[Ray DeGennaro]

My AT&T contract is up and I'm thinking of upgrading from my 8820. I talked to the AT&T guys and the Verizon guys and can't get (or at least can't understand) any answers to what I think are pretty important questions. I've lost touch with current technology so that might be the problem. Here are the questions, followed by some of the stuff I was told. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

1. Speed questions: Who can give me the faster internet downloads, AT&T or Verizon, and which Blackberry do I need to get that faster speed? How does your proposed system's speed compare to my 8820?

2. Who has the better phone quality, AT&T or Verizon?

If you want the grim details of what I observed and was told, here they are:

a. I tried a Storm 2, Tour and 9700. The 9700 seemed a bit faster than my 8820, but the others seemed slower, if anything. My best guess is that I have Opera on my 8820 and the others were running something else, but still, I would have thought I would have noticed a significant speed upgrade on the newer devices.

b. AT&T said that the reason the 3G phones aren't faster is that 3G only relates to voice, not data.

c. Both AT&T and Verizon kept mentioning GMS and CDMA. I thought that those are older technologies, with speeds of somewhere under 100 Kps and up to 144 Kps, respectively. Heck, my two-year-old 8820 is EDGE, which is up to 384 Kps. If this is apples to apples, then we've gone backwards in the last two years! Neither AT&T nor Verizon could explain where I've gone wrong on this.

d. AT&T says that a 9700 is EDGE, and that except for more memory and a faster processor, it won't beat my 8820 on downloads.

These are probably obvious to some of you out there. I'd appreciate the help!

Ray

[Bagums]

3g does deal with data and the 9700 can be on both edge and 3g data services, I can't remember the name of the app but you can get something that can show you the speed you are downloading and uploading. I would suggest using the 30 day trial on each network getting either a 9700 or 9000 on att and either a storm2 or tour on verison, install the app and check to see which gives you faster speeds where you live and visit.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Bagums]

Oh and two differences between cdma and gsm is that you don't have a sim card for cdma and you can't simultaniously talk on the phone and use data services.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Bagums]

3g does deal with data and the 9700 can be on both edge and 3g data services, I can't remember the name of the app but you can get something that can show you the speed you are downloading and uploading. I would suggest using the 30 day trial on each network getting either a 9700 or 9000 on att and either a storm2 or tour on verison, install the app and check to see which gives you faster speeds where you live and visit.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

The app is called speed test and is available in the free app download section here on crackberry.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[johnling]

If you go with Verizon the GPS will be disabled. Go with a Bold 9700 on Tmobile and you'll have it all. No crippled phone and 3g and EDGE.

[breakmedown]

This is a debate that constantly rages on.

As for specific speeds and capacities, more technical people might fill you in on exact speed limits and so on.

But you have to understand that those are based on perfect reception. So, who has the better coverage in your area? Are you only using 2G? When it comes to 2G, I would say the networks are fairly similar, so it wouldn't matter too much. 3G is different between the 2 companies.

GSM and CDMA are network types, not network technologies. So even in 4, 5, and 6G (or whatever) those networks will still probably be GSM and CDMA. GSM can handle data and voice at the same time, whereas CDMA cannot. So AT&T can and Verizon cant. Your SIM card makes switching phones easier than on CDMA carriers, which require a download and an activation OTA every time you wanna switch/change phones.

[Dylan7620]

If you go with Verizon the GPS will be disabled. Go with a Bold 9700 on Tmobile and you'll have it all. No crippled phone and 3g and EDGE.

The GPS isn't disabled, they just want you to buy their VZW navigator. I just use google maps and get along just fine.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[se1000]

1. Both have 3G networks, it will come down to who's got better coverage in your particular area. Post the city that you live in and people might chime in with some of thier thoughts.

2. Again, this depends on what you're looking for. If you want a full touch screen BB, the Storm2 is offered only by Verizon. The Tour will be replaced soon by the Tour2. The 9700 just came out for AT&T and is currently the king of the hill when it comes to a traditional style BB.

a. What sites did you try? If you're accessing mobile optimised sites you probably won't see a big difference. If you go to a more bandwidth heavy site however, you will probably start to see the 8820 lag behind the newer devices. Also Opera vs the stock BB browser isn't a fair comparison.

b. 3G refers to both voice and data, more importantly DATA. 3G gives you higher bandwidth to have faster download and upload speeds.

c. GSM and CDMA are types of wireless technologies. So, AT&T is GSM based and Verizon is CMDA based. These networks do not work with each other at all. Both of these networks have evolved. GSM's 3G technology is refered to as HSDPA and CDMA has evolved into 1xEVDO. When talking networks, they are still refered to as being GSM and CDMA however, since it is the underlying technology.

d. The 9700 is fully 3G capable and under ideal conditions, can download at 3.6mbps. Again, with smaller pages, it won't make a huge difference from your EDGE enabled 8820 (2.5G). For more demanding apps however, you should start to see a larger difference. A couple examples are Facebook, Google maps, GPS services, youtube, large webpages and tethering.

[Ray DeGennaro]

To answer se1000's question, I spend most of my time in Knoxville, TN. Thanks to all of you for your helpful comments.