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iPhone 3G vs. Blackberry Bold

THE JUICEMAN

THE JUICEMAN

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 3, 2007
2,371
1,122
hey everybody, i just wanted to know people's thoughts about the differences and i wanted to know if anybody was thinking about switching to the Bold when it comes out soon. im actually considering the Bold but i dont know if i can let the iPhone go. i would pick up music through bluetooth, mms, video camera with flash, a tactile keyboard, turn by turn gps, phone insurance, copy and paste, better email thats all i can think of right now. but even with all that i still dont know if i would want to switch. anybody have any thoughts about it? thanks
 
I was on crackberry.com yesterday checking out the new videos and such of this bold. I was intrigued, but not blown away enough to switch. Things I didnt like:

1) Small screen. Makes browsing the web, watching videos, etc. much more difficult
2) Windows , menu type OS
3) Non-ipod like music player
4) Screen issue again, but in regards to GPS. How can you see the GPS info well enough on such a small screen?
5) Overall size of bold too big...wouldnt fit as comfortable in hand or pocket
6) Trackball. I hated this on my Palm Treo. Multi-touch keyboard on iphone makes it much easier and quicker to get to where you want and do what you want to do.

Only positives I could see:

1) Better Email
2) Physical keyboard (however, no auto recognition?)
3) Copy and paste (but really dont imagine I would use this enough to make it worth it anyway and Im sure Apple will include it eventually)

So, the many negatives well outweighed the few positives. If I used email ALOT, it might be a different story, but overall, Im happy with my iphone.
 
jshelf23 said:
hey everybody, i just wanted to know people's thoughts about the differences and i wanted to know if anybody was thinking about switching to the Bold when it comes out soon. im actually considering the Bold but i dont know if i can let the iPhone go. i would pick up music through bluetooth, mms, video camera with flash, a tactile keyboard, turn by turn gps, phone insurance, copy and paste, better email thats all i can think of right now. but even with all that i still dont know if i would want to switch. anybody have any thoughts about it? thanks
Click to expand...

My thoughts: If I wanted a blackberry (of any flavor) I wouldn't have purchased the iPhone 3G in the first place. I knew the limitations when buying and am extremely happy with my purchase. Sure there are a few kinks but for me and my use (I do primarily use it for work with activesync) I have not had any real issues to speak of with mine (no more than I have had with any other smartphone).

I have had blackberry phones in the past and I was not impressed with them. IMHO, from the standpoint of an IT manager for a business I always took exception to the fact that if I wanted to get full functionality from a blackberry I either had to a) buy the blackberry enterprise server (way too much money for what you get if you ask me) or b) had to setup a workaround using the carriers blackberry enterprise server which was always inconsistent, unreliable and not within my control.
 
thanks for the reply. you make some good points. i am worried most about web browsing on the bold. you have to scroll with that trackball and that just takes forever. well maybe ill just stick with the iPhone. there are just little things about it that bother me on top of the missing features but i still love it. plus i hear mms is coming and copy and past so we will see
 
^^

check the name of this dude first before you listen to his comment, hes just a hater.


EDIT: Well, i don't see his comment anymore but i mean if the guys name is MacSux...just don't even read it lol
 
can you explain why you are making the switch? it would be much appreciated
 
that is true but the iPhone will get mms and copy/paste at some point. but none of the other features i mentioned can really get changed.....hmmm its gonna be a tough decision. and the web browsing on the bold seems like it will be painful
 
You've listed some good points in your original post. I prefer the iPhone, it meets my needs. But I know especially for email some people prefer their BB's.

Some of the things you mentioned the BB having can/will be added to the iPhone in time.

What will you be doing with the phone? It might help if we knew that...
 
Hi I'm both a Blackberry Curve user (work phone) and a first gen iPhone user (personal phone bought Oct 2007).

I've had a play with the Blackberry Bold and it is a very nice machine.

Here are the good and bad points:

Good Points
1) Very fast data speeds, 3G HSDPA make this the fastest Blackberry yet released for data.
2) The whole OS is very fast to use due to a doubling of the processor speed. Navigating the menu's is super speedy
3) Fantastic quality screen - not as big as an iPhone but great quality.
4) Media player now plays a whole range of movie formats, not just MP4 and 3GP. Video recording added too.
5) First Blackberry to combine wifi and GPS in the same phone.

Bad points
1) STILL DOES NOT DO HTML OR RICH TEXT EMAILS!!!!! WTF, it's still the same as previous Blackberry's as the Blackberry internet or enterprise service strips all emails to the bare text.
2) Faster data speed but the web browser is woefully inadequate just like the current Blackberry's.
3) Uses the keyboard buttons of the 88xx series instead of the better 83xx series.
4) Still almost the exact same experience as using my Blackberry Curve. Even with the nicer screen and faster data, after a few mins it was not very different to using my Curve at all - but this could be classed as a good point.
 
You know, I've gone for a year+ without copy/paste, and have yet to miss it.

Then again, way before the iPhone, I had a Blackberry 8730e, and wasn't too enamored by the copy/paste capability. Shift, ScrollScrollScrollScroll. Click. Copy. Damn, the scroll wheel moved! Back to the beginning... and repeat when pasting, hoping the formatting didn't get messed up.

Generally, if I had to send e-mails with a lot of CopyPasta, I'd end up either just forwarding the whole thing along, or wait till I'm in front of a desktop or laptop.

Blackberries are okay, and if there was no iPhone, I'd probably be wanting a Bold. But lack of copy/paste has hardly been a showstopper.

Then again, I tend to contribute mostly original content when sending messages. Copy/paste is kinda rare for me. I suppose others have that need, and if so, then good for them.

I AM copy/pasting here, though:

Ninja Dom said:
Bad points
1) STILL DOES NOT DO HTML OR RICH TEXT EMAILS!!!!! WTF, it's still the same as previous Blackberry's as the Blackberry internet or enterprise service strips all emails to the bare text.
Click to expand...

Holy hell, really? I had thought they were doing HTML e-mails by now!
 
He's wrong. It does do HTML email. So does the Curve as long as you have the 4.5+ OS installed.
scaredpoet said:
You know, I've gone for a year+ without copy/paste, and have yet to miss it.

Then again, way before the iPhone, I had a Blackberry 8730e, and wasn't too enamored by the copy/paste capability. Shift, ScrollScrollScrollScroll. Click. Copy. Damn, the scroll wheel moved! Back to the beginning... and repeat when pasting, hoping the formatting didn't get messed up.

Generally, if I had to send e-mails with a lot of CopyPasta, I'd end up either just forwarding the whole thing along, or wait till I'm in front of a desktop or laptop.

Blackberries are okay, and if there was no iPhone, I'd probably be wanting a Bold. But lack of copy/paste has hardly been a showstopper.

Then again, I tend to contribute mostly original content when sending messages. Copy/paste is kinda rare for me. I suppose others have that need, and if so, then good for them.

I AM copy/pasting here, though:



Holy hell, really? I had thought they were doing HTML e-mails by now!
Click to expand...
 
jshelf23 said:
that is true but the iPhone will get mms and copy/paste at some point. but none of the other features i mentioned can really get changed.....hmmm its gonna be a tough decision. and the web browsing on the bold seems like it will be painful
Click to expand...

I believe there's already an app on the App Store for copy & paste.
 
actually from what i have read i think they do have HTML in the emails now. i use the iPhone for texting ALOT(hence why im thinking about getting real keyboard even though i think i can type pretty fast in the iPhone) but of course i like the browsing experience the ipod is great too. i dont have any corporate email so i guess the iPhone wins there. i dont know i get bored with things maybe i just need to freshen up the iPhone some kind of way. plus everybody does have an iPhone it may be good for me to switch it up
 
it has tethering and it has adobe flash right?

I heard the bold's web browser was as good as the iPhone's?
 
Great thread, I purchased the 3G on the release date. It's my first iPhone and I purchased one b/c I was buying a gift for someone else and I decided to just buy two.
Anyway, I had been using a BB for the last 4 years and was very nervous about the entire switch. Keeping in mind I'm a Mac person and totally love everything about them. (Don't own a PC). I was not unhappy with the BB at all, I simply wanted to experience for myself what the iPhone was all about.

I'm still using the 3G but I must be honest and write that I have seriously been thinking I made a mistake. I think the 3G is a great device and very easy to use and of course love the UI but...... I'm finding that I say "If" a lot.

If it didn't drop calls
If it received emails like my BB
If the battery lasted a full day
If 3G was reliable


My point is the BB is still on my mind and was a much more reliable device. I realize there are some fixes coming and nothing is perfect. I do however miss my BB and unless AT&T and Apple get together and make some serious changes I will end up going back to the BB someday down the road. I really don't want that to happen, what I want is the phone or any phone I use to "Just work" when I want to use it. I don't want the "if" factor to govern how I use a phone.

I'm patient and for now I still like the new 3G. I'm happy I changed over, I understand some things need time to improve and most importantly I understand that the iPhone does things a little different than the BB device.

Considering all that, when I get an email I want the phone to notify me. When I get a call I want to receive it AND i don't want to carry a charger with me in my front pocket.

It's been a great experience switching over and actually getting to see the difference for myself. I love the new 3G but at this point I see it as a toy and I see my BB as a work horse. I hope it ends up changing soon.

..
.
 
aaquib said:
I believe there's already an app on the App Store for copy & paste.
Click to expand...

yes and no. it's a text editor, with copy paste, but only within the program, not between programs. no safari support, no mail, etc.

The Bold is a nice looking Berry, and if there were no such thing as an iPhone, I might consider it. But going to a screen that small after using an iPhone is like going back to tube TVs after having an HD LCD.
 
I like the bold. Looks like a solid phone. But after the iphone and palm I can't seem to go back to a device that does not have a touch screen.

But the bold is great for people who can't live without their blackberry, just like i can't live without my iphone!
 
that really is a good point about screen size. the bolds screen is a lot smaller than the iPhone. and also on top of that it would be a big adjustment going from a touch screen for at least 3 years and the suddenly not having one. well im going to test it out whenever it is released for ATT and then we will see which one i like better. thanks for all the help from everybody. feel free to post more info and opinions ill still be reading
 
I think anyone who's looking for a BlackBerry flavored iPhone-like experience will need to wait until the BlackBerry Storm/Thunder is released. It's their first touchscreen model. Looks interesting, but so little real information is out about it yet, it's impossible to tell how this might stack up against the iPhone.

I have my doubts about how well it will compare, but it'll be on Verizon here in the States, which is a huge plus in my area. AT&T's coverage lags far behind Verizon in Virginia.
 
You get:

  • Push email from nearly any provider, as long as you have the BIS plan
  • Ability to have multiple apps running simultaneously
  • Copy/Paste
  • Multimedia Messaging
  • A quick WAP browser, with the option for a full HTML browser (Opera Mini)
  • Video Recording
  • Brickbreaker (Addictively fun)
  • WMV support
  • Unlocking does not break warranty

You lose:

  • A touch screen
  • Support for AAC and Apple Lossless


Also, not sure if it matters to you, but the Blackberry is quite more customizable without jailbreaking (in fact, there is no jailbreaking for a blackberry.)
 
Does it look this cool? didn't think so..... :apple:
 

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