Help me decide! Blackberry Bold or iPhone 4?

S

sillylady

New member
I am in the market for a new smart phone. I don't have a lot of knowledge when it comes to this which is why I need help. A bunch of my friends are Apple fanboys so they instantly bought the iPhone when it came out on my service provider. They also constantly bash the Blackberry even though they've never had one. A couple more of my friends have BB's and absolutely love them. So here's what I want in a phone so please help me decide:

- I'm going into university so keeping in touch is important
- Since I'm moving away from home, I won't have a landline phone so my mobile will be my main phone.
- I have a Macbook if that matters
- I text A LOT
- BBM could be nice but I don't have a ton of friends who have it.
- I am not too sure if I want a touch keyboard if I text so much.
- I have an iPod touch for all my music already, I don't care for its touch keyboard but I can use it.
- I'm not a big gamer on a phone, I barely play games on my iPod
- I'm looking at the BB Bold 9900 so it would have a 720HD cam on it same as the iPhone.
- I like to do some simple surfing on the internet on my phone, just checking websites and stuff.


I thought about going to my service provider and I can get a Bold 9780 for $0 (plus activation fee) on a plan to test it out. If I don't like it, then I could switch to the iPhone 4, and if I do like it I could upgrade to the 9900 when it comes out. What should I do? any input is appreciated. Thanks
 
Blackberries are much better for texting, no question about it. iPhones are just better phones, and the cameras and hardware on BB is much worst than other companies. The touch keyboard has auto correct and its very accurate for me. I think the iPhone 4 you should get, then sell it and then you can have some extra cash and the Blackberry of your choice. The hardware isn't great and its actually bad in comparison to iPhone 4 (I have an iPhone and the 5MP camera beats my Evo's 8MP). I would go with the iPhone, jailbreak it, and then have fun with it. If its not jailbroken, its not very good. There are a lot of Android phones that are both cheap and very good if you wanna look at that.
 
Some people --- actually many people --- are addicted to squishing keys. Repetitive muscle movement is a powerful addiction by itself, and physical keyboards give you that pleasure not virtual ones.

A lot of people are heavy Blackberry texting users, but not exactly heavy BBM users (yet). For example in South East Asia, Blackberry is booming, and while BBM is on the rise, the predominant use of the BB is plain good old texting. The BB classic design is very ergonomic for that purpose.

If you already got an iPod Touch, that already handles what you need from iOS.

BBs are not the best web surfers around, although Blackberry 6 is better than the previous. But you can download Opera Mini which feels faster than the native browser.

I've seen an all black 9780 (meaning the trim is also black, no silver on the bezel) and it looks beautiful.
 
I think I have decided for sure to go with the Bold 9900 when it comes out later this year. I was just wondering what kind of tethering capabilities BB's have and any speculation on what the BB 9900 will be like. Thanks
 
I have a mac and the RIM software is awful for any syncing. The camera is slow and bad compared to the iPhone. If you've never had a BB before you'll be facing a learning curve that is pretty steep if your not into phones. I have the 9630 which comes with the instruction book on a disc which won't work on Macs (just as an example). I spent 6 hours with Sprint and RIM getting their disc manager to download and still lost apps and data. Royal pain. Web? Forget it. My data useage dropped to nearly zero because it was so useless. I ended up draining my battery just trying to go on line to get a flight status at the airport. Which I never got. I've tried all the browsers. I have nothing good to say about a BB.

The good thing is if you've already got an iPod then you'll already be familar with the iPhone - no instruction book needed. It's that simple and the web is so much more convienent to use - movies times, maps, stores, updates and calendar. None of that is easy with a BB. Even getting to the right menu to add a contact is painfully slow on a BB.
 
Well this week RIM revealed their earnings and the stock dropped in value by more than 20% after it was announced. This may force RIM to be more like Apple with their on-screen keyboards.

If you really need a physical keyboard, you can opt for an Android device which is more on par with Apple right now. There's also cases that has built-in physical keyboard for iOS that uses Bluetooth to interface with the phone.

BBM won't be a big differentiator any more because Apple will release iMessenger in iOS 5 which is similar to BBM.

Personally I had a RIM Pearl and I could type on it much faster on it than iOS. I find my self constantly having to correct iOS's dictionary when I spelled correctly or just needing to proofread before sending which I rarely had to do on my Pearl. I've accepted it as just a part of life; the frustration of on-screen keyboards. If I had to pick between BB's physical keyboard or iOS's Safari browser, I'd pick the better Internet browser every time.
 
If Apple releases iMessenger in iOS 5, will it be available for download or update for an iPhone 4? Because I really want a new phone soon and can't wait until the iPhone 5 comes out.
 
I had a Blackberry Bold for many years. The physical keyboard is the only advantage it has over the iPhone.

If you are going to surf, text and do other things, go with the iPhone. The new iPhone gets released in Sept. Or you can go with the iPhone 4 now.

I switched to iPhone 4 and find it much much better than the Blackberry. Overall the iPhone 4 is better. Android phones are also very good. Go with an iPhone or an Android phone and not with a Blackberry.
 
How can you possibly think the Bold's screen can compare to the iphone4's? I mean you said you want to to web browsing. You will be looking at a screen that is half the size unless you go to the Torch. That being said I have had an iphone for a couple years now, 3G then a 4 and I still HATE typing on it, and I can type at 78wpm on a regular keyboard...Sooooo if you are a heavy texter, the BB is better b/c of the keyboard, but for more reading of web pages or videos etc, the iphone can't be compared unless you're going to an android like the Sonly Arc or another device with a qwerty. You have to decide what's more important...reading web pages (iphone) or texting (BB) Let us know what you decide!
 
There's no better way to put it than you did. @Clocked92- If you are also trying to consider Android phones you may want to check out the Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II and the SE Xperia X12 Arc. The Arc I can't really say much other then the phone having great battery life since I haven't had one but since I recently bought a Galaxy S2 from timtechs, this phone I would highly recommend. Otherwise you may also want to consider the HTC Desire HD.
 
I ended up buying the iPhone 4 yesterday and I am really, really happy with it. It does so much more than a BB ever could do, I've been going crazy downloading and trying different apps. I chose it thanks a lot to what du2vye said. And yes the touch keyboard is kind of weird but I'm sure after I use it enough it will get easier. It turns out that I do have the death grip though so I am going to invest in a good case/skin. I was looking at the iSkin Claro or Solo. Thanks all for your help! I am definitely happy with my choice so far.
 
I'm glad another one converted to the dark site You should take a look at Otterbox. I have the Commuter case which covers the ports so they don't get dust in when not in use. My old iPhone 3G after a year of use collected lint in my pants pocket got clogged in the sync port which prevented the sync cable from connecting properly. I highly recommend a case that plugs up these ports.

As far as the keyboard on the iOS. I accidentally sent an email today to my cousine before even finishing. So I had to send another one with more details. I've been using the iPhone since the original came out and still dread typing on them. If Apple ever release a phone with a bigger screen which means bigger on-screen keys would probably solve typo problems.
 
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