that my old Android is gathering dust in a drawer. About the only thing I do with my 'droid is put in a SIM with a US carrier so that I don't get raped on roaming charges. The BB's mechanical keyboard is awesome. The messaging "hub" is a nice way to manage my various accounts. The web browser is so-so, but I don't make much use of it anyway. For day-to-day use, it's a great workhorse, even it makes me look square. SJ
DCG Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 I can't even remember the last time I've seen someibw with a Blackberry - I'm talking years.
kevin4u2 Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 I have a BB Z10. I wouldn't own an iPhone if you paid me. To those who have a passport, how to you find the size? I was amazed at how big it is. Interested in your perspective.
Guest glavacem Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 Kevin, Love the size of the passport, though it does take some getting used to. I wouldn't want to keep it in pants that are to tight when you sit down. Screen size is great for the Web and everything else. Build quality feels solid.my wife's iPhone feel like a plastic toy after using my passport(not knocking the iPhone as it is a good phone).
Guest glavacem Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 Augustabound, You can now get many android apps on blackberry. I just switched back to blackberry after three years with android and I can't say I am missing anything. I grew tired of doing a search on android and getting 10000 responses. I read that 60% of apps in the apple store have not been downloaded even one time. I am sure android has similar stats. You are correct about the pictues on blackberry. The classic only has an 8 mp camera while the passport has 13. But my passport takes its time with the autofocus. I believe this can be corrected through software. When it does focus it takes a very nice picture(the passport). I am not sure about samsung, but I believe blackberry is behind in camera technology, and yes, business people do need a good camera.
augustabound Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 Augustabound, You can now get many android apps on blackberry. Only the 10 and Passport thought right?
Guest glavacem Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 I believe the android apps are now built into blackberry world. So the passport and classic, I believe. I am not sure about z10,z30,q10.
Cageyone Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 I got a Playbook shortly after they came out and found it far superior to my previous Android tablets. So when I heard they were going out of production I got two more! I started following BlackBerry technological advances and decided to get a Z10 as a shirt pocket Wi Fi device and later a Passport. Both are amazing in terms of predictive typing for emails and the potential for linking to my desktop (e.g. through Blackberry Blend with the Passport) and BBM as an instant messaging service. Ironically I'm still using a 10 year old flip cell phone on which I have a lot of prepaid time as I try to decide whether to transfer the prepaid time to the Z10 or the Passport. From most reports the BlackBerry technology is superb but is not well known, perhaps due to the fact that most of the marketing for the past year or so has been "word of mouth"!
CONeal Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 I own a Z30 and love the phone. Very easy to use and does everything I want it to do very well.
TwoCitiesCapital Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 I was considering getting the Passport when I wanted to upgrade my last phone a few months back. I had never owned a Blackberry before but am frustrated typing on my touch screen phones and constantly get typos (and hit the '.' instead of the spacebar all of the time). I do a lot of e-mailing and blog writing from my phone so it'd be nice to have something more accurate. That being said, I was a little hesitant to make the jump since so much of my life is wrapped up in Google Apps on Android (like Inbox, GoogleNow, Google Calendar, etc.) and I do most of my banking online through the various apps for my banks/credit cards. I know that most, if not all, of these apps can be access from a BB phone now, but I have reservations about how well they function off of their native platform. Also, the Passport hadn't been released on my carrier yet and I didn't want to wait a few more months to get the phone so I ended up picking up a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 instead. I do watch every release they make though and am more tempted to get one with each release that I've seen.
kfh227 Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 I have a Z10 from release. My wife has a Z30. She loves her phone. I like mine but want an upgrade. I first learned about BB10 due to Fairfax. I saw the investment in BBRY. I researched BBRY. I could not fathom why the stock was beaten up. I invested and bought a phone because I saw what BB10 was going to be. I left an Android phone. And I don't miss it. BB10 really shows how first gen the iOS and Android experience are. BB10 is a second gen phone OS. 10.2.x did Android emulation well but 10.3.x is on a whole new level. I live in Connecticut and I don't know anyone else with a BB10 phone. I want a Passport .. really badly. But I don't think it will work in an armband (as I am a runner) and this is a use case for me. I am blown away that older people that don't play games bother with Apple and Android when BB10 would suit their needs much better. As for advertising, they are not interested in the consumer market. They are righting the Enterprise business before they consider going after the consumer hardware segment. And to be frank, if they right the ship in enterprise and decide that hardware is not profitable, they will probably be a software only company. They already said that they are bringing the hub to Android and iOS. So, that might be symbolic of their plans. I think they will still make hardware because they fill a niche. But I don't know if it is forever. To address what someone else said .... I will clarify. If you install 10.3.x you will get the Amazon app store. I am not sure if this is geography or carrier related though. You can also sideload Snap. Some familiarity with computers is needed to do that though. But not much. I wouldn't have my in-laws try it on their own. If you are a nerd, you can get Google services working (maps, etc) but that requires that you modify binary files with a 3rd party app. Many do it, but I don't care to. If I could get a passport in my hands I would consider it as an upgrade .... so PM me if you can help out ;-)
kfh227 Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 And the camera in BB suck. I need it sometimes to send pics of progress or a clarification on something on the jobsite and the BB is frustrating since the pics are of such low quality. Sometimes I have my wife's old iPhone on days I know I need pictures. It's so much better. Agree but much of that quality is just HDR. You can enable it in the latest BB10 software too. But even HDR doesn't save any BBRY camera quality issues. The hardware is lesser. I don't mind that it is lesser than some android phones. It has to be. But when they can not match Apple, that is a problem.
Guest glavacem Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 In the usa you can get an unlocked passport from Amazon.
Cageyone Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 As a semi-serious photographer I've never used an iPod or BlackBerry camera. Instead I always carry a high quality pocket-sized compact camera with a decent optical zoom and an SD card. The quality and flexibility is so much better!
cwericb Posted March 23, 2015 Posted March 23, 2015 Agree with what Cageyone says. Why would anyone who wants decent photos use a phone? I have a pocket Fuji with an SD card that I often cary and a Panasonic FZ-70 for more serious photos. But a phone camera is only for when you don't have anything else and just want a quick shot. PS. Why is ist that almost everyone shoots video from their phone in verticle mode rather than horizontal?? Jeez its not rocket science that screens are formatted horizontally. Sorry, just a pet peeve.
Crip1 Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 PS. Why is ist that almost everyone shoots video from their phone in verticle mode rather than horizontal?? Jeez its not rocket science that screens are formatted horizontally. Sorry, just a pet peeve. Drives me absolutely crazy... -Crip
nodnub Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 Agree with what Cageyone says. Why would anyone who wants decent photos use a phone? I have a pocket Fuji with an SD card that I often cary and a Panasonic FZ-70 for more serious photos. But a phone camera is only for when you don't have anything else and just want a quick shot. Imagine that you are on the move a lot. You are trying to carry as little stuff with you as possible, and still need to document stuff with pictures and immediately email that stuff or post it to social media. I know the camera quality on my phone is not great, but I always have it with me, and it's easy to send or post photos directly instead of uploading them from my compact camera to the computer first. PS. Why is ist that almost everyone shoots video from their phone in verticle mode rather than horizontal?? Jeez its not rocket science that screens are formatted horizontally. Sorry, just a pet peeve. It's a consequence of using the phone in portrait mode 95% of the time for almost every other task on the phone.
cwericb Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 Re: shooting video and pictures in vertical mode instead of horizontal... “It's a consequence of using the phone in portrait mode 95% of the time for almost every other task on the phone.” Yes, I realize this, but are people’s minds stuck in neutral? I mean really, if you are taking a picture or shooting video - turn the phone around it is not a complicated procedure. I guess that is what separates someone who takes photographs from someone who is simply trying to document something - but really do people put no thought into the end product? The funny part of this is that people will complain about picture quality and then shoot vertical and reduce the size and quality of their photo by about 50%. Go figure? As Crip says: This drives me absolutely crazy.
augustabound Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 I'm guessing the answer will be "no" to my question but, isn't is common sense to turn the camera or phone to whichever orientation suits your target? If I need a general shot of a completed home I use landscape but if I need something closer up like a fireplace surround I'll use portrait.
cwericb Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 No argument there at all, but many people always use portrait/vertical to shoot everything - particularly videos.
rkbabang Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 Re: shooting video and pictures in vertical mode instead of horizontal... “It's a consequence of using the phone in portrait mode 95% of the time for almost every other task on the phone.” Yes, I realize this, but are people’s minds stuck in neutral? I think you have found the answer to your question. Maybe do an instructional youtube video on how to rotate your hand 90° for better videos. You'll probably get a lot of views. "Most people would rather die than think; many do." --Bertrand Russell
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