BB 8830 (VZ) vs. 9630 - advice sought

[obmotobmot]

Hi all -

Where I work, the departmental administrator has just decided to replace our current Palm Treo 755p units with either:

1. iPhone; or
2. BB 8830 WE (Verizon).

The department basically took a vote and voted heavily in favor of BB. I raised the point that the 8830 is somewhat of a dated unit, the same age as the 755p, and as I believe the 8830 is 2g (?). To that end, I have suggested waiting until the 9630 is released.

The departmental head, however, is taking the position that "there is no difference" and that "I only want the best gadget out there." My position is that it is silly to "upgrade" to something 2 years old, and moreover, we are the people relying on the handheld for our daily work instead of being merely support staff (no offense, but you know what I mean). The administrator wont even let us use tabbed browsers on our PCs because they are "not secure." But thats another story...

Anyhow, we meet on Friday to discuss the replacement. I would like help from any of you who can provide me with concrete, tangible differences between an 8830 and a 9630, inasmuch as what is known. This would include hardware and software differences (I dont believe the 8830 runs 4.6+).

Can anyone help me augment my argument? In my position we rely very heavily on our handhelds and it is frustrating being told what is 'best' for us by someone, however well intentioned, who doesn't rely on the handheld. I would like to go into the meeting with as much ammunition as I can to advocate for a more contemporary model.

Thanks for your help.

[F3AR]

I'm not sure what you do but I'm sure what ever you do the speed of your phone is important. The processor on the 9630 is much faster than the 8830. I don't know much about the 8830 so I can't really help much, sorry. I think you can update the 8830 to 4.5 and not higher.

[JRSCCivic98]

First and foremost start with firing your department head... he's a moron.

Second of all, print out the hardware matrixes for both the 8830 and 9630. This will show the following big differences. (I know, it's a bit hard to dig up the 9630, but preliminary ones are around on the various sites. While not final, they can be about 95% correct by now.)

8830 is MSM65xx chipset based and has a slower processor then the 9630 which is MSM7600 based. The memory on the two devices is the biggest difference. Couple that with the OS and that two major differences. The 8830 only has 64MB of memory and with no OS4.5 support from Verizon, you won't get HTML email and you'll be constantly running out of memory on the device. Browse the 8830 forum for a while and you'll see the problems with that device. The 9630 is said to have 256MB of memory on it with 1GB of onboard storage for media in addition to that plus the SD card slot capabilties (which the 8830 has as well). Don't let your department head argue that you can simply throw in a SD memory card in the 8830 and solve the memory problems, Blackberries don't work like that. You can only store media content on the SD cards, not user data like contacts, apps, or emails. On top of all that, VERIZON HAS DISCONTINUED THE 8830. The 9630 is the replacement for the 8830... that should tell you something. Oh and the 8830 is EVDO Rev0 while the 9630 will be EVDO RevA (faster network speed).

Overall, to invest into the 8830 would be a major mistake. You're better off just getting the iPhones if you need something NOW.

The other thing to discuss is what you guys are using for email in the office and your enterprise. If it's Exchange server and it's setup correctly, you'll be able to tie the BBs in for email alone wirelessly, but you'll need to sync them via USB for calendar and contacts for each user... if you don't invest into Blackberry Enterprise Server... which can get VERY expensive. As the current iPhone has ActiveSync capabilites all Exchange mailbox contents (including subfolders in email, calendar, contacts) will be wireless sync'd over to the phone if the server is setup correctly and had Internet access.

Anyway, the possbilities are endless in terms of what your appropriate solution is and without knowing more about your setup there, it's impossible to provide proper suggestions, but one thing is for sure..... Investing into the 8830 this far in its lifeline IS a mistake.

[JRSCCivic98]

Originally Posted by F3AR

I think you can update the 8830 to 4.5 and not higher.

Not for Verizon you cannot. Product matrixes have already been posted on the web and are even documented in released docs from Verizon in the stores that the 8830 WILL NOT GET OS4.5. Sprint is the only one that's released the 4.5 version and while it works fine on VZW's 8830, it's not supported by them and certianly not something you want to do with enterprise assigned handsets.

[F3AR]

Originally Posted by JRSCCivic98

Not for Verizon you cannot. Product matrixes have already been posted on the web and are even documented in released docs from Verizon in the stores that the 8830 WILL NOT GET OS4.5. Sprint is the only one that's released the 4.5 version and while it works fine on VZW's 8830, it's not supported by them and certianly not something you want to do with enterprise assigned handsets.

Oh ok I didn't know that, like I said I wasn't sure but I'm sure obmotobmot will appreciate the info.

[aerophage]

Actually, I think Verizon just released 4.5 for the 8830 last week.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[JRSCCivic98]

Originally Posted by F3AR

Oh ok I didn't know that, like I said I wasn't sure but I'm sure obmotobmot will appreciate the info.

Not bashing you, just wanted to make sure the OP had proper info.

Originally Posted by aerophage

Actually, I think Verizon just released 4.5 for the 8830 last week.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Negative, as of this moment in time, their OS site still shows 4.2.

BlackBerry Device Software v4.2 (updated 5/30/2008)

As I said, according to cell phone comparison charts that VZW published for their stores, OS4.2.2 was the highest they showed for the 8830 even in 2009. The updates for OS4.5 for them only applied to the Curve 8330.

To the OP, another options for "right now Blackberry from Verizon" if your DH absolutely wants Blackberries right this second from VZW would be the 8330 (Curve). It would be a slightly better choice then the 8830, but still nowhere even close to the 9630. If you guys can, I would wait another 2 months.

[F3AR]

Originally Posted by JRSCCivic98

Not bashing you, just wanted to make sure the OP had proper info.

I know you weren't, I didn't take it that way.

[Xopher]

Another option for "right now" while waiting on the 9630 is the Storm. It would slightly compare with the wanting to choose between BlackBerry and iPhone.

I think there are enough differences between the 8830 and 9630 to warrant waiting (or going with the Storm). Especially when looking at the difference in memory capacity, and things like HTML e-mail.

[JoeyMoose]

The only problem I see with this is that no one knows the real release date for the 9630. You could be waiting until June or December.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Exorcist]

Id say wait it out with a Storm than sell the Storm

[drew4flt72]

Originally Posted by joeymusleh

The only problem I see with this is that no one knows the real release date for the 9630. You could be waiting until June or December.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

True...the Storm was delayed about 2 months but I don't think it will be a major delay. They have 2 months to get that OS in order. That has nothing to do with the network itself not like AT$T did with the Bold and iPhone with their 3G crap network.

[aerophage]

I will say this. The 8830 is a solid piece of equipment. It's a workhorse. If they want to make the purchase now, that's definitely the phone to go with.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[obmotobmot]

All,

Thanks so much for your input. We just had our meeting and it seems I am 'close' to having the department hold off for the 9630 (we voted down the iPhone). The bigges issue will be the release date. If there isn't some indication from VZ within say 8-weeks, we will likely have to go with the 8830. As it is the dept administrator is not happy about delaying, but I made the case fairly strongly based on some of the info above. C"mon VZ give us some morsel of hope I dont want our dept. upgraded to May 2007!

[JRSCCivic98]

I strongly suggest that if you don't get a chance to go with the 9630, that you seriously consider the 8330 INSTEAD of the 8830. Like I said before, there will be no OS4.5 for the 8830 and it has less memory then even the 8330 (Curve). So, you can say goodby to trying to have DocsToGo or HTML email support on the 8830 from Verizon. AGAIN, VERIZON WILL NOT RELEASE OS4.5 FOR THE 8830.