View Poll Results: Which option do you prefer?

Voters
133. You may not vote on this poll
  • Trackball

    100 75.19%
  • Touchscreen

    33 24.81%
  1. Dukins's Avatar
    This isnt the typical tour vs. storm thread, which is better. Im on the fence that the tour will be hands down better than the storm.

    The storm was my first blackberry ever. So Im kind of leery of going to the tour because of the trackball and physical keyboard. The touchscreen seems like it will be much faster to navigate. OTOH the tour physical keys and trackball seems like it will be slower.

    Can anyone give some feedback on the trackball vs touchscreen? Which do you prefer?

    Im leaning 99.99999% towards the tour. Im thinking I will keep the storm while im putting the tour through a workout to see which I like better. That way I can sell the other on e-bay, etc.
    06-26-09 10:00 AM
  2. mjs31's Avatar
    I believe you may be the first I heard say physical keys would be slower :-)

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    06-26-09 10:06 AM
  3. Misterb's Avatar
    This isnt the typical tour vs. storm thread, which is better. Im on the fence that the tour will be hands down better than the storm.

    The storm was my first blackberry ever. So Im kind of leery of going to the tour because of the trackball and physical keyboard. The touchscreen seems like it will be much faster to navigate. OTOH the tour physical keys and trackball seems like it will be slower.

    Can anyone give some feedback on the trackball vs touchscreen? Which do you prefer?

    Im leaning 99.99999% towards the tour. Im thinking I will keep the storm while im putting the tour through a workout to see which I like better. That way I can sell the other on e-bay, etc.
    I came to BlackBerry from Palm phones that have both a touch screen and a jog dial thing that is similar (although not as good) to a trackball. I like the trackball much more, hands down. I think the best option would be if RIM combined their trackball with a touchscreen. That'll be a game changer. For now, the trackball vs touchscreen only is far better. You will be amazed how much faster and more efficient you will be with the Tour than the Storm. It's like you've been on a deserted island, where the only female was Rosy Odonnel. Brooke Shields (the Tour) is coming over for a visit soon, and your world is going to change, LOL.
    06-26-09 10:09 AM
  4. Dukins's Avatar
    I believe you may be the first I heard say physical keys would be slower :-)

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    Im wondering because I have never used a blackbery with physical keys. I feel I can type pretty fast on my storm with the surepress. IDK thats why im asking.
    06-26-09 10:10 AM
  5. NIKSTORM's Avatar
    i dont really care about typing. i do care about screen size for viewing web pages and movies. isnt the screen half the size of the storm?
    06-26-09 10:23 AM
  6. Tifoso's Avatar
    I believe you may be the first I heard say physical keys would be slower :-)

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    True Dat! Since when has anything "virtual" been faster than the physical?
    06-26-09 10:23 AM
  7. DolfanCole#CB's Avatar
    I think some of the major benefits of the trackball versus the touchscreen are:

    1. the ability to click browser links more accurately and faster. On my Storm, I constantly have to zoom in until I can click the actual link I want or use the arrow to click -- which is what the trackball would allow me to do from the start.

    2. the ability to edit text better and faster. I can't stand trying to go back and edit text from an email or text on my Storm and try to position the "moving window" in just the right spot. Of course, at least with the post .75 OS versions, there's the window. Initially, there wasn't even that. With a trackball, you can directly to where you need to position the cursor much quicker.
    06-26-09 10:30 AM
  8. Dukins's Avatar
    I think some of the major benefits of the trackball versus the touchscreen are:

    1. the ability to click browser links more accurately and faster. On my Storm, I constantly have to zoom in until I can click the actual link I want or use the arrow to click -- which is what the trackball would allow me to do from the start.

    2. the ability to edit text better and faster. I can't stand trying to go back and edit text from an email or text on my Storm and try to position the "moving window" in just the right spot. Of course, at least with the post .75 OS versions, there's the window. Initially, there wasn't even that. With a trackball, you can directly to where you need to position the cursor much quicker.

    Thanks for the useful comment.

    @nikstorm the screen size is the same. Tour essentially has the same screen size as the storm in landscape mode/sideways. 480x360
    06-26-09 10:41 AM
  9. mjbesen310's Avatar
    trackball and phyical keys are very fast to type on compared to the storm or any other touch screen phones out there. Touch screens slow the user down.
    06-26-09 10:44 AM
  10. Jonezed7's Avatar
    Touchscreen for some phones, but not the Storm
    06-26-09 10:47 AM
  11. DolfanCole#CB's Avatar
    Touchscreen for some phones, but not the Storm
    I have to agree with this. My wife has the LG Dare and I can type faster (and more accurately) on it than I can on my Storm.
    06-26-09 11:00 AM
  12. sgmartz's Avatar
    Thanks for the useful comment.

    @nikstorm the screen size is the same. Tour essentially has the same screen size as the storm in landscape mode/sideways. 480x360
    No, I think the tour has a smaller screen, I think it is only 2.5 inches diagnolly versus 3.25 for the storm. The amount of pixels in both phones is the same, so you get a sharper image on the tour since they are condensed.
    06-26-09 11:25 AM
  13. jaskru's Avatar
    the screen manipulation and size puts the storm above the tour in my eyes. The trackball is annoying for me now after having the storm.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    06-26-09 11:27 AM
  14. Dukins's Avatar
    the screen manipulation and size puts the storm above the tour in my eyes. The trackball is annoying for me now after having the storm.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    really how so? Care to give more info?

    It seems that you can just touch what you want and slide the screen up and down faster on the storm. This is my only concern about switching to tour is the trackball. But most people are saying it will be faster.
    06-26-09 11:33 AM
  15. Dukins's Avatar
    No, I think the tour has a smaller screen, I think it is only 2.5 inches diagnolly versus 3.25 for the storm. The amount of pixels in both phones is the same, so you get a sharper image on the tour since they are condensed.
    I compared the screen size on blackbery . com

    the storm and tour has 480x360 screen resolution and 480x320 for bold. I really hope its the same size has the storm in landscape mode. I need to see!
    06-26-09 11:34 AM
  16. Tifoso's Avatar
    I compared the screen size on blackbery . com

    the storm and tour has 480x360 screen resolution and 480x320 for bold. I really hope its the same size has the storm in landscape mode. I need to see!

    you're not getting it. those are pixels, not lengths.
    06-26-09 11:43 AM
  17. barnabyh's Avatar
    The thing that I like better about the trackball is that it has both a scroll and select in one place. For example, I scroll on the screen and as soon as the arrow is where I want to select, I just press the trackball. It requires less movement than the storm, and therefore I find the trackball quicker and more accurate.
    06-26-09 11:56 AM
  18. mjbesen310's Avatar
    ]:

    It seems that you can just touch what you want and slide the screen up and down faster on the storm. This is my only concern about switching to tour is the trackball. But most people are saying it will be faster.
    you can slide the trackball a lot faster on the tour then you can slide with the storm with a finger. its a pain in the **** to select what you want to see on the storm, you first have to zoom in and then try to select it but on the tour you don't have to try to do all that zooming in to select items... the tour in every way shape and form a long with every other trackball and keyboard blackberry is faster to type on and navigate through vs the storm
    06-26-09 12:01 PM
  19. mjbesen310's Avatar
    I compared the screen size on blackbery . com

    the storm and tour has 480x360 screen resolution and 480x320 for bold. I really hope its the same size has the storm in landscape mode. I need to see!
    those are PIXALS not the screen size. The Tour has a bit of a smaller screen then the storm, but the Tour will have a much shaper image VS the tour since its a little more condensed.
    06-26-09 12:02 PM
  20. thinkamp's Avatar
    I love my trackball! I don't like touch screens, i'd rather have a full keyboard and a nice trackball!
    06-26-09 12:08 PM
  21. Dukins's Avatar
    those are PIXALS not the screen size. The Tour has a bit of a smaller screen then the storm, but the Tour will have a much shaper image VS the tour since its a little more condensed.
    Ah ok I get it now. Dayum! I guess I will miss the large screen on the storm then.
    06-26-09 12:10 PM
  22. spierce7's Avatar
    The tour will be faster to navigate. Things that you use on a regular basis will have hotkeys (which you can have a ton of, because you have a ton of physical keys). Also, the phone won't be having to constantly check to see if your finger is on the screen. Thats most likely where most of the lag comes from on the storm, all the extra processing that (I think) come from the touch screen.
    06-26-09 12:12 PM
  23. IIIM3's Avatar
    I'm one of those people who just can not stand touch screen phones, so it's trackball for me.
    06-26-09 12:16 PM
  24. chase1337's Avatar
    Hey so this is something I chat about all the time with friends. I've had several Blackberry's so I (of course) have an opion on it.
    Web browsing:
    On the storm is way better i feel. Not that it's bad on the tour (used on last week) but you have to track ball around web pages. Apps help make that a better proccess but not as good as a touch screen storm. It's like getting free money: would you rather get 100$ or 500$? Both good, ones better.

    Typing:
    This goes to Tour hands down, other users have covered it and you've probably thought about it too. But on my curve i hammered out an average of 5k texts per month. Since i've got my storm it's dropped to 2k b/c i'm too lazy to "deal" with it (still not bad, tour is just better).

    Usability:
    Not in regards to typing. This is something i feel that never gets said about touch screen phones that people need to realize. You are at the mercy of the UI as to when the keyboard displays. When you pull your address book on the tour you can start typing a name and hit send (actually you don't even have to click the address book, just type from the home screen). However on a touch screen you have to select the icon, select the area to type and then type. These extra steps are all over the place too.

    The full keyboard also gives a full keyboard of speed dails and quick keys. Just press and hold the letter "t" and that's a speed dail. With a touch screen you don't get this at all.

    You can't use the touch screen blind either. There is a feel to buttons so you can text / select w/o looking(*cough* DRIVING *cough*). I had my 5 "home icons" as the most used, the left and right keys were set to address book and messages. and the bottum left icon and bottum right icons were icons I used a bunch too. So what i would do (without lookinig) is hit the unlock key, scroll 5 or 6 times to the right then all the way down (7 or 8 scrolls) and click the track ball in. Bam i'm in my media player.


    any way that's my 2 cents.
    06-26-09 12:25 PM
  25. Iceman's Avatar
    Touchscreen is okay, I just prefer the trackball.
    06-26-09 12:31 PM
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