[Abouna]

Dumb question I know but I've never had one and I'm leaning that way.

Short background: Years ago I carried a PDA regularly, I stopped when I started carrying a cell because I hated carrying two devices. Unfortunately ti's come to the point that I now need a PDA more often so I'm looking around.

What got me started? The Pre, BUT I have a few problems with it:

- I'm on ATT w/family plan
- My father shares my FP and he wants an iPhone (so going to Sprint will be difficult)
- I'm not 100% sold on the Pre, I'm more a function over form person so what seems to be less eye candy and more function appeals to me
- The build on the Pre is iffy

So my real needs/questions are:

- I know I want to do some surfing, texting, email. Is the Bold my only real choice, i.e. 3G?
- Outlook contacts syncing is important
- Is ATT the best carrier for going this route?
- The browser on the Pre is quite fantastic, will the BB be a big let down (I tired a Curve at the Sprint store and it left me sadly disappointed)?


I'm not in a hurry so maybe I should wait for the Onyx? I have to say while the Bold seems very nice I am not totally thrilled with the dialing pad, though I suppose I'd get used to it.

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated.

[jnepsa]

Dumb question I know but I've never had one and I'm leaning that way.

Short background: Years ago I carried a PDA regularly, I stopped when I started carrying a cell because I hated carrying two devices. Unfortunately ti's come to the point that I now need a PDA more often so I'm looking around.

What got me started? The Pre, BUT I have a few problems with it:

- I'm on ATT w/family plan
- My father shares my FP and he wants an iPhone (so going to Sprint will be difficult)
- I'm not 100% sold on the Pre, I'm more a function over form person so what seems to be less eye candy and more function appeals to me
- The build on the Pre is iffy

So my real needs/questions are:

- I know I want to do some surfing, texting, email. Is the Bold my only real choice, i.e. 3G?
- Outlook contacts syncing is important
- Is ATT the best carrier for going this route?
- The browser on the Pre is quite fantastic, will the BB be a big let down (I tired a Curve at the Sprint store and it left me sadly disappointed)?


I'm not in a hurry so maybe I should wait for the Onyx? I have to say while the Bold seems very nice I am not totally thrilled with the dialing pad, though I suppose I'd get used to it.

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated.

In all honesty depending on where you are located and will be traveling for work VZW may be one way you want to at least look.. the network they have is larger and slighly more stable..but if you are not in a hurry I would wait for novemberish to see the new devices hitting the market everywhere. That way you can make an educated decision on carrier coverage and device. and while BB's are absolutley wonderful if you carried a PDA you may want to look at devices with windows mobile, as that is probably what your pda had. just my opinon

[yeatchia]

Juz get it... you regret if you don't

[thestoffer]

The Bold's browser is better than the Curve's, but it still leaves much to be desired. I'm not convinced any blackberry will catch up to the iPhone's, the Pre's, or Android's web browser within the next couple years. Yes, 4.7 is a bit better, and 5.0 is in the works, but still. If you really want to browse the web a lot, and that's very important for you, get the iPhone 3GS. It's won't be as good as a Berry for stuff like the calendar, email, and multi tasking in general, but you won't notice the difference since you're not addicted to every minute nuance of the Blackberry OS design like I am :P

If the browser isn't that important to you, check out the Bold. I love it. As much as the browser annoys me, I can still visit most websites, just slower and not as well my roommate's iPhone. There are also a few 3rd party browsers that somewhat compensate for it.

My advice: check out the Bold. The Curve isn't an accurate up-to-date example of the capabilities of a Blackberry.

[thestoffer]

Oh, also Sprint is terrible. Don't get the Pre. Their network coverage is poor, and their customer service is amazingly bad. If you're going to switch from AT&T, the only option is Verizon, in which case you should wait for the Tour to come out in a few weeks.

[jpgnfx]

Get the Bold, or wait for the Onyx :P

[Abouna]

Thanks everybody.

Honestly, I'm very tempted by the BB form factor.

The browser will be moderately used, typically for brief instances, checking a price, etc. I'm not concerned with it being as good as the Pre or iPhone, just better than what I saw on the Curve.

As for the network. ATT is pretty good where I live but not so hot in my specific neighborhood (in a valley with no tower). Sprint is supposedly better here but we also have Verizon. I was with them years ago and would consider going back but truthfully I have a hard time switching away from a GSM network, I like the flexibility.

Right now I'm hesitant to get the Bold because of the mixed reviews. Seems like al lot of people have to return them often (freezing up, etc). The Onyx looks great but who knows when that will be.O loved the hand feel of the bold though. Also, as I mentioned, the dialing pad on the Bold isn't too keen.

Finally, my two biggest gripes about staying with ATT: no tethering without a ridiculous extra charge AND the cost of the BOLD is ridiculous. To be blunt, $200 for a Bold vs $200 for a 3GS, obviously the Iphone has way more resell value.

[noxdiurna]

If you don't belong to a structure providing BES, I will recommend an iPhone 3GS. That been said, I chose Bold over it though since I have an iPod Touch and did not want to get an iPhone to carry two very similar devices just for the sake of battery autonomy.

[Abouna]

Well I'm headed over to the store again today to pick up the 3GS for my father. I'll be looking at the Bold again.

Any other suggestions for a smart phone? Anything from BB I should just wait for? I'd like to get something by the middle of August but it can wait.

[Californium89]

if your sticking with ATT then check out the curve 8900 its real nice and has a way better camera then the bold .... get a blackberry and you wont regret it just go and get the biggest badest one and grab life by the balls i got the stupid flip 8220 from t-mo and i hate it and want a big boy berry i grabbed life by the tail and got kicked in the chest by the bull

[Abouna]

if your sticking with ATT then check out the curve 8900 its real nice and has a way better camera then the bold .... get a blackberry and you wont regret it just go and get the biggest badest one and grab life by the balls i got the stupid flip 8220 from t-mo and i hate it and want a big boy berry i grabbed life by the tail and got kicked in the chest by the bull

No 3g on the Curve....

[Californium89]

o yeah well then the bold it is then eh

[ducey99]

if your sticking with ATT then check out the curve 8900 its real nice and has a way better camera then the bold .... get a blackberry and you wont regret it just go and get the biggest badest one and grab life by the balls i got the stupid flip 8220 from t-mo and i hate it and want a big boy berry i grabbed life by the tail and got kicked in the chest by the bull

Lol! What an analogy!

[Abouna]

Lol! What an analogy!

Yeah, somewhat humorous but didn't help much!