Bold or iPhone?

[axxman]

I want a bold with the mobileme. On Sprint with Simply everything plan. oh well.

[ashantiblack]

Simply put I am not switching from a BB regardless of wat fone comes out in the future. I don't even see myself using a virtual keyboard.
I'm good wit RIM and patiently waiting for the BOLD to come to Sprint.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Mr. Chitlin]

I had never tried an iphone until this past week. I didn't really care for the touchscreen, but that might change as I used it more. My wife had real problems with the touchscreen, as she has long fingernails. She had to use the pads of her fingers and that caused several spelling errors.

I'm waiting on the Bold.

[ngregory00]

By now I've owned both phones. There are definitely pros and cons between the two but in the end I'm probably going to end up going back to the BB. I've owned my iPhone since October and was surprised at how quickly it lost its luster. It's cool and all but, after awhile, "cool" really doesn't cut it.

With the iPhone, everything SOUNDS great. The UI looks awesome, the web browsing experience is unsurpassed and the third party apps are great. If everything worked as smoothly as it was supposed to, you would have a very hard time finding anything comparable.

That is, until you start using it on a daily basis. Then you get the stalls, the freezes, the crashes, the lockups. Not to say there's a phone on Earth that doesn't glitch on occasion but with the iPhone, it's almost constant.

I can't count the number of times I've tried to make a call or text someone and the phone has completely locked up. Not just "wait a couple of seconds" lock up. But a "freezing for a solid 30 minutes until you plug it into your computer" lock up. You can't just do a battery pull like on the BB, instead you've got to hold down the home / sleep buttons until the phone asks whether you want to restart. A few minutes after that you'll (maybe) have your phone back.

My other issues are with the keyboard but not for the reasons most people think. I actually got used to the virtual keyboard relatively quickly and I type about as fast on the iPhone as I did on the BB. But that's the problem -- BB typing speeds are often TOO fast for the iPhone. While in the midst of typing a sentence, I either get a barrage of random characters which the iPhone attempts to translate into the least likely word I would ever type, or too few characters which nets the same result.

The other keyboard issue I have is with the phone's auto-correct. It's nowhere near as intuitive as it is on the BB. It does a pretty decent job at first but there's no way to add or delete words from the iPhone's default word list. Instead, the iPhone attempts to automatically add to the list any word that (a) doesn't conflict with a word that's already in the list or (b) any word -- including typos -- that it doesn't recognize. So after you've been typing for a few weeks, your phone's vocabulary list might be all over the place, depending on how many times you've fat-fingered the wrong word into the keyboard.

These issues might sound like nitpicks but when it happens on a daily basis it makes you want to throw your phone against a wall. Every time I've replied to an email, added a new contact or edited a calendar entry, I've had to deal with the same thing over and over.

It's possible that some of these issues might be improved with iPhone 3G but somehow I doubt it. I mean, ****, I'm still waiting for copy/paste.

But then, I read lots of disgruntled iPhone posts yet I still went and bought one anyway. Until you own the phone yourself, you really won't understand what all the hype and/or the hatred is about. The BB and the iPhone are drastically different phones aimed at different audiences so it's ultimately about what works best for you.

[Calderon]

Only reason I have an iPhone is because I use it on TMO network.

[Stang68]

I think it is time RIM gave us some details on the Thunder and the Bold. After the iPhone 3G announcement and seeing its features, I am pretty confident that the Bold and Thunder can compete with it. I mean, Apple added 3G, GPS, and push email to the new one...these are features that Blackberry's have had for some time now. My VZW Curve has been flying on the 3G network. Now, if the Thunder is decent (and I think it will be because RIM and Verizon know they cannot afford to screw it up) then it will be a direct competitor with the new iPhone. Not some joke like the LG Voyager or Samsung Glyde. Ha!

[Skormm]

Originally Posted by supermum

I know that I will probably get some skewed answers seeing how this is a BB site. However, can anyone help me with the pros and cons between what we currently know about the Bold and the new iPhone?

Here are mine so far:

iPhone Pros: Price point (can BB beat it?), 8-16 gigs, large screen
iPhone Cons: Touchscreen

BBB Pros: QWERTY keyboard
BBB Cons: Smaller screen, 1 gig, price?

Any insight or help would be greatly appreciated. I will be using my phone for "pleasure" not business. I will not be using it as a mp3 player.

Will either phone have a full html browser? Java?
Does the new iPhone have instant email notification?
Does the new iPhone have GPS?

BB only has 1 gig of ONBOARD memory, it has a slot that you can put a MicroSD card in up to 16GB.

If a touchscreen is a con for you, then immediately you should know that you don't want an iPhone.

[supermum]

Thanks everyone! I have a lot to think about and while I am still torn you have all given me a lot of topics to research about each phone. I am just happy I am in a good place right now (as far as cell phones go) as I am out of contract with VZW, which does not work in my house, and have plenty of excellent choices in product with AT&T.
I was sold on the Bold until those darn flashy beautiful pics of the iPhone surfaced. That's some damn good marketing. Come on BB... seduce me with your photos/videos/release date!
(Kidding)

[nastyboy2]

What's missing?
Unfortunately, we hoped for an even larger bundle of features in this round. Apple still leaves multimedia messaging out of the mix along with voice dialing and video recording. We still don't understand why Apple can't include these basic features, many found in even the cheapest and simplest cell phones. We were also hoping for a landscape keyboard, the capability to cut and paste, Flash support for the Safari Web browser, expanded memory, and additional Bluetooth profiles. Apple, you left us hanging in a big way. It's also disappointing to hear that the dock is now sold separately for $49, but we suppose that helped cut the price. No, you don't need the dock, but it's nice to have. Even the power adapter and the SIM card removal tool that now come in the box won't make up for its loss.

[bmcclure937]

Originally Posted by ERDude

I'm a Mac guy, love everything Apple except the I-Phone.

1. Because it's on AT$T
2. I didn't like the virtual keyboard

Same thing goes for me pretty much!!

I am not on ATT, and the onscreen keyboard is hard to get used to.

I prefer the QWERTY! Everything else about the iPhone is amazing though

[Arninetyes]

Originally Posted by supermum

Thank you for your response. I gather from what you said that you can not insure a iPhone but can insure a BB... is that true?
What was wrong with the "phone" on the iPhone? Sound quality? User interface?
Also, were you alluding to the fact that the iPhone isn't secure? Or did I read that wrong? I really know nothing about the iPhone and love to hear real users likes/dislikes.
Thank you again!

Last time I checked, ATT will not insure an iPhone. Verizon does insure the BB. I never checked on ATT but I assume so.

As for the iPhone's phone, as one person said, it's a 'very nice phone' with a great interface. BUT, the earpiece volume is too low, the speakerphone is terrible, and reception is well below average.

If you live in a quiet place near an ATT cell tower and do little travelling, you'll never notice.

Security doesn't refer to the iPhone security, but to the security of the BB internet and email system vs Microsoft enterprise server - it was just a cheap shot at MS.

[sandmanfvr]

I have an 8 gb iPod Touch. To me, MY opinion, the ipod's are the best mp3 players. The touch is wonderful, and nice for music and such. But when it comes to the web, and other things it is ok. Now the full html browsing, that is cool. Yes, the "pinch" to zoom in function is cool. But other than that, the email app is lacking. Now I don't have the 2.0 apps, but from the 1.0 app I got on my touch (I have the iphone apps on it) and what everybody has had on the iphone for a while, I feel SORRY for you guys. My bb has better email than that! Yes, the youtube feature is great (damn it RIM, get this right on the Bold and Thunder!) but if apple didn't make the app, somebody would have.

Apps, lets talk about that. The interface of the touch/iphone is nice, pretty, but stagnant. I mean, I can add some things, but God forbid I change the layout. Next, I can only run 1 app at a time. Lordy lordy, if I run more than 1 I will kill the machine! My blackberry can multitask and it is old. The touch screen isn't for all. A qwerty keyboard, can be used by all when a touch screen can single out some due to finger size etc. Now that is not to bash ALL touch screens. The touch/iphone touch screen IS nice and responsive, but typing isn't for everybody.

Ok, iphone 2.0. Now they have 3G, well ****, what was the wait for? MARKETING! I mean EVDO and 3G has been on the blackberries. My bb isn't that fast due to the processor, but it can download thing pretty good. Now they add GPS, but not TRUE GPS. Hmmm, I think this "add a little here and there" crap is Steve Job's way of keeping the "iphone machine" churning to make MORE money. "Oh the iphone is just $199!" So? You need a two year contract, you are limited to what you can run, run 1 app a time, etc. I would gladly pay more for a bb and have FULL freedom to install what I want and multitask circles around iphone users.

Now on Mobileme. They charge for this! What the [b][/b][b][/b][b][/b][b][/b]? I have BIS with my plan. Ok, push calendar and such, that is fine. 20 gigs storage? Ok, pretty good, but to charge for push email is ridiculous. Plus did anybody hear if we can use Gmail, Yahoo, or anything else? I didn't hear that! So Mobileme seems to be limited to the me.com email, which is again stagnant. So you pay $30 a month for data (NOT $20 anymore Apple fans!) and then $99 a year, which is $8.25 a month. so $38.25 to get bb features, except the iphone can do push calendar, photos etc. BUT, you don't have picture messaging! Come on people, don't you see what Job's is doing? Nickel and dimeing us!

I watch the keynotes and wwdc's with giddy, why? Apple does bring out cool s***, but I keep seeing Apple FAIL. They bring out ok stuff, leaving the good features for later on, to get more money. Thus why in my opinion, Apple will stay under Microsoft. I was a huge Apple fan, now, I don't care. The Macs are cool, but OS X is the only killer app/thing other than the ipod they have. The iphone is just an ipod with phone features. People act like iphone 2.0 will kill RIM and bb's. HAH! The iPhone is NOT a smart phone, I don't care what everybody says. It lack of freedom, general features that other smart phones have, leave it a pretty Apple gadget that wants to be a Blackberry. I want me a Bold or Thunder, don't know which yet.

[mullrat]

To me the answer is simple. If you don't like the touch screen then dont get a phone with a touch screen. On the iphone, the UI is the touch screen. In other words, you'll have to access it every time you turn the phone on. Just try it at your local apple store or wherever you can get it. See how you like it. But really when you list on your dislikes "touchscreen", it's pretty obvious
what type of phone will suit you. Both phones(Bold & iPhone 3G) will have similar features and performance. Both phones will break, slow down and crash. No matter what people say on this board or other enthusiast sites, neither is superior to the other. Each person just gravitates toward one or the other. Most berryheads here prefer the tactile keyboard, don't take this as gospel. This is an enthusiast site.

What Blackberry needs to fear more than anything is Mobileme(stupid name) Do you know how many small businesses cannot afford enterprise servers? They will eat this up and use it for their businesses, as security(eg VPN, SSL, 802.1x) is probably not as much of a concern. It can also be used in the school setting because again many can't afford an enterprise server. They can dispense their course materials schedules contacts instantly. Blackberry along with microsoft dropped the ball on this one. Using these business tools for the consumer and small business market will be what may hurt RIM more than the iphone as a device. Of course you need an iphone to really use Mobile Me.

My appologies for the long post.

[CrazEtooN]

Originally Posted by sandmanfvr

I have an 8 gb iPod Touch. To me, MY opinion, the ipod's are the best mp3 players. The touch is wonderful, and nice for music and such. But when it comes to the web, and other things it is ok. Now the full html browsing, that is cool. Yes, the "pinch" to zoom in function is cool. But other than that, the email app is lacking. Now I don't have the 2.0 apps, but from the 1.0 app I got on my touch (I have the iphone apps on it) and what everybody has had on the iphone for a while, I feel SORRY for you guys. My bb has better email than that! Yes, the youtube feature is great (damn it RIM, get this right on the Bold and Thunder!) but if apple didn't make the app, somebody would have.

RIM has better email? No, RIM has faster email. BlackBerry email is plain text and ugly as sin. The iPhone has HTML email. Are you sure you have ever used one?

Originally Posted by sandmanfvr

Apps, lets talk about that. The interface of the touch/iphone is nice, pretty, but stagnant. I mean, I can add some things, but God forbid I change the layout. Next, I can only run 1 app at a time. Lordy lordy, if I run more than 1 I will kill the machine! My blackberry can multitask and it is old. The touch screen isn't for all. A qwerty keyboard, can be used by all when a touch screen can single out some due to finger size etc. Now that is not to bash ALL touch screens. The touch/iphone touch screen IS nice and responsive, but typing isn't for everybody.

You can change the layout to anything you want. I will give it to you that the background image can't be changed, but you can move icons all over the place, and on to separate pages.

Just because you have been multitasking for years, doesn't mean it is "good." BlackBerrys have next to no memory, and their RAM sucks. Multitasking a BlackBerry is one of the first things that leads to people running out of memory, their system slowing down, freezes, etc. In other words, heavy BlackBerry multitasking is one of the quickest ways to a battery pull.

My question is, what do you need to multitask besides IM apps? Apple is providing completely simulated multitasking for IM apps so you get ALL the benefits of having any IM app in the background WITHOUT the negatives of extra battery drain, system stability, etc. Why is that a bad thing?

Seriously though, what exactly do you need to multitask outside of that? If you are in Safari and need to check your mail, 2 presses takes you there. Want to go back to Safari, 2 press takes you back and you will still be on the page you left. OH NOES!!! Oh wait... It takes a minimum of 2 presses to switch apps on a BlackBerry too, unless of course it is bound to one of the shortcut keys. What is the need to actually leave a game running in the background? Why do you need to leave any 3rd party app in the background if it isn't IM related?

Multitasking is the number one cause of instability in BlackBerry AND Windows Mobile. Why do you think the FIRST question to anyone having stability issues is: "Did you make sure YOU SHUT DOWN ALL BACKGROUND APPLICATIONS?"

At least Apple is trying to work on an intelligent solution to the IM problem...

Side note, I have felt this way about multi-tasking long before the keynote.

Typing is a wash. Some people like it, some hate it, some are indifferent. Pretty much every comment ever made on this is opinion, and it should be left up to a user to decide whether they can adjust or not.

Originally Posted by sandmanfvr

Ok, iphone 2.0. Now they have 3G, well ****, what was the wait for? MARKETING! I mean EVDO and 3G has been on the blackberries. My bb isn't that fast due to the processor, but it can download thing pretty good. Now they add GPS, but not TRUE GPS. Hmmm, I think this "add a little here and there" crap is Steve Job's way of keeping the "iphone machine" churning to make MORE money. "Oh the iphone is just $199!" So? You need a two year contract, you are limited to what you can run, run 1 app a time, etc. I would gladly pay more for a bb and have FULL freedom to install what I want and multitask circles around iphone users.

What does EVDO have to do with At&t? There is one carrier in the US that sells and activates the iPhone, and that is At&t. There is NOT one single 3G BlackBerry currently released for At&t. The Bold will be the FIRST. So no, it isn't as though At&t customers could have been using a 3G Berry for "years."

The iPhone does have FULL freedom to install. You can install WHATEVER apps you want. They are even all located in one centralized location that makes finding them insanely easy. I am sorry, but there is no good argument against the App Store now that the details are out.

Would you honestly rather surf to ten different sites trying to find that one theme you want, or would you rather go to the one, single location where all apps will be, do a quick search, and have it installed on your phone in half the time? Maybe you are just a masochist and like things difficult?

Now, on to your GPS complaint...

You are 100% wrong about the GPS.

The iPhone uses A-GPS, which is BETTER than normal GPS. A-GPS will triangulate a signal from a satellite anytime it is in sight of one, just like a regular GPS. HOWEVER, if you go indoors and lose sight of the signal, it will THEN fall back to cellular towers and WiFi hotspots to help with the triangulation, so you can still get a good idea where you are.

Outside Source of explanation:
How A-GPS works

Apple's own explanation:
From the Apple's mouth: How A-GPS works.

Maybe you should learn to do a little research before you spout off at the mouth.

Originally Posted by sandmanfvr

Now on Mobileme. They charge for this! What the [b][/b][b][/b][b][/b][b][/b]? I have BIS with my plan. Ok, push calendar and such, that is fine. 20 gigs storage? Ok, pretty good, but to charge for push email is ridiculous. Plus did anybody hear if we can use Gmail, Yahoo, or anything else? I didn't hear that! So Mobileme seems to be limited to the me.com email, which is again stagnant. So you pay $30 a month for data (NOT $20 anymore Apple fans!) and then $99 a year, which is $8.25 a month. so $38.25 to get bb features, except the iphone can do push calendar, photos etc. BUT, you don't have picture messaging! Come on people, don't you see what Job's is doing? Nickel and dimeing us!

The price on the data has gone up to $30. Guess what I have been paying on my BlackBerry for a long time? Yeah, $30. The $30 increase has nothing to do with 3G, it has to do with the iPhone receiving new classification now that it will attract more, real smartphone users.

At&t BlackBerry Personal Plan= $30
At&t PDA/Smartphone Personal Plan= $30

The iPhone has merely been welcomed to the category of true PDA/Smartphone, and has been priced accordingly. This is not that big of a deal to anyone that understands this, but whatever... It is a lateral change for anyone switching from a WinMo device, or a BlackBerry.

You get charged for your BIS too genius.... Why shouldn't Apple charge for MobileMe? RIM charges out the wazoo for its BES solutions, and charges way too much for BIS, considering what you get.

BIS on At&t = $30
-You get an xxx.blackberry.net email address
-You get push mail

Mobile Me = $99/yr or $8.25/mo (I don't know if you can even pay for it monthly)
-You get a dotMe address
-You get push mail
-You get push contacts
-You get push calendar
-You get wireless photo syncing
-You get 20 gigs of online storage for anything

I will give you the benefit of the doubt and say that someone using the MobileMe service is actually paying for it monthly, so that is $8.25/mo + $30/mo for the data plan. We are given a grand total of $38.25/mo.

How do you accomplish this same feat with a BlackBerry? Simple, you change your plan to a BES plan and utilized a hosted BES solution...

Guess what, a BlackBerry BES plan on At&t is $45. Not like that isn't enough, the hosted BES is going to run you about $10 or more a month. To get the same kind of functionality out of your Berry that an average joe can get from his iPhone, you would need to spend about $55/mo on data related services.

MobileMe doesn't look that expensive anymore, does it? Stop looking for every little thing you can to bash it. Apple has brought to the COMMON USER the functionality business users have been enjoying for a long time. They are the first to do it for more than just mail, and it actually deserves a round of applause.

We don't know yet whether or not you can channel your other email address through the MobileMe solution, but in the worst case scenario, you can just forward your other address to your dotMe address.

(By the way, for nothing more than push mail... Yahoo offers this to its customers, and GMail is working on it as well, which means no MobileMe if all you want is push mail)

Picture messaging can be accomplished very easily via email by the way. This next part may come as a shock to you, but picture messaging doesn't matter much to everyone. I send/receive <10 MMS a month, so I am fine using email for it. If you are an MMS fanatic, maybe the iPhone just isn't for you. If you can comprehend the email workaround, and don't really care about it, it is a different story.

Originally Posted by sandmanfvr

I watch the keynotes and wwdc's with giddy, why? Apple does bring out cool s***, but I keep seeing Apple FAIL. They bring out ok stuff, leaving the good features for later on, to get more money. Thus why in my opinion, Apple will stay under Microsoft. I was a huge Apple fan, now, I don't care. The Macs are cool, but OS X is the only killer app/thing other than the ipod they have. The iphone is just an ipod with phone features. People act like iphone 2.0 will kill RIM and bb's. HAH! The iPhone is NOT a smart phone, I don't care what everybody says. It lack of freedom, general features that other smart phones have, leave it a pretty Apple gadget that wants to be a Blackberry. I want me a Bold or Thunder, don't know which yet.

Didn't you say that you can't stand typing on a touchscreen? Why would you even consider a Thunder if you can't stand typing on a touchscreen? The Thunder is a 100% touch device...

Do you know the definition of smartphone? Any phone that defines itself as a PLATFORM for development is a smartphone. In other words, if a phone runs an actual operating system and is capable of being expanded via 3rd party and 1st party applications, it is a smartphone.

Funny, that looks exactly like what the iPhone is capable of.

Your opinion of it not being a smartphone doesn't change the fact that it is a smartphone.

You could have summarized everything you said in the following, and saved everyone a lot of time instead of giving quite a few bits of outright wrong information:

"I don't like the iPhone, I prefer the BlackBerry."

See how easy that is?

[kehlerpa]

Maaaaaan- I think it could switch to iphone but still no mms messages? That's weird!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com