Brian and I are no longer under contract with Sprint for our cell phones.
We actually really like Sprint… but we’re open to moving to different provider for a rockin’ deal. We’re also in the market for new phones. Our phones… ESPECIALLY Brian’s, doesn’t hold battery life very well anymore.
Like most of you, we basically LIVE off our phones. We text, twitter, need our calendar, email, internet access… we pretty much need a computer we can talk on.
We’ve narrowed it down to the iPhone or a Blackberry.
I love. My iPhone, but I’ve not had a blackberry.
Don’t forget Android!
T-Mobile is the only carrier with an Android phone (G1), but every carrier will have an Android option in the next few months. I have the G1 and it rules.
I had a BlackBerry and I hated how locked down it was. All the apps I wanted cost 15 bucks
iPhone and make sure you buy me one too
So… I was told by a friend that his Blackberry Bold holds battery for 3 days. I was told by another friend he has to charge his iPhone multiple times a day.
Thoughts?
iPhone, no question… though it depends if your mac or PC native. It fits like a glove in a mac-world, unsure about ease of use with PC stuff. But, as Lamar would say: “You don’t have to take my word for it!” http://www.louisgray.com/live/2008/12/there-are-two-phones-in-this-world.html
I think you know where I stand.
Blackberry Bold is simply an awesome phone. For a power user like yourself you need a phone that is both functional and reliable. iPhone is nice, but do you really want to be frustrated with a phone when you type? Plenty of free apps for the Blackberry Bold as well. TwitterBerry, Facebook, Qik…and did I mention it does email? It does it well!
You know what you need to do. You’ve already made your decision, now it’s “Go Time”.
I am a strong advocate for the iPhone. I haven’t had battery problems, love the multitude of free apps- can’t live without facebook, twitterfon and Lose it! It plays my music, makes phone calls, emails, google reader… etc etc.
The ONE thing I don’t like about it is that you can’t send pic messages like a regular cell phone. You have to email the pictures.
Neither. Phones should have no extra features. Ringtones also must go away.
Mostly I’m just too cheep to pay for all the features and texting and all that newfangled stuff you kids do these days. I pre-pay and my minutes don’t expire. And I don’t really use it very often. I’m fine being out of touch.
My bro-in-law has an iphone… he loves it except that he can’t receive pictures/video unless he sends them to his email. Lots of folks I know have blackberries, but where I come from, they only use ‘em for work stuff. They don’t text or twitter… isn’t that crazy? I don’t have either.
I like my Blackberry (pearl) but yet I have never had an iPhone. I use mine for work. The battery lasts a long time as long as I don’t leave some mysterious app running in the background (like the camera part or mp3 player or what-have-you). Everyone I know who has an iPhone loves it… but I’d rather have my BB and then an iPod touch I think. Oh and we have Verizon (switched from Sprint 2 yrs ago) and so far it is superior in terms of coverage. I could gtalk from Big Mt resort in Montana, sweet!
iPhone…duh!
i’m a little biased. but actually, i do hear the blackberry is quite nice also.
iphone for sure, such a genius device. I heart mine.
I have a Blackberry and love it…Christian has an iphone and it’s his new best friend…so, I think you’re safe either way.
The nerds in my posse at work give the thumbs up to the iphone. The BB is good, but still pales in comparison.
I can only say the iphone is great. I’m always having to take it back from my wife and daughter. From what I hear the blackberry has a better keyboard for typing.
love love love my Blackberry Curve. Love it. Long battery life – at least two days… does everything I need it to do
Well you know I am IN LOVE with my new iphone. It is the ONLY technology that calls to you in the middle of the night to come and play.
i am like seth and have a “free with plan” phone. no texts, no email, just a phone. i have heart WAY more negatives about the iphone compared to the blackberry, but i also know people who have an iphone who love it. personally i think the blackberry is cooler.
i know.. i am no help. sorry. good luck.. i think whatever one you get you will like just fine!
OK. This is a tough one to advise on but I will tell you how I have managed this dilemma.
I had both for nine months. LOL. I had a Curve (first the silver then a red one) from the minute the Curve came out. I LOVE BlackBerry devices. I’ve been using them for 2 1/2 years. I have also used Palm, Symbian and a half dozen Windows Mobile phones. In my opinion, BlackBerry is the most solid, stable operating system on the market. If you want a work horse designed to be a messaging machine you want a BlackBerry. Hands down.
Now, through a windfall a year ago, I was able to get my hands on a first gen iPhone. I switched between that and the Curve for nine months.
Then the Bold came out. I got mine on launch day, Nov. 4, and immediately sold my iPhone and my Curve. I use the Bold almost every day — I have a Samsung Propel that I use on weekend or when the Bold needs to charge.
While the iPhone is fantastic as far as syncing with Outlook — it worked far better than any Windows Mobile phone I ever owned — and with my work e-mail which was set up as an Exchange server I just did not find it as stable or reliable as my BlackBerry. It’s pretty close, but just not quite there.
I am not wedded to having a physical keyboard and I found that the predictive text entry software on the iPhone is the smartest and best I have ever used on any phone (and I’ve had close to 50 phones of every make and model during the past four years) I’ve personally used.
That being said, the full qwerty keyboard on the Bold is the best I’ve used on any phone I’ve ever used, and I really don’t miss the iPhone.
The great thing about at&t is that with SIM cards if you are sufficiently geeky enough you get the Bold, put the BlackBerry plan on your account, then you can get the iPhone too, at some point and swap between the two.
The bad thing about at&t is that it’s going to be more expensive than Sprint. In fact, any other option aside from T Mobile (so at&t or Verizon) is going to be more than what you’re paying now with Sprint.
In my opinion (and I’m a moderator on a cell phone forum for Sprint subscribers – long story) you get what you pay for and I tell you that having at&t has been a dream compared to using Sprint. Customer service is actually capable of one-call resolution if you ever even have to call.
But T Mobile’s customer service is brilliant, as well, and the G1 Android platform is pretty cool, so that may be something worth investigating. But keep in mind that is a technology that is in its infancy while iPhone is 18 months old and BlackBerry is a very mature platform.
I would suggest going to a store and playing with both devices if you haven’t done so already.
Shoot me an e-mail if you have any specific questions about BlackBerry or iPhone.
cellpunk@gmail.com
I downloaded a sweet guitar tuner on my iPhone btw
Not sure how to compete with the above comment but i’ve had both and definitely prefer the iPhone. The blackberry buzzes EVERYTIME you have an email or flashes until you check it. That drives me NUTS. In the iPhone you can check email at your leisure and put as many accounts on it without confusing them. If I use my iPhone allll day then yes come 9pm I m at 10% battery left but I when I was working and using the bb I definitely had to charge it throughout the day. iPhone is definitely more fun and takes much better pics too!!
I currently use a 1st gen iPhone. Prior to that, I had a Blackberry Pearl. Prior to that, I had Sprint. AT&T is better than Sprint for sure. Sprint customer service and policies still stink, although the call quality was always generally good. However, rollover feature for AT&T is a big help to me, plus they have coverage at my office, which Sprint didn’t. AT&T’s system also works with overseas providers if you need it to. Sprint has about zero international presence.
If I’m playing games ’round the clock on my iPhone, I will probably need to charge it partway through the day. But for regular use (occasional apps, e-mail checking, web checking, music, etc), I can go at least 2-3 days before I must absolutely charge. If someone is recharging multiple times per day, they probably have everything on and are using it constantly – GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth, downloading, etc. without any sort of pause. And their screen must be turned up to max brightness and maybe max volume? There are battery pack/case products available for those people anyway.
Blackberry advantage is that it works very well with corporate e-mail systems. If this is a must, that gives Blackberry bonus points.
iPhone advantage is that it is perfectly geared for consumer use. Super easy to sync music, podcasts, videos through iTunes. Continual value-add with firmware upgrades, which have added the app store, upgraded Google maps, configurability, etc. The app store greatly expands the usability with all sorts of different useful or simply entertaining applications. The large 3.5″ screen comes in handy when traveling, or more importantly, showing Sesame Street videos (downloaded for free) to the boys when the Cheesecake Factory has their usual wait for a table.
As for e-mail, as I don’t currently need corporate e-mail on my phone (used to when I had the Pearl), it works great with keeping up on gmail and Yahoo e-mail accounts; both have push capability.
So there’s my vote for the iPhone. Plus, as a popular product, you get the whole cottage industry of iPhone/iPod peripherals you can tap into for your choice of cases, docks, etc.
Traci & Kris – info like this is exactly what I’m looking for. I love that you both have used BOTH iPhone and BB.
Seth – you seriously crack me up!
Chris Clayton – I have perfect pitch so I don’t need tuner. Ok… I don’t have perfect pitch.
Oooooh… great additions, Tommy.
So… for someone like me who is twittering all day, checking email, sending email, surfing the net, chitty-chatting on the phone – battery life is VERY important. I’m getting mixed info from you people. Come on!!! Pull it together
I don’t care so much about loading music… I have an iPod for that.
BTW… I would just go and play with phones… but I really can’t swing that right now with a 3yo and newborn. This is why I’m asking all, y’all.
Keep ‘em coming!
battery life sake… blackberry or palm centro. both great and have wonderful battery life. oh and stay with Sprint so we can talk for free.
To my knowledge, I don’t know if there’s going to be that big a difference in battery life between the two if you used them in the exact same way? I think from your earlier comment that your friend with the Bold that charges every few days uses it a lot less than your friend who has to charge their iPhone a few times per day. It might be more important to you as to how easy it they are to use for those purposes – typing method and accuracy, screen size and clarity, etc. Then, you can also weigh the other capabilities that each brings to the table. Maybe the iPhone would require a little more power on account of its larger screen, though at the same time that really makes it much easier to do what you want to do.
Also, for what it’s worth, I believe the Blackberry Storm is positioned more closely as the competitor to the iPhone than the BB Bold.
This is great! I think we are safe either way.
You go first and let me know what you get and how you like it! Ha!
Crystal – that’s pretty impressive coming from you since you’re a Mac girl like me
Tommy – my BB Bold user friend and iPhone user friend mentioned above are almost one in the same. They are total geeks and use their phones like there is no tomorrow.
I’m not sure I’d pick the BB Storm since I actually prefer the keyboard style over the touchscreen of the iPhone and Storm. Not saying I wouldn’t be open to change. My current phone is both touchscreen AND slide out keyboard. I usually use the keyboard.
If the iPhone came with a slide out keyboard as well, I’m not sure there would be a conversation at this point.
Go with a Blackberry Curve with wifi then you don’t have to pay the extra monthly service cost of a data plan! I have a blackberry and LOVE it, Luke and I have had both verizon and At&t and really didn’t notice that much of a difference. We switch to At&t because Luke gets better coverage at work.
Oh, of course, I forgot to mention battery life which is critical for me.
I have four e-mail accounts pushing to my BlackBerry and I had four being pulled by the iPhone. I’m a 3k to 4k a month texter, surf the web a fair amount (I use a ton of data) and get hundreds of e-mails a day between my four accounts. The iPhone would go a day and a half, sometimes two if I wasn’t using it much or I checked my e-mail manually.
With the Bold I am getting two days easily and sometimes 2 1/2 with light usage.
My bare minimum requirement for any phone is 24 hours on a single charge and both the iPhone and the Bold can manage that easily. I do have an iPod charging/connector cable in my car (so I can listen to my iPod or iPhone in my car — yeah, I still had an iPod) as well as an extra charging cable plugged into my computer here at work so I was able to charge on the go if necessary.
I also have an extra wall charger for the BlackBerry here at work as well as a car charger. I pretty much always have a car charger for any phone I use because it’s Murphy’s Law that I will forget to charge my phone before I have to spend all day being productive. Or I have to drive to Olympia.
In my opinion, I would lean more toward BlackBerry if I were you because the physical keyboard is really nice when you are messaging a lot.
But the constant buzzing/ringing of the BlackBerry is one of the reasons I have a second phone for the weekends because I do need a break from 24/7 e-mail. Remember, though, that I get hundreds of e-mails a day. If you don’t have that kind of e-mail volume then you probably aren’t going to want to throw your BB on I-5 because it won’t stop buzzing. Oh, yes, I have been tempted but then I remember how many times this lovely device has saved my bacon for work.
Plus there is nothing better than not being chained to a desk.
Jenni, I would say hit up YouTube to see videos of both phones in action in lieu of taking a trip to a store to play with them.
And stay far, far, far away from the BlackBerry Storm. It is arguably one of the worst devices RIM has made. The touch screen is infuriating, the predictive text entry is among the dumbest I’ve encountered, and the lag going from menu to menu or going from portrait to landscape is awful. It can not compete with an iPhone or the Bold. It is a fantastic concept but poorly executed. Resist the urge to fork over $199 to be a beta tester for Verizon and RIM.
Oh, and if you do want to put media on your BlackBerry, they’re making microSDHC cards now that hold up to 16gb of memory and I believe 32GB cards are around the corner. You can drag and drop media from your computer (including your iTunes library) onto the memory card either with the card plugged into your card reader on your computer or with the BlackBerry in media storage mode plugged into your computer using the USB cable.
I don’t use them often but after my husband’s cell phone died a couple weeks ago at 5 a.m. while he was stuck in a ditch waiting for AAA I am reminded why having extra chargers around is critical even if you don’t really need them.
I have heard really good things about the BB storm. But since I have an iPhone, I can only speak from this side of it.
I really love my iPhone because it helps me not get lost.
(maps) but sometimes, if I don’t double check the address, the phone changes the address and you can end up driving to who know where. I also like my calendar. Not only can I sync all info from Jason’s mac, having it accessible helps me stay über organized. I like that I can have the keyboard go horizontal or vertical.. And that it auto spells.. But it doesn’t know my name and always changes it from renee to renew. Really!? I’ve types it so many times you should know. And the letters on the keyboard are kinda small, so if I’m typing fast.. Misspells happen easier. The battery usually stays fine for 2 days for me.. I think the battery drains faster when your online a lot and have everything on high like tommy says. I like that if I get a casting notice, I can submit immediately. Also the camera takes really great pics. You could call me for free. My service doesnt drop as often, but more than verizon obviously. Sometime the iPhone freezes.. That part sucks, but of doesn’t happen enough for me to hate it. I don’t like that I can’t copy paste.. So if someone wants someone’s number.. I have to find it, wrote it down, then text it. I love how easy it is to keep up on emails and facebook. However, it’s an expensive toy to own. I’m happy with mine though. 
I wrote all this while laying in bed.
Better yet, for video reviews, I’d go to http://www.phonedog.com
Noah does fantastic video reviews of phones and you get a really good sense of what you will like. Plus these will likely touch on the thing you’re interested in than maybe random vids on YouTube.
You can also peruse some of the web sites like http://www.everythingicafe.com, modmyifone.com, http://www.blackberryforums.com or http://www.crackberry.com.
Love my iphone. The predictive typing is AMAZING. I use my quite often for twittering, texting, pics etc & it holds a charge for 2 days. I just plug it in to my wall plug in at night when it needs it & sync it once every few days. Love the free apps. Love the phone speaker / earbuds.
and I don’t like that it makes me sound like a boater.. Haha!
and I like when I text, they come in bubbles.. Haha.. Like talking bubbles.
Let me just say this: if you want to smile everytime you use your phone, go for the iPhone. It’s beautiful, and it works. the battery life is alright but pick up a car charger for $20 and you’ll be just fine. The applications available are excellent and browsing/testing is a dream. I’ve gotten to the point where I will surf on my iPhone rather than the computer at times.
I have never had a blackberry but I have played with them a few times and just haven’t been as impressed as with the iPhone.
Alright I did not check for typos. Haha sorry. You don’t have to approve that. But serious. The iPhone rocks.
Dude… why do I feel MORE confused now.
Kris – as much as I would love to have both, I can BARELY afford one, HA! Thank you SO much for your info. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. Please keep them coming if any other thoughts come up.
Grayson – I MISS YOU!!!
I’m pretty sure I’m avoiding the BB Storm. It’s really between the BB Bold and iPhone (well… maybe the Curve). I pretty much want every app known to man and will suck the life out of any phone I use. I am charging my phone for the THIRD time currently, as we speak.
So… more questions: with the BB… I can’t just turn off the vibrate or sound so I don’t know emails are coming in? How about insurance options? The iPhone is not insurable, right? What about the BB??
i would just like to say, that i hope you like whatever phone you end up getting
i don’t have any insightful comments on iphones or BBs butttttttt… at work last year we used to call blackberries “crackberries.” because it’s like there’s no end of the day with phones that are linked to your life, you know? so the program managers were constantly on their phones and we’d be getting text msgs about work stuff in the wee hours of night/morn. (sorry distracted) hope you make an awesome decision!!!
I used a Blackberry for years. I have tried almost every smartphone and went back to the BB—except when I got the iPhone. It is my substitute computer while my MBP is in the hospital. That would not be true with a BB.
Typing is better with BB and so is battery. You get used to typing and I plug my iPhone to my laptop or car during the day.
In my opinion, battery life is not an issue. We al have home and car chargers anyway. Just plug it in. The iPhone charges very fast. Plug it in while driving to coffee and your golden.
iPhone is slick. One button and your everywhere. Blackberry is menu after menu. Drove me nuts.
Blackberry is meant to be a constant running email/text machine. It does it well. Except for the menus. iPhone is smooth, easy to use and fast. It will glitch more. It’s not a phone. It’s a computer that makes calls.
I also don’t like how big the Bold is. The iPhone is thin but not as wide with a much larger screen. Fits nicely in my pocket.
Our family has owned both and used both. I would never go back to a Blackberry. I would be lost without everything the iPhone offers.
The keyboard is another non issue in my opinion. I used both. I make as many mistakes on the iPhone as I did on the blackberry. But the predictive text on the iPhone is very nice.
So when you are down here. I’ll just show you why you will want an iPhone
Oh. And I commented on this from my iPhone.
Hmmm… Matt & Brent both left BB’s for iPhones. That’s important to know.
Brent… our goal is to make that decision and have new phones by the time we come down to visit you.
I can’t say much about the buzzing sound…maybe it was a symptom of an older model or just a bad phone. I am glad to report there is no buzzing noise with mine. I am also able to set sound profiles to where I can turn all sound off, just beep twice, twice then vibrate, just vibrate, just sounds…you get the idea
And thats all within just a txt, or an email, or some other notification or alert. They allowed me to get insurance for it…just choose not to.
If you’re considering a Curve, go with an iPhone. If you want a BB, go with the Bold…don’t get stuck with old technology :p
uh, you need to get a few more comments. seriously. what the heck?!
They are called ‘crackberries’ for a reason. I was an e-mail addict when I got my first BlackBerry anyway so it just further enabled an addiction I already had in full force. I love getting my e-mail the very moment it hits my inbox. It saves me so much time especially with work stuff because I am not always at my desk.
It has its upsides and its downsides.
Here’s the thing … pick one and try it. You have 30 days. You will know by the end of a week if you like it. If you don’t, take it back and exchange it for the other device.
What you pick has to be what will best serve your needs. I totally understand that you have to pick one.
I only got the iPhone because someone sent us a big check the same week we got our tax return last year so I got to splurge. Plus I was able to get the red Curve for $99 no contract in January. Don’t ask because I can’t do that anymore.
The primary reason I stick with BlackBerry is because of my job. If I can ever get out of journalism I’d probably go all iPhone all the time. It’s just not quite there for me for my work needs.
As for e-mail notifications, you can customize that so minutely, you can set up your Normal profile (the profile controls what sounds go with what actions) so that it beeps once, beeps twice, only vibrates, vibrates and beeps, or makes no noise at all and only the LED flashes. You can give each individual e-mail address its own alert tone. I have all of mine set to one sound.
Or tonight while my husband is working graveyards I keep my phone on my night stand — I want the phone close so that if something happens it’s within arm’s reach — and I set the profile to Phone Only. So basically that means when anything else comes in it is silent.
You can also turn off the data entirely if you want some peace and quite from e-mail but then you won’t be able to send or receive picture messages, either, or surf the Web. So there’s pros and cons to everything.
If you don’t have a compulsive need to have your e-mail coming in 24/7 the minute the person on the other end hits ‘Send’ then you don’t need a BlackBerry.
Oh, insurance. Yes, at&t offers insurance on all phones now (except the iPhone but I’ll get to that in a sec), in a tiered system. You pay a little more for a PDA/smartphone/BlackBerry and it’s $100 deductible versus $50 for a so-called dumb phone. But compare that to full price for a brand new Bold at $549 it’s worth it, IMO.
Apple offers AppleCare (it’s $69 and I believe there is no deductible) for the iPhone and it’s pretty comprehensive coverage. I believe you can buy that in the first 30 days you own the iPhone. Apple handles technical support on the iPhone, warranty replacements, etc. Occasionally I’ve heard complaints about AppleCare but generally my impression is that their customer service is top notch. I didn’t buy the AppleCare and never had any issues with the iPhone but I believe it extends the warranty from one year to three. Since I um, don’t keep phones for an entire warranty period, much less three years, it didn’t seem necessary.
My opinion is you can’t go wrong with either. They both sync with Outlook (calendar, tasks, contacts, etc.) easily and beautifully. They both are capable of handling just about anything you throw at them. If you want a BlackBerry you get the Bold. It is the top of the line, flagship device, and if you want a touch screen phone you get an iPhone. The data plans are the same price for both and the voice plans are going to be the same. A Bold costs the same as a 16GB iPhone. It just comes down to which operating system you’re more comfortable using.
Speaking of comfortable, that brings me to a point of ergonomics that is worth addressing since it was raised by another commenter. My hands aren’t that big. I’m a girl, they’re medium sized for a girl, and the Bold is not as big or wide as I thought it was going to be but it is larger than the Curve. I actually like the added width of the Bold over the Curve. It’s just a few millimeters anyway which isn’t as significant once you hold the thing.
Here, look at this comparison, the dimensions are not that different:
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/compare.php?id=1613&id=1656&id=&id=&id=
And more side by side comparisons from Gizmodo (great tech blog):
http://gizmodo.com/392493/iphone-vs-blackberry-bold-the-side+by+side-photos-and-video
A typewriter. Wait…what are we talking about?
Oh…um. Well the iPhone has an app where you can hold it up to any music playing and it TELLS YOU WHAT IT IS!!! And it also has an app where you can play with this bouncy ball by moving the whole phone (great for waiting in lines). I like that you can zoom in on photos with the iPhone and it’s even MORE fun when you GoogleMap something and then zoom in on YOUR HOUSE. The YouTube app is sweet too. There’s also Sudoku…I know how important that is to you. Almost as important as the Cowbell and Light Saber apps.
I don’t know what apps the BB has.
You = iPhone
Brian = BB
ok… so it came down to cost. the BB Bold costs more than the iPhone. so we’re both getting the iPhone.
PLUS… we got a great deal. they didn’t have any iPhones to sell when we wanted them so they are giving us 25% off all accessories that we want and also throwing a few things in for free.
How awesome is that?
What the heck, don’t you people have anything to do? It’s the I-Phone and there is no going back now.