It’s never fair to put a death sentence on any mobile device. Some say, hey – iPhone is the king, some say no Nokia is better… then there’s hey! Blackberry RAWKS! I have personally used Nokia, Siemens, SonyEricsson, LG, Samsung, Philips, Motorola, Apple, HTC… the list goes on and on but I’ve NEVER used a BlackBerry!
Opportunity came when Xpax had this super awesome offer which you would have heard of if you follow me on Twitter. That aside, I finally took the bite to see what this rave on the BlackBerry is all about…
First impression
Wow… this thing is so freaking light! I couldn’t wait to get it charged up, turn on the power and see what this baby could do… TADA! My first outing with the new baby and it’s friends… coffee and blackforest.
Setup
There was literally ZERO setup needed when it came to the BlackBerry… turned it on… went through the simple guide on familiarizing with the operating system, waited for the BlackBerry service to be activated and away I went! No long installation of apps… no strange operator settings to key in – NOTHING.
The WiFi nag…
If there is one thing I don’t like about the BlackBerry, it’s the WiFi irritance. While I was waiting for my BlackBerry Data serivce to be activated and since my BlackBerry Curve 8520 came with WiFi – I turned it on, (connection to the access point was super easy btw) started the Internet Browser and surfed… everything went well but it ends RIGHT THERE. I tried activating the pre-installed MSN Messenger – NOPE – it didn’t work with WiFi… I tried TwitterBerry (Blackberry Twitter app) – didn’t work either…
After doing a bit of research on the net, apparently, Blackberry has this strange policy on apps on what sort of apps are allowed to go online via WiFi – most apps are required to use the BlackBerry Data Service. Some apps like UberTwitter – another Twitter app for the Blackberry has somehow managed to go pass that restriction and is allowed to access WiFi.
Solution? Get the Blackberry Data service. Without that, your Blackberry is erm… wouldn’t be operating at it’s fullest potential 
On the bright side, there are some awesome and affordable Blackberry packages… do a bit of telco shopping… Xpax offers theirs at only RM 1 per day – PREPAID style – best part is you can selectively turn on the service on days you really need it.
Apps & Social Media
Here is where the BlackBerry really shines. There’s an application store which you can download and purchase apps – but it doesn’t end there, go online – do a bit a surfing and you’d be surprised to find tonnes and tonnes of apps available for download… most of the great ones are free AND you can download it right off the developer’s website.
- UberTwitter
One of the coolest Blackberry Twitter apps out there – supports VideoTweets, PhotoTweets – super intuitive interface and works on WiFi!
- Facebook
One of the best Facebook apps I’ve used on a mobile device. Poke, upload photos, comment, accept invitations – does it all – enough said – highly highly recommended
- BlackBerry Messenger
To the blackberryholic, it’s called the BBM. This thing is SUPER MASSIVE ADDICTIVE! I was on it the WHOLE time and from the name, you can guess it’s exclusively for BlackBerry owners. Every BlackBerry has a PIN. Just key in your friend’s BlackBerry PIN and voila – you guys are connected – 24/7 LITERALLY! Send files, themes, ringtones, send instant messages – ABSOLUTELY FREE
And then of course, there’s the MSN Messenger which was EQUALLY awesome. Turn it on – leave it signed on and you’re online 24/7.
It’d be impossible to list all the apps here – there’s just too much to discover!
Integration – it’s what makes life super easy
Here’s another area which puts the Blackberry above many mobile phones I’ve used. It’s integration. Here’s an example – the Blackberry uses one unified mailbox – look at all your Facebook, BlackBerry Messenger, E-mail messages in ONE PLACE. There is no need to open each application to see if anyone has spoken badly about you on facebook or sent you a love message via BBM. It’s almost like a central command centre.
Another example of super awesome integration is the Facebook app. Once you’ve gotten it installed… these features are instantly enabled
- You’ll see upload photo to facebook in the options menu while viewing any photo
- You get contacts synchronization! Lazy to take photos of each of your friends and place them in your contacts? No worries, hit sync your Blackberry will pull every relevant information including profile picture of your friend in Facebook to a matched contact entry in your BlackBerry contacts!
- Facebook integration in BlackBerry’s unified messaging app
Best of all, it’s COMPLETELY FREE!
Device and operating system on the overall…
I’ve checked out a few BlackBerrys – Amrita (our producer owns the Bold), got a friend who recently brought in a grandpa of Blackberrys – and I have to say the curve got most of everything right…
Form and function
Firstly, I think Blackberrys on the overall have superb built quality. I love the trackpad on the Curve 8520 – first Blackberry to have this feature – instead of a roller-nipple ball you find on most Blackberrys, the trackpad works best. I find the keys a tad too small on the Curve compared to ones on the Bold – it takes a day or two to get used to but after awhile you’ll be typing novels on it… the tactile feedback is awesome.
Little surprises…
Operating system wise, Curve 8520 and Bold uses the same new BlackBerry OS. It’s extremely easy to navigate – apps are easy to install and remove – I was caught by surprise on how easy it was when I was trying to uninstall an app. Just highlight the app in the main screen, hit the “blackberry” button – out comes a context menu, select “delete” and that’s IT!
The beauty of the ‘BlackBerry button’
I think BlackBerry has gotten their OS right. The context menu via the BlackBerry button works like a charm everytime. Need to do something to say a picture, text message, phone number, song, app – hit the BlackBerry button and I can guarantee you 99% of the time – you’ll find what you were thinking of doing…
And the verdict…
Hats off to the BlackBerry world – great device, great OS, great apps – just freaking work on the WiFi thing man!!! It’s a device you won’t regret owning. Now I truly understand the BlackBerry craze… BlackBerry – you’ve got my respect.
This post can also be found on my Fly FM Blog
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I should have waited for this. Need to dump my 5800xm. Nuuuuuuu!
hey.. when u use the msn apps or facebook, how do they charge u? do they charge u with the gprs or is it for free? i also want to know the downside of blackberry.is it fragile?
awww. I want this BB man!
Maisarah, once you’ve got the blackberry data service, it’s all inclusive. Xpax for instance charges you RM1 for 24 hrs usage of the service. Note that the RM1 package only allows surfing of net plus social networking. The other package is RM2.50 where you get push email as well.
Dear All,
Don’t be too overly excited about the BalckBerry Curve 8520 and their service provider Celcom! I got the Exec50 + Blackberry unlimited service postpaid package from Celcom. Here are some of the minus points that I must highlight, as I felt victimised by the lack of information given by the Celcom Dealers before I got this deal.
1) The entry BlackBerry service (RM38) only gives you 128kbps access speed (very slow and you will pull your hair out waiting for any form of network access). You can’t also opt for the Blackberry advance package (RM98) which is suppose to give you faster access, BECAUSE Blackberry Curve 8520 cannot support it!!! So if your get 8520 you are stuck with the slow access! (This was not told to me by the dealers, so I felt cheated!)
2) If you are a Facebook fan … be prepared…the V1.7 applet for facebook is not built to support the blackberry browser! It is volatile and unstable …you will keep getting login expired messages and data service unavailable from service provider! At times you will not be able to log in through the aplet at all. Even the Celcom/Blackberry technical experts does not have an answer to this!
3) The blackberry default browser does not support twitter as well, so similar log in problems you will experience.
Have fun using BB Curve 8520!
Hey Vic, thanks for dropping by!
Just a couple of things to note…
From a technical perspective, the Curve 8520 supports EDGE class 10 connection which allows up to 236.8 kbps data speed. This in my opinion is very decent for a mobile device – especially when most applications you intend to use on the BB are mostly text and graphics intensive – ie. Facebook, Twitter, Webpages…
Just to give you an idea, at maximum speed – a 3MB file would take approximately 1 1/2 – 2 minutes to download! – that’s the average size of 1 music file…
I believe my XPAX RM2.50/day BB Service was at 128kbps – sure it is no competition with a home / office broadband connection – but it’s certainly better than a 56kbps connection we used to have during the dial-up modem days.
As for the blackberry browser issue with Facebook & Twitter websites – personally, I haven’t tried and probably wouldn’t attempt to go on Facebook / Twitter using the browser due to the complexities on these sites – come on man, it’s a mobile browser – meant for just casual surfing
I’d suggest downloading the Facebook app and tonnes of available Twitter apps such as UberTwitter which I mentioned in my post – these apps provide a VERY fluid user friendly interface that works superbly with the BlackBerry. I’ve never had any problems with these apps.
Oh and one more thing, something I noticed when using my BlackBerry – if you find that your browser loads sites a little too slowly, go into the browser’s settings and set the “Browser :” to “Internet Browser” when surfing using your mobile operator’s network – this makes things a whole lot snappier.
Ok fine, one LAST thing…
do checkout this BlackBerry Internet Browser alternative – Bolt Browser – pretty neat!
Have fun!
Ben
Bought this machine few days back..
highly impressed with this device..though Agree with the Author here with Wifi issue..
but overall extremly impressive machine