Torch doesn’t light my fire

I've been using the new Research In Motion BlackBerry Torch 9800 smart phone the last five days, and I can only say “nice try” in its efforts to be an iPhone killer.

The Torch does a better job at being a BlackBerry killer, pushing older
BlackBerry models to secondary status. Like the Apple iPhone, the Torch is
available exclusively through AT&T Wireless, making it the iPhone’s first true head-to-head competitor.

I know many people who dislike the iPhone’s touch-screen keypad and are glad to have the Torch’s alternative physical, slide-down keypad. The Torch also has a touch-screen keypad, so everyone should be happy. But should doesn't always cut it.

The Torch has a few quirks that have me telling people to wait for the
next-generation Torch if they must have the slide-down physical keypad.
Another alternative is to find a phone running the Google Android operating system, which I believe outshines the new BlackBerry 6.0 OS.

The Torch’s biggest quirk is the location of the screen-lock button. It's
on the top-left corner of the phone's outer surface, which makes it far too
easy to accidentally hit while using the phone. I had the phone go dark on
me numerous times, especially when holding the phone in landscape format, which put the button on the lower-left corner. Frustrating.

A huge improvement in the Torch over earlier BlackBerry models is the
replacement of the roller ball with a tiny track pad. The tiny ball was
constantly getting dirty, causing it to malfunction or fail. It took me a
while to fine-tune the track pad’s sensitivity, but once I did, I found it
one of the simplest methods of navigating the screen and menus.

The Torch offers many ways to input data. In addition to the physical and
virtual keypads, the track pad and touch screen give (some times too many) options. I found myself typing, sliding my finger or thumb across the pad
and also pinching and squeezing the touch screen as I browsed e-mail or
worked in other applications.

The Torch’s touch screen is less fluid than the iPhone’s, but does function
pretty well. A set of four buttons — “phone send,” “BlackBerry menu,” “back” and “phone end” — straddle the track pad. I relied on them to return to
"home" when other navigation methods left me in places I didn't really want to be.

I was surprised to see that visual voice mail is an upgrade option with
AT&T. This is a much-touted included feature on the iPhone, that lets users see the name, number and time of the missed call and listen to or delete
messages in any order. It quickens the sometimes tedious task of going
through voice mail. It’s time for AT&T to add this as part of the
minutes/data bundle its sell to its customers.

Setting up both my Yahoo and Gmail accounts was simple, and the option of a combined message box puts all e-mail, text and social network messages in a single spot. I opted to use separate apps for each of these, as well, as it
appeared that e-mail messages I'd deleted on my iPhone still appeared on
the Torch. I had to delete them a second time, which was clunky.

The Torch has a 5 megapixel camera that does a fine job. (To prove it, I
will link to a couple of images at the end of this post.) The BlackBerry
works well as a phone, although I always feel these smart phones should be relabled as mini-computers; telephony is really an add-on feature in
today's world of mobile computing and all things digital.

Battery life of the Torch is below-average, as I found myself scrambling to find the nearest outlet after a morning and afternoon of moderate use. I advise keeping a car charger handy, and perhaps a second charger by your desk if you use the smart phone for more than checking e-mail or keeping tabs with your social media buddies.

I now carry a BlackBerry Bold on the AT&T network as a work device and an iPhone 4 for personal use. I’d leap at the chance to upgrade to the Torch
from the Bold, but would keep my iPhone for everything else.

This is a very good BlackBerry, but it's no iPhone and it's no Droid or
Droid X. If you must use a BlackBerry, this is the best one yet. But if you
have a choice, go with an iPhone or Android-powered phone.

Learn more about the BlacBerry Torch 9800: http://na.blackberry.com/eng/

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Photos shot with the BlackBerry Torch 9800: