Im afraid...

[costofcarry]

Ive had a Blackberry for since before anyone even heard of them. I love Blackberry.

My contract with AT&T is up very soon and Im in the market for a new phone and am very interested in the G1. Ive always wanted a phone with a bigger screen much like the G1 but for some reason the iPhone never really struck my fancy and the G1 has.

Now, why am I afraid? I do a lot of research before I buy anything and I have heard sooooo many complaints about this phone. I understand its new and I understand that some people love to hate but I need some straight talk here. Is this a phone that is reliable? Is it easy to use? I hear that the device is laggy and sloppy. Is this true?

I briefly toyed with one at a TMobile store and found liked it but I need to look again. It seemed like the UI is very disorganized. I am afraid of buying something and signing a contract for two years only to be very disappointed with the device.

I recently saw something about the Blackberry Storm (big screen like Im looking for and its a blackberry) coming out soon and preorders are for $200 with rebate. This has me rethinking my interest in the G1.

Right now Im leaning toward the G1 but it wouldnt take much for me to forget about it.

[dkvitus]

Dude.... You so need to buy this phone . Period.

I complained before... alot probably, but primarily because my phone was freezing on me. It has been replaced ever since and no major issues.

This phone has a lot of potential, I can make a bet with u that if you regret your decision, then I owe you $20.00, otherwise u owe me the phone...lol

There are no major issues that cannot be fixed by the end of the year if need be, or first quarter.

Not comparing with the iPhone, but right now, with more than 1 year under Is belt, and less than 1 month under Gs, I is seriously trailing (I know they have google earth, streetview etc... but it took how long?)

Go get the white 1 that comes out soon...

[costofcarry]

thats one.

anyone else? i really am looking to be convinced here.

[jmejiaa]

It has taken me almost a month and I am still not 100% over my BB, but I really really love the G1 so it won't be long. The apps will get much better.

My suggestion, get the G1... give it some time especially to get used to the keyboard.

[HeartOFHatred]

I myself have ALWAYS been a sidekick guy, ive had them all! every now and then I would find myself bored with the sidekick so id get a new phone or even switch carriers and try a phone on a different network. NOTHING compared and I would always go back to my sidekick. The G1 came out and once again the grass was always greener on the other side so I ordered one... and all I have to say is...this phone is the phone for me! I will be keeping this one PAST the remorse period. This is the best phone iv'e ever had bar NONE! stop wasting your time and GO get one already!!! you have 14 days to try it out, if you find that it doesn't suit your needs simply return it.!

[jmejiaa]

I myself have ALWAYS been a sidekick guy, ive had them all! every now and then I would find myself bored with the sidekick so id get a new phone or even switch carriers and try a phone on a different network. NOTHING compared and I would always go back to my sidekick. The G1 came out and I once again the grass was always greener on the other side so I ordered one... and this phone is the phone for me! I will be keeping this one PAST the remorse period. This is the best phone iv'e ever had bar NONE! stop wasting your time and GO get one already!!! you have 14 days to try it out, if you find that it doesn't suit your needs return it.!

I almost returned it cause in the 14 days I wasnt 100% happy, now I love it and I'm glad I dint return it :)

[costofcarry]

Im concerned about the fact that theres no onscreen keyboard and that you have to slide the screen in order to type anything. Like if I wanted to type a quick text message.

Also, I used AIM on my BB a lot (and sidekick when I had one). Ive heard that AIM doesnt work so well on the G1.

From what it sounds like, the phone is far from perfect but works well and in time will live up to its potential. Perhaps Ill wait till then?

[costofcarry]

Also, browsing the web in landscape mode. Do you have to slide the screen for that?

[Android0523]

If you have been a blackberry person since before everyone heard of them....get the blackberry storm..I come from a blackberry since the 6750 and while I love the G1, I think you might not want to deal with the G1's short comings in comparison with the stability of the blackberry. I personally like the storm, but hate Verizon. That's my most honest opinion. The blackberry Storm is gorgeous stable and functional.

[JayBachatero]

Google has stated that they plan to release a virtual keyboard Q1 09.

AIM is ok on Android. I don't think there is anything that can beat AIM on the SK. (That is coming from a SK hater :P)

The browser doesn't support the accelerometer but you can change the view to landscape mode under the browsers menu.

I'm loving my phone more and more. I had an issue at first with the headphones and answering calls, got a new one and thats's fixed. I did get unlucky on my second one and it had the creaking problem. I managed to fixed that. From what I've been reading, they seem to be getting better though with the newer shipments. When is your contract over?

[Hanmu]

If there is so much doubt in your head haven't you already decided? If you need people to try and convince you then you got probs... no offense.
The G1 is not bad at all, by any means. The browser is not choppy, not slow. Yes you have to open the keyboard to get a widescreen view but didn't you say you researched all this already? If you got all the "facts" and you really need advice you should play with one some more.
I LOVE THIS PHONE, while it does have its quirks it'll go away. There will always be something better than the last thing that just came out so if you really want to play it safe don't buy anything till your 50, you'll have something bada$$ by then ;p
Good luck.

[TheBlur]

Also, browsing the web in landscape mode. Do you have to slide the screen for that?

You don't have to slide the screen to view the browser in landscape mode. All you have to do is go to Seeting --> More --> Flip Orientation

[Broo]

This phone is awesome; I use a BB 8310 for work and this unit puts it (and my former 1st gen iPhone) to shame. I have never had any 'lag' for responsiveness or emails/SMS messages - but I have seen others in the forums that have this complaint.

This device is a gadget-junkie's dream; GPS, digital compass, accelerometer, Bluetooth, WiFi, capacitive touch screen, MicroSDHC, auto-focus camera, trackball, app store, etc; no other phone on the market can rival this device (at least for now).

All the above said, it you are using a blackberry you might be using Exchange- and that is not (yet) supported for push emails- so you will need to use POP3/IMAP. However, if you use GMail as your primary eMail then this phone is awesome!

The battery life is not all that great but if you turn off/tweak the wireless features it should get you through the day. (i.e. it will only last about 4 hours for the first few days after you get it and you are playing with the GPS/App Store/Bluetooth/WiFi/etc). Future firmware updates may also provide battery saving tweaks...

I recently took the phone on a road trip to New Orleans and I was in EVDO for most of trip (dropping to GSM while on the road) and it worked like a champ the whole way. On the way down I was able to login to hotels.com and book a hotel room (forgot to do it before). I received the email confirmation about 5 seconds after completing the transaction and forward it on to my friend; I was expecting it to be difficult, but the entire process only took about 4 minutes- try to do that on a Blackberry! :)

[snoslicer8]

Coming from a BlackBerry, I would expect your UI experience to be much more pleasant. While I haven't used a BB exclusively, my short experiences with them I found to be very disorganized, and their menu system to be very confusing and non-intuitive. However, since you've used them "since before anyone knew what they were", you're probably very used to their menu system.

Let's get down to the nitty-gritty:

GMail Client (the push functions): Works very well. I find the Gmail client getting e-mail notifications before my IMAP computer connection even knows there's a message waiting. Very nice. If I make a change on either the G1 or my GMail interface on the web (GMail, contacts, or Google Calendar), the change is reflected on the other within 2 minutes or so (instant if change made on G1, 2 minutes if made on web).

Touch Screen: Very responsive, tracking not QUITE as smooth as iPhone. That's ok with me, as we're not multi-touching here. I find myself browsing often times with the keyboard closed, screen flipped to landscape, and using the trackball to smooth scroll. Keeps my screen clean and shiny.

Keyboard: Coming from a BB, I expect you'll be pleasantly surprised, once you get over the fact that every letter has its own key. Very easy to type on, very responsive, and just the right amount of tactile feedback and "travel." The built-in auto-correct doesn't guess at words, but does shorten typing times by turning theyll into they'll, and so-on.

Apps: We had a few really good ones at launch (some of the winners of the dev contest). Upon public Market open, we were kind of flooded with crap that people just threw together to show they could "code." Now, within the past week or so, we're really starting to see people get comfortable with the platform, and release worthwhile stuff. I suspect that even more robust software will be released "suddenly" when a payment model is released, sometime in the beginning of '09. I have a feeling that a lot of developers are holding off until they have an easy way of getting paid for their work.

Bottom line: Would I choose a G1 over a BB? Absolutely. However, the BB family is just about the only family of devices I've never exclusively used. I've gone from Sidekick to iPhone, from WM to Treo, and everywhere in-between. The G1/Android platform to me shows the most potential, while still be user friendly and OPEN. Sure, the iPhone platform has a lot of bells and whistles, but the apps can't talk to each other, no background processes, etc. Doesn't work the way I need it to. Once developers get even more comfortable with how Android works in parallel, we're going to see some amazing things happen.

Should you go with Verizon and the Storm? I have NO idea what their soft-keyboard ventures are going to be like. Does it look cool on the commercial? Absolutely...but we all know better than to take a demonstration as law. Also, from what I understand, you're going to pay significantly more to Verizon for the same data functionality. BB is a business device to them, and with that comes the business data plans: $40+/month. You can get the same "push" functions with your GMail account on the G1/Android for as little as $25/month, depending on your SMS usage.

It all boils down to how much you're willing to branch away from your bread and butter (BlackBerry), and how much faith you can put into a new platform that shows a MOUNTAIN of promise...though the functionality isn't all there at the very beginning.

Good luck.

[MrGibbage]

Would I go with a platform where anyone, and I mean *ANYONE* can write an app for it or one that only a few select vendors have that priviledge and each app must be vetted and approved by the grand poopah before it can be delivered? I'll go with the open G1, thank you.

[tiki]

Here's my take- I've done alot of complaining too- but overall I really like the phone.

My remaining complaints will most likely be dealt with by the first firmware upgrade.. I just wish we'd get a good SK-level AIM app, but i digress..

Definitely get the phone and try it for the 14 days. If you don't like it, then take it back and cancel the contract.

You will know by 7 days in whether its for you or not. I think you will like it overall, and I think its real day to shine has yet to come as really, this thing is still in "beta"

once all this feedback gets processed and v2 of Android comes out, look out.

The only thing to make sure of is that the perticular phone you get is in good shape. I would buy it directly from a Tmobile store- dont **** around with the mail.. its a pain if you have a hardware issue.

If you get it from a store now, you will get a later batch phone, which are generally better, and you can swap it out right there at the store if theres a problem.

The main things to look for is an overly loose screen (it should move in the direction of the slide-up, but not the other way when closed)

a smashed down keyboard

or creaks (easy enough to fix)

theres also the possibility of dead pixels, or other things, but these are lesser issues.

Android is a cool thing for sure.. its only going to improve.

The hardware is OK for now. After about a year or so you'll qualify for the discount price gain on a new phone and by then there will likely be an even better Tmobile Android phone you can upgrade to.

I say hop on board and give it a try

[benthomasg1]

I also came from a BB and i loved my BB i still have it just in case something goes wrong with my G1.....

Overall the phone good and getting better will all of the OTA updates. My buggiest complaint about this phone is the text messaging application... I send a lot of txt almost everyday.. With my BB i never had to delete txt messages, I had a 2GB microSD card and it saved them all there. But with the G1 if you have say more then 100 txt between you and a person and you try to open the message thread... Its slow.... Sometimes i wont get all of your txt messages or they may come hours or days late.. granted that dont hapen a lot but one missed txt message could make all the differance. I like how with my BB you could save a draft txt msg and still send other messages to a person, you really can not do that with the G1. Just small thanks like that kind of frustrate me.... But in time someone will make a new messaging application... if not then i will

[bizarro_stormy]

nice write up snoslicer!

[jokerdb78]

If you like Blackyberry so much just try out the new Blackyberry, Im not sure if its out yet but its got some nice little things to it.

I'd still take my G1 tho over the Blackberry any day.

[costofcarry]

Well everyone.....

I JUST BOUGHT THE G1. So far Im very happy.

I decided to get it after playing with three (yes, 3) different Blackberry Storms for about half an hour each. I found the Storm to be incredibly laggy and not what one would expect from Blackberry. It basically is a Blackberry in name only (altho email functions are superb as usual).

The Storm is difficult to type on if you are a serious typer. For the casual user it shouldnt be much of a problem. The glorified T9 word prediction thing is horrendous. Frankly, I hate it. Its a beautiful phone (incredible video playback) but its not function in the way that Blackberry has gotten its customers to expect.

Im still concerned about the G1 but now I know that this Blackberry does not provide the experience I am looking for.

Thanks for everyones input!


PS. When I said that Ive been using Blackberries since before anyone heard of it I wasnt trying to be a jerk. I just meant Ive had them forever and I wanted to explain why making the transition would be so difficult. My first Berry...

http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/archived/850950.jsp

[JayBachatero]

Welcome to the dark side. I was talking to a co worker earlier. He's planning on getting the Storm but has shifted away from it now. He was telling me that you actually have to press into the screen to press a key. A simple tap wont work. That sucks big time IMO. I would assume that after some time the screen will start to act up if you are constantly using it and texting a lot.

[Mr.Duck]

welcome! i was a fellow BB user too, had the 8700 for a couple years, was looking at the G1, and my BB started to act up... saw it as a sign, hahaha so i went and bought one the other day, and i love this thing... cant wait for all the glitches to be fixed

[costofcarry]

jay.

the fact that you have to press the screen to click really isnt to bad. the problem it does create tho is a sort of built in speed limit. since the whole screen is one button its difficult to type very quickly. had it just been a "tap" screen rather than a "press" screen it would be better.

i could have lived with the typing if the phone was faster. i cant believe what a disappointment.

[dkvitus]

Welcome on Board... Grab a seat... we are heading to The Android World!

[themadsquirrel]

I also have had BBs in the past and liked them. I love my G1. However, I'm not what you would call a business user-my G1 is used for calls( I have to have a cell since I take call at the hospital) for emails, and basically for fun. So it suits me just fine.

I believe you have to know what your needs are and then buy the phone that's going to best suit those needs.

I can say that the new BBs coming out look pretty cool.

[Paging Dr B]

from the words of a previous treo and blackberry owner, but it and dont look back.
The OS is rock solid (cant say the same about certain apps that are released) and it can do everything except make me breakfast.