Most BlackBerrys have a naming that is easy for me to understand. Tour was CDMA and GSM, so it could be used with a CDMA network in USA and GSM globally. Pearl is the smaller phone. Storm is touch screen. Bold and Curve seem to both be full sized BlackBerrys with overlapping features among the different models. Am I missing something? Is there some big distinction between Curve and Bold? When they scrapped the Tour naming scheme and called Tour 2 a Bold, someone on the main blog page said it made sense, but I never understood why.
Curve - cheaper, smaller, EDGE only, different keyboard layout, trackball, less memory.
Bold - more expensive, a tad bigger, 3G, keyboard differences again, trackpad, more memory.
Curve - cheaper, smaller, EDGE only, different keyboard layout, trackball, less memory.
Bold - more expensive, a tad bigger, 3G, keyboard differences again, trackpad, more memory.
OP has Sprint and let's assume he's talking about current Curve 8530 and new Sprint Bold 9650. Both have trackpads, 3G, and WiFi.
The Bold has twice as much device memory so it will be able to run future operating systems and more apps. It has much higher screen resolution. It is perceived to be better built. The keyboard designs are slightly different. The Curve 8530 does not have a flash for its camera. The Bold is a world phone like the Tour was.
Many people will be perfectly happy with the Curve for the length of their contract. After that, if they want "more", they can choose to upgrade to the Cadillac from the Chevy. Some people want the Cadillac in the first place.
The main differences I believe are processors, the Bold has a more powerful processor, the Bold also has better screen resolution and autofocus for it's camera. I also believe it has more memory. But if you're interested in saving money, the Curve is a nice alternative. It is a very reliable device and works well. There is a handy feature at the BlackBerry site that will let you compare different devices. I would say that you can't go wrong with either device, but the Bold is more powerful.
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Thanks... that helps a lot.
Screen size, resolution, and memory are same or more on some Curves compared to some Bolds.. so nothing there. As mentioned above, some Curves also have 3G, trackpad, and Wifi. Nothing there either. I think processors are still all a bit faster with the Bolds, but they're different types, so I can't say for sure (And they're very close in Mhz anyway). RIM will probably eventually release a Curve with a faster processor than the slowest Bold if they haven't already, so there is probably nothing with that either.
In general it seems Bold is a little better than Curve if you compare two that were released around the same time. So a new Curve might be better than an old Bold, but a new Bold is always better (maybe not better in size, but better in features) than a Curve. So not any one particular features makes a Bold a Bold and a Curve a Curve - except spaces between the buttons in the keyboard; but does anyone really care about that either way? I'm not a big fan of that kind of naming. It seems like they could eliminate Curve and replace it with older Bolds.
Don't minimize the difference in processors, try them yourself and you'll see the difference in speed; the Bold is faster. And the resolution is better with the Bold. Lastly, the greater onboard memory will make a difference in performance as well. Really, the only reason to get the curve instead is it's lower price.
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Don't minimize the difference in processors, try them yourself and you'll see the difference in speed; the Bold is faster. And the resolution is better with the Bold. Lastly, the greater onboard memory will make a difference in performance as well. Really, the only reason to get the curve instead is it's lower price.
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Am I missing something here? Newer Curves (8900, 8530, and probably more) have more RAM than Bold 9000 (256MB vs 128MB), right? And Curve 8900 has exactly the same resolution as the latest Bold (480x360), right? Which means Curve 8900 has better resolution than Bold 9000. And on the processor speed... I know there is still some speculation that RIM didn't clear up, but most people say Bold 9650 uses the same processor as Tour and Curve 8530 (528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7600 processor). I'm not saying that the worst Bold is worse than the best Curve, although that may one day be the case. All I'm saying is that all the features seem to overlap too much to be marketed as different products. Obviously Bold 9700 and Bold 9650 beat the rest because 9700 has a better processor and 9650 has more RAM than the rest. But if the choice were between Bold 9000, Curve 8900, and Curve 8530, I'm not sure which I would choose. Bold 9000 has good processor, worse memory, and worse resolution than Curve 8900. Curve 8530 has slightly better processor than Curve 8900, but a lower resolution display.
The only Bold with 128mb of app memory is the Bold 9000. The Bold 9700 has 256mb and
the Bold 9650 has 512mb of memory. This is application memory ONLY.
Keep in mind the 85xx came after the Bold 9000. They replaced the very old 83xx series, so they had quite a few not-unexpected improvements. The Curve 8900 is rather confusing (other than the keyboard, they don't seem like Curves). I may be wrong, but I think they are not 3G, so they are not as good as the Bold 9000 for data speed.
Plus, the 85xx series is an entry-level device. It may have 256MB RAM, but it also has a 320x240 screen, 2MP camera without flash (no autofocus or image stabilization), and the Curve-style keyboard (which some people prefer).
Compared to the 9650, which has higher screen resolution, more memory, 3.2MP camera (with flash, autofocus, and image stabilization), with the Bold-style keyboard, there is definitely more differences than just the outer look. The 9700 series also has built-in media storage.
The 8900 was a little different than the rest of the Curved, but it never went out to all carriers, like the 85xx series did.
the higher resolution screen, 3G and the faster processor are the Bolds main distinctions, but the biggest one is the keyboard. some people prefer the nice flush keyboard on the bold, and others prefer the tiny plastic curve keyboard.
I'm sorry I wasn't as clear as I should have been. I was only comparing the 8530 and the 9650. I have a 9700, and I have had an 8320 and 8900. The 8900 is much closer to a 9700 than it is to an 8530 - so much so that I don't think of it as a curve. I meant you would be better served with a 9650 than the entry level 8530. I personally liked the 8900 with a beta 5.0 OS, but since it isn't sold by Sprint I didn't think to include it in a comparison.
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