gdgt

To lend a little bit of backstory to this question, I've always been the "go-to-guy" in regards to technology & advise regarding such matters (Was was a tech journo with a Tech magazine), but something about the Blackberry has always eluded me. Sure, I'd played with it (for a few minutes) But I've never gone ahead and used it on a day-to-day basis and assessed its strengths & weaknesses.

But lately, my elder brother has been harping about getting a Blackberry, the bold in general (He currently has the E72) and about how BBM would be useful for his business / clout-development.

I've instantly dismissed such benefits from using a BB, saying that getting one now is pointless, as the run on inferior hardware, lag a lot, lower rez screens, less efficient batteries and that BBM is nothing but a fad, which would soon die as the users start to really use the phone on a daily basis.

But seeing as how my thoughts & opinions about the BB have mostly been vicarious, could I be siding with disillusioned fanboys, and as such am not doing proper research and handing out bad advise. What if BB's are actually useful for businesses, and that their appeal to a customer is limited because it is and always be a major business phone (enterprise phone if you may).

I would like to hear about how BBs actually matter/work in a day-to-day basis. How do they fare against the iPhones & the Android superphones arriving on the market, or should he wait for the Torch/Storm 3 (9860, etc) to get a better experience. Looking forward to your opinions. Cheers!

I am on the Android side of things and have used a bb pearl, a bb style and a bb 8830, I prefer Android to BlackBerry. Top level blackberries do not match up to top level Android phones. But BB users really enjoy their phones.

I have been on the BB side for a few years, and have not tried out the Android/iphone for a stretch yet. But heres a list of things that I consider critical, .....does the Android/iphone do them better??

-Type lots of e-mail. This is my most imp application for the phone. Does a android/iphone touchscreen do it better. The BB is superfast for this stuff.
-The BBM is great if you have others hooked onto it as well. Sure the Android will have something similar, so may not be critical.
-Battery life, not too bad, lasts a full day with wi-fi and bluetooth on at all times.
-Camera, sure the Android/iphone is better
-Google maps, guess thats common
-Apps, Android/iphone is better, but BB has the most critical ones, maybe not the fun ones.

So I suppose if the email application (receiving instant e-mails and typing new mails quick) on a Android/iphone is better than the BB, I would switch. But I am not convinced thats true..