Cell Phone

BlackBerry Bold 9700 Phone (AT&T)
$499.99
The Blackberry Bold 9700 is a great new Blackberry with speed that I have yet to see on any model out there. Before this model my favorite was the Blackberry 8900 which lacked 3g capabilities and thus was a little tedious at times. The 9700 truly has everything that you will ever want out of a Blackberry:

* 480x360 High Resolution Screen
* Touch Sensitive Track PAD Which is FANTASTIC (the track ball on previous models was always a problem)
* A new upgraded CPU which makes this device SCREAM with speed.
* 3G and EDGE Cellular Service
* Wi-Fi
* 3.2 MP Camera with Auto Focus, Image Stabilization and a LED Flash.
* A new operating system - Version 5.0.x to be specific.
* Includes a 2gb Micro SD Card for storage of Music, Images, Videos, and Applications.
* Super clear speaker both in the handset and as a speakerphone. Loud and Clear... (Note, the previous bold had stereo speakers, this one does not)
* Micro USB Charging (Industry standard - previous bold had mini-usb)
* Elegant design with leather embossed battery cover

If you are looking to find a negative here then you will not...I have used these devices ever since the first one was introduced in the mid/late nineties and I can say will full confidence that it is the BEST BLACKBERRY I have ever used.

PS: You will see an identical review of this unit for the T-Mobile network...which is the only negative. I am a corporate user and we have both AT&T and TMO....AT&T is the clear leader with this device..

Please ask me any and all questions via the comments system and I will answer them as best as I can.

PS: Quick Note: I have a leather holster for my 8900 - the 9700 fits in it perfectly.

BlackBerry Bold 9700 Phone (T-Mobile)
$449.99
Alright, let me just say off the bat that as a former Bold 9000 user, I've been looking forward to the new Bold 2 for months since pictures were leaked on the internet. Since I get my phones through my company, I've had the phone since last Wednesday, when it was released on AT&T's network for Premier people.

The new Bold 9700 is a sleek phone - no doubt about it. RIM apparently has decided, though, to somewhat standardize their phones' look, a direction that bothers me to a great extent. One of the things I loved about the Bold was that it was different - you saw any other phone, and then you saw the Bold - and you thought "Wow, that phone IS bold!!" Size I couldn't care less about - as long as it looked good, and worked awesomely, what else matters? And the Bold 9000 fit those well. So when I got the new 9700, and I compared it to my coworker's Tour (for Verizon), I was quite surprised at how similar they were. You can barely tell them apart (the 9700 is a bit smaller, and also has the trackpad). Just an observation....

Alright - to the review:

Pros:

Trackpad - this is definitely a most welcome upgrade. RIM outdid themselves on this part - I thought the trackball was good, this trackpad is great! The older Bold's trackball was great, as long as you kept dirt and dust out of it. Which turned out to be somewhat difficult, since there was a depression surrounding the trackball, and so if too much dust or dirt got in, the ball needed to be replaced. Also, if you used it too much, the ball would lose its grip, and become less responsive, also - once again - needing to be replaced. Both those problems are now gone with this new trackpad. For former trackball users, it may take a little use to get to know it, but once you do, trust me - you'll never go back.

Speaker - the speakers on the Bold are nothing less than stunning. My friend has an IPhone, and my speakers for playing music and speakerphone blow his out of this century. Not only can they get very loud, but they also are quite clear and crisp, for the volume you can put them to. And, if that wasn't good enough, RIM includes AudioBoost - for when you hook your Bold up to your car or stereo system, which bumps the output sound even higher. Excellent....

OS - the new BlackBerry 5 OS, which comes preloaded on the phone, is a major improvement over the 4.6 version in most other phones. It's snappier, and quite more responsive.

Camera - RIM upgraded the camera from a 2 MP in the older Bold to a 3.2 MP in the Bold 9700. The pictures that the phone takes are quite good, even in poor light conditions. Of course, if you try to take pictures in the club with it - prepare to be somewhat disappointed. Ha. But for regular, everyday camera uses, that "quick shot", the Bold 9700 actually takes decent pictures. Nice for when you forget to bring that digital camera with you.

There's a couple other pros I can think of, but they're more along the lines of business users, or based on networks (you could get 3G speeds on AT&T's network since the first Bold - T-Mobile just got their first 3G BlackBerry with this phone). If you're interested in them, drop me a comment, and I'll get back to you.

Now, for the cons:

Battery - battery life is still somewhat bad, although it definitely is an improvement over the older Bold. I normally use Pandora - an App that plays Internet Radio, trust me, this should be one of the first apps you download, it's free - the other is Google Maps, also free - anyway, back to the review, so I normally use Pandora, and I can get about 6 hours out of the battery, with small breaks in-between receiving phone calls. So, in normal use, you could probably get about a day out of the battery, which isn't terrible, but also is somewhat worse than comparable phones out there.

Hardware - this is probably my biggest negative I had. Normally, when they say upgrade, you would think they would put better hardware in the thing, right?? Well, think again. With the exception of the upgraded camera and trackpad, there is NO difference in hardware between this and the older Bold.
Zero.
Nada.
I would've liked some upgraded hardware in the phone. But again - this is just my thing. You may not care.

My last negative is more hit and miss - some people have been reporting that BlackBerry Maps - the app that RIM ships with the phone for navigation, doesn't work on the 9700. Myself included. This appears to be at random, but it just irks me. Fortunately, there's a workaround - get Google Maps.


So - overall, the phone is a nice update. It works, takes nice pictures, looks sleek, and can be used as your new boombox when you want to blast "What is Love?" by Haddaway. (Kidding on the last one) I would completely recommend this phone, even with some of its faults, since they don't really take away from the experience with the phone.

I'll update this review from time to time, as I continue to use this, so if there's any questions, please feel free to ask.

LG Xenon GR500 Phone, Black (AT&T)
$249.99
I switched to AT&T from T-mobile a couple months back (a big mistake). I have experienced a hellish experience with AT&T services. Be prepared to spend a lot of time with AT&T customer service if you decide to use their service.

As for Amazon, I have no complains.

Samsung Solstice a887 Phone (AT&T)
$299.99
I've been using this phone for a little over a month now, and I can safely say it is one of the worst phones I've ever come across. Let me list the reasons why...

1. The camera takes nice photos, but you can only store four 2-megapixel pictures in the phone's memory before you run out of room.

2. The virtual keypad that appears when sending a text is absolutely, unbelievably impossible to use. Like the iPhone, if you turn the phone sideways you get a large qwerty keyboard. But unlike the iPhone, this phone has no idea what you want to type. It always thinks I want to press the key BELOW the one I actually want to use, making texting (a once simple task), a frustrating chore.

3. The T9 program on this phone is, forgive me, retarded. It selectively learns and forgets words. The other day I wanted to type the letter "a." It recommended "as," "2," "crap," and "by," but "a" was not an option. I had to go into the Abc mode to type "a." Similarly, whenever I want to use the word "just," it blows-in "justice," even though I'm pretty sure I've never typed "justice" in my phone. The only way I can get it to accept "just" is to accept "justice" and then delete the "ice."

4. Not so much a complaint with the phone as a complaint with AT&T, but I pay 15 bucks per month for internet, and I haven't been able to connect for the past 4 days. I go between San Diego and Santa Barbara quite regularly, so it's not even like I should be in 3G dead-zones. But lo, Verizon seems to have nailed it when they bashed AT&T for having poor 3G coverage.

5. You have to remove the battery to insert/remove the memory card, which resets the phone to factory settings. This is very frustrating, as it takes a good 10 minutes to return the phone to MY settings after each time I change the memory card.

6. In order to listen to music on this phone, you must buy a proprietary Samsung earphone adapter, which AT&T doesn't even carry at their stores. I went to Best Buy and they didn't have it either. So I can't listen to music on this phone without special-ordering the adapter.

My take-away message is this: don't buy this phone. Plain and simple, it's awful. And if you want good 3G coverage, chose a different carrier.