Blackberry Ball Ache

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Londonscottish

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My boss has finally persuaded me to get a Blackberry so I'll have email access more easily if travelling. Fair enough.

But I've had Nokias since 1993 and I am finding that setting the Blackberry up to be a massive ballache.

I can't set the phone up to do the simplest things - like alter the number of rings. I can't get my numbers out of the Nokia suite into the Blackberry one. So many basic phone functions are buried away in the plethora of tiny buttons. Which I can't actually see without my glasses on. It a massive, heavy brick like thing and I hate carrying it about - it's like going back to the late 90's. It probably won't connect with the Merc. And I have spent hours and hours trying to set the sodding thing up.

It seems I now have a massively complex machine which can a zillion things but it just s**t at being a phone. And I have to take reading glasses eveywhere I go. At this rate I'm just going to go an buy a Nokia 6303 for evenings and weekends. Small, light, perfect at being a phone. And just drag the Brickberry about for work.

Has anyone else tried to go from Nokia to Blackberry? Am I missing something?

Yours grumpily,

Londonscottish
 
To me the natural successor to a Nokia is the iPhone. I had only Nokias from the late 90s up until about 2 year ago when I changed to the iPhone 3GS.

To my regret, I did upgrade last time to a BB Torch which lasted all of 3 days before I sent it back to exchange it for the iPhone 4.
 
Once you get used to it you will be fine...

IIRC the way I got my contacts over was to use outlook as an intermediary.
 
To me the natural successor to a Nokia is the iPhone. I had only Nokias from the late 90s up until about 2 year ago when I changed to the iPhone 3GS.

To my regret, I did upgrade last time to a BB Torch which lasted all of 3 days before I sent it back to exchange it for the iPhone 4.

Yeah, iPhones seem much more intuitive as phones. ie I can use my wife's without having had to go back to university.

And iPhones are good enough as email clients.
 
Actually the blackberry is a very easy device to use... RIM were very proud of saying how you didnt need to refer to a manual when using a blackberry for the first time.

As Jay has said, use Nokia's tool to put all your contacts in Outlook and then they will automatically move to your Blackberry handset.

I'm not sure what blackberry handset you have but the 9700/80 range are very portable imho compared to other smartphones. Compared to my Desire HD with its attached powerskin, the blackberry is tiny.

My advice is to try and stick with it for a couple of weeks and you may well have a change of heart.
 
As a long time Nokia user who briefly went down the Blackberry route before returning to Nokia and then finally moving to iPhone you have my deepest sympathy. In the corporate world there are definite security issues with the iPhone which is why the Blackberry is so dominant but in all honesty I found it a loathsome device.

FWIW I found the move from Nokia to iPhone pretty easy with the exception of transferring my contacts which required the use of Outlook as an intermediate step - just like when moving from Nokia to Blackberry. The difference is that moving to the iPhone was worth the pain while moving to the Blackberry most certainly wasn't.
 
Once you get used to it you will be fine...

IIRC the way I got my contacts over was to use outlook as an intermediary.

Thanks - unfortunately my employer doesn't use MS so no Outlook.

The Blackberry software refuses to see my Nokia. And ditto from the Nokia. Grr...

I've just received this from the BIL in response to a question about how to alter the number of times it rings (currently only once!)

"I believe the instructions below should do the trick, if not you will have may well have to speak to Vodafone

*61*number*11*nn#

nn is the number of seconds 5-30
*number* is the voice mailbox number"

I didn't realise I had to become a computer programmer.

Anyway, tried it, and all it did was ring once, vibrate for 15 seconds then ring once again.

AAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!

Has anyone from Blackeberry ever used an actual phone???

This is a non-optimal use of my time.....
 
Actually the blackberry is a very easy device to use... RIM were very proud of saying how you didnt need to refer to a manual when using a blackberry for the first time.

As Jay has said, use Nokia's tool to put all your contacts in Outlook and then they will automatically move to your Blackberry handset.

I'm not sure what blackberry handset you have but the 9700/80 range are very portable imho compared to other smartphones. Compared to my Desire HD with its attached powerskin, the blackberry is tiny.

My advice is to try and stick with it for a couple of weeks and you may well have a change of heart.

My employers competed with MS so no Outlook.

I've got a 9800 (Torch). It's the weight of one of the bricks from Miami Vice days. :-(
 
Spike,
I don't wish to start a iPhone/BB argument, but the op states that he is struggling with how it works. So it can't be that easy.

I'm not too bad with technology but I genuinely did struggle with the BB Torch. Maybe some of that was iPhone blindness, maybe not. One thing I can say is that when I changed from Nokia to an iPhone I was up to speed with it in a matter of minutes.

Edit: I've just noticed that it's a BB Torch you have (which is what I had for 3 days). The touchscreen is terrible, I had to sort of position my finger slightly lower than the actual thing that I wanted to press.
 
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I upgraded to an iPhone 3gs 1 month ago.
I have not consulted any manual on how to do anything.
I just did it.
Actually I lied: I needed to ask how to put the SIM card in.
But that's it. Honest.
 
As a long time Nokia user who briefly went down the Blackberry route before returning to Nokia and then finally moving to iPhone you have my deepest sympathy. In the corporate world there are definite security issues with the iPhone which is why the Blackberry is so dominant but in all honesty I found it a loathsome device.

FWIW I found the move from Nokia to iPhone pretty easy with the exception of transferring my contacts which required the use of Outlook as an intermediate step - just like when moving from Nokia to Blackberry. The difference is that moving to the iPhone was worth the pain while moving to the Blackberry most certainly wasn't.

The Blackberry is making me realise how well thought out the iPhone user interface really is.
 
I have an iphone4 and love it. The only thing I don't like is that you can't have 'profiles' ( meeting, outdoor, etc). I also had an app on my e51 which would automatically change profiles at certain times e.g. Turn off Bluetooth at 23:00 and back on at 07:00.
Mrs ted has just got a blackberry curve and I hate it. Similar apps are rubbish, and I find it not at all intuitive. I would never use one.



Sent using Blackberry mobile.
 
I upgraded to an iPhone 3gs 1 month ago.
I have not consulted any manual on how to do anything.
I just did it.
Actually I lied: I needed to ask how to put the SIM card in.
But that's it. Honest.

Yeah a mate of mine at work did the same thing and found it very very easy.
 
I have an iphone4 and love it. The only thing I don't like is that you can't have 'profiles' ( meeting, outdoor, etc). I also had an app on my e51 which would automatically change profiles at certain times e.g. Turn off Bluetooth at 23:00 and back on at 07:00.
Mrs ted has just got a blackberry curve and I hate it. Similar apps are rubbish, and I find it not at all intuitive. I would never use one.


Sent using Blackberry mobile.

"Not at all intuitive" is the the understatement of the year......

*61*number*11*nn# to change how long it rings !?!?!

Maybe it would be better for me to retrain as a C++ programmer......
 
I have an iphone4 and love it. The only thing I don't like is that you can't have 'profiles' ( meeting, outdoor, etc).

Groan....another hyper-useful feature I've lost for ever.

Every meeting I go to I set it to "meeting". Every event it's on "silent".

That's it - I'm buying a Nokia for normal life.
 
"Not at all intuitive" is the the understatement of the year......

*61*number*11*nn# to change how long it rings !?!?!

Maybe it would be better for me to retrain as a C++ programmer......

That's a Vodafone issue, not a Blackberry one.

For your vibrate issue, I agree the vibrate function is poor so I no longer use it.
 
"Not at all intuitive" is the the understatement of the year......

*61*number*11*nn# to change how long it rings !?!?!

Maybe it would be better for me to retrain as a C++ programmer......

This is the operator code for the maximum number of rings the telco will allow before going to voicemail, it is not to change the number of rings on the handset. All telcos use a similar pattern, regardless of handset type. :rolleyes:

There is a very intuitive help menu on the handset should you not be able to figure out the ringtone section without. It really is pretty straight forward. once you master it.

As for your contacts, on the Nokia device, save all your contacts to the SIM. Then stick the SIM in the Blackberry and copy the SIM contacts to the handset.
 
Groan....another hyper-useful feature I've lost for ever.

Every meeting I go to I set it to "meeting". Every event it's on "silent".

You still have this feature on the blackberry.

It sounds like you really should read the manual before giving up with it.

I agree though that the Torch's touch screen is a waste of time. Just use the touchpad instead.
 
This is the operator code for the maximum number of rings the telco will allow before going to voicemail, it is not to change the number of rings on the handset. All telcos use a similar pattern, regardless of handset type. :rolleyes:

I guess I just know how to set up the Nokias easily- there's a straightforward set of options depending on wthether the phone is on ot not, has a signal or not, whether you want to pick up or not, etc

There is a very intuitive help menu on the handset should you not be able to figure out the ringtone section without. It really is pretty straight forward. once you master it.

I'll have a look at the handset help. I've been using the little fold-out help things that came with it plus I've found the online help and have downloaded the pdf version of that. Like I say I've spending hours on this.

Anyway, the point I don't think I EVER read a Nokia manual in 18 years and 10 or 11 handsets. I didn't have to. They are easy to use.

As for your contacts, on the Nokia device, save all your contacts to the SIM. Then stick the SIM in the Blackberry and copy the SIM contacts to the handset.

Well, I did the SIM thing, obviously. But there are still another 100 or so left behind on the handset. And also on Nokia PC Suite/Ovi. Those are the ones I can't get over.
 
You still have this feature on the blackberry.

It sounds like you really should read the manual before giving up with it.

Believe me I have been reading all the stuff I can for weel over a week now. Which is part of the problem......the actual manual is massive.......I really would rather be focusing on my business that reading through pages and pages and pages of pdf.....

I agree though that the Torch's touch screen is a waste of time. Just use the touchpad instead.

I get on OK with the touch screen, compared to some other aspects of the device. Well just about all other aspects.

Luckily this thing was a freebie off a contact. I'd be really fuming if I'd actually paid good money for it.

To cap it all I took it out for the first time last night. It's so big I couldn't comfortably put it in my pocket. So I took it out and put it on the table where I was having dinner. And of course left it there........

As I said in earlier posts I think I'll end dragging the mini-PC around in work hours but revert to a Nokia 7303 for evenings and weekends.

Keep the boss happy but still have a neat, useful small phone for personal use.
 
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