iPhone or Blackberry

[MattADH]

Just wondered what peoples thoughts were on these two items...

I have been considering getting a Blackberry for a while - the convenience of having access to e-mails etc seems a great idea.

TBH, I feel that although the iPhone is a superb piece of kit in the way that it works like the interface/scrolling menus, but just like the iPod, the next generations are going to be significantly better and the issues like network availability (unless you use some hacking software) will have been solved.

[frogger]

Here are my findings with the iPhone:

Microsoft Exchange email works fine. It's not push, but the built in email app will check email every 15 minutes. eMail is MARKEDLY better than the blackberry (bigger screen, HTML email support, fantastic opening of PDFs etc etc). Your mail server needs to support IMAP and SMTP.

Calendering is more of a hassle. It updates when you dock without a problem, but not wirelessly. Worse, if you get an appointment via email it doesn't even *show up* in your mail box (they're hidden).

My schedule for each day is pretty much set by EOB the day before, so this doesn't worry me too much - and it does everything else well. Phonebook is better than the blackberry, and integrates well with my car. It has no voice dialing support tho, unless your car handsfree has it.

Camera is useless in anything but bright light. Web browsing over EDGE is slow, but very very useable via WiFi. It's not compatible with the security on some wireless networks, so you'll be on EDGE most of the time.

Speakerphone is good, but quiet. Ringer is feebly quiet, but the vibrate is fairly good.

Most annoying thing? No copy and paste support! That means someone sends you a text message with a tel in it you have to remember it and retype it in the phone app before you can dial it.

Battery life is pretty good too - I can get two days out of it.

Had loads of crackberries too and they works well enough. Not bling, not great, not fantastic but they just work.

Why not look at getting something like the HTC TyTN or similar.

[Kash]

Not tried the Iphone yet..
But I would say Blackberry's are like Ronseal..
I am currently using a Nokia E65 ( Along with a BB 8820) with a Blackberry Client. It does work fairly well

[AmiSMB]

For calendaring and e-mail to an Exchange server the only option is a Microsoft Smartphone. Also then it allows you to run Sat Nav software like TomTom or CoPilot.

[showtime]

i use an HTC touch which is a windows based smartphone, small, neat, touchscreen etc! full review here http://www.coolsmartphone.com/article724.html

it has recently been updated with the TouchII which has a slide down numberpad to maake it more appealing to regular phone type customers, but tbh i downloaded a touch phonepad for mine which means you can do pretty much everything without the stylus! just prod it with your fat fingers

Fribbers i see on coolsmartphone that your Artemis has recently been replaced by the Touch Cruise

[telboy]

hmm, blackberry's taste nicer though.

[Chris Doughty]

Matt - Blackberrys are ace! BB messenger rocks!

I have no experience of iPhone though

the 8310 Curve has camera and GPS locater... combined with BBmaps or Google Maps and you can find anything.... neared pizza shop etc etc....

[glypo]

Android based smart phones are no doubt the future. However they won't be available until 2008.

[jim76]

the HTC touch is great. and you can get SO many applications for windows mobile.

[MattADH]

Thanks for all your input. Despite being a big fan of all things Apple, justifying the costs of an iPhone, potential new contract with O2, etc, I picked up a BB 8300 Curve from a Vodafone store last night.

[Kash]

Good Choice

[Southwell]

I couldn't get on with bathys blackberry, seems clunky to me.

[Chris Doughty]

good choise Matt, is it the 8300 or the 8310 ? (does it have GPS)?

let me know what email address you are using on it.

also, ditch the Vodafone theme straight away, I use BB Dimension Icon - its better

[MattADH]

Chris - it is linked to all my e-mail accounts (matt@rcracer.com is the most used). It is the 8310 Curve with GPS.

Southwell - it is a little larger, but it is for work and I still have a personal mobile. One option was the more aesthetic looking Pearl but then if you text with a regular mobile phone then go and try to e-mail with the BB Pearl, it would be horrendous! The Pearl has a regular button layout but adopting a QWERTY configuration keyboard. Seems like the 8310 was the best although I liked the classy look of the 8800 until I saw that it was even bigger than the Curve!!!!

[Kash]

Try here for some cool Themes.
http://www.themes4bb.com/t4bbforum/f...play.php?f=128

[Chris Doughty]

the Perl is as good as useless, if you are going for BB it has to be the full single letter per key BB like the 8310 or the 8800 (mine)

the 8800 is good, but it is pretty big, but then I can ssh into all of my Unix/Linux and NetApp servers from it... its pretty trick!

[Kash]

Originally Posted by DoughtyUK.net

the Perl is as good as useless, if you are going for BB it has to be the full single letter per key BB like the 8310 or the 8800 (mine)

the 8800 is good, but it is pretty big, but then I can ssh into all of my Unix/Linux and NetApp servers from it... its pretty trick!

That is pretty trick..
The Pearl is just a compramise if you want 1 device.
I do know that Rim have some pretty neat devices coming out in the future. I got a bit of a look in at the last meeting I had with them.

[MattADH]

I am afraid I only really use Macs and love their stuff but the BB is perfect for what I need.

The only time I use a PC is when I am at a National and want to see the timing software, or when running a race meeting at Eden Park!!!

Then again, I hope to have a Intel MacBook Pro soon so I will be able to boot that up in Windows...