What does the new BlackBerry Bold 2 offer existing BlackBerry users?

David M Williams
Thursday, 26 November 2009 18:32

Your IT - Mobility

The BlackBerry Bold 2 is now available from select carriers. Forget the marketing spiel; hard core BlackBerry users want to know how it compares in practice to its predecessor, how it feels to use it and even if it breaks when you drop it. A veteran BlackBerry owner puts it to the test.

I admit it, I'm a CrackBerry addict. I've worn my way through most of Research In Motion's (RIM) range over the last six years.

My first BlackBerry was a blue 7230 model. It was so compelling that I wore a hole in my thumb the first weekend. I coined the term "BlackBerry thumb" from my own experience before I heard it used elsewhere.

In time I upgraded to the taller and more stylish BlackBerry 7730 model which sported a taller screen with higher resolution. I moved on through the 7290 model - the first with Bluetooth - and 7250 - which operated on the CDMA network instead of GSM. The last couple of years I’ve had a BlackBerry 8800 and the original BlackBerry Bold 9000 – the first 3G unit.

Lest you think I lacked discrimination I skipped over the candy-bar models, like the 7100 and the Pearl because, to me, as a heavy e-mail sender, the QWERTY keypad was a must have.

Now, when I say "heavy" I mean heavy. I've taken a kitsch sense of geeky pride in being the #1 BlackBerry user at each company I've worked in.

Here's my current running total for a BlackBerry Enterprise Server that's been running for two years, sorted by messages sent.



That's right; over 16,000 messages hammered out on that tiny keypad! I've e-mailed in bed, on the side of the road, in remote offices, even at my desk when my laptop is busy doing something else.

I think I'm a freak; I don't know anybody in the world who has used a BlackBerry more than me. I always imagined if I ever applied for a job at RIM I’d pitch that as a distinctive feature.

So, you can have confidence in iTWire, unlike some other tech sites. When I talk about the BlackBerry you can be sure my experience is broader than just having a loaner handset for a week.

Just yesterday I picked up a brand spanking new shiny BlackBerry Bold 2, otherwise known more conservatively as the BlackBerry 9700. Let’s just call it the BBB2.

Immediately it's obvious the box is physically smaller than the original BlackBerry Bold box, and likewise the handheld inside has lost weight and height.

Looking at the front little has changed apart from the more compact frame, with the sole exception of the new touchpad for navigation. This sits precisely where the pearl trackball was previously and is only the third time RIM has made a substantive change to the main control on the device (the first time being the side thumbwheel replaced with the front-mounted trackball.)

So what else is new?