Blackberry Onyx - still a dud

After an extensive experience with the Blackberry Onyx, I regret to report that a Blackberry, despite all of its bells and whistles and no matter how much makeover and "updates" RIM has placed into the device, the Onyx is still a pretty sad little device. And I'm saying this because I've had two particularly annoying problems with the new OS that Onyx comes equipped with. Three, if I count the hardware aspect of it which is the trackball.

I know diehard BB fans will have my head for writing this, and they have their rights, but I don't care. I'm as much a user and I am NOT satisfied with the way things are going with RIM. First principal problem I have with the new Onyx OS 5.0.0.296 is its totally fail threaded SMS system. Threaded SMS system means that it'll treat the SMS as if it were real-time chat, with every SMS you sent and receive from a person showing up as a "threaded," chat-like flow. Supposedly it'll make tracking your conversation with a particular person easier, but ironically, this stupid system sometimes messes up and won't let me scroll up to see the message. Like, it'll cut off some portion of the message and it won't allow me to scroll up to the beginning of the message. That's just one of them. The other is that sometimes (actually plenty times) it won't let me scroll up to see the rest of my conversation I'm having with that person. I mean, jeebus, come on!! What's a blackberry good for??? Its core strength is supposed to lie in its data capability. What the hell is going on here? This is beyond annoying to me as I'll have to request that person to resend his message again. Note that this happens only with the SMS.

The other super annoyance I have is that for some super annoyingly reason, when I accidentally hit the "delete" key whilst the "alt" key is depressed as I'm composing an SMS text, it'll wipe the ENTIRE text I have been laboriously typing. You can't possibly imagine how aggravating this crap really is. Get this: it will wipe clean your ENTIRE message when you so much as forgot to inactivate the alt key after you hit it to bring up the special symbol, changed your mind and decide to delete that symbol. BAM. Your entire message is gone and you have to start all the way from the beginning. Is this even real? How did RIM manage to mess up so badly?

Maybe you don't have that problem, but I do. I type messily and I type faster than my brain thinks. The blame is not on me, because this never happens with the old OS system, and this doesn't happen at other programs such as email or notepad. It only happens with SMS. RIM, if you're reading this, screw the hell out of you.

I miss the old system where the SMS shows up as individual window, and I can at least still search for it and find it. I miss the old OS where I can type as messily as I want to without the risk of losing everything that I've just typed for the past 3 mins. And most of all, I miss a newcomer to the industry which can combine both the superior webkit based capability of the iPhone with Blackberry's data strengths.

Oh yeah that hardware problem I mentioned earlier? How about the trackball? Besides being hard to operate when my finger's sweaty, I found that its also largely harder to control than the ball. But that's not as big of a deal compared to the flawed SMS problems RIM has dropped the ball on. Also, I hate the fact that the speaker is situated flat on the back, on the same flat line as the battery cover, so that when I place it on a table or flat surface, it'll get covered. Affects the sound quality? You bet. How hard would it to design the speaker on the raised side of the bezel? The Onyx ain't the perfect Blackberry - yet. And until then, I'll keep searching for the perfect system. My loyalty is not with you, RIM. I'm disappointed. It seems like there's always something wrong with every edition of so-called "new" blackberry. The Curve 8320 for a totally retarded sytem. The Bold with the battery and generally flawed system. The Gemini for its weird web viewing. And now with the Onyx, touted as the "perfect" Blackberry. Sorry, but it's not.