[jkusuda]

Maybe I'm a dinosaur in the way I handle my personal data. I use Outlook on my desktop to sync my phone with my Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Notes. I personally don't want to set this all up on a "Cloud".

Tasks are very important to me. I'm waaaaaay too ADD/ADHD to get everything done on a daily basis without them to organize myself. When I'm at work, I like to view it on my desktop and not on my phone. In fact, I use all of these functions mostly on my desktop and only when I'm on the road or away from my desk do I use my phone.

I've become very dependent on my Notes as well. I'm not quite sure I'd be a functional human being anymore without both Notes and Tasks on my phone and have them easily sync to my laptop.

This is where Android, webOS, and iOS4 fail me in a big way. None of them can natively sync with Outlook in all 4 (Calendar, Contacts, Notes, and Tasks). I know there are workarounds but who wants to download an app and then sign up for a third party web service to get it all synched? That's what it takes under the other 3 major mobile platforms.

Now, I'm not saying the Blackberry OS is superior to the others. This is just a my case study and personal observations about which OS best fits my needs. In all the Torch bashing I've seen, it's the thing that I think all the haters forget. Everyone will select the phone based upon which device best suits their purposes. Trust me, I'd love to have a 1 ghz processor and an iPhone screen on my Torch. However, it's more important to me that the phone last for 12hours+ on a single charge with moderate-heavy usage. Plus, I've already covered the Outlook deficiencies.

[jcp007]

I too use Outlook on my PC at home and sync the same categories. I did not realize that the i4 and the android devices were not adept in this area. You would think with all the bragging about their devices and disparaging the Torch that it could sync better than the Torch.

[zwoof]

From what I read about the Torch, that sounds like the phone I'm after. I'm not switching carriers to get a torch because a smartphone or any phone is worth nothing more than a paperweight if it rides a crappy network. I've always had Verizon for my personal phone and other carriers for work and my personal phones have always blown away my work devices as far as reliability goes. This is why I gotta wait it out for Verizon to get a Torch-like blacknberry or better. While I like the blackberry quality and it does a great job synching with Outlook or any other of my email accounts, I need more bells and whistles to fit my needs for a good smartphone

[jkusuda]

I knew the iPhones support was poor because I had looked at it before picking Blackberry 2 years ago. Moving from Windows Mobile, I wanted to go iPhone but just couldn't for that reason.

I was shocked to see how loudly the Nexus One forum was complaining about the Outlook sync. Then I saw that it was pretty much an Android wide problem.

I had assumed webOS would support it because the Centro's had. I was shocked again when I learned that it couldn't do it natively either.

All of this has left me feeling like an old man using a paper organizer or something like that.

[jcp007]

From what I read about the Torch, that sounds like the phone I'm after. I'm not switching carriers to get a torch because a smartphone or any phone is worth nothing more than a paperweight if it rides a crappy network. I've always had Verizon for my personal phone and other carriers for work and my personal phones have always blown away my work devices as far as reliability goes. This is why I gotta wait it out for Verizon to get a Torch-like blacknberry or better. While I like the blackberry quality and it does a great job synching with Outlook or any other of my email accounts, I need more bells and whistles to fit my needs for a good smartphone

I believe that the Torch is exclusively AT&T as they partnered with RIM to develop the Torch. I suppose it is possible that a VZW version may be released but somehow that seems remote.

[zwoof]

I believe that the Torch is exclusively AT&T as they partnered with RIM to develop the Torch. I suppose it is possible that a VZW version may be released but somehow that seems remote.

That's ashame Verizon not likely to develop a device like the Torch. I like the combination touchscreen and keyboard and the display is bigger for better viewingand that it has 8X the memory than the 9650. Maybe they'll come up with something in the blackberry line. Who knows.

[jcp007]

VZW seems to be moving away from RIM and toward the Droid. The Droid 2 has a physical keyboard but none of the features that you are looking for since it is not a berry. It might be worth the move to AT&T.

[akcrimson]

I agree, VZW is relying heavily on the Droid to be their top smartphone choice. They've already got a reliable, popular slider on their network, why would they invest in another? I might really damage their relationship with Android if they went for what would essentially be the top competitor for the Droid.

[wherman]

I knew the iPhones support was poor because I had looked at it before picking Blackberry 2 years ago. Moving from Windows Mobile, I wanted to go iPhone but just couldn't for that reason.

I was shocked to see how loudly the Nexus One forum was complaining about the Outlook sync. Then I saw that it was pretty much an Android wide problem.

I had assumed webOS would support it because the Centro's had. I was shocked again when I learned that it couldn't do it natively either.

It's actually an Exchange Active Sync issue. Almost every smartphone that connects to Exchange Server uses it. It is built into exchange and preforms similar to a BES server. However it doesn't sync notes or tasks (the iPhone can sync notes via iTunes but good luck getting that installed on a corporate owned PC). The benefIt of EAS is it's free and doesn't go through a NOC (Microsoft's or other) so there aren't system wide outages like BIS and to a lesser extent BES. The downsides are you're still outside the firewall and it doesn't provide anything near the BES feature set.

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[Todaysman]

I was also surprised that Ip4 could not sync with outlook tasks. I had a similar assessment during my short stay on a iphone4. Its a really cool device for games & entertainment. Unfortunately, I need a phone for work. I kept dropping calls and I got tired of waiting for my emails to download. So I went back to blackberry. I guess most of the iphone users are too busy downloading apps to be productive.

[Machzy]

I have to agree with the OP.

At work we use a client management software package that syncs all our tasks & appointments with Outlook which then syncs with my BB. When I'm out on client site, at home or just not in the office, it's great to be able to look at my calendar for the week to see what appointments I have coming up or having friendly reminders pop up telling me that something is due.

It's almost as if even if I didn't want a BB - I'd still have to get one.

And I actually didn't know about the syncing (or lack of) for Android & Apple devices. I guess that's the last nail in the coffin to convince me.

Although I don't believe in being a fanboy as I'd like to keep an open mind - so I usually play with my brother's iPhone & SE X10 for fun and to stay current with what the other OSes can do. =)

[maxiang]

...and that it has 8X the memory than the 9650...

Actually, the 9800 and 9650 have the same amount of memory for the OS and apps

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[bigsteveatt]

I agree, VZW is relying heavily on the Droid to be their top smartphone choice. They've already got a reliable, popular slider on their network, why would they invest in another? I might really damage their relationship with Android if they went for what would essentially be the top competitor for the Droid.

I don't know if I would classify the Torch as a full-fledged Droid competitor. Yes, both are smartphones. However, with the advent of Android and iPhone, there's really a "fun-phone" subset. OSes like BB, webOS, and WinMo are the true smartphones. They do it all and are primarily for people who really integrate their technology with their lives.

Yeah, Droid has some cool Apps, so does iPhone. Maybe we should call BB's "Productivity Phones" instead.

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