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iPhone 4 or blackberry bold 9700

M

morty192

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 26, 2010
201
5
Hi all! first time poster and yes i do realise where i am posting this :)

I ask this question as im getting a new phone and have narrowed it down to these two. I did not choose the storm as i was afraid it's touch screen interface was not as good as the iPhone's and would rather have a QWERTY keyboard if i went the blackberry route. However I also need a new iPod as my 16GB 1st gen touch has died :( . My main attraction to the blackberry is for BBM does the iPhone offer anything similar to this? I pretty much know what to expect from the iPhone (bar if it can rival BBM) as my dad has one just not sure if its better for my uses over the Bold 9700 (which is considerably cheeper, though would mean i have to buy an iPod as i have heard that sound quality is not the greatest on the blackberry, is this correct?)

Also the bold is £5 less a month and my dad (who has promised to cover the initial iPhone 4 expenditure) would not have to pay anything as 02 offer the bold for free on a £25 month contract where as for £30 he would have to pay £179/£279 for the iPhone as im not yet sure which size to get as I have a 9GB library of music that is still growing so again which size would be best for me? I do not intend to purchase many apps and my main use will be: Music, Text messages, Facebook, phonecalls, internet browsing, e-mail, free app games such as cube runner etc...etc....

Please offer your much appreciated opinion and hopefully keep it as unbiased as possible, im typing this from my macbook and do love apple just dont want to pay in excess of my needs (times being as they are and such.....)

Many Thanks,
Morty :)
 
Besides all the awesome stuff the iPhone does, it's very nice to carry just one item in your pocket. I use to carry a phone and an iPod. It's nice to have both in one device.
 
I have a 9700. Don't have the iPhone (yet). Had the 1st gen iPhone, hated it because it constantly crashed. However, I'm looking to get rid of my BlackBerry and buying an iPhone.

How many of your friends have BBM? I know like, 2 people with BlackBerrys that actually use BBM on a daily basis. It's just easier to text.

How often do you plan on using the web browser? The browser on the 9700 is pretty awful. There's third party browsers like Bolt, but overall the browsing experience is terrible. Very slow, small screen, etc.

If you're in a corporate environment and always e-mailing/texting, BlackBerry is the way to go. But if you want to have a web browser and a ton of apps, your best bet is the iPhone.
 
iggypod said:
An iPhone is truly a hand held computer. So much more powerful.
Click to expand...

I came from a Blackberry Bold 9000. Although typing may be nicer at times, but once you get use to iphone typing, you will forget about how nice the blackberry keyboard is.

Previously, i chose the Bold 9000 over the iPhone 3G at the time and felt it was the better choice. But I feel that RIM's OS is archaic and their app world sucks. I think the thing that the iPhone is much better is it's overall experience. The App Store makes a world of a difference. i have been able to access many of my financial information through it and be able to go seamless from iphone to imac to ipad to macbook air, without leaving any information behind. I think this is worth it by itself. I haven't even talked about the video recording capability and amazing phone photography and even facetime. I think the overall experience is much better and there are much more developers programming apps for iPhone than for any other platform.
 
The only thing that kept me with RIM is BBM. I have 97 contacts but only really talk to maybe 20 on a regular basis. I will miss groups but I'm still going to the iP4. As long and it can take a few drops when equipped with the Otterbox commuter series I plan on getting I'll be happy. My Berry was/is indestructible.

I'm going to get the iP4 (comes out friday in Canada) and once BB6 comes out and some better hardware reevaluate the situation and if I want to go back I can very easily sell the iP4.
 
i have had both the 9700 and the iphone. actually i have dumped the bb for the iphone, the software in the blackberry is not as good and is buggy at times, also the trackball sometimes becomes unresponsive, i can say the iphone in ever way blows the bb out of the water, it might be a little more but it is well worth it, the browser on bb isnt good either, i think you would like iphone
 
DoubleSh0t said:
I have a 9700. Don't have the iPhone (yet). Had the 1st gen iPhone, hated it because it constantly crashed. However, I'm looking to get rid of my BlackBerry and buying an iPhone.
Click to expand...

Not normal. iPhone didn't become the industry leading smartphone because "it constantly crashed."

I know people who have been running iPhone from 2007 on 1.1.x software and they said it's still working great.
 
using bold 9700 for 3 months and getting the iphone ....cant compare them get the iphone ;)
 
I had the BB Bold 9700 for almost two years and I early upgraded to the iPhone 4. I'm happy with my decision although there are a couple of things I really miss on the blackberry (mainly a keyboard and its autofill).

But overall, the iphone is so much better. As for the qwerty keyboard...you get used to iphone touchscreen. And BBM isn't that exciting unless a bunch of your friends use it. I actually just ended up texting most of them cause it was faster than going to BBM.
 
mapocher said:
I had the BB Bold 9700 for almost two years and I early upgraded to the iPhone 4. I'm happy with my decision although there are a couple of things I really miss on the blackberry (mainly a keyboard and its autofill).

But overall, the iphone is so much better. As for the qwerty keyboard...you get used to iphone touchscreen. And BBM isn't that exciting unless a bunch of your friends use it. I actually just ended up texting most of them cause it was faster than going to BBM.
Click to expand...

buddy if i am not wrong bold 9700 was launched 6 months back or something. :confused:
 
ARSC said:
buddy if i am not wrong bold 9700 was launched 6 months back or something. :confused:
Click to expand...

Exactly. He's exaggerating. Bold 9000 the large one was released in 2008, Bold 9700 the small one was released in Sept/October 2009.

There are more things about BB that most ppl here are not aware of or forget or hardly use.

Keyboard Shortcuts. This alone makes using the BB very efficient and fast. Integration of PIM and the API's that make those core competencies available for 3rd party apps. Core PIM on iOS4 is STILL very lacking and the requirement for me to weed out specific apps to give me powerful alternatives for each PIM component annoys me.

AutoText. I've blogged about this last year ... imaging saving a word/sentence/paragraph - simply typing it once as an AutoText entry. Then setting up that entry with just 3 characters. example "APPL" = "Apple is the leader of quality products and at the forefront for innovation in the computing space beyond even great moguls such as Microsoft. Recently they've pass Microsoft for Market Capital in the United States/North America". That's right just setting that up once is VERY helpful for blog entries, emails, etc. And its available in just about ANY application that allows you to type text entry without a hard-set limit (ps I don't know of one yet).

Emails. This is BB's forte ... and Apple still have to cache up - even with exchange. Apple can properly display html emails. But for Gmail ... I CANNOT search emails remotely from the iPhone 3GS using iOS4.0.1 - never could before this OS either. On the BB I can (personal BIS email).

That said. IF you JUST need BBM (10+ contacts or more daily), Email, Calls, and incredible battery life ... Go with BlackBerry. But you'll be bored down the road.

NOBODY knows yet - unless you're an internal RIM employee - if WebKit Engine within BlackBerry OS 6 will be available for 9700 so don't buy UNTIL its officially announced in 2mths.

personally go with iPhone 4 you won't even know what a BB is then. However the 9800 Slider rumor looks VERY appealing. However will the apps grow more powerful, will the hardware stack up beyond finally using capacitive touch screen?! Don't decide on rumors or conjecture ... get iPhone 4 - pops is paying for it.

PS take care of it!!
 
Consultant said:
Not normal. iPhone didn't become the industry leading smartphone because "it constantly crashed."

I know people who have been running iPhone from 2007 on 1.1.x software and they said it's still working great.
Click to expand...

True. I think it had more to do with the jailbreak back then and whatever apps I had on it. I actually still have it, now running 3.1.2 and jailbroken. Makes a great iPod Touch.
 
ARSC said:
buddy if i am not wrong bold 9700 was launched 6 months back or something. :confused:
Click to expand...

Yeah I totally forgot about that. I had a curve before the 9700 which I got when it came out..I think in November? To tell you the truth, I didn't notice much different other than a trackpad. But yeah BB's AutoText is the only thing I really really miss. Oh well.
 
Prom1 said:
Exactly. He's exaggerating. Bold 9000 the large one was released in 2008, Bold 9700 the small one was released in Sept/October 2009.

There are more things about BB that most ppl here are not aware of or forget or hardly use.

Keyboard Shortcuts. This alone makes using the BB very efficient and fast. Integration of PIM and the API's that make those core competencies available for 3rd party apps. Core PIM on iOS4 is STILL very lacking and the requirement for me to weed out specific apps to give me powerful alternatives for each PIM component annoys me.

AutoText. I've blogged about this last year ... imaging saving a word/sentence/paragraph - simply typing it once as an AutoText entry. Then setting up that entry with just 3 characters. example "APPL" = "Apple is the leader of quality products and at the forefront for innovation in the computing space beyond even great moguls such as Microsoft. Recently they've pass Microsoft for Market Capital in the United States/North America". That's right just setting that up once is VERY helpful for blog entries, emails, etc. And its available in just about ANY application that allows you to type text entry without a hard-set limit (ps I don't know of one yet).

Emails. This is BB's forte ... and Apple still have to cache up - even with exchange. Apple can properly display html emails. But for Gmail ... I CANNOT search emails remotely from the iPhone 3GS using iOS4.0.1 - never could before this OS either. On the BB I can (personal BIS email).

That said. IF you JUST need BBM (10+ contacts or more daily), Email, Calls, and incredible battery life ... Go with BlackBerry. But you'll be bored down the road.

NOBODY knows yet - unless you're an internal RIM employee - if WebKit Engine within BlackBerry OS 6 will be available for 9700 so don't buy UNTIL its officially announced in 2mths.

personally go with iPhone 4 you won't even know what a BB is then. However the 9800 Slider rumor looks VERY appealing. However will the apps grow more powerful, will the hardware stack up beyond finally using capacitive touch screen?! Don't decide on rumors or conjecture ... get iPhone 4 - pops is paying for it.

PS take care of it!!
Click to expand...


Firstly you dont even know i am been using blackberry devices all my life. The above post just shows you are just a bb fan boy. i am using both the phones and they solve my needs.

if you wanna talk about blackberry devices then go to www.crackberry.com.

The new bold will be out soon and its called the bold 9780 check it out and if you have not seen it here you go enjoy http://crackberry.com/blackberry-bold-9780-first-live-image .

if you wanna talk about blackberry phones come we can have a healthy discussion dont think people who are hear just know about apple products.

laters,

peace
 
ARSC said:
Firstly you dont even know i am been using blackberry devices all my life. The above post just shows you are just a bb fan boy. i am using both the phones and they solve my needs.

if you wanna talk about blackberry devices then go to www.crackberry.com.

The new bold will be out soon and its called the bold 9780 check it out and if you have not seen it here you go enjoy http://crackberry.com/blackberry-bold-9780-first-live-image .

if you wanna talk about blackberry phones come we can have a healthy discussion dont think people who are hear just know about apple products.

laters,

peace
Click to expand...

That's just fine. My post quoted that you've been using a Bold 9700 for 2years - which you later corrected whilst I was typing.

Secondly I'm a Assistant BES Admin. I know a LOT more about BlackBerry's than you think - and I've used BlackBerry's on/off as my personal or corporate device for roughly 6yrs in Domino/Exchange environments. No I don't memorize shortcuts as I don't seriously need them. I don't post crackberry/blackberrycool site links - like a fan boy would - but I do visit them. 9800 is much closer to a final release than you may think. I actually LIVE just 125km away from Waterloo, sent in many BES specific tickets and helped train a few colleagues that had no clue what BB's could do that now work for RIM doing Exchange/Domino/Groupwise BES support.

However we're trying to help out the OP. My entire post was NOT directly to you, just the first paragraph.

SO to the op ... regardless of a few debates have you thought of how you would use the device over the longer term, not just initially?
 
Not so fast.

DoubleSh0t said:
I have a 9700. Don't have the iPhone (yet). Had the 1st gen iPhone, hated it because it constantly crashed. However, I'm looking to get rid of my BlackBerry and buying an iPhone.

How many of your friends have BBM? I know like, 2 people with BlackBerrys that actually use BBM on a daily basis. It's just easier to text.

How often do you plan on using the web browser? The browser on the 9700 is pretty awful. There's third party browsers like Bolt, but overall the browsing experience is terrible. Very slow, small screen, etc.

If you're in a corporate environment and always e-mailing/texting, BlackBerry is the way to go. But if you want to have a web browser and a ton of apps, your best bet is the iPhone.
Click to expand...

I'm the smartphone administrator in a fortune 100 real estate conglomerate.

I've pretty much dealt with every major smartphone out there.

We support Blackberry via Blackberry Enterprise Server, Treo and some other phones via Goodlink and iPhone, Android, Palm Pre and Windows phones via Microsoft Activesync.

In my opinion, in the beginning the Blackberry was the way to go but of late
the latest Blackberries seem to jump off the enterprise server repeatedly - they can't seem to stay on the darned server making them a support nightmare.

The quality isn't as good as the early phones and people seem to replace their blackberries more often.

The agents have jumped on the iPhone/iPad and rightly so - there are additional surcharges for both Blackberry Enterprise service as well as Goodlink phones. I think the Microsoft Exchange integration on the iPhone is simply better than the email integration of the other phones - instead of being a smartphone grafted to the server with a completely different user interface the iPhones look and act like Outlook and with the latest software you can create appointments and meetings as well as have full GAL support (unlike Android pre v2.2) and simply use it as a "mini computer". They also stay on the darned server and the phones don't seem to break unless you really abuse them. The worst phones for quality seem to be the Treos. I know agents who've gone thru three or four of them and they keep coming back for more. God only knows why.

Just my two cents.
 
OP having experience with the BB 8900 (similar to the 9700) and reading over your needs I'd say go with the iPhone. Alot of what you want to do seems media/social related and the iPhone is, generally speaking, far superior to the BB in those areas.

Also, stick with the 32gb. Consider that the 16gb is really 14gb out of the box, so now you're looking at 5gb of free space once you add your current music collection in. Not alot once you start loading more music, video, and apps.
 
Prom1 said:
SO to the op ... regardless of a few debates have you thought of how you would use the device over the longer term, not just initially?
Click to expand...

I'm currently a student so for the next two years at least the phone will be primarily used as my social hub and will save me having to buy a new ipod which i intended to do anyway come September. and from what Centient has stated i am now thinking the 32gb iPhone is the way to go, also i can get insurance for £3.25 a month but a £50 excess. I'm thinking this is the way to go now thanks for all your help!
 
I sold my Bold 9700 to get an iPhone 4 and the only things I miss are:

1. The notification LEDs
2. Notifications for emails and missed calls on the lock screen - which I'm sure Apple will add before long
3. Size - iPhone is slightly too long
4. Call quality - no denying Bold is much better and didn't drop calls. Have switcheasy nude case on my iPhone 4 and it still drops calls

Push email is just as good. I thought I would miss the Bold's hardware keyboard but actually it was so cramped that I get as much speed with the iPhone's onscreen keyboard thanks to it's spelling correction, which is actually very good. Battery life for me is three days maximum which is acceptable but not nearly as good as the Bold.
 
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