Switching from Blackberry to Android. Suggestions?

[burn_baby_burn]

I currently have a Blackberry Torch with Telus and I'm up for my annual renewal in about 6 weeks. Seriously considering switching to Android (I don't want an iPhone since most of my friends and customers have them. Besides, Android has a bigger share of the market).

Please, I don't want this to turn into a RIM sucks debate. I'm well aware of anything to do with the demise of RIM, I have decided to switch and I would like some serious comments about what other posters on this forum think of their Android devices. If you were a previous Blackberry owner and have switched to Android please share what you like better about Android or what you miss (if anything) about the Blackberry. Also, please share what Android device you have and why you like it.

Thanks.

[OilKiller]

Used BB for the longest time. Went from a 9700 to a Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S).

I did miss BBM and the notification LED the most when I switched over.

Android is so much more configurable though. So many more apps. Bigger screen, better browsing. It's just a nicer experience.

Now is a great time to go Android because the devices are getting better and better and faster with dual core processors. The Motorola Razr is coming out. The Galaxy SII is one of the best smart phones available. Just so many choices.

The KB is nice on a BB, but I find that with Swype, I can go pretty damn fast on the touch screen and now that I'm used to it, I'm OK with no physical KB.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by OilKiller

Used BB for the longest time. Went from a 9700 to a Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S).

I did miss BBM and the notification LED the most when I switched over.

Android is so much more configurable though. So many more apps. Bigger screen, better browsing. It's just a nicer experience.

Now is a great time to go Android because the devices are getting better and better and faster with dual core processors. The Motorola Razr is coming out. The Galaxy SII is one of the best smart phones available. Just so many choices.

The KB is nice on a BB, but I find that with Swype, I can go pretty damn fast on the touch screen and now that I'm used to it, I'm OK with no physical KB.

BBM is nice, however I don't know too many people with Blackberry's anymore. So I'm using it less and less, basically just message with my wife and daughter.

[Red]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

I currently have a Blackberry Torch with Telus and I'm up for my annual renewal in about 6 weeks. Seriously considering switching to Android (I don't want an iPhone since most of my friends and customers have them. Besides, Android has a bigger share of the market).

Please, I don't want this to turn into a RIM sucks debate. I'm well aware of anything to do with the demise of RIM, I have decided to switch and I would like some serious comments about what other posters on this forum think of their Android devices. If you were a previous Blackberry owner and have switched to Android please share what you like better about Android or what you miss (if anything) about the Blackberry. Also, please share what Android device you have and why you like it.

Thanks.

So you don’t want an iphone because everyone has one, but you want an Android because everyone has one J

I wouldn’t get anything other than a Nexus or Moto. These two will get updates from Google. Samsung most likely won’t be updating their phones, neither will HTC etc. They never have in the past.

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by Red

So you don’t want an iphone because everyone has one, but you want an Android because everyone has one J

I wouldn’t get anything other than a Nexus or Moto. These two will get updates from Google. Samsung most likely won’t be updating their phones, neither will HTC etc. They never have in the past.

That's entirely untrue. Samsung and HTC released updates and always have, just at a later time scale than Google. Google typically gets their phones updated right away whereas Samsung usually updates almost a month or two after Google (due to driver differences and UI skinning, which I don't care for anyways). Galaxy S I had started off on 2.1 and has had three separate updates since, all the way to 2.3.3

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Red

So you don’t want an iphone because everyone has one, but you want an Android because everyone has one J

I wouldn’t get anything other than a Nexus or Moto. These two will get updates from Google. Samsung most likely won’t be updating their phones, neither will HTC etc. They never have in the past.

wow, i can smell the bull#### from here. Samsung and HTC have both updated plenty of older phones in their libraries to Gingerbread, and both have plans laid out for upgrading to Ice Cream Sandwich

seriously if the best info you can give to a thread like this is what you pull out of your ass, then just stay away

[Hemi-Cuda]

as for the OP, if you want a pure Android experience then you're coming in a perfect time with the Galaxy Nexus being released this month. it's made by Samsung, but it's a Google phone so it will be the first to receive updates and won't have any customizations that Samsung does with their other phones (though some people do like their TouchWiz UI). HTC is also releasing a new quad-core beast sometime soon, so if you can wait a bit longer it may be worth it

http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-ed...phones-america

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

as for the OP, if you want a pure Android experience then you're coming in a perfect time with the Galaxy Nexus being released this month. it's made by Samsung, but it's a Google phone so it will be the first to receive updates and won't have any customizations that Samsung does with their other phones (though some people do like their TouchWiz UI). HTC is also releasing a new quad-core beast sometime soon, so if you can wait a bit longer it may be worth it

http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-ed...phones-america

HTC Edge looks like a beast on paper but is darn fugly

[FlameOn]

To the OP, I have a Galaxy S (i9000M). It's been a great phone the year and half I've owned the thing. Not the best battery life compared to my feature phone, but I can get a day or two out of it depending on usage. Thing is fast and still is (with some upgrades), but does have a slightly plastic feel to it. Very sleek looking, but annoying thing is I have no flash on my camera... all of these things are fixed in the Galaxy SII. I've heard good things about HTC, but haven't actually used one personally though.

I got this phone because it has the largest user base out of all the Android phones at the time so it has the largest support in case I wanted to do custom ROMs, or get upgrades before Samsung officially approves or releases anything.

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by FlameOn

HTC Edge looks like a beast on paper but is darn fugly

Fugly? Looks good to me. What don't you like about it?

[Red]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

wow, i can smell the bull#### from here. Samsung and HTC have both updated plenty of older phones in their libraries to Gingerbread, and both have plans laid out for upgrading to Ice Cream Sandwich

seriously if the best info you can give to a thread like this is what you pull out of your ass, then just stay away

Ok there cowboy...

http://theunderstatement.com/post/11...ory-of-support

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by Red

Ok there cowboy...

http://theunderstatement.com/post/11...ory-of-support

My Captivate is a couple years old and I got Froyo and Gingerbread updates from Rogers. It's not all Android phones. They seemed to have picked some bizarre ones on that list IMO.

[Red]

Originally Posted by OilKiller

My Captivate is a couple years old and I got Froyo and Gingerbread updates from Rogers. It's not all Android phones. They seemed to have picked some bizarre ones on that list IMO.

ICS upgrades plans from Samsung.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comm...for_galaxy_s2/


and HTC

http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/07/h...wich-upgrades/

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by Red

ICS upgrades plans from Samsung.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comm...for_galaxy_s2/

Well, my phone is getting older. Time for a new one anyway. I'm OK with no ICS. That's life.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Red

Ok there cowboy...

http://theunderstatement.com/post/11...ory-of-support

posting a list of a select few old Android phones that didn't get updates is a huge leap from saying that no Samsung or HTC phones have ever gotten updates in the past

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by Red

Ok there cowboy...

http://theunderstatement.com/post/11...ory-of-support

That was bull though... you said they wouldn't update at all and that's not true.

The writer of that article was making unreasonable comparisons with selectively distorted facts. iPhone is considered a top end model ($640 price tag) and as such you should only compare it with top of the line offerings from other companies (such as the Galaxy S line $599).

What he is comparing is a variety of lower end phones (substantially cheaper than the iPhone with lower hardware specs, some of which are in the $200 range). Should these be updated at all when the hardware released for them is sometimes already out of date? If the hardware is out of date already and its priced at the low end target segment it might not run the update correctly. Apple nerfs the updates on the older hardware with selectively disabled features, is that not platform fragmentation as well? No Siri on Iphone 4 for example

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by OilKiller

Well, my phone is getting older. Time for a new one anyway. I'm OK with no ICS. That's life.

Samsung said that's the list they've already actively tested ICS on and not the full list of the devices that will receive upgrades on, since the Nexus S is practically identical to your captivate in terms of hardware and it's getting ICS, hopefully we still get it. Custom ROM will happen otherwise.

[Red]

Originally Posted by FlameOn

That was bull though... you said they wouldn't update at all and that's not true.

The writer of that article was making unreasonable comparisons with selectively distorted facts. iPhone is considered a top end model ($640 price tag) and as such you should only compare it with top of the line offerings from other companies (such as the Galaxy S line $599).

What he is comparing is a variety of lower end phones (substantially cheaper than the iPhone with lower hardware specs, some of which are in the $200 range). Should these be updated at all when the hardware released for them is sometimes already out of date? If the hardware is out of date already and its priced at the low end target segment it might not run the update correctly. Apple nerfs the updates on the older hardware with selectively disabled features, is that not platform fragmentation as well? No Siri on Iphone 4 for example

Believe what you want. Look at the comments on these news articles. An angry mob of android users. I thought it was worh to bring this up with the OP. Coming from a BB he is used to support. Fact is, you get very little with any android phone.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Red

So you don’t want an iphone because everyone has one, but you want an Android because everyone has one J

Because most of the people I deal with on a daily basis have an iPhone. I don't know anyone with an Android phone. I'm sure the iPhone is great, and Siri seems really appealing. However, I'm giving up the physical keyboard, Android has bigger screens on their phones. I thought it might be easier to type on a 4.3" screen than a 3.5" screen on the iPhone. I also want to be different, as long is different is better.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Red

Coming from a BB he is used to support. Fact is, you get very little with any android phone.

That is why I started this thread. If going to Android is going to be a pain in the ass becasue of the lack of support I may have to reconsider. However, I upgrade annually. So as long as I get the current version of Android (ICS) on my device. I should be good to go for the following year.