Posted by Dogmann
Hi all,
Well this is my first Blackberry and it's been a little over 24 hours so i thought it was time to start my review of this great device and how i have found out so far.
The Bold is not large or heavy device and it fits comfortably in the hand although it's construction is all plastic it's definitely not cheap or nasty. Far from it is true it is very tactile and has a real feel of quality to, it just feels good in your hand well at least it does in mine. Once you turn it on the screen immediately draws your attention to it as it is both bright and sharp and after all is being said to be best in class with it's 480x320 resolution. I would say it is one of the brightest and clearest screens i have ever used and i really don't think these pictures do it justice you really need to see it in person to fully appreciate it.
Now this being my first Blackberry i was some what worried about just how complicated setting up my E-Mail accounts were going to be. What with the talk of Pin's and and activating accounts i was expecting a slightly complicated and time consuming procedure was awaiting me. How wrong i was after you have phoned the Network and activated the Sim Card and turned on the phone and received the Sim messages you then turn it off and on again your met by a set up wizard. This requires very little information as you choose which type of E-Mail accounts you want on your device just repeating the procedure as you add each one. You then receive a confirmation message from the Activation Server and your good to go with all your E-Mail accounts ready. I don't know why but some how i thought i had to create a @blackberry E-Mail address and then forward all my other accounts to that, thankfully that's just not the case and it really is as easy if not easier then most set ups IMO.
Next thing i did was to set up my WiFi Network again a really simple and easy wizard guides you through the process of entering your Networks name and Security Key and that's it you now have WiFi access. So far i have only been Browsing via WiFi and the Bold uses it's own and not the Orange browser for this and I'll never use the Wap Browser either. You have a couple of nice options of how you want the Blackberry Browser to appear basically either Internet Explorer or FireFox and actually there are a wealth of options for you to tweak if you so wish from font size to java script or pictures it's all there if you want it.
The only 3rd party apps i have added is MyAlarm and a free BlackBerry Push Weather app. If i have one compliant so far it is only one thing and that is how long it takes to sync with Outlook as it appears to check and recheck the entire database even though i am only syncing one year past and one year forward of appointments but in all honesty i can live with that.
I have copied about 25 Albums to the Bold all in 256kbps AAC from iTunes and have to say listening to them with my Shure ear phones is good enough for me to say goodbye to my iPod. In fact even playback via the Bolds own speakers is good enough for some casual listening IMO. Now video playback is stunning on the Bolds screen and it's like watching on a small LCD TV colours and quality is just exceptional IMO. The speakers do an excellent job with TV shows and Music Video's alike and make for a very good viewing experience.
I have also used the Calender and found it to be nice and easy to use and as good as any other Pim i have used on a mobile. So far i have found my time with the Bold to be excellent and easy it's all quite logical and simple and the Bold is fast and a well thought out device. The keyboard is excellent and so is the trackball for moving the mouse around pages or items. In fact i am so comfortable with the BB OS and the Bold that last night i actually upgraded my firmware as i had a slight issue with losing the 3G signal as experienced by many users with this earlier firmware, thankfully this is now resolved with the newer firmware.
The firmware upgrade was very easy and much to my surprise and without any extra interaction from me it backed up and restored everything on my Bold for me. Now that's a first and in fact by the time it had rebooted it even had the confirmation messages that it was activated again talk about a painless process. Even better is i now have the Precision Zen Theme now the Bold also seems slightly faster to.
Here are some basic pictures of how small and slim the Bold is this one shows the USB port left hand side soft key which is user definable and the Memory card slot.
This is the other side showing the Volume keys and right hand side camera key.
Lastly a picture of the back of he Bold with it faux leather cover.
If anyone has any specific questions feel free to ask and I'll try and answer them, but be gentle with me as i am no BB expert this is my first and only my second full day with it. But so far my E90 looks like it's time may well be up with me and my iPods definitely is.
Marc
_________________
Blackberry Bold Pin2553F455
Nokia E90,8GB SDHC, Seven, Tom Tom 6
Honoured to have Won Best Debater for the 2nd Year
[ This Message was edited by: Dogmann on 2008-08-27 18:30 ]
Posted by Dups!
Congratulations there Marc!
I've always found BBs to be strange looking- I guess that's their uniqueness.
Anyways, how is the call quality? Also, how are the keys when typing on them?
Posted by SE-Naz
Good write up... Hope we got more of an update later
Making me consider purchasing the BOLD now...
Cheers
ENJOY
Posted by reyaan
i really appreciate your effort ........... very nice
Posted by Nanu
Nice one Marc.....
I look forward to part deux!
Posted by Burgaz
You've just made me want to come back to BB soooo BAD!!!! I want a Bold!!!! I'd order one if my missus wouldn't kill me! £450 sim free Aaaaarrrrgh!
Posted by Caspa
Marc...
Think we'll be rolling these out in the office so would be interested to know what the call quality is like and also general signal strength...
All the previous ones (blackberry models) my colleagues have used have had issues around dropping calls or not allowing calls to be made...
Sounds like they have really pushed the boat out with this one though!
Posted by iksplusipsilon
Nice review ! Could you comment on the general speed of interface, messaging and contacts especially ? Thank you . I never had a BB, but you made it sound tempting ...
This message was posted from a WAP device
Posted by MattJ
Marc,
I Believed you also tested the E71. How does the Bold measure up to the E71. Maybe later you can do comparison with the E71 and Treo Pro
Thanks, Bro
Posted by Dogmann
Hi all,
Well a few days later so a bit of an update all this talk of a 3G signal problem and reacquiring it is defiantly a software issue IMO. The reason i say this is on the first Orange firmware i had this problem even though i selected 3G only and even had the SOS only show and take ages to get back a 3G signal.
After upgrading it got lot better and didn't see the SOS only at all although did occasionally drop the 3G it came back quite fast. Now i am on the latest firmware V4.6.0.134 and i am seeing a much stronger 3G signal mostly 4-5 bars where as before it was only 2-3.
Well as I've got used to the Bold over the last couple of days i have to say i really like the PIM app more than either the one on S60 or Handy Calender. As i can customise my fonts and lots of other features which makes it really easy for me to set it up how i like it. As you would expect E-Mail is also very good and again with lots of easy to implement options. I also have to say the whole OS really is very fast and navigation with the trackball is both very fast and accurate.
Actually what makes the Bold so much better than most other devices is that you have a choice of 12 different Fonts to choose from and 8 different sizes. This is what makes the entries in the calender so nice to look at and so easy to read and the same goes for reading and composing E-Mails to.
I have done some Web browsing though not a lot and have found the browser quite quick and easy to navigate and you can magnify it very easily with just two clicks and scrolling with the trackball is very quick. If i am honest the Web browser isn't as good as the S60 but it's not bad either as i start to get used to it magnifying and scrolling are very fast and easy and Esato for instance works perfectly.
I haven't used the Camera as yet but as i do and use the other features i will report back what i find.
To be honest i prefer it to the E71 i tested although the E71 was all metal and had great build quality i was disappointed by it's Multimedia and screen. The Bold in this area is much better IMO the Music Player is excellent and i will be selling my iPod very soon. I also really like the way the Bold OS is and navigation are just so easy. Really within only a matter of hours i was at home with it and the Bold for me is a keeper.
Marc
_________________
Blackberry Bold, 8GB SDHC, Pin2553F455
Nokia E90, 8GB SDHC, Seven, Tom Tom 6
Honoured to have Won Best Debater for the 2nd Year
[ This Message was edited by: Dogmann on 2008-09-03 18:14 ]
Posted by Burgaz
Any chance of a sample pic or two taken with the bold's camera? I really need to see the image quality before i part with
again! 
Posted by Dogmann
@Burgaz
Check out My E90 for sale thread as all those pictures were taken with the Bold. Or even my iPod for sale thread where again all the pictures were taken with the Bold to.
Marc
_________________
Blackberry Bold, 8GB SDHC, Pin2553F455
Nokia E90, For Sale
Honoured to have Won Best Debater for the 2nd Year
[ This Message was edited by: Dogmann on 2008-09-07 02:40 ]