Blackberrys and WM smartphones

[wemymwam]

Sometime soon, I will upgrade to a smartphone. I am torn between the blackberrys (pearl, 8800) and the WM smartphones (blackjack, treo 750, htc)

I have always heard that the blackberrys were limited in what they can do, but it seems like they may have closed the gap on several things like web browsing, multimedia, and more apps.

I cannot afford to change phones every 6 months, so I need something I am going to be happy with for at least a year if not more. I prefer to stick with Cingular, but I don't mind buying an unlocked phone. I like smaller phones, but I also like all the bells and whistles. Which smartphone do you think is the best combination of size, features, and price?

[College Confuse]

What's more important to you, multimedia or messaging?

My personal opinion is that most Blackberries function better as a messaging device than a WM5 Smartphone. On the other hand, WM5 has the edge in multimedia functionality. Keep in mind that if you want 3G/UMTS data speeds in the U.S., you're basically stuck with WM5.

[June C]

Honestly, the multimedia is more of a show-off feature, while I will get more real use out of messaging. I'm not a big music guy, don't take alot of pictures, and rarely watch videos on tiny phone screen.

Not sure if I do enough browsing and downloading to require 3G, but I like having the fastest I can get.

I think I have narrowed it down to the Pearl and Blackjack, although I havent' had a chance to get hands on with a BB 8800. I love the track ball on the pearl. Both are small, sleek phones.

I am more familiar with WM because I have used Pocket PCs in the past. I have never had a BB, so I would have to learn all the tricks.

[Shardote]

The BB O/S is stable and bullet proof. The Smartphone is Windows Mobile. Do I need to say more?

[cherry :P]

Well, obviously there are some people who are anti-windows mobile, but I am not one of those people. I don't consider myself a product loyal person. I just want the best for my needs, and I don't care what brand or os it is. So, yeah, if you could say alittle more, that would be helpful.

Tell me why you think the BB is better than the blackjack.

Let me add another handset to the mix. The HTC S710 Vox. Awesome looking phone, with WM6.

[Barry Apuya]

Well, concerning the Blackjack you can read my review. I've said what I think about the Blackjack in detail. http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1087702

Now the HTC Tytn is a different story. It doesn't have some of the issues that the Blackjack has. On the other hand you need third party programs for some very basic things like a reasonable Email client (WM5 really only plays nicely with Exchange), task management, basic "profiles" functionality.

The thing about the Blackberry is it simply works out of the box.

On the other hand, I've spent about a week trying to get this HTC device into a state that I can really use it as my day to day primary phone. I think I'm finally there. Partly this involves finding the combination of add on programs and registry settings that give me the functionality that I want, but that don't cause the phone to lock up. This has proved pretty difficult. I feel like a beta tester. It's different than the Blackjack in a number of ways (WM5 PPC AKU2 vs WM5 Smartphone AKU3)

The Blackberry works. It's stable. It's less flexible. The user interface is very easy to use. It doesn't really do multimedia, but is an excellent messaging device. Basic things like task management and profiles are included.

If you need the flexibility, 3G, multimedia functions or need tight integration with Microsoft Windows/Exchange/Office/IM then windows mobile might well be a better choice. I'd get rid of my WM5 devices in a second if I could get a Blackberry or Symbian phone with HSDPA 850/1900 and a QWERTY keyboard.

[hotboy_10c]

The main reasons I went back to the BB from the BJ are:

Battery life on the BJ was really poor, especially when it was switching between 3G and EDGE, Turning off the 3G helped some. My BB can go a couple days between charging.

I had to delete each email message one at a time, as opposed to selecting the ones to delete or to delete all. Was a real PITA to do.

Found that the BJ would randomly reboot at least once a day. Never did figure out what was causing it.

No copy and paste function. Could buy a 3rd party product thought - but that is just more expense.

Now I did like the way Active Synch works when connected. Any appointment or contact I added was sent to the BJ at the same time. With a BB, you have to do a synch to get it moved over.

[Tenasha]

I wonder if the pearl has about the same battery life as the BJ.

The HTC Vox has caught my eye. I wonder what the chances are of cingular carrying this phone.

http://www.htc.com/product/03-product_s710.htm

[inNout4ever!]

hey, if your interested in smartphones , take a look at motorolas q9, its coming q1 of 2007. Alot of hype about it, looks are ok, very slim though, more than a bb