So i said I’d never do it. I said i hated Blackberry’s and would rather use two tin-cans tied together with a string. I ranted and raved about how terrible Blackberry’s were and how they were trash. Well i guess i changed my mind. I am now the proud owner of the new Blackberry Curve 8900. My previous phone, the AT&T Tilt, has been by my side for about a year and a half. It was a great phone to begin with. It was my first smart phone. It was the phone that showed me how much i rely on email and how great an actual qwerty keyboard is. Sadly though, the phone was not that great. It was slow as hell, had a tiny screen, and was the size of a portable ham radio. And although it had a 3MP camera in it, it took terrible pictures. I never was able to get a good picture out of that thing.  And so it was time to replace the ageing beast and replace it with a newer shinier phone.

When i started looking at my options,  i realized i had only about three or four phones to choose from. I’m on AT&T (so is my company) and that means i had to get a phone compatible with AT&T’s network. That left me with the following phones to choose from: The new version of my old phone called the HTC Touch Pro 2, the iPhone 3GS, the Blackberry Bold, and the Blackberry Curve 8900. Now at first i convinced myself that i wanted an iPhone. Then i realized that it was a touchscreen and that i hated my Tilt’s touch screen. I realized that the functions i use the most are done easier on other phones. While the iPhone is great, its not built around email. And it also didn’t help that my company does not pay for iPhones on their plan. So that ruled the iPhone out. The second choice was the HTC Touch Pro 2. And well, it was basically just a shinier version of my old phone with a better screen and body. While the inside of the phone changed a lot, the OS has not. And i really got tired of WinMo. The size of the phone was still a concern as was the touch screen. And to top that off the phone is not even available to the public yet. AT&T hasn’t even set a release date. So that ruled the Touch Pro 2 out.

That left me with only two of my options. The Blackberry Bold and the Blackberry Curve 8900. When i looked further into the phones i found that the two phones were very similar in their functions with a few but important differences. The 8900 was smaller but lacked 3G connectivity. The Bold had 3G but lacked a good camera. The Bold was also a bit larger and had a keyboard that didn’t much appeal to me. So in the end, after a long mental debate, i decided on the Blackberry Curve 8900. As for the whole hating Blackberry thing goes, i think the fact that RIM finally released a few phones that have nice screens brought me over to the dark side. The main thing that really bugged me about Blackberry’s was the terrible ugly interface and the terrible screens. The 8900 and Bold really improved the screen and the interface (or theme w/e). Another reason i decided to get a Blackberry was that i manage our company’s BES server and anytime i make changes or update it I have to call someone who actually has a blackberry and have them test everything. I was also clueless on how to actually operate a Blackberry. Hopefully this new phone will give me a better understanding of Blackberry’s and the BES in general.

Please note that i still think the BES is quite possibly the most idiotic waste of money I’ve ever laid eyes on. That’s not to say it doesn’t do exactly what it is supposed to do. I’m just saying that its a huge waste of money and quite frankly a huge design flaw. I see no reason what-so-ever why RIM can’t just design a phone that can connect directly to a mail server or exchange server like every other phone in the world. The whole BES solution seems like a huge rip off to me. But who am i to say that RIM is ripping us off.

Lastly, because i can, i took a few comparison pictures and videos of the Blackberry Curve 8900 against an Apple iPhone 3GS. (The 3GS is not mine) Obviously the video is going to be way better on the 3GS. But take a look at the 8900′s pics. I think you’ll be surprised. Btw, don’t ask about the items in the picture. I kind of just grabbed anything that was bright and colorful. And yes that is a purple stuffed dragon. His name is Emp…

Below is a video comparison. As i said before, the 8900 is no match for the iPhone 3GS. But i figured i’d do one anyway for those interested.