I'm almost due for an upgrade on Orange from my HTC Hero. After reviewing all the smartphones available on the market I've found only two of them interesting - the BlackBerry 9700 Bold and the iPhone 3GS.
I have been using this kind of devices for a quite a while now, starting from monochromatic Nokia's Communicator series. Why I want to change from Hero? Apart from being really nice handset it is far too slow for me. What I need from a new phone? Well:
Speedy OS - including fast e-mail client, as I receive about 100 of those daily on my business account and about 20 on the private one and I'm tired of waiting to load up a simple html messages;
Support of at least 2 different e-mail accounts;
Support of different calendars - ideally if they could sync with both Outlook and Google Calendar and differentiate in colour when displayed (as in Android devices);
Stable OS - I can't be bothered with reboots every now and then;
Usable internet browser - I don't care much about flash support, what I need is to be able to access some of the websites that are not tailored to mobile devices at efficient speeds - here Hero has done absolutely tremendous job;
Ease of typing.
What phone would you suggest? I know that 3GS's battery life is a joke, but I always have some extra 'juice' with me.
I've read a lot about lagginess of BB 9700 and that is basically the deal breaker for me - could you possibly confirm or refute?
I have a 9000 and my best friend has a 9700. Neither of us have "lagginess". A Blackberry will do everything that you want to on your list. I use mine for work and personal and probably average close to 100 emails per day and no problems at all. I mainly use the native browser but I do use Opera Mini to view the non-mobile versions of some sites.
Typing on the 9700 is so easy and a lot faster than an iPhone (unless you have been using one for years).
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Last edited by sdmcwilliams; 04-03-10 at 06:53 PM.
I've been using Nokia E71 for some time before I've got the Hero and on-screen keyboard wasn't my cup of tea, however I've got pretty much used to it. Are the e-mails are being displayed in full HTML? And can you attach HTML signatures? And can you sync with Google Calendar?
You can use google sync to sync your contacts and calendars to the native BB calendar. Honestly the emails on a BB kinda suck cause you have to download each image in the email since its a "security thing". The gmail app is very nice though.
Isn't there a way around the security stuff then? It'd be kind of annoying if I'd had to download all images 'on demand' when I get say 15 types of logo's I need to choose when I'm out of the office
I don't know of any way to download all attachment at once. From what I understand an email is delivered that shows there are attachments. It does not deliver it with the attachments. Once you click on an attachment it downloads it. Maybe there is a 3rd party app??
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The only real way to get full emails is buying an app, but their pretty expensive. Like I said if you use gmail the app is free and alot better than the native client. There might be other free apps though.
It depends on who you ask. I never had an iPhone but I have had a WM phone and loved it. My Tour is just fine and definitely does what you ask. Just download a few things like Opera and you're good.
I have to disagree with this. After a few weeks with my iPhone, I could type much faster on it that I ever could with any BB I've had (especially with the keyboard in landscape mode).
Originally Posted by sdmcwilliams
Typing on the 9700 is so easy and a lot faster than an iPhone (unless you have been using one for years).
If you can't deals with reboots every now and then..no blackberry is for you.. Ahhh that's right my old iphone used to freeze all the time and I had to reboot it all the time!! Bold for the win
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iphone works great but only lets you do one thing at a time and you can't change the battery. 9700 is a better device in my opinion. Go play with both before you decide.
The 9700 may not have the best browser on the market, but Opera Mini will help to compensate for that weakness. I also find physical keyboards much easier and more intuitive to type on than flat virtual keyboards (although that new Swype tech looks interesting).
I vote 9700 as I may be a little biased, but seems more for you in what you listed minus Browser, which Bolt2.0 is nice or Opera5. Native is weaksauce till Webkit comes out...also you do have to do reboots from time to time on a BB.
Iphone is nice as well. Just seems like the 9700 is more geared for ya.
Good luck on whatever you choose.
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Normally I wouldn't recommend a BlackBerry but in your case, you need one since you rely on e-mail. You will have to put up with the mediocre browser though. The browsing experience on a BlackBerry is less than satisfactory due to the constraints of the small screen and mediocre rendering engine but it'll get the job done. RIM's going to release a WebKit browser sometime this year. WebKit is what powers the browsers of all the phones that have good browsing experiences (Android, iPhone, webOS) and it's also behind Chrome and Safari on your desktop.
I recommend that you look into the HTC Desire. It's a fantastic phone that definitely shouldn't lag because it has a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor. Consider it also as an option if you can. It too runs Android and Sense UI, so you'd be getting a very similar user experience as you're getting now with your Hero.
You've got two options, either go with the 9700 for its messaging prowess or go with the Desire for being alright at the messaging but being excellent at browsing. You can't really go wrong either way.
