When I bought my first Blackberry, a Bold 9700, it was top of the line.  It was lightning fast, had a great screen, and an amazing keyboard.  A full QWERTY.  It was an amazing upgrade from my old phone that just had zero to nine and maybe a few more.

It was also my first experience with BBM.

It was great to be able to message people for free over the Blackberry network and it wasn’t long before I was annoying my friends by quickly sending two or three messages in a row with no regard for text messaging fees.

But that was about it.  Everything else seemed better on the iPhone.  And before long, the Android devices that hit the market were looking good too.

My Blackberry had numerous problems including the speaker (entering my phone into vibrate-only mode for all of eternity), and the headphone jack.  By the end, it was only really useful for messaging and email.  Voice conversations would cut in and out and any important phone calls had to be taken on another phone.

Admittedly, I probably could have sent my phone in for repairs (at a cost), but I stubbornly didn’t want to use a loaner phone for few weeks.  I pitched my Blackberry in the trash and bought a cheap Android device for a fraction of the cost of myBerry.

The cheapest Android device I could find ended up being better in a lot of ways than the most expensive Blackberry I could buy from just a year and a half before.  That’s the way the technology industry goes; nothing goes out of date faster than new technology.  But it would have helped if I had originally chosen the right device for me.

I don’t know why I originally chose Blackberry over Apple; but in hindsight I would have gone with the iPhone.

My iPod touch always had the better apps and it was the better device for browsing the web.  The Blackberry browser was always clunky and the screen too small.  I would find myself getting frustrated with the screen that wasn’t a touch screen (a feature that has been added to the new Bold).   Email was great, but when an update to the Blackberry OS came out, I couldn’t add or delete email accounts without calling my service provider.

The next generation of Blackberries has been delayed repeatedly and RIM’s struggle is well documented.  But you can’t rule them out yet.  The Canadian tech company revolutionized the way people use their mobile phones and it’s possible they still have some tricks left.  The Blackberry 10 line of devices could potentially be their saviour.  But for this smartphone buyer, RIM products are out of the question.  I was disappointed overall with my last Blackberry and they don’t even have a recent competitive product on the market.

So my next phone will either be and Android or iOS device.  It depends largely on the announcement of a new iPhone in September and Apple will have to come up with a pretty strong offering to top the list of great Android phones that are already on the market.

I know that everyone’s smartphone needs are different, and for some people, a Blackberry is the best option.  But for me, it didn’t work.  That’s why it’s important to consider your next smartphone purchase with your lifestyle in mind.  For all the latest smartphones that meet the needs of any user, check out Basatne.com.

Stay tuned for more commentary on my quest to purchase a new smartphone