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Can the iPhone Do what a Blackberry Can Do?

P

PSmith

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 21, 2007
12
0
Hello,

I am thinking about getting an iphone.

I don't really care if its 2G or 4G, just can it do, as a minimum, what a Blackberry can do ie allow me to send and receive email wherever I am?

The other goodies are an added bonus but as a minimum I need a phone and email.

I ask this question because the specs say it does do email but I have been reading about the EDGE coverage being 30%

Thanks very much
 
PSmith said:
Hello,

I am thinking about getting an iphone.

I don't really care if its 2G or 4G, just can it do, as a minimum, what a Blackberry can do ie allow me to send and receive email wherever I am?

The other goodies are an added bonus but as a minimum I need a phone and email.

I ask this question because the specs say it does do email but I have been reading about the EDGE coverage being 30%

Thanks very much
Click to expand...

It's not a Blackberry, if you're expecting that it is, you might be disappointed.

It does some things very well, but nothing can touch a Blackberry for email, for example.
 
Thanks for the reply.

The blurb on the iphone makes a great deal about the email - but is it only available if I am in an EDGE 2.5G zone??

Thanks a confused P Smith
 
You will not have the same experience on the iPhone as you do with the Blackberry. The BB has MUCH better Push mail. If that is something you heavily depend on.......well you might want to stick with the BB.
 
PSmith said:
Hello,

I am thinking about getting an iphone.

I don't really care if its 2G or 4G, just can it do, as a minimum, what a Blackberry can do ie allow me to send and receive email wherever I am?

The other goodies are an added bonus but as a minimum I need a phone and email.

I ask this question because the specs say it does do email but I have been reading about the EDGE coverage being 30%

Thanks very much
Click to expand...

I had a BB8800 and went for the iphone, do not get the Iphone if you want the email and benefits of the BB, Unless your email is using IMAP, if it is you MITE and I say MITE just be slightly happy, You have 14 days to return the iphone to AT&T, it took me all of 3 days and in all honesty after the 1st day I was searching for fixes and hacks, for what was upsetting me. I will NOT hack the iphone nor any other device . Not worth it when updates out.

HTH
 
PSmith said:
Thanks for the reply.

The blurb on the iphone makes a great deal about the email - but is it only available if I am in an EDGE 2.5G zone??

Thanks a confused P Smith
Click to expand...


Email will send on any data connection - Im guessing from what I have read that the UK has a larger coverage of GPRS than EDGE speed - so email would be sent on GPRS if EDGE or WiFi is not available. (I do';t know the coverage but I imagine its almost anywhere). This could be dreadfully slow for sending images in email etc. But for a small text email it should work fine.

More info on GPRS in the UK can be found here: http://www.filesaveas.com/gprs.html

If you need your email instantly (ala Blackberry) the iPhone offers Yahoo Push Mail for free - however as stated above it is not very reliable. You can set the phone up to check for email every 15/30/60 minutes or check it manually also.
 
How does Blackberry service work for email which makes it that much better than other phones? Do the cellphone companies have a role in making that happen? Do the corporations have run blackberry/cellphone company software on their premises?

Also, does blackberry work equally wonderfully with public emails systems like Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail or only with corporate emails?

I like iPhone email for one thing. It is independent of the cell phone company ( though the data service is provided by the cell phone company ). In that sense it is no different from Comcast cable giving me transport and I get my email in whatever way I choose. I am curious why Blackberry type full service is really needed, given this analogy. Is this just a matter of Apple not providing a general purpose functional email client on the iPhone? Would that solve the problem and make it equivalent to Blackberry?
 
Yahoo PUSH is a little buggy, though I think they got a little bit of a bad rep because it was very problematic in the weeks following the launch. All signs point to this being even better with future software updates. But if you like to surf the web, there is nothing better out there. (I'm posting this from an iPhone) Basically, if you need instant email, nothing can compare to a BB, but for entertainment, nothing can touch an iPhone.
 
Very Disappointed with Blackberry email

What is so great about Blackberry email? Exchange? Navigation? When comparing with the iPhone, it almost seems like a toy. I just don't see it.
 
Blackberry's use the companys servers to get your messages on and off of your device in seconds.

With the iPhone you have to "pull" messages, meaning you have to have a set time (every 15 mins) to check for messages, or you can manually pull them whenever you want, but it can take some time, and not always work.

Blackberry messages are all stored on the device, and you can see them all offline.

iPhone messages are often not stored on the device, and have to reload again and again (you need radio access).

I made the switch from a blackberry, and while I have not turned back, I would gladly pay blackberry a monthly fee in order have their technology licensed on my phone (I am hoping for a scenerio like this). Other companies have been completely dodging push e-mail because of patent claims by several companies including BB parent RIM.

If you are using it for work, get a blackberry. I had a mobile phone and a blackberry with data only before. When I got the iphone I consolodated. I still have the blackberry, and have been toying with the idea of getting a data only connection for it and pushing work e-mail again (I actually gave up on that before the iphone b/c I starting getting ~200 messages a day thru work, and practically live in my office, so I figured there was no point...). I would never want to use an iPhone with the amount of messages I get through work, but for personal use, it is perfect and beautiful.

The internet is absolutely a no contest beatdown. I take my laptop out of the house 75% less since I have gotten the iphone. I am about ready to cancel my mobile data card because the iphone can get most things done. I am a big iphone update away from not needing the laptop for mobile internet. As soon as I can DL/UL files, etc.
 
I used to use BBerry for work and got very tired of lugging that and my iPod everywhere so got the iPhone. The iPhone "pull" from an IMAP account is actually quite good so I don't miss the BBerry push so much. The only thing I really miss is the multiple delete function of the BBerry (which was actually slow and awkward for big deletes). I can't see why Apple hasn't added this one yet.

It would also be cool to be able to get BBerg over iPhone, like you can over BBerry these days, but not an absolute must for me.

It should be said that I never did tie my BBerry into my work severs (and have no wish to do so with the iPhone), but have always used my own POP or IMAP account for mobile email.
 
Very interesting thread. I'm having the same debate myself. I've had the 8700 for a couple of years now and I love it, though it does lack some nice functionality that the iPhone has. Although, looking at it from a business standpoint, email is the most important issue, the rest is really just extras that I don't need for business. I think I'm going with a new curve.
 
PSmith said:
Hello,

I am thinking about getting an iphone.

I don't really care if its 2G or 4G, just can it do, as a minimum, what a Blackberry can do ie allow me to send and receive email wherever I am?

The other goodies are an added bonus but as a minimum I need a phone and email.

I ask this question because the specs say it does do email but I have been reading about the EDGE coverage being 30%

...
Click to expand...
Seems like a lot of Blackberry Spam on this thread, but here is the actual answer to your question....

Regardless of various technical minutia that people are arguing back and forth here, yes... the iPhone will allow you to send and receive email from wherever you are.

So the answer is, YES (as long as there is a data connection).

This is exactly the same as the Blackberry which will also allow you to send and receive emails wherever you are (as long as there is a data connection).

They both have "push" email options, they both have "pull" email options, they both use EDGE (or at least neither is 3G), and they both integrate with the average server-side stuff.
 
Virgil-TB2 said:
Seems like a lot of Blackberry Spam on this thread, but here is the actual answer to your question....

Regardless of various technical minutia that people are arguing back and forth here, yes... the iPhone will allow you to send and receive email from wherever you are.
Click to expand...

You must be the iPhone police. It's just a discussion.
 
I've used BB's and I love them. The email feature is second to none. HOWEVER, what you have to ask yourself is what you use email for. If you *need* your email because it's time sensitive, then the iPhone will absolutely not suit your needs. If you just want a means to email and receive email from friends and family when you're out and about, then the iPhone more than fits the bill.

One of the reasons I switched was because as much as I loved BB email, I just didn't have a need for it. The iPhone is just fine in that regard.
 
I would love for the iphone to be my only device, but after being plagued with the "message wasn't downloaded from server" problem on mulitple pop accounts..I gave up and went back to my blackberry. So for me I at least need to be able to read my messages. Anyone know if the new update remedied this issue?
 
If you "rely" on email, then get the Blackberry.

The blackberry can in fact get email from yahoo/gmail/hotmail/etc etc.

And, it actually does PUSH email properly.

Also, it lets you do some things that apparently iPhone users have forgotten:

1. Select multiple emails for deleting / Marking as Read or Unread / Forwarding.

2. View your email while offline / airplane mode.

I came from a Blackberry 8700 to the iPhone. I love the iphone, but it certainly doesn't even come close to the email functionality of the BB. In fact, I'll get flamed for saying this, but even windows mobile devices are better in email. Ugh. I hate WM phones, but email, well, iPhone has a lot of growing up to do for those of us who rely on email.
 
opticalserenity said:
I came from a Blackberry 8700 to the iPhone. I love the iphone, but it certainly doesn't even come close to the email functionality of the BB. In fact, I'll get flamed for saying this, but even windows mobile devices are better in email. Ugh. I hate WM phones, but email, well, iPhone has a lot of growing up to do for those of us who rely on email.
Click to expand...

Understood. We can only hope Apple is listening and planning on making email better, if not in the same way as Blackberry but in its own unique way. They have done everything else new and innovative why not for email? Hoping for better things from Apple always.
 
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