Puremobile.com sent us in the BlackBerry Bold 9000 for a review. This is a heavyweight model in the smartphone area that's meant mostly for business, but how well an unlocked Blackberry phone really works? Is the Blackberry a phone that you really want to buy unlocked? This is what this review is going to investigate.
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Member since:
2005-08-18
It looks like this model has the same low-quality trackball as the 8820's do. That's a bummer cuz it is prone to stop working and there's no official or easy way to clean it. This is why I currently hate my Blackberry. I wish they had kept the sturdy scrollwheel that the previous models have.
Member since:
2005-09-21
I just got mine a few weeks ago, and it is worlds beyond my last phone (blackjack). And I like that ya mentioned the hall effect sensor (sensor activated by the magnet in the case) on the phone, as I didn't even find out about that feature until I had the phone for a day, maybe the reviewers that got ahold of this before didnt think it was worth mentioning?
The phone pulls in weak signals very well, Im currently the only person I know who can make and recieve calls at my house (upstate ny sucks!) and its only been with this phone. Everybody else has to use the house phone 
Overall good review, sucks about the needing the plan to use some of the features, but I had to have it anyways so unaffected. Good job!
Member since:
2005-11-17
I used a Blackberry 8700 for years, and before that a much older model (957). I've worked for multiple customers who support these devices on their network.
I can tell you that a Blackberry is not like any other smart phone in that it requires tight interaction with your provider to get it to work, and this is by design. The Blackberry is the device of choice for large companies and governments because it can be controlled very tightly, even down to the Remote Wipe feature of BES, which I believe has been certified under Common Criteria.
Windows Mobile has spent years catching up to RIM in this regard, and the features in Exchange 2003 SP2 and Exchange 2007 are a pale imitation of what RIM has been doing for years.
You can't buy one of these off of the street and have it work with your provider, even if it takes a SIM card. 6 years ago when I got my 957 for free, I had to call my provider at the time and have the previous provider release the serial number for my usage before I could even activate it!
Your provider has to have a Blackberry Enterprise Server to get it to work correctly, as it has to push out all of the device settings. Yes, they will charge you a lot of money for this, as will any provider. Expect to pay $50 a month for the privilege if you don't sign up for a plan.
On the AT&T network, you have to use their front-end web application to configure mail accounts for the device, as AT&T has to push out a Service Book for them. I know this because I had my Gmail account set up on my 8700, and it pushed the Sent Items to me as regular mail, which was annoying. I got the Gmail application from Google just to get rid of that annoyance.
I also had a customer with a Blackberry 8820 attached to a corporate network that wanted to get his Gmail, so we gave him that application too, as customers who have theirs attached to a corporate BES are restricted to the corporate e-mail environment there for their messaging.
To even use the web browser, AT&T has to push out a "Service Book" for that, as their browser uses proxy servers at the provider that will provide interaction with either the BES at the provider or corporate site it is attached to.
The Blackberry is a smart device on its own, however to give a full review of it, it needs to be on a network, as the device itself is designed to interact and be paired with a Blackberry Enterprise Server, located either at a provider or corporation.
In other words, this makes an iPhone look open by comparison.
Member since:
2005-07-06
Almost all of blackberries have some stupid designs that makes it bad choice as a cell phone.
I want my cell phone to be and act as a cell phone, not like a camera or Internet browser.
These cell phones hot keys are a shame; their nested windows are much worse than vista; its keys are very difficult to use (why not copy iphone keys).
Internet browser is a joke and never worked and the phone when unlocked will suffer from SIM card and Internal contact conflict.
Reception is not that good either but better than any Motorolla.
Programming the cell phone to do what you want is very difficult and not easy to find in their unorganized manual.pdf file they supply.
So I cannot recommend blackberries for cell phones but they are the best for drinks
Member since:2006-02-27
I wonder why you don't recommend them. Perhaps, from what you are saying, it looks like you've hardly or never used one.
It is so simple to use although i don't like the predictive text units (pearl etc). I've never had SIM/Contact conflicts so i don't know what problems you are talking about. I installed Opera Mini for decent browsing, the phone works brilliantly,
Its still streets ahead of the iPhone, it can even do "cut and paste" (and has done for years), can the iPhone do that yet?
Blackberrys will always be the benchmark for smart phones.
Member since:2005-06-28
Can you please be more serious and try understand the review?
I can't recommend them because they DO NOT WORK with EDGE/3G with ATT/TMob in the US when unlocked and "independent" from an enterprise account. That's why. And that's a major reason reason why.
So stop writing things like "not using them enough". I am not your average user. I have more gadgets in my closet than you have dust bunnies under your bed. But I need them to WORK as I expect them, and in this case, I expect it to work as a "fully unlocked" device (*that's* the product I am reviewing, not your off the shelf BB). But it didn't.
So stop thinking your off the shelf BB, this is not what I reviewed. I reviewed a "fully unlocked" generic device. If RIM wants a different review, they should send me a BB with a GSM BB account and an enterprise account too. But this was not what I reviewed here.
Edited 2008-10-28 10:42 UTC
Member since:2005-08-18
Member since:2005-06-28
Yes, that's what they should do. Because the product I reviewed was from PureMobile, not from a carrier or RIM. And that's what I reviewed. An UNLOCKED phone, which obviously bumps into carrier limitations. Why is this so difficult to understand? RIM didn't send me a phone, Puremobile did. So I reviewed what I got, not what it would have been "if".
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:
2007-11-13
This is the first BlackBerry review I've read where the reviewer actually seemed surprised by things like the BlackBerry data package and magnetic sensor.
On T-Mobile US at least, the basic BIS data package is the same price as the regular smartphone data package. It provides you with BlackBerry internet proxy and push email service, as well as standard TCP connection if you configure the APN correctly...Opera Mini, Google Maps and GMail work well on my BB.
As for the magnetic case sensor... my Pearl 8100 has that, and it came out over two years ago.
So other than the obvious inexperience with BlackBerries, great review!
Member since:2005-06-28
I have over 20 cellphones here, but this was my first Blackberry. The reason I hadn't requested a BB before was exactly because I was not going to have a special Enterprise account for it. OSNews doesn't provides us with anything like that as these things cost real money. So I had to review it as what it is: an unlocked device, and what you can do with it out of the box. Obviously not much.
Member since:2005-11-17
Eugenia,
Essentially, you've reviewed a near-completely crippled device then that works well over WiFi for apps that aren't coded to use the 3G/EDGE networking features.
How does video playback work? I would have liked to see that, as the first iteration didn't work so well on the Curve and 8700. The processor can handle it, it's just not well-used.
Member since:2005-06-28