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Treo vs. Blackberry vs. Hiptop

irain

irain

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 1, 2005
141
0
Okay, all of these devices are extremely popular. The Treo is great for phone/pda capabilities. The Blackberry has an amazing push e-mail system, phone/pda capabilities. The Hiptop (otherwise known as the T-Mobile Sidekick) is aimed primarily at teenagers and is great for basic e-mailing, instant messaging, web browsing, phone functionality, and minor pda capabilities.

I own a Hiptop. It's great; it does what I need it to do. I use it primarily for the e-mailing, instant messaging, and pda functionality, and sometimes as a phone. I've been seriously considering changing to a Treo or Blackberry. Currently, I'm thinking a Treo 700w (Windows Mobile).

The reason I'm deciding to switch is the need to open basic Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files on the go. I'll also need a good e-mail application (push isn't required, but it's a plus, I suppose). Reliable instant messaging and phone functionality is also rather important.

Would anyone like to give me some advice on what phone to purchase? What model? From what provider? Any other suggestions for phone that are not listed? (I won't even consider one that doesn't have a full QWERTY keyboard.

As for monthly plans, I don't want the total bill to be over $80.

Also, feel free to argue the ups and downs of the Treo, Blackberry and Hiptop.

Thanks,
irain
 
If you're considering staying with T-Mobile, take a look at the MDA. It's a Windows Mobile 5 device with a pullout QWERTY keyboard, wi-fi, bluetooth, and a nice touchscreen. It doesn't do Blackberry style push e-mail out of the box, but with a firmware update it can get e-mail pushed from newer Exchange versions. It also includes pocket version of word, excel, and a PDF viewer.

Text messaging and e-mail both work nicely with the mobile version of Outlook. I havn't tried instant messaging, but you can install Agile or various other software to do this.

Regarding the monthly bill, that will depend on your needs. Full internet access is about $20 a month, or $30 a month with T-Mobile Hotspot access. Depending on your needs, you could even get away with $5 a month T-Zones access.
 
Run away from the Treo!!!

The phone features suck and the user experience is very, well, Windows-like. The thing does not even have a continuous voicemail alert on it - you get one beep, and then it's up to you to check all the time for messages. I for one want the thing to yell at me if I have avoicemail.

I have friends with the Blackberry and the experience is, Apple-like. :)
 
iGary said:
Run away from the Treo!!!

The phone features suck and the user experience is very, well, Windows-like. The thing does not even have a continuous voicemail alert on it - you get one beep, and then it's up to you to check all the time for messages. I for one want the thing to yell at me if I have avoicemail.

I have friends with the Blackberry and the experience is, Apple-like. :)
Click to expand...


I second that, must be why I bought my Blackberry!
 
If you're seriously considering a Treo 700, beware of the Windows loaded model... Palm tried to tie in portions of their software into Windows and I've had nothing but bad experiences with it. If I'm not mistaken, the resolution for the Windows one isn't as good as the Palm OS loaded model as well. Open more than one app and the responsiveness of the OS starts to take a nose-dive.

The Treo 700p and 650 are nice... a big improvement over the 600. I just wish they had push and less expensive apps. I just replaced my 650 with a 700p and I love it.

Just performing maintenance on Blackberrys where I work makes my thumb ache like no other... The thumb-wheel is a big pain... how that competes with a touch screen I'll never understand.

My boyfriend has a Sidekick 3 and it seems pretty fun, it just doesn't seem to have much room for software expansion.

edit:spelling
 
It's funny how the Sidekick 3 totally ripped off the Mighty Mouse's scrollball.

As for me, I'm a Blackberry man. +1 for Blackberry handhelds!*

*Pending Apple's possible entry into the market, of course ;)
 
It's me again. I'm now starting to look into the T-Mobile MDA. Does anybody know if I'll be able to sync it up with my MacBook? Also, I'm not crazy about the MDA's interface (The whole pink taskbar and such). Is there a way to change it to the normal Windows Pocket PC look?

Thanks again,
irain
 
I think you can get an app for it from the Missing Sync people....forgot their name. I hope you can change the UI...I don't really care for the hot pink bar. You'd think T-Mob would've done a grey one to match their other corporate color as the phone seems targeted to business dads.
 
irain said:
It's me again. I'm now starting to look into the T-Mobile MDA. Does anybody know if I'll be able to sync it up with my MacBook? Also, I'm not crazy about the MDA's interface (The whole pink taskbar and such). Is there a way to change it to the normal Windows Pocket PC look?

Thanks again,
irain
Click to expand...

Yes, Missing Sync just came out with a version support WM5.

The UI is themeable, which change the bar colors as well as the background image. The normal blue Windows PPC theme is included. You can find a ton more free on the web as well.
 
I think the Sidekick 3 still has the best interface/offers the best user experience, even if it's lacking in some aspects.

I think once you've gotten used to the ease of the Sidekick everything else will seem pretty cumbersome, even if it offers more features.
 
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