Diff bet Blackberry & other smart phones

[racyrob]

Hi Everyone:
I've never used a Blackberry before and am a newbie to smart phones in general. A friend who works for a Sprint dealer told me that of the 5 phone models that Sprint corporate is offering me the Tour 9630 is the best option as the other models freeze up too much. In general, what are the differences between Blackberry's and other smart phones? I know alot of business people use their Crackberrys for email etc. I'm looking for a basic smartphone, the only real things I'm looking for are a full featured calendar that I can Sync with either Windows 7(laptop) or Windows XP Service Pack 3(desktop). I'd like to be able to schedule an event more than once a week with a single entry(rather than multiple ones), be able to lock the phone via one key, have a loud speaker phone, browse the web occasionally and filter my email so I only receive email from those I know on the phone, have a flash on the camera and get directions occasionally. What idiosincracies does the Tour 9630 have? Please feel free to share any other thoughts that you think are appropriate.

Thanks!

[buckwylder]

first of all, get a new blackberry 7 smartphone and not the old stock your sprint buddy is trying to pawn off on ya, seriously

anyways, it is beyond me why somebody would say "they freeze up too much", what does that even mean? doesn't sound like they're very bright because they don't "freeze up too much" more than any other smart phone, my computer sometimes used to "freeze up too much", lol, so i stopped downloading porn (just kidding, lmao) point is - anything has the potential to "freeze up too much", so that is why i'm going off on that

the good things about blackberry are durability, reliability, good battery life, best keyboards, bbm, etc... and with blackberry 7 - over all functionality is totally on par with any other platform

the bold 9900 9930, torch 9810 9860 9850 (which ever models sprint carries)

for your first blackberry experience - i strongly suggest you get nothing less than one of the newest models that run blackberry 7, otherwise your experience will not be as good

the tour was good when it came out, but you seriously should not get that model as your first blackberry experience when there are fantastic newer models available running bb7 os

i strongly suggest any of the blackberry 7 phones and a playbook!

i use a torch 9810 and a playbook, please do yourself a favor and get a blackberry 7 phone

i don't mean to insult your sprint buddy, but it is beyond me why a tour would be the suggestion for a guys first blackberry, when the newer bb7 phones are the best blackberry's ever released

[racyrob]

Hi Everyone: After calling several Sprint stores and asking for their opinion on which phone I should get(among 5 five that Sprint is offering me for free, I've narrowed my choices down to the Tour 9630 and the HTC Hero. I'm looking for a FREE phone(since I'm unemployed and low on $$) where I don't have to renew my contract. The Hero sync's contacts and calendar with Gmail since it's an Android phone, how does the Tour sync with both Windows XP and Windows 7? Are their any known issues with syncing or the 9630 in general? I did a Google search and found lots of issues with dropped calls, the roaming indicator being on after coming back into Sprint coverage, the trackball not working properly and GPS not working as of 2009. Have these issues been fixed?

Thanks for your time and thoughts!