Blackberry Bold 9780 vs Samsung Galaxy S vs HTC HD2 --must pick 1

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mccarthy410

New member
Hi. I am new to the smartphone scene, coming off of a horrible razr2 phone. I will not be getting a data plan any time soon unless the cost comes down. I also want to stick to the phone and NOT switch for a few years (razr2 painfully since 07), so please take these into consideration.

Basically I can pick any of these phones. I was thinking about just choosing the most expensive one and then selling if I didn't like it and getting another, but they are all similarly priced (I think the bold is most expensive thus far, with the HD2 the cheapest among the 3).

I'd love to learn more and make an more advanced-informed decision but I must decide very soon. So far I have figured out that the HD2 with the Android OS installed outshines the Galaxy S, but running on Windows OS is pretty bad. I'm not sure about the advantages of the bold9780 but the reviews have been high so far.

Hopefully some of you more informed users can help out, perhaps by a ranking or a fast pro/con. I usually like to trust the reviews of forum members over some random site. Thanks!
 
Even if the HD2 can flash an Android OS better than the one that comes with the Galaxy S, the Galaxy S can still flash more Android ROMs than the HD2 and overall come out well ahead.

The 9780 is good phone if you are a messaging, email, and business kind of person. But reading from the post I above I believe you have hard core tendencies, and since you're also looking at the long terms, the Galaxy S has the most advanced specs of the group. The 9780 is mere extension of the 9700, and its the last representative of an aging architecture that Blackberry will phase out --- its going to get much faster phones this year.

Because the Galaxy S is so "flashable", you can update it yourself with the latest Android ROMs and OSe, even if Samsung is a bit slow on providing updates. I kind of sense from your post that you are non US since you referred to the Galaxy S generically instead of the US branded names like Vibrant or Captivate. In that case, the international Galaxy S already has a Froyo update which you can update with the Samsung Kies PC sync software.

I would also say the Galaxy S is the quickest to sell of the three if it turns out you don't really like it.
 
Thanks a lot of the detailed and informative response! Really appreciate it.

What kind of hardcore tendencies do you mean? I would like to clarify if incorrect. Yes, I do not want to get a phone on the downside of its development (as in if the phone, albeit the best so far, will start going out of production/development while the company works on other models). I guess that eliminates the bold?

Flash- I am not familiar with that term with phones. I guess it is just updating and installing newer firmware? And I am a US resident -- just figured that name was easier for people to recognize. Sorry for the confusion.

What are the most common selling methods? I currently see ebay as the only option.

And other members, if you have input--agree or disagree--, please add! With all due respect to Drillbit, informed decisions come more accurately from a variety of suggestions.

Thanks again Drillbit for your time
 
You're already thinking about flashing an HD2. That's hardcore.

The 9780 comes with Blackberry 6, which is the current OS. However, the hardware architecture is old. Goes way back to the Bold 9000. Today, a 624MHz ARM11 processor is considered low end. Blackberry appears to be readying an entirely new generation of fast GHz phones this year.

HTC HD2 uses an older generation of Snapdragon. Its a 1Ghz processor, so its still fast. But phones using this processor tend to have high battery usage and have a habit of getting "warm".

The Galaxy S uses a Hummingbird processor made from a state of the art process. The CPU transistors are much smaller than the chip on the HD2. Real world benefit: less battery usage and the phone doesn't feel "hot" on the hand. The graphics system on the Galaxy S is also state of the art, definitely better than the one on the HD2 or 9780. That makes it a lot better for playing games.

What irks about the 9780 is the phone memory is only 256mb. Along with the OS, its just like 100mb left for apps. It doesn't take long to fill that up. This is something Blackberry will correct in their upcoming phones, but nothing can be done on the current generation.

Even if you flash Android to an HD2, you still have to put the Android Market to it. But the HD2 comes with only 512mb of internal phone memory. More than half of that will be used by the OS. Not much for apps.

The Galaxy S comes with 2gb for internal phone memory. After the OS and preloaded apps, you still have over 1.5gb left. If the phone is updated to Android 2.2, which is currently in effect for the T-Mobile Vibrant (the others not yet but you can always flash a newer OS), you can also install some apps on the SD memory as well, extending your app options.

Also among the three phones, you already have the biggest internal SD memory as well on the Galaxy S. For storing your music and videos. In addition to the built in 16gb, you also have a slot for an external micro SD for even more.

For people who specify long term use in their smartphones, phone storage is now important.
 
Thanks Drillbit, that clarified a lot. Seems like you are the phone aficionado here. So much knowledge

So far looks like Bold is going old, HD2 is on the decline in terms of specs, and Galaxy S is the one to go for. I'll research both the Galaxy S and HD2 some more (I recall seeing a lot of complaints from users and negative reviews when doing some basic research on the Galaxy S, which led me to find this forum for more input).

Just out of curiosity, rabroad question, what phone would you rank in tier1 and tier2 if you could pick any? And how would these 3 phones rank in your opinion? (I see you are currently owning and using a billion phones!)
 
Thanks, I already decided on the Vibrant. I was actually asking something else--in the realm of ALL phones, what do you consider belong in the top tiers? I'm assuming iPhone4G belongs in tier1 group and Vibrant belongs somewhere in tier2-3?
 
I don't use or rely on meaningless arbitrary terms like Tier 1, Tier 2 or Tier 3. What I will tell you is that the Vibrant belongs to the same class as the iPhone 4 which we like to define as a "superphone".

The characteristics of a superphone is

1. Primary consumption of mobile media, web and apps
2. At least a 3.5" screen size
3. At least 1 GHz processor, superscalar cores.

This is in contrast to smartphone category

1. Primary usage is messaging, especially data tied messaging - email, instant messaging, MMS
2. Primary Mobile data capability
3. Secondary app and media consumption

vs. Featurephone category

1. Primary usage of voice and SMS
2. Secondary mobile data capability
3. Little apps

The Vibrant and the iPhone 4 belongs to the Superphone category, while the Blackberry 9780 belongs to the smartphone category.
 
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