RIM BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone
Cosmetic treatment?
Review If you’ve seen one BlackBerry, you’ve sort of seen them all: the latest models nearly all talk the same design language of smallish screen and biggish keyboard, the unchanging row of buttons and, generally a chrome frame.
Refashioned but still unmistakable: Rim's BlackBerry Bold 9780
And despite the fact that everybody who has one uses it for e-mails, Research in Motion doesn’t see fit to put the @ and full stop characters – which are essential in every email address –on lower-case keys on its BlackBerry devices. True, if you’re entering such an address you can press the space bar and the software knows to translate, but it still slightly beggars belief. Never mind.
So what’s new on this phone, the latest in the Bold series which sits at the top of the company’s range? Well, that de rigueur chrome frame has gone, replaced by a shiny black trim. The chrome “guitar frets” that sit between the rows of keys and improve typability are now also black. The leather-like panel on the back door now has a finer grain to it.
And that’s it. Otherwise the 9780 looks identical to its earlier sibling, the 9700. No problem, since the 9700 was a splendid phone, so it’s still light but reassuringly solid. It has an exceptional keyboard, thankfully unchanged from the 9700, and an efficient, if idiosyncratic, operating system. And it’s the operating system which has improved, using the new version first introduced on the Torch.
Also available in white
True, the screen, still a 2.4in model, looks a little stingy next to many touchscreens but this just reinforces the fact that this is a handset for work more than for video playback or hardcore gaming. Plus, if you want a big screen, as well as the peerless BlackBerry keyboard, you can opt for the Torch but I’d say the Bold is much more manageable than the somewhat bloated Torch.
Next page: Graphic overview
COMMENTS
IMAP Sync
And yet again no mention that the ultimate device is actually rubbish at synching using IMAP protocols. So home computer and mobile device aren't really in sync as it doesn't do 2-way sync. Big huge fail imo for individuals, not a problem for a corporate if they run their mail on Exchange and are willing to buy a BES but a horrid experience for email elsewhere.
Email addresses
"And despite the fact that everybody who has one uses it for e-mails, Research in Motion doesn’t see fit to put the @ and full stop characters – which are essential in every email address –on lower-case keys on its BlackBerry devices. True, if you’re entering such an address you can press the space bar and the software knows to translate, but it still slightly beggars belief. Never mind."
Just curious: where would you put the @ and . keys?
Since 99.9% of my emails are to people in my contacts, I just need type in (part of) their name rather than having to actually type out full addresses. I find the @ and . more problematic for web addresses; sometimes it's easier just to Google. I wish Opera Mobile was available (Opera Mini is crap on my Torch) so I could use Opera Link.
@ key...its only the biggest key on the keyboard.
I am not keen on blackberries and I generally detest short cut keys, but for flips sake even I cottoned on that within emails pressing the space bar does the job, and surely anyone constantly emailing would soon find that second nature.
I could not be bothered with the rest of the review after such an idiotic start, and leaped straight to the comment, though plainly I am not the first to take issue with this.
Playing with the device for 5 mins
Doesn't make a review.
There is a key with the @ symbol over the letter P, it is very accessible (alt+p), it has always been there for those first two hours in which you do not know that a double space on an email address means to automatically insert the @ symbol.
Someone suggested that it is not a good time to buy a blackberry because the bold touch is coming out... well what I have to say is that with electronics: IT IS NEVER A GOOD TIME TO BUY ANYTHING, as something better will get released the next six months.
It happens with mobiles, the ipad, nikon and canon cameras, processors, motherboards, monitors, flat tv's, your broadband connection package, paid TV, etc.
Aim for what you need right now, or else wait forever.
Full stop.
"And despite the fact that everybody who has one uses it for e-mails, Research in Motion doesn’t see fit to put the @ and full stop characters – which are essential in every email address –on lower-case keys on its BlackBerry devices. True, if you’re entering such an address you can press the space bar and the software knows to translate, but it still slightly beggars belief. Never mind."
A double space changes to a full stop - which works everywhere not just in e-mail addresses. Most normal users query the full stop within an hour or so of having a device. How can a professional reviewer not have noticed??
But concur with others here - really can we not have some proper hardware reviews? Signal quality? Battery life? Just seems nowadays to be a reviewer you need to play with the device for a few minutes - retype all the "facts" provided by the manufacturer - then go to the pub.
