I'm not happy, RIM. Not. Happy.

I started a new job last February, and with my new job came a new phone. The firm let me pick any phone I wanted, as long as it was a blackberry. The office is invested in the BES, you see, and they rely heavily on the security features that Blackberry has for so long been known. I've used a Blackberry before, and was left feeling that the Bold I owned was a little under-powered and slow for the operating system, so I asked for a Blackberry Torch 9810, with the physical keyboard, hoping for a better user experience. So far, I must say that I'm disappointed.

Still Too Slow

The 9810 still feels under-powered and clunky, despite occupying a place at the top of the Blackberry product line. Apps don't open up or close quickly, the interface is a bit clunky, and all in all the phone just seems to spend more time thinking and less time doing what I've asked it to do. I never really had that problem with my iPhone, and it's very jarring to me now. If you design your own hardware and write your own OS, and enjoy all the benefits of the "walled garden" approach, there is really no good excuse for not providing enough processor oomph to power your OS and your core Apps. 

Connector Problems

Another big issue I've had with the phone is with the usb/power connection. One of my adaptors (the one that came in the box, I believe) doesn't seem to work properly, and needs to be wiggled a bit before the phone will register that there's a charger plugged in. This is normally symptomatic of a bad connection, but I can't seem to replicate this with any other power adapters; it might be a software problem with the phone. So now I have a phone that I'm never quite sure is going to charge properly. Is it the charger, or is it the connection? Who knows? Either way, this is very problematic for a phone I need to use for work.

Finished Finish

Although this is probably the least-important of the problems I'm having with my phone, it's the one that irks me the most. The exterior of the phone has a silvery case that looks like chrome. This silvery casing is actually a coating. How do I know it's a coating? Because the coating is starting to flake off, showing the grey plastic housing underneath. My phone, which is 7 months or so old, looks like I've had it for 3-4 years, and just can't afford a new one. Not cool, guys, not cool.

First World Problems

In all, I'm not thrilled with my Blackberry. Because it's my work phone, and I'm not a reviewer, I'm pretty much stuck with it, at least for a while. It's not the end of the world of course, it's a phone after all. But for an item that costs $600.00 retail, I do think RIM could have done a better job. Oh well, I can always play with the wife's (formerly my) iPhone.