iphone 3g vs. Blackberry - help convince me

[sbb155]

I am a die hard blackberry user, and I use my phone mostly for emailing.
I also need an ipod, so the iphone seemed perfect...
but I just cannot type on the keyboard nearly as fast and make so many more mistakes than on the BB curve.
I have spent a lot of time in ATT stores.
Sure i can type slowly, but I do so much email, that the iphone is tough..
What are your thoughts, and has anyone switched from BB to iphone as a heavy email user?

Thanks

[benmrii]

I'm a Treo to iPhone person, so I might have a little helpful info.

Blackberry has more features and does a lot of things better. If you're comfortable with using it to it's full potential, and actually do, the Blackberry is sweet. The OS and interface of the iPhone, however, make for a much more pleasant and user friendly experience. If you're into aesthetics and general useability, iPhone wins.

If your primary use is email you should take the keyboard into account. You will get used to the iPhone 'keyboard' but, at least for me, it will never be as good as a physical one. That basically comes down to the simple question: is it worth the downgrade on keyboard quality to have the full screen.

For how I use my phone, iPhone is an easy choice for me. Good luck with your own choice, hope this helps a bit.

[seenett]

I've had an iphone for about 6 weeks, was using a BB 8800 for the prior two years. The fanboys will attack me for this, but...

When it comes to email, typing, and basic search functions, the BB wins hands down - it's not even a contest. Nothing can beat the feel and tactile response of actual keys. Searching is better on the BB also Having a physical keyboard that is always present makes it so easy. From ANY BB screen, you can search contacts by any field - first, last, street, state, email address, phone number, etc. BB also has a calendar search which works the same way.

I love my iPhone more than my BB. The iPhone beats the BB in almost every other category - web, calls, display, syncing, ipod, video, storage capacity.

If you are a heavy emailer (as you say), then I don't think I can convince you to get an iPhone....

[fireshot91]

well since you mainly need it for Email-Blackberry is definitely a better email client. if you need a iPod(for whatever reason) keep your blackberry and get a nano/classic, the qwerty TOUCH keyboard is harder than a regular qwerty keyboard imo, mainly because if u touch on the screen sometimes it thinks you touched 1cm off and it types the next letter...so yeah, i think you should keep your BB Curve(if you already have it) if you dont have it right now, go ahead and get the iPhone...theres no point in getting 2 devices when you can get 1, but if u already got it just get a classic/nano/shuffle iPod
for me also the iPhone is a better phone than a blackberry(im 14) so i dont really need an email, i just enjoy the iPhone for its iPod and other crap it got on it...

[MasonMI]

Since we're on the subject of Blackberrys and iphones is there a big difference in data plan price? is the blackberry data plan the same as the iphone 3G data plan?

[newyorksole]

Never owned a Blackberry, but did own the original iPhone from launch day up until July 18th and since then have owned the iPhone 3G.

The iPhone has:

An amazing web browser- Using the web on this phone is amazing.
A rich and easy to use interface
Apps Store
A great iPod
Google Maps

And so much more, I just love using this device, it does everything I want minus a couple of small things.

[Hutch1]

You've already made your decision, you don't like the keyboard on the iPhone.

Keep your Blackberry, your happy with it, you like its keyboard.

This will also save us the follow-up thread of "I got rid of my BB and the iPhone keyboard is a POS"

[Flhusky]

...and with the BB Bold or whatever due out soon, you may have the best of both worlds.
/gets in the flame suit for the kool-aide drinkers are sure to rise up.

Besides, unless your corp IT dept is supporting Active sync. you'd be screwed switching to the iPhone.

[sbb155]

my corp supports BB, MS mobile, and iphone activesync
I guess I am wondering - does anyone with an iphone use heavy email, and is it possible to type quickly without mistakes on the iphone

[benmrii]

my corp supports BB, MS mobile, and iphone activesync
I guess I am wondering - does anyone with an iphone use heavy email, and is it possible to type quickly without mistakes on the iphone

I do. Because I miss the physical keyboard it never feels as accurate, but it isn't horrible. You get used to it, get more efficient with it, but there is a tradeoff involved.

In short, assume a downgrade. I'd say the iPhone's keyboard is 75-80% what the BB's is.

[ubersalad]

At this moment, BB is still clearly the better choice for business, especially in large corporations.

It'll take time for iPhone to establish itself as an enterprise phone, but that time doesn't appear to be in the near future.

[StingerT125]

I have a BB for work, an older model with the multiple characters per key. I have never liked the thing. It is on AT&T the same as my iPhone, but the iPhone reception in the same areas is much much better and the sound quality is very much better.

[sbb155]

is it possible to do email in the landscape mode on the iphone, thus making the keys bigger on the touchscreen?

[Phil A.]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 16GB: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5F97 Safari/525.20)

personally, I found it took about 2 weeks to become used to the iPhone keyboard and about a month to become proficient to the point I can use two thumbs on it and type fast without any mistakes. I use my iPhone email extensively every day and find it the best phone I've had for email. I've never had a BB though so can't comment on whether it is better for email or not.

[aross99]

I think it comes down to what is most important to you. If you want iPod integration and the best browser experience, than the ipod wins hands down.

If you do ALOT of e-mail that requires alot of typing, then you want a BlackBerry.

It sounds to me like you should have a BlackBerry, but really want to get an iPhone. iPhone would work for you, but typing is not going to be the same, and if you need search, etc for your mail, you are going to be frustrated...

[seedster2]

If you are a heavy emailer (I used to be), I would suggest you stay with the blackberry offerings. the new bold has had promising reviews and has updated multimedia capabilities.

I email a lot less now, so the iphone is good. But without cut and paste and the tactile keyboard, you would be hard pressed to match your current ease of use that the BB provides.

[aneftp]

I am a die hard blackberry user, and I use my phone mostly for emailing.
I also need an ipod, so the iphone seemed perfect...
but I just cannot type on the keyboard nearly as fast and make so many more mistakes than on the BB curve.
I have spent a lot of time in ATT stores.
Sure i can type slowly, but I do so much email, that the iphone is tough..
What are your thoughts, and has anyone switched from BB to iphone as a heavy email user?

Thanks

I have both BB Curve and the iPhone 3g and first gen. My recommendation to you is just to get both phones! Easiest answer to your question. I use both at the same time. I use the Wifi BB Curve on Tmobile and the iPhone 3g on ATT.
I am giving you this answer assuming you have the money to afford both.

Seriously, if you are a business user, stick with the BB Curve. Better battery life. Easy email functions and the Curve's buttoms are easy to type with. You are better off keeping the Curve and getting an iPod touch/nano/classic.

If you can afford both; that's what I would recommend. You get the best of both worlds.

[Ferris23]

I am a first time Iphone 3g owner, the girl I just started hanging out with uses a Blackberry Curve. I was playing with the Curve last night.


Iphone-
WAY better UI
WAY better browser
WAAAAY better MP3 player

Curve-
Keyboard is nice, I have club thumbs, found it very easy to type. Typing on the Iphone either goes really well, or makes me want to throw it.
That little ball....I like it a lot.
It did video and the camera had a bright ass flash.

I'd be torn if it weren't for the fact that my phone is my primary MP3 player. All in all the Iphone is a better multimedia device and internet in your pocket device. The curve is better for typing.

If I didn't really care about the web and Ipod part, I'd consider a curve. But Iphone wins IMO.

[Burton8219]

Dude, just wait until the Bold comes out... you will have the best of both worlds. The Bold is going to have a full HTML Email client and browser, 3G, GPS, and an improved UI and Multimedia. You will be able to have the same space as an iPhone too for music, cause it can take up 16GB of external memory. I'm heavily considering doing the same thing unless 2.1 really impresses me, cause 2.0 is unbearable. With BB you also have the physical keyboard, which as much as everybody wants to say it is the same as a software keyboard... it just isn't. As much as I love the uniqueness and convenience of it, it just doesn't give that physical feedback that you get from a physical keyboard and you will not type as efficiently with a virtual as you would with a physcial.

[friekunater]

my corp supports BB, MS mobile, and iphone activesync
I guess I am wondering - does anyone with an iphone use heavy email, and is it possible to type quickly without mistakes on the iphone

YES!! To be honest, I've never owned a BB or an iPhone, but I have an iPod touch and I've used my cousin's Q. guess that counts :) I think the keyboard is great on my touch! I type with it all the time! I've actually typed up term papers on it for school with ease! after using the touch for around 6 months, my cousin got a Moto Q and I tried to use that one's keyboard... it was an awful experience, to say the least. I think the keys are too far together, it's too complicated to find the keys you need especially in low light, and the buttons are much harder to press down. I can type probably over twice as fast on my touch than the Q.

now, can anyone fill me in on this: my iPod makes little clicky noises whenever I touch a key. does the iPhone do that??

also, a bad thing is BlackBerry Thumb, I have a terrible thumb from using my iPod all the time, which isn't exactly the best for a collegiate-level pianist :S

iPhone all the way! if you're skeptical, buy a touch and use it for a while. it's much more enjoyable and easier to use. great interface, great UI, huge screen, sexy as hell, accelerometer, multi-touch screen, games, apps, and an assload more

I typed this reply up in less than two minutes with on touch with ease :)

[Hutch1]

Its just a matter of getting use to it. I too can type as fast on my Touch and iPhone as on anything else. The spell correction is excellent, the big thing is using it and building your dictionary and then just trusting it. People all have different preferences.

People in general are also resistant to change, they like what they find familiar, it comfortable.

As for corporate support, BB has iPhone beat hands down, but then again they've had a 25 year head start. Give Apple some time I'm sure they will make some in roads into the corporate world.

I was at a Bold unveiling and its nice but its a Blackberry, it's still utilitarian, not that there is anything wrong with that.

There will always be iPhone people and Blackberry people, just as there are Mac people and Windows people. If there wasn't there would be nothing to make us feel superior:)

[IBradMac]

my corp supports BB, MS mobile, and iphone activesync
I guess I am wondering - does anyone with an iphone use heavy email, and is it possible to type quickly without mistakes on the iphone

Most of the mistakes are corrected. No problem there. It depends on your needs. I'm not a heavy e-mailer and have not owned a Blackberry. I was in the same predicament you are in and I looked at it like this: iphone cost: $200, Blackberry: $350.... :eek:

I could not justify 150 more for a device that may have had an easier keyboard.

I enjoy the iphone for its user friendly features and Apples intuitive design.

[sbb155]

I appreciate all of the comments. But, I have never seen anyone who can type even close to as well on the iphone as they can on the blackberry. This is true of a lot of reviewers as well.
I think I am going to go for the BB Bold in a few weeks, and an ipod touch. The comments of users of both BB and iphone seem to say that for heavy email usage, the BB is unbeatable. Too bad the rest of the BB doesnt compare to the iphone.

I send around 100 emails a day via BB. So, the email is critical to me.

[Hutch1]

Get a Touch and see if you get use to typing on the Touch. If you do you can get an iPhone. If not get a BB Bold, you have nothing to loose.

[HD Fboy]

I carried a BB for 6 years and was a dedicated PC guy since the early 80's. I have had my Iphone for 10 days and a MBP for 3 months. I wouldn't go back. I would compare the BB 8830 I was carrying to a abacus after the last 10 days. I don't even miss Verizon and this really surprised me. I actually prefer the Iphone client and the keyboard. The Iphone is more of a "lifestyle" device. I do miss the search and the easy cut and paste but that is about it. The Iphone is a great piece of hardware. Is it perfect? well no but nether was the BB. Everyday I discover new little tidbits. Back in January I needed a new Ipod and bought a touch at the beginning of my transition. you can consider this as a way to begin. Use the touch for email where ever you have wifi and see if it will work for you. I do agree that if email is all you care about and you love your BB, stay there. Safe and risk free. But if you are willing to learn more, deal with uncertainty and issues well you can go for it.

One last thing, this kind of decision is not easy. Good luck.

[Burton8219]

I appreciate all of the comments. But, I have never seen anyone who can type even close to as well on the iphone as they can on the blackberry. This is true of a lot of reviewers as well.
I think I am going to go for the BB Bold in a few weeks, and an ipod touch. The comments of users of both BB and iphone seem to say that for heavy email usage, the BB is unbeatable. Too bad the rest of the BB doesnt compare to the iphone.

I send around 100 emails a day via BB. So, the email is critical to me.
I think you will be VERY surprised as will a lot of people here when the Bold is released. The BB browser has come a long way and now rivals the iPhone. Of course it wont be as big because the Bold screen is about 2/3 the size of the iPhone's give or take, but the browser is now full HTML as well as the email. The Bold will be a good alternative for people that want the iPhone experience(to a degree), but with the Blackberry business portion, which it sounds like you need.

[benmrii]

I think you will be VERY surprised as will a lot of people here when the Bold is released. The BB browser has come a long way and now rivals the iPhone. Of course it wont be as big because the Bold screen is about 2/3 the size of the iPhone's give or take, but the browser is now full HTML as well as the email. The Bold will be a good alternative for people that want the iPhone experience(to a degree), but with the Blackberry business portion, which it sounds like you need.

If the Bold is the phone it promises to be - and I don't doubt it will - it will blow the iPhone out of the water for business use. Those like me who will accept the downgrade on the keyboard for the pretty display will stick with the iPhone, but for heavy emailing and business, Bold will probably win out.

Coming from someone who used to need such a mobile, business device: Apple is new to the "business" game and they're far from figuring it out.

[sfoalex]

I have owned 4 blackberry devices. Starting with a text-based pager, then a pure PDA, then the 8800 and finally the 8310. I often hear folks state the mail on the BB is better. I always do a double-take when I hear that. Nothing in my opinion could be further from the truth.

The email I get is often someone replying to me with notes. They will often state, I have replied with comments in blue, or highlights, or have an image attached. The iPhone's email is as close to your desktop as can be. Your blackberry email is text, with all the highlights, notes, etc stripped away clean. So you counter that you use Empower. But as I used the add-ons, I know them as well. They are not nearly as good. When I am without my Mac or PC and I get an email, I rest assured I can read as it was intended to be read.

I also strongly advise that the BlackBerry does in no way handle attachments anywhere close to the quality of the iPhone. A PDF, even with 3rd party software doesn't compare at all to the quality of the same PDF attached on the iPhone. I would really like to show the quality of attachments on the iPhone compared to the BlackBerry with or without 3rd party support such as well RepliGo or any other 3rd party attachment viewer. Excel attachments on the iPhone are far far superior. PDFs are a world better.

Email is all about seeing what the sender is sending you. That's what is most important. How then can any BlackBerry user sit here and tell me the BlackBerry is better for email? It's simply not true.

Regarding the keyboard. It took me all of 4 or 5 minutes to get used to the iPhone keyboard. When you type on a BlackBerry keyboard, your thumbs, fingers, whatever you use will cover several keys at once. You have to either use your fingernail, or you are actually thinking about where to focus pressure. Because your finger feels several keys at once. But you focus and depress the one you want. In contrast with the iPhone, you just tap over the area you want and it's done. The physical keyboard act of finding the key, feeling several, and focusing the depression on the selected key becomes an subconscious and muscle memory act over time and you forget all the steps it actually takes to press a key. But the same is true for the iPhone. Once you are used to it, it too becomes a subconscious act. I was one of the people claiming a physical keyboard would always be best. I tried the iPhone several times. But I don't think I was ever serious enough about giving it a shot. Likely for the same reasons other BB users fail to give it a real shot. You see less email at a glance due to the preview of the iPhone, which is needed to make the messages large enough on screen to select the one you want. There are interface difference after all that also have to be considered. That all being said, once you do get used to it, you start to realize what the BlackBerry is actually missing in terms of email quality.

Think of the 3rd party apps and the BlackBerry's limited memory space for actual installed software. This is a major point. You have best 64 and 96 MBs of memory on the BlackBerry for applications. Upgrading the memory on a blackberry does nothing but increase storage for media. It doesn't help you at all in terms of adding add-on software. I have over 40 apps on my iPhone. And I would like to submit the following. Of all the BlackBerry owners I know, they have little actual business software. Most have spell checker, vcard handlers, JiveTalk for IM, and a few silly utilities for the phone itself, such as white list. Few people used something as nice as ToDoMatrix for world-class Getting Things Done. Some have a money manager, or a personal vault for passwords. But....

Look at the iPhone. OmniFocus is by far better than ToDoMatrix. It's $19.95 vs. $59 plus subscription prices for ToDoMatrix. IM on the iPhone is FREE. JiveTalk on the BlackBerry is $34. The one by Shape is $49. These apps are also tied to you BlackBerry hardware ID. Buy a new BlackBerry, and you need to buy most applications over again. Not true on the iPhone. You buy it once, you own it.

BlackBerry owners love to question the business side of the iPhone. We see Oracle, SAP, Act, and SalesForce software for the iPhone already. The quality of these apps is awesome. I in fact have a web app called MintFly which is a $35 a year subscription portal into SalesForce. It only works because of the rich capability of the iPhone.

I love poker. Texas Hold'em Poker on the iphone is a 128MB application. Why? Because it is a desktop quality application. You will not feel like you are playing a mobile version of Texas Holdem. That one app is larger than the entire memory pool for BlackBerry, and I mean ANY blackberry.

How many of you use VNC? At work, I have a Mac that does DVD pre-mastering. It writes DVD ANSI images to DLT tape. And I have a VNC client on it. Check out TelePort on the apps store for the iPhone. I can see the entire Mac monitor on my iPhone as a VNC client. I'm in a meeting and have no time to waste. I can watch the image writing on the Mac while I am in the meeting. I can see the progress, open a keyboard, tell the Mac to connect to a network drive, and move the image to the server. I can connect to a PC and tell the PC to run an Eclipse Image Analysis on the finished image. From my PHONE!!!

Splash Money, several types of eWallets are available, and so on. If you are a Mac user, 1PASSWORD is an iPhone app. It's the best. We have several small and personal database apps to choose from. Seriously, go to any reseller of BlackBerry software and try to find software that is better than that on the iPhone.

The BlackBerry has been around for a very long time. I understand there is a comfort level there. But the iPhone is so clearly the better device. And I didn't mention media capabilities. I focused entire on business. On the consumer side, I can't imagine a BlackBerry owner actually believing the BB bests the iPhone in any way, shape, or form.

In my humble opinion, buying a BlackBerry at this point is a serious mistake. It's so yesterday it may as well be called prehistoric.

Alex Alexzander

[Badandy]

I appreciate all of the comments. But, I have never seen anyone who can type even close to as well on the iphone as they can on the blackberry. This is true of a lot of reviewers as well.


I know this is going to sound mean, but it is just my thoughts. The reason reviewers can't type that well on the iPhone is because they're..well...old. I know, I know, they are technology editors, and I have no idea how old you are, but I can tell you as a 20 year old (me), that I adjusted almost immediately to the keyboard. Maybe it's the fact that I grew up with computers, but the older people I see using it just can't hold of the concept of just TRUSTING it.

If you're interested in any speed comparisons, I type about 45 WPM on the iPhone, which is faster than what I typed on my Samsung BlackJack.


That being said, the BB has at least one huge advantage: search. I'd love a system-wide search for my iPhone, and I do expect it to be added soon, but if that's important to you and you need it now then go for the BB.

[sfoalex]

I know this is going to sound mean, but it is just my thoughts. The reason reviewers can't type that well on the iPhone is because they're..well...old. I know, I know, they are technology editors, and I have no idea how old you are, but I can tell you as a 20 year old (me), that I adjusted almost immediately to the keyboard. Maybe it's the fact that I grew up with computers, but the older people I see using it just can't hold of the concept of just TRUSTING it.

If you're interested in any speed comparisons, I type about 45 WPM on the iPhone, which is faster than what I typed on my Samsung BlackJack.


That being said, the BB has at least one huge advantage: search. I'd love a system-wide search for my iPhone, and I do expect it to be added soon, but if that's important to you and you need it now then go for the BB.

I agree, and wish to add to this.

How often does a reviewer actually adopt what they are reviewing? I have personally written reviews. And when you do this one things becomes obvious. You just have about a week to use something and then to write about it. They are not coming from the point of view of us. I use my iPhone every day, and have for over 8 months. Believe me, I type as fast as it as I did on the BB. And in fact, when I tried to use a BB recently, I was very conscious of the fact that my fingers feel many more keys than the one I wish to press. The BB became the awkward device.

Think about it. Whatever you are currently used to is going to feel better. You're used to it after all. By that very nature you will be faster on what you are more used to. Given time, you will become more used to the iPhone, and believe me, when it happens, the physical keys will feel awkward. They do for now. I can't stand the physical keys on the BB now.

Alex

[benmrii]

I know this is going to sound mean, but it is just my thoughts. The reason reviewers can't type that well on the iPhone is because they're..well...old. I know, I know, they are technology editors, and I have no idea how old you are, but I can tell you as a 20 year old (me), that I adjusted almost immediately to the keyboard. Maybe it's the fact that I grew up with computers, but the older people I see using it just can't hold of the concept of just TRUSTING it.

That's not an invalid point, but I don't thinks it's that "simple." At 30, I don't consider myself old. To me, the difference is the textile feedback. So long as that is lacking the keyboard will likely continue to be lesser by comparison. So long as I do the vast majority of typing on physical keyboards that is a part of the experience for my fingers. Taking that away, well, it makes for a slightly slower experience.

Granted, for mobile devices it is a shift away from one experience to another, and over time it will become more recognizable, but shifting from textile to purely visible, going from being able to type by feel to having to watch my every keystroke, is just nowhere near as efficient, regardless of my age. :)

[juswest]

I know this is going to sound mean, but it is just my thoughts. The reason reviewers can't type that well on the iPhone is because they're..well...old. I know, I know, they are technology editors, and I have no idea how old you are, but I can tell you as a 20 year old (me), that I adjusted almost immediately to the keyboard. Maybe it's the fact that I grew up with computers, but the older people I see using it just can't hold of the concept of just TRUSTING it.

If you're interested in any speed comparisons, I type about 45 WPM on the iPhone, which is faster than what I typed on my Samsung BlackJack.


That being said, the BB has at least one huge advantage: search. I'd love a system-wide search for my iPhone, and I do expect it to be added soon, but if that's important to you and you need it now then go for the BB.

I'm 19 and I hate using the keyboard on the iphone. I had an ipod touch to see if it was worth getting one, and I can't stand it.Sold the touch and went back to a regular clickwheel ipod. I prefer a traditional keyboard. Using my cousins iphone is annoying for that reason.

[barijazz]

I don't get what the big deal is about the qwerty keyboards. Typing on the non physical iphone keyboard (for me at least) is easy as pie. Please help me.

[Badandy]

I don't get what the big deal is about the qwerty keyboards. Typing on the non physical iphone keyboard (for me at least) is easy as pie. Please help me.

It is as easy as pie. You and I get it. We can trust the keyboard and just type without complaining when we hit the wrong letter, because the software will automatically correct it and we don't even slow down. Some people are too unintelligent/close-minded/used to previous devices that they can't wrap their head around this issue. There is no reason why anyone should see a significantly lower performance on the iPhone keyboard compared to other small, tactile QWERTY keyboards on phones...

[GNice]

I have owned multiple BB's...currently have a Pearl (through my employer). There are a few things about BB email they are better...the biggest for me is the ability to search your email. I too get a lot of emails a day because I have a lot of folks on my team. Being able to search my email helps a lot. Having said that, I would imagine this will be addressed by Apple in the not too distant future.

Apple is just getting into the business side of things. They went from nothing to something that is a least credible. Give them a little time and they are likely to have something VERY good...maybe even better than RIM.

As it relates to the keyboard, it's not totally cut and dry for me. I can type really well on my iPhone. Just about as well as I could on my "full size" BB when I had one and certainly better than on my Pearl. In any event to each his own.

BTW, if I had to choose one I'd easily go with the iPhone...overall it's a better device for me.

[firewood]

I'm waiting for Apple to come out with an OS update that enables bluetooth keyboards. That and the availability of both tactile wallet-sized and folding full-size bluetooth keyboards will really take a huge chunk out the the berry market.

Use the on-screen keyboard for a couple words of email reply. Pull out the micro-keyboard for several sentences. Unfold the full-size keyboard and write a whole book.

[imacdaddy]

1. As you get use to typing on the iPhone you realise why it was difficult at first coming from a BB (like myself)

- pressing vs. slight tapping: if you press as you would on a physical keyboard the surface area of your thumb expands thus the probability of hitting the wrong key increases. Once you get the feel and contact points, you can actually type faster. In my case I'm typing faster on the iPhone (personal) than my BB (work).

- predictive text: it works and if you rely on it, it saves a lot of time!

- characters and symbols: I find it very frustrating on the BB to examine the screen and the keyboard to get the right symbol and characters correct or cycling through using the click wheel. On the iPhone it just displays the keys for you to tap.

2. Viewing attachments on iPhone wins hands down! I'll be upgraded to the BB Bold next week so we'll see how it goes but for now viewing attachments ie. ppt, pdf, doc and xls on the large screen are important to my day-to-day job. Just last night I had an urgent ppt to review/approve while I was out. I had to forward it from my BB to my iPhone via personal email to view the attachment in proper/original form. I got the job done. Although the BB Bold should be able to view important files, I think it's going to be cumbersome (zooming, panning, rotating...), files modified to some extent, not as intuitive as the iPhone and importantly the screen size to view these attachments.

3. Web browsing...no contest. Nothing more to say.

4. User interface...BB is not so simple and things are buried within layers of text and not as simple to navigate in comparison.

5. The BB may be good for outgoing emails. But incoming emails look like alphabet soup to me. The formatting just looks brutal.

After showing how email and attachments look on the iPhone at my workplace and setting the standard where the BB should be, they're more curious now on how it compares and if we made the right choice in getting the BB Bold. We shall see.

For me and from a "business user" point of view, typing is not the deal breaker as you will learn from over time. Both can do emails but I personally think the iPhone is better because of the mail format and interface. But being able to read those attachments clearly and maneuvering around the file on the iPhone is the true winner!

[Ntombi]

I'm coming from a Treo, and I thought I typed fast on that, but I type even faster on my iPhone. And it's learning my words at a nice pace, so I'll be able to type even faster in the future. :)

I definitely miss cut and paste, though. Of all the flaws, that is at or near the top of my list. :(

Overall, I'm 100% happy I switched to the iPhone. No contest!

[bassproguy07]

Typing is a lot easier once you get used to it, i thought the same thing but now that I have my 3G i can text or email like a pro. I am also a 20 year old textaholic college student so that may be a reason but i think its a lot easier than those tiny little buttons on the BB or palm devices.

[SnowLeopard2008]

Simple, if you like typing with actual buttons, go BlackBerry. If you want thinner phone with large widescreen and multi touch, go iPhone.

[shrtmkr]

I would normally want to wait for the BB bold to come out, but bloody AT&T doesn't let it go!
I think I can't hold myself and get a plastic iphone :\

[gibbyparada]

I would normally want to wait for the BB bold to come out, but bloody AT&T doesn't let it go!
I think I can't hold myself and get a plastic iphone :\

or you could hold out a little longer, and get a plastic blackberry

[shrtmkr]

or you could hold out a little longer, and get a plastic blackberry

at least it has faux leather backing.

[bigmouth]

People claiming that one method of input is objectively better than the other are full of it. It all depends on the person. I hated the physical keyboards on my Treo, BBs, and Tilt. When I got the iTouch, I realized that I type even faster on the virtual keyboard, which made the iPhone a no-brainer. The only thing that slows me down is the annoying auto-complete -- there needs to be a setting to disable this function.

All that said, it sounds like the OP is a BB person, so he/she should probably stick with that.

[kdarling]

It is as easy as pie. You and I get it. We can trust the keyboard and just type without complaining when we hit the wrong letter, because the software will automatically correct it and we don't even slow down. Some people are too unintelligent/close-minded/used to previous devices that they can't wrap their head around this issue.

And some are close-minded and think everyone must like the same things :)

Seriously, some of us type a lot of technical terms, which the silly Apple keyboard helper turns into junk, slowing us down.

All Apple has to do is allow turning off the autocorrection. And add copy/paste.

I have no problem using the soft keyboard otherwise. But I have friends who text while in meetings, under the table, without looking, who will never like it.

PS. And it would be nice to have something like the RedFly companion keyboard (http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=14272)and large display... or at least a way to remotely type/display using a desktop.

[littlewaywelt]

my corp supports BB, MS mobile, and iphone activesync
I guess I am wondering - does anyone with an iphone use heavy email, and is it possible to type quickly without mistakes on the iphone

I do. I went from a WM Treo to the iphone. While I can type faster on the iphone, I have many problems with it.
lack of cut and paste
no highlighting
poor implementation of autocorrect
cannot easily move around the text you've already written
doesn't move btwn different email accounts quickly
cannot have different signatures for different email accnts
cannot search
probably lots of others I'm not thinking of right now.


I like my iPhone, but it probably does 1/10th of things I could do with WM, many of which I find a real problem. It's not a real business phone, imho, and if it weren't for mobile me keeping my wife's and my calendars and contacts in check, I'd dump it.

The media experience is very good on it.

[shrtmkr]

or you could hold out a little longer, and get a plastic blackberry


whatever I just got one yesterday :) quality is shockingly perfect as we expect couple of returns to get a decent one from apple.

[GNice]

I do. I went from a WM Treo to the iphone. While I can type faster on the iphone, I have many problems with it.
lack of cut and paste
no highlighting
poor implementation of autocorrect
cannot easily move around the text you've already written
doesn't move btwn different email accounts quickly
cannot have different signatures for different email accnts
cannot search
probably lots of others I'm not thinking of right now.


I like my iPhone, but it probably does 1/10th of things I could do with WM, many of which I find a real problem. It's not a real business phone, imho, and if it weren't for mobile me keeping my wife's and my calendars and contacts in check, I'd dump it.

The media experience is very good on it.

1/10!?!?!?! I would advise anybody with any consumer product that felt it was a 1/10th as effective as an alternative to go with the alternative. MobileMe is THAT good??? And can't you have MobileMe without having an iPhone? (question not a statement) If I felt that way I would run not walk back to my WM device that is so so superior.;)

[dotdotdot]

In a way I'm a great candidate for this discussion: I don't own an iPhone but really want one, and my parents own a BlackBerry Curve on Verizon so I use it pretty often... well, as often as they let me. So this is from the perspective of someone who has not typed on either phone and is starting fresh.

The Curve is a sweet phone, and the keys are awesome. But they are really small and when I tried typing fast going straight into it, I made some mistakes. Also, I am so not used to the "alt" key and going back and fixing my errors that it sometimes becomes annoying.

The iPhone keyboard was a bit more complicated at first, but didn't have any of the "learning" required that the BlackBerry did. I think that if I used a BlackBerry and an iPhone equally, every day, since I began using both around the same time, I would become more proficient at using an iPhone than a BlackBerry. Your experience using a BlackBerry overshadows this however and it may not be worth it for you to try something else.

Also, the Curve (at least on Verizon) doesn't really have that many cool features, and the web browser is annoying. And when on a call, it is non-intuitive when trying to do things like change the volume and find contacts (although it was on another BlackBerry I used, again showing my inexperience with the Curve).

If I were you I'd go to an Apple store and just keep composing random emails or texts or anything and see how it feels for you.

[ki2594]

All i have to say is that the biggest company in the world (HSBC) is about to switch over from all BlackBerry to all iPhone

Rest is up to you

[Crunch]

I hear you. I just got another iPhone 3G, this time the gorgeous white 16GB one, after I returned my originally purchased iPhone 3G 8GB BLACK model. I upgraded the firmware to 2.0.1, and am good to go. Again...lol

The screen is so gorgeous, and I am BIG on resolution. 480x320 is HOT! And it works so well, so even Business Users like myself have adopted it as their main device. Supposedly, even giant corporations like HSBC, the bank, is contemplating switching to iPhone 3G's, and to boot, they would be switching AWAY from the trusty Blackberry. Sounds crazy, but it's true. Well, the rumor that is.

But anyway, I would also suggest that you keepm BOTH devices. I have found my way to using THREE PDA's. On top of my beautiful Blackberry Curbe 8310 w/GPS, and the incredible iPhone 3G, of course, I like to use my Treo 750 and with that, Windows Mobile, which I like a LOT as a mobile OS!

However, I think my new iPhone 3G will do away with most of my Treo usage, being the powerhouse multimedia device that it is.

Lastly, if your problems extend to having to decide as to whether to get (or stay with) your Blackberry, or if you should switch to the iPhone 3G, it sounds to me like you're in good shape. heh ;)

[freitas]

The whole BB vs iPhone debate is somewhat ridiculous. As a former user of an 8703e and 8830 but now recent convert to the iPhone I can easily argue the merits of both phones. Those that claim the iPhone or BB is the king of smartphones has either never used both or is a fanboy. For example, an apple fanboy friend of mine recently was spouting off about how awesome the GPS was on the iPhone 3G and how it ruled the BB for its GPS. It took me a few minutes to educate him that my old 8830 was doing turn by turn navigation with text to speech well before the 3G iPhone hit the scene.

For me the usage pattern should dictate your choice of phones. I listen to music on the phone, surf the internet and read email. Occasionally I get an important email and reply. For this usage pattern the iPhone clearly was the better device for me. I could do all these things on the BB but not as well as the iPhone. The ipod functionality, integration with iTunes, email attachment viewing, and safari web browser are the best I have every seen on a mobile device. Activesync with our exchange server was way less hassle than BB activation. However, I can also argue that my BB had more functionality with regard to managing my email, tasks and calendar. I could search my email, search text on webpages, copy and paste and with the empower email viewer I could create calendar and tasks entries directly from any email message. The 8830 had a good A2DP profile and voice dialing that I used with my t505 on the road. Also tethering was included in my BB plan. I really miss those features.

In the end each device has its own merits and your usage pattern should dictate which device you use. I don't see why iPhone fanatics have to continually put down the BB especially considering its impact on mobile email. It s still the smartphone to beat. The iPhone is closing the gap and has raised the bar in some areas. I look forward to the continued competition between RIM and Apple as it will benefit us consumers.

[lovetheduns]

Quite frankly, in my opinion, it seems people have a preference for what they first had/owned/used--- which is okay.

I had the iPhone first-- (4gb model) and then work mandated I get a BB Curve. (since my employer archives everything there is no way I would want a personal device tied in with work nor would my employer allow it)

I loathe the Curve. Hate it-- hate the physical keyboard-- it messes with my thumbs and carpal tunnel. I hate typing ANYTHING on the physical keyboard-- I hate the interface (why oh why is it so complicated to set up ringer preferences-- let me just have a simple switch please), the resolution, the menus, applications--- really everything. I have a hard time dialing anyone and the exchange support to search through our corporate address book is crap. Hate.it. The ONLY time I use my BB is to check email and to use the messaging system we have set up at work so I can im with coworkers if necessary. Other than that I rarely use it-- try to not make any calls with it and (annoying to go go back and forth from mute, speakerphone during conference calls) and typically will use my iPhone for calls, browsing, etc. I find I can type wicked fast on he iPhone especially now that it has been about a year and my thumbs and wrists are not cramping and popping.

HOWEVER-- I am not deluded to think that if I were a BB user prior to the iPhone that I would love the iPhone as much as I do. I only had a Razr prior (and my old Nokia from back in the mid 90s was an improvement over that crap buggy phone) so I am sure if I had the BB before the iPhone I would be drawn to the physical keyboard, etc.

I would love to use an iPhone for work, but my company will be a late adopter (if ever). Due to regulatory rules we have to keep copies of ALL emails, text messages, IMs etc for a period of time and right now only RIM supports this apparently (per our IT leadership). Hopefully in the future, I will be ecstatic to get rid of the BB once and for all (for myself).