Is the blackberry smartphone a good phone to purchase?

[Kayleigh]

Well,i currently have the LG Optimus mobile and it isn't very good as it crashes and stuff like that so i was gonna go on contract for a blackberry smartphone and i just wondered if it was a good and trustworthy phone to purchase,thanks

[Chocoholic101]

If you know people who have BlackBerries who you text a lot and like qwerty keyboards, then a BlackBerry would be ideal - they obviously do have the qwerty keyboards and you can send messages to those people for free through BBM (BlackBerry Messenger).

However, if you want a phone with easy access to loads of apps and games, then a BlackBerry may not be for you, as BlackBerry App World is pretty limited and although it does have some decent stuff, not all apps are supported by all devices (so you may be able to have it on a Bold 9700 but not a Curve 8520, as an example).

If you do go for a BlackBerry, I'd definitely go for the latest one - the Bold 9900/9930 (depending on where you live). Not only does it have the latest software, but it comes with a good touchscreen, bigger keyboard and a 5MP Camera (an improvement for BlackBerry, whereas most other handsets have 2mp or 3.2mp cameras). It is also the thinnest BlackBerry out there, and with 8GB of built in expandable storage, you've got plenty of space to play with. One downside though is that the Amazon Music Store App doesn't appear to work on them, as mine dissapeared mysteriously after just hours of switching the phone on, and was not supported by my "system administrator" (though I don't know what exactly this meant, it basically didn't work as that was the error message I recieved). It is also pretty quick and great on the internet, with its 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor. There is also NFC in there too. On any BlackBerry, Facebook is always at hand with a good built in Facebook app, which is also great for uploading pictures. YouTube and Twitter are also in there among others, along with a forms of Word, PowerPoint and Excell. 720p HD video recording is also squeezed in there.

At the end of the day, it all depends on your preferences of what you want out of your phone. I personally surprised myself - I've always been one for games, but even though this is limited on my Bold 9900, I am still really enjoying the phone so far. If you're looking for Apps, I personally find that Apples App Store beats them all (having an iPod touch, and had experience with the Android store, Apple store and BlackBerry Store), and along with the handy gift vouchers (as I am sure you will know about), so an iPhone is probably best for you (especially with the iPhone 5 coming out soon, and the iPhone 4 becoming cheaper).