Author Topic: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry  (Read 26622 times)

Offline jef4320

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Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« on: May 30, 2008, 07:49:52 AM »
I'm looking to purchase a cell phone in which  i can get my email and internet access.
As of now i'm stuck in front of my computer anyway for most of the day but that is soon to change
so i would like to be able to get my emails on the road
i have no experience on this topic any help will be appreciated
( i have verizon and don't plan on changing unless really worth it)

levi

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2008, 08:43:31 AM »
I'm looking to purchase a cell phone in which  i can get my email and internet access.
As of now i'm stuck in front of my computer anyway for most of the day but that is soon to change
so i would like to be able to get my emails on the road
i have no experience on this topic any help will be appreciated
( i have verizon and don't plan on changing unless really worth it)
I have verizon, at one point I made a change to sprint saving me some money but within 30 days i switched back it was not worth it for me to save a few dollard and have bad service although in new york the service was pretty good but when I travel I always had issues as far a a phone I have the blackberry 8830 world phone and I am very happy with it, battery is not that great but thats because I talk to much ;D

Offline Mordy

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2008, 09:57:11 AM »
Ah! Someone has opened a REAL can of worms here!

I don't know when Levy tried Sprint last, but a LOT has changed recently.
About 5 years ago I tried them and wouldn't touch them again with a 10foot pole.
But now, their customer support is actually *good* (you get a live rep within 2 rings, who speaks english and is helpful), their data network is TOP-NOTCH (I'm getting EVDO Rev A. out here in the boonies, with 2+ mbps... Verizon still averages 0.8mps out here with Rev 0), and the final blow, I have reception EVERYWHERE Verizon does, literally.
Levy, in case you didn't know... Sprint now has a roaming agreement with Verizon. So, whenever you don't have Sprint, you switch over and use Verizon's network for free. So, better reception is NOT a valid reason to stay with Verizon anymore (it may have been a while ago).

Now, personally, there's a million reasons to leave Verizon (I literally HATE them after seeing how they treated me and other customers- they are the "bully" of the cell phone world and don't really care enough to keep your business- they get the latest technology after the other carriers have had them, cripple features on their handsets, and overcharge for almost every feature... but people are on them because they're established and have been around, and have the "better signal" myth), but that's not really what the point of this thread is.

I could go on all day about smartphones vs. Blackberrys (and I appreciate that you recognize the blackberry isn't REALLY a smartphone), but I'll keep it simple here.
Bottom line: Its a personal preference, and neither is better for everyone.
Blackberry does what it does very well. Its easy, its straight-forward, it works.
Smartphones and PDA's, however, let you do literally ANYTHING possible since they have operating systems that allow you to install new software. Basically, any new features you want you can add by writing or installing a program, whereas the blackberry will always be limited to what it does out of the box.

Case in point: When wireless stereo was becoming a standard, new phones were coming out that supported it so you could play your music on your home or car stereo in high quality without wires using a variation of bluetooth audio technology. My 3 year old smartphone had bluetooth, but not the support for the stereo profile. I installed a program and BOOM, I had bluetooth stereo support (A2DP). Then I wanted to be able to browse shoutcast internet radio on my phone, so I installed a media player that allows that format. Then I wanted an easier way to look for stations (their site is hard to navigate on a mobile browser), so some friends and I starting writing our own shoutcast program that parses the information and makes it easy to search and find and play internet radio stations.

There's an endless amount of features you can add to a smartphone/PDA to make it work better for you, its the customization that makes it worthwhile (I've even designed a system for someone to open their garage door with the smartphone). I beleive that what someone needs varies from person to person, so that level of customization is a MUST for me. However, I do recognize that many people do not want or care to spend the time to tweak their phone to be perfect for THEM. In that case, the blackberry is a much simpler straight forward platform. It has less features, but many less-technical people will see that as a g-dsend.

I'm not sure if I'd go this far, but I've heard the blackberry referred to as "smartphones for dummies".

By the way, I wouldn't dare get a data plan on Verizon unless you're willing to spend $80+ on your bill for voice and unlimited data. Sprint has a special SERO plan (Dan's a big advocate) where for $30 you get unlimited data and 500min of voice. Combine that with a decent smartphone, and you can't beat that deal anywhere.

Whew, what a long post for too early in the morning for me. Hope it helped.
Mobile Enthusiast Extraordinaire

Visit one of the Tech Blogs I write: http://www.techcitement.com

Offline Dan

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2008, 10:20:15 AM »
Heh, a post by Mordy and I can't disagree with anything he said!
 ;D
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline Daniel

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2008, 11:13:48 AM »
Do you need a special referral code to sign up for that plan?

I've always used GSM phones because you can use them in Israel. What do you do when travelling abroad?

Is there a Pocket PC phone like the AT&T tilt with GPS and Keyboard that you can use on Sprint?

Offline jef4320

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2008, 12:31:48 PM »
if u could sign me up to get the sero plan i'll just keep my existing cell phone and get a separate smartphone for 30 a month

Offline Dan

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #6 on: May 30, 2008, 12:35:34 PM »
It's not as easy as it used to be, but it's not too hard.
-Walk into a Sprint store.
-Talk to an employee and get their business card.
-Sign up for a SERO plan online!
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline jef4320

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #7 on: May 30, 2008, 12:52:41 PM »
the email address on your old post still seems to work but i want to know if u want to get a blackberry do u still need to pay an extra 40 a month for blackberry service? or is that included in in the original 30 for the plan?

Offline Yitzter

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #8 on: May 30, 2008, 02:37:23 PM »
You have to pay if you want the blackberry data. You can't use the included data in the SERO for the blackberry. Maybe there is a hack to do it, idk.

Cheers
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Offline Eli

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #9 on: May 30, 2008, 02:59:28 PM »
Wow I can't believe it's been a day and I haven't given my opinion on this issue. As far as service providers, I personally have Cingular and I'm happy with them. I'm on the $100/month unlimited minute plan along with an additional $35/month for unlimited text and internet (yes, I know I have a smartphone and should be paying more for unlimited internet, but thankfully Cingular doesn't realize). I know I can be paying Sprint $100/month for everything, but I need the latest and greatest, and all the HTC Windows Mobile Smartphones come out of Europe for GSM which would not work with Sprint.

My opinion is very simple. If you need rock solid e-mail access - meaning that you will ALWAYS get your e-mail IMMEDIATELY and NEVER have any trouble with that, then you must get the blackberry - no questions asked. The BlackBerry is simply the best push-email in the world.

I have a smartphone - the HTC Startrek otherwise known as the Cingular 3125. I don't need to get my e-mail immediately so I'd rather have the smartphone. The number one reason why I have it is because it syncs with my Exchange Server. To explain that, the example I always give is that if I enter a contact into my phone, and then my phone slips out of my hands into a sewer, the contact will be stored and saved on my server before it hits the water.

The thing I hate about it though is that sometimes I look at my phone and see that it hasn't gotten my e-mail in an hour because the last time it tried to sync, I was on the phone. That's something that will never happen with the BlackBerry.

So finally, just to reiterate. If you need rock solid e-mail availability, get the BlackBerry. If you can deal with getting your e-mails late sometimes, and you would rather have a ton of customizing options, get a Windows Mobile smartphone.

One last thing...the BlackBerry will almost never crash. A Windows Mobile phone though, if you load it up with apps, will crash more often than Windows 95.
-Eli

Offline Scrable

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #10 on: May 30, 2008, 03:02:32 PM »
Sprint has the Mogul by HTC which will be a lcose  hit to ATT tilt, its more like the HTC 8525 from ATT.
Zalman.

Offline Yitzter

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #11 on: May 30, 2008, 03:07:56 PM »
I am using the mogul, its a piece of s***, there is a memory leak so there is absolutely no extra memory on this thing, you have to reset at least twice a day to get it going normal. If you know what your doing, you can get a custom rom. It'll help plus you can get GPS and Rev A.
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Offline E

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #12 on: May 30, 2008, 04:00:34 PM »
i personally enjoy the Iphone although its definitely not worth it to switch providers , i've had every phone at&t "makes" and although it has many issues there is nothing that you cant download a fix or program for. Additionally the browsing experience is unparalleled (yes even the new opera mini ! )  if you have to type allot though, the Iphone is not an option

Offline Eli

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #13 on: May 30, 2008, 04:07:10 PM »
I cannot agree more. The iPhone is the best phone if you do a lot of web browsing. And although it's currently limited with 3rd party apps, within a month or so they are unlocking it to allow downloads of 3rd party apps from iTunes website which will cover most of the gripes people have with the phone now.

And like the previous poster said, if you need to do a lot of texting or e-mailing, stay far away from the iPhone or any touch-screen-only phone.
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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #14 on: May 30, 2008, 04:13:57 PM »
i have mine unlocked right now and there are lit rally thousands of apps available for download, why wait for apple?

Offline AsherO

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #15 on: May 30, 2008, 04:14:05 PM »
I have the 8830 and it works great for anything text related (email, IM, BlackBerry messaging, SMS etc).

It works okay for web browsing, though not nearly as good as the iphone.

YMMV.
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Offline Yitzter

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #16 on: May 30, 2008, 04:41:13 PM »
I'm thinking about getting the new sprint curve, I think it's a pretty cool phone. For free of course!
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levi

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #17 on: May 30, 2008, 06:47:50 PM »

I've always used GSM phones because you can use them in Israel. What do you do when travelling abroad?


I have the blackberry 8830 from verizon which is a world phone and i am very happy with it

Offline Yitzter

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #18 on: May 30, 2008, 07:08:18 PM »
Verizon cripples their phones. Someone even told me that verizon's "world phone" wont even work in israel.
"There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things

levi

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Re: Smartphones/PDA vs. Blackberry
« Reply #19 on: May 30, 2008, 07:13:18 PM »
Verizon cripples their phones. Someone even told me that verizon's "world phone" wont even work in israel.
not true i have personaly used it there