My old 3G has had its day, I'm not fussed on getting another iPhone to over priced for what they are. I don't like android, so am thinking about a Blackberry, I've never even held one let alone play with one but my boss will give me a nice new one free at work if I want, Will it be a difficult move? I use my iPhone mainly just for email, twitter and facebook, some music, limited net use.

Opinions please?

Don't do it, seriously you will regret it. Why not try an iPhone 4 on free £99 on a £30 per month contract

If you can get one for free you may as well try it at the very least.

I have a BlackBerry Pearl and I really like it, I couldnt use a BlackBerry curve as it is too fiddly and I like a normal keyboard.

I think he had in mind a bold 9780, reviews seem decent enough but I think after having an iPhone everything else will look like carp

I and everyone else I know went from a Blackberry to an iPhone. I wouldn't dare go back. Blackberrys are the worst smartphones in regards to spec and everything else, they're notorious for breaking. I have mine 6 months and had it fixed too many times to keep count. Got iPhone 4 now and love it. Gonna stay with iPhone.

If you can get a BB 9780 for free then you might as well as it's as far as I know the most expensive one they have. It still does all the same Twitter, email and Facebook stuff. It's not very good for surfing the net compared to the iPhone though.

Anything in particular against Androids? There are many android models (varying in price, physical keyboards etc.) and are cheaper to run than the iPhones.

Android are ok, I've played with a galaxy s and a blade, both had issues, the galaxy s with gps and the blade was just slow. I don't wanna put much money in. It go a max £100 @ 30pm. I'd love a nexus s though but what I like about blackberry is the utms or whatever it's called as my orange signal is shit at home.

So that's my choices, could I get a nexus s at that price?

If you go blackberry, i'd recommend aiming for the Bold range, as others have said - I'm not keen on the curve's keyboard.

I think the 9780 comes with O/S version 6 - which brings with it a much better browser interface (webkit browser)

I've had a blackberry torch (slide out qwerty plus touch-screen) and apart from a couple of minor issues (always resolved by removing and re-inserting the battery) it's been very reliable.

There's less "fun" apps available, as they seem to be more business orientated, but then I don't really see the need for a drum kit or whatever on my phone! Plus you can install un-approved apps too, outside of blackberry's own app world.

Modern Blackberries can handle that no problem.

The new Blackberry Playbook is good if you can get it,
plus it can handle Java Script and Adobe Flash which Apple does not support

For the uses you have stated, the Blackberry will be ideal.

I'm thinking of the Pearl, simply because the usage of my phone has dropped since changing jobs. I just need a phone to use for email and the odd information foray into the web and maybe some satnav capability....All the rest would be unused so loath to spend vast amounts.
Is the Pearl any good as I like the look of it.

I have the BB Torch, would never go back to an iPhone. Goodness.

I think your right in avoiding Android its cheap and nasty and the only reason its popular with phone manufactures is because its free to use. But to move from iPhone to Blackberry is like giving up a Ferrari for a Citroen Saxo - dont do it Man! At least wait for the new iphone which is rumoured to be out this September, bet you wont regret it!

I agree with everyone above. You'll regret going from iPhone to Blackberry.

The best iPhone alternative on the market at the moment is the Samsung Galaxy S II (Not the first one lol!). You can get it on a contract of £25 per month from mobiles.co.uk with £45 upfront on Orange, or £30 with £30 upfront on Vodafone or Orange.
Its a great phone, read the review here- http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pho...-930907/review and http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-pho...view-50002442/

i tried a blackberry, but i could not get used to the small keys. also if the Blackberry system goes down you are scewed for everything apart from text and phone calls.

What is wrong with Android? HTC Android GUI is pretty good.

Every phone have issues and the more complex they get the more issues they have


Even my old Nokia 3310 had issues, every few weeks it would just lock up

A friend got so fed up of her Iphone she chucked it out of the window , it was so funny.
she now got a bog standard standard Sony Erricson

Phone manufacture use Android because it saves them writing their own O/S and it works well.

Apple would not allow Samsung to use their O/S, Blackberry would not allow LG to use their O/S and Microsoft phone Os until now have been pretty poor.

So if you was producing a phone , would you spend a few million on making a new O/s or get one that works fine that is already produced?


Android is already taking over the Iphone, if that is a good thing or not is another thing.

i don't understand this devotion to the Iphone or anything for that matter. It is a phone.

I was watching a programme about brands I recorded and they was on about people being Apple fans, I don't see the point in it.

I buy stuff that do what I want it to do, not because it got a certain brand name on it. sure i will sometimes pick a brand because I have had one that been reliable before.
Like printers I will got for Cannon because I have never had any problem with them, but if someone came out with a printer that was better and it been proved to be better i would get that one.

I am not a fan of HP to be honest, but I got one of their scanners.

Brand loyalty is a waste of time

Says a person who knows very little about Android.

The main reason is that yes it is open sourced and therefore easily customisable.

It is not cheap and nasty as it is based upon a Linux kernel. Tried, trusted and very stable.

Thats a really, *REALLY* lousy comparison.

Its more like moving from a pimped up/halfords special Saxo 1.4 to a Saxo VTR. Overall the same, just that one looks better.

iOS is fine, but there's no way that it deserves the fanboi-ish comments that follow it around.

Haven't tried the later BB devices, so can't comment on the quality of the browser - don't assume that just because its webKit based that it'll be good. Nokia have been using a webKit based browser for years, and thats got them nowhere.

At the end of the day, it depends on what you want - there's nothing wrong with any of the smartphone systems.

iOS offers a simple UI but no widgets (yet)
Android offers almost too much choice in devices and a ridiculously flexible homescreen
Nokia (at least with the N8) give you a camera way beyond any other phone, and a reasonable range of apps
BB is still the leader in corporate messaging (although I fail to see how they've become so popular amongst kids)

And I'd suggest to anyone considering a playbook to just sit back and ignore it for a while, it doesn't seem to have any real selling point.

That baffles me aswell, I see alot of teens with Blackberry now.

I think if you install the opera web browser, you should be fine if there are ever problems with the blackberry network, as that should use the mobile network internet, rather than blackberry internet.

i love iphones.. hate blackberry's, they're so crap and ugly looking (imo) and lol i'm always seeing loads of people saying their bb has broken... like someone said they're notorius for breaking.. ..

BBM, E-Mails and qwerty keyboard..

I lose track of the folk who message me to say their BB has broken and here's their new BBM code etc.