Excellent post. The difference however, between a top of the line sports car and at&t's top of the line personal communications device is that you have a choice when buying the car. The saavy enthusiast can get their manual transmission while the more casual user can stick with the auto. The saavy driver may have reasons other than performance for choosing the manual, just as the saavy blackberry user may want to switch to EDGE only for reasons other than signal strength and clarity.

AT&T has left the saavy user out.


ps i still love the bold

My Rogers Bold allows for the change to 2G only and it is quite handy, I have a few areas in my day to day life that don't have as good 3G reception and the constant switching between edge and 3G does wreck havok on signal strength and battery life.

I was surprised that ATT doesn't allow for this, I've never been a fan of companies that try and "control" their customers like that.

~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~

Well thanks for the posts and the input. I actually tried the rogers bold software on my phone and did not get the together option in the network settings, so if I do need to conserve some battery life I can turn off my data connection. Doing this will also let me keep getting texts at work without getting my emails till I get home whcih I like. I also turn off data at night so I don't get waken by am email but still geta call or text if needed.
~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~

Good idea for those without the option to set their Bold to 2G only.

I've been pleasantly surprised by the outstanding battery l have experienced with my Bold. It's been nearly the same as my Cuve 8310.

sent via BlackBerry Bold

~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~

Hey Archer,

Nice post below re the 3G/2G call info.

One thing to add re battery life here is while you are running the 3G & 2G option the Blackberry would effectively be running 2 radios at once to allow all this to happen. Therefore you would expect a device that runs 2* the number of radio subsystems is going to chew more battery than a single network device. Seamless call handover needs both radios running at once as there is a pre handover process that the device has to go through as well as on the cell site controllers and backend.

On pure 3G it would be monitoring more than one cell base as well as on 2G perhaps looking at the signal quality of maybe 6 or more GSM/EDGE cells.
All this comes at a price (battery).

3G also commands all affiliated devices to adjust output power as well so this can also be a determining factor in battery life.

In our organisation we deploy Bolds as well as Curves, on Bold devices we suggest if the user only uses email they can select 2G only and switch to 3G/2G if they want to download large attachments or web browse.
In anycase its left up to them with a little pre education on each of the settings. So far it all seems to be fine.

Also on Vodafone Bolds you also have a preferred network list which is editable so you can manually move carriers to a higher preference in the list if it suits. I can post pics if anyone is interested..

I agree with the valid points you have made. Personally I would prefer to have the choice of networks myself. However I believe from AT&T's perspective they are hyper focused on the mainstream customer as opposed to offering additional choices for those of us enthusiasts. It could also be said (and I'm not being their advocate) that by offering more choices, it presents additional challenges for them when a phone that is more complex is sold to a consumer who has no clue. The consumer then fails to do their part to learn how to operate the phone, which leads to complaints & more traffic for their tech support lines. So AT&T decides to eliminate that expense & make it automatic.

sent via BlackBerry Bold

Yes I'm in ATT network, and i see a big difference in signal between my 8820 and my bold, the 8820 holds the signal better, while the bold jumps around a lot,

I think they may have use a different transmitter for the phone, or maybe a lower quality.

I have been watching the threads regarding the 8900 and the Bold as far as connection is concerned. I am amazed how many people say "no 3G, no deal".

I travel extensively with a Bold an 8330 and my 8900. One thing the 8330 and the 8900 have in common is they very seldom lose their EDGE connection, while my Bold can fluctuate from 3g to Edge to GPRS several times just crossing one city.

It is no wonder the other two devices' batteries last longer and I have never lost a call on them.

My opinion.... No 3G, No big deal!

Since I have more than one line, I have been doing a side by side comparison between my 8310 and my Bold when traveling. I have them both setting side by side on the center console in my car. As we all know the coverage indicator on any cellular phone is only a relative indicator and far from the final word so to speak. Moreover I find the actual experience of using the phone, and observing what the call quality is like is one of the best indicators. I have found that my Bold is every bit as good if not a bit better at maintaining a good connection. My Bold is running on AT&T .167 OS.

I have no dropped call issues, and due to the superior technology of 3G, the call quality, voice tone, and background noise suppression are all superior to the EDGE equipped Curve. And my one year old 8310 has always been an exemplary phone. In addition I notice very little difference in battery life between the two. At no time while switching between 3G to 2G has my phone dropped the call, or demonstrating anything less than excellent performance. I live in a very strong 3G area, that allows me to enjoy the advantages that 3G offers and I'm very pleased to report than my Bold takes advantage of 3G very nicely.

Its my understanding the Bold uses a different chipset to the others mentioned here.

So perhaps this is the reason for different RF performance characteristics..

Very nice little write up archer, your continued and unwavering support for the Bold helps me out from time to time.

Its always nice having someone around to strengthen your belief in something you love.

Once again I'm gonna have to agree with you archer, I have had no issues with dropped calls during 2G and 3G switching and it doesn't seem to effect the battery nearly as much as everyone thinks.

Long story short...I LOVE MY BOLD! Call clarity is noticably better then the Curve and everything else simply screams quality.

~via BlackBerry Bold~

I have experienced the opposite. I've got signal on my college campus of sometimes two bars where my previous 8310 would have none. Signal strength is excellent!~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~