Blackberry Curve / Javelin 8900
So I lost my cellphone. Again. The last three phones I have bought have all been replacements for phones lost/stolen in various parts of the world. Given this track record, I guess upgrading to a BlackBerry doesn't quite come through as the most sensible thing to do. But what the hell. One has to fight one's own rationality once in a while. The world would be too dull otherwise.
The first evening with this new toy has left me significantly underwhelmed. The user experience is less than spectacular, and not quite what I was expecting from a BlackBerry.
First let's start with a phone feature that does not seem to figure too prominently in any review (of any phone) - the placement of the SIM card and ease of installing and replacing a SIM. I started playing with my shiny new toy with a family member's SIM card, and when the time came to swap that with my own, the piss poor design of the SIM holder in the Javelin hit home. There is a small slot that fits the SIM very tightly once it is slid into position. The problem is the hold is to tight, and there are no catches that release the SIM that once it lodges itself safely into place, getting it out is a herculean task as one can't grab the SIM properly. I am yet to recover fully from the brain deadedness of it all. The thought of coaxing the SIM from this baby half jetlagged and in a landing plane does not fill me with enthusiasm. It has got to be the worst design there is. The Nokia 1110 that costs INR 1500 has a SIM holder that's easier to use. The BlackBerry Bold and Javelin (also called the Curve 8900) have the same wonderfully crappy design.
Then ran into software issues. The BlackBerry desktop software failed to install properly - some DLLs were not registering. After much head scratching, I figured the problem was the installation path had a apostrophe somewhere, and Windows could not handle that. WTF. Anyway, that consumed some 2 hours of my time.
Trying to sync my Outlook contacts with the Black Berry was the next challenge - the desktop software kept crashing. Double WTF. But by early hours of the morning, by the grace of some unknown $LORD, my contacts were transferred.
This is my first non-Nokia phone, and what a crappy beginning. sure hope things will settle down, and the damn thing shows its worth :)