<p>Wondering if folks can share their likes/dislikes of their blackberrys and iphones. Will the new Blackberry Storm have most of the features of an iphone?? I just finally moved up from a regular phone to a Blackberry-- I wanted the iphone but was advised by my techno-savvy family that the sensitivity of the screen would make me nuts (ie when leaning the phone up to my ear against my shoulder to talk the screen sometimes responds to extraneous stuff, etc) and that I would be happier with a Blackberry, its keyboard, etc. I got the Curve, and I do like it, but the operating system on the iphone is so much faster when trying to access the web, and it just seems to be more user friendly. I was at dinner last night with several admitted techno-geeks (all I.T. people). They all pulled out their iphones and showed all the fun stuff they could do with it. I doubt I’d use half the features it offers, but it does look more user friendly than my Blackberry. While I am locked into my Blackberry contract for another year and a half, my H isnt, and he was planning to get the Blackberry Storm rather than the iphone (which he could let me have if I really wanted it-- though he’d definitely get more use out of its features). Help!</p>
<p>I have both, iPhone(personal) and BB(work). BB is really heavy duty and great for sending emails. iPhone is very good for texting and a lot of fun stuff, it almost becomes a compact laptop for me. I am still trying to get used to typing on the iPhone. Yesterday, my iPhone blew on me - dead as a door nail. I went to AT&T, at first they wanted nothing to do with it, then they tried with a new sim card and a few others things. It didn’t fix the phone, so I had to go to an Apple store (so, if you don’t have an Apple store close by…), they gave me a new one. I went home and plugged the new iPhone in, everything sync’ed up (pictures, old text message threads, contacts, everything). It took less than 15 minutes to get my old profile back. While I was at the Apple store, there were at least 5 people getting their phones replaced. I’ve never had any problem with my BB, that included in running it through a washer and dryer. I am in IT also, we always love a new gadget and iPhone is sexy.</p>
<p>Thanks, oldfort. I’ll try not to runthe bb through the laundry!! My s has already had to have his iphone relaced (he got it just a few mos ago) and a friend’s screen went out. This doesn’t bode well… </p>
<p>Since you are in IT- do you know anything about the new blackberry??? I think it is supposed to be released soon</p>
<p>No, nothing with the new BB yet, but I probably will get it soon through work. They usually have us play with it first before they give it out to the business.</p>
<p>jym: I’m also trying to decide between the Storm and the iPhone, so I’m glad you started this thread. I love the iPhone, but the sensitivity issue bothers me, too. </p>
<p>Here’s a good review comparing the features of the Storm and the iPhone:</p>
<p>[Storm</a> puts BlackBerrys in the sun with iPhone - San Francisco Business Times:](<a href=“http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/11/17/daily68.html]Storm”>http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/11/17/daily68.html)</p>
<p>Apple’s iPhone beat Blackberry in a satisfaction study by JD Power & Asso.:</p>
<p>[iTWire</a> - Apple tops for smartphone satisfaction](<a href=“http://www.itwire.com/content/view/21546/1168/]iTWire”>http://www.itwire.com/content/view/21546/1168/)</p>
<p>A study by SquareTrade found the iPhone is more reliable than the Blackberry:</p>
<p>[Techworld.com</a> - iPhone beats BlackBerry in reliability stakes](<a href=“http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=106884]Techworld.com”>http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=106884)</p>
<p>Thanks, mapesy!! Have you read the links you posted (I will, when I have a little more time) If you have, what’s your sense so far???</p>
<p>I consider myself somewhat of an expert on this since I have had a Blackberry since almost the original model and now have an iphone (personal) AND a Blackberry (work). My son switched from Blackberry Curve to iphone and has some regrets. I don’t have regrets since I have both. If you plan to do a lot of email and texting, the iphone is NOT for you. The touch keyboard is simply not easy to use. You DON’T get used to it. I can manage with it, but for “real” emailing, I used the Blackberry. You can cut and paste which you can not do on iphone. HOWEVER, I love my iphone and the internet interface is FAR superior to Blackberry. There is no comparison. It truly is like carrying around a mini-laptop. I can access this forum etc. with no problem. Blackberry just isn’t the same for using the web. The Storm is going to have similar issues to iphone as far as the touch screen. I would tend to go with the Blackberry Bold (ATT) which my son has seen “in person” and says is awesome. It still isn’t as good as iphone for using the internet, and doesn’t have as cool of applications.
You will be surprised how many apps you will wind up using on the iphone. I have so much fun with it. I have a great Solitaire game (think boring conference calls or waiting in airports), have Facebook, AIM on it.<br>
I agree that Blackberry makes a more robust device. I have always been happy with my technical support and the durability of Blackberry. I have also exchanged one iphone, but the Apple stores are good about that. The camera on the iphone is also good.</p>
<p>Having been a blackberry user and now an iphone convert, I agree that the blackberry is better for email but I prefer the iphone for texting. I have gotten used to the keyboard and actually prefer it now. I have “fat fingers disease” and find that the iphone is better at letting me get the message out quickly with fewer typos. As for email, the blackberry has better integration with my work email system - the iphone works for scanning email but is not great for really processing it.</p>
<p>Oh - btw - this message and the one above were both posted from my iphone - so CC is very doable from the iphone - not sure if that is a good or bad thing :)</p>
<p>(edited - this message ended up above my previous message… one of those great CC features…)</p>
<p>I don’t have a Blackberry and never have, but I’ve got an original model iPhone which was purchased only a few months after they first came out. My only complaint about this thing is that, every few months, it kind of seems dead for anywhere from 1-3 hours. Each time, I think I need to replace it, and each time, itturns on again if I give the power button that one last “might as well try it” press. I have no idea why this is.</p>
<p>The applications, many of which are free, are ridiculously useful. I’ve read two books on my phone, read articles in the New York Times app every day, and have basically used it as a tiny computer.</p>
<p>And the keyboard? I have to disagree that nobody could get use to it. I just wrote this entire post on my iPhone.</p>
<p>I just remembered that we have a first generation Itouch at home, so I suppose I could use it for websurfing and games and such (like I need MORE stuff to distract me from work??) and stick with the blackberry for email, text, etc. Anyone have an original Itouch?? Any good?</p>
<p>jym, I’m leaning towards the iPhone. Please bear in mind that I’ve never owned an iPhone, Blackberry, or even a laptop, so my opinion doesn’t count for much! I never had a need for a portable device that connects to the internet until recently. I thought about a laptop, but an iPhone or Blackberry would meet my needs just fine, and I really like the portability. My cellphone contract has already expired and my current cellphone is dead (all that works is the text messaging function), so I need to make a decision SOON.</p>
<p>My son has an iPhone that he lets me play around with when he visits. I love the simple interface, and the applications are incredible. I’m not too sure about the virtual QWERTY keyboard, but my son assures me that it’s easy to get used to. He’s a big fan of iPhone’s GPS feature. He says he uses it all the time. According to him, one of the drawbacks of the Blackberry is the fact that the GPS feature has an extra monthly charge, while it’s free with the iPhone. I haven’t researched this, so I don’t know if it’s true or not.</p>
<p>I’ve never used a blackberry, so can’t compare but I am very happy with the iphone. I use the camera, the GPS works great, music, movies, web, news, stocks, sports, weather, day planner, meeting reminder, alarm clock. Everything that I need to use all in one tiny package. I didn’t find it difficult to use the keyboard & I do like texting with it. This was an extravagance for me to get & I’m so glad that I did.</p>
<p>There is an excellent review of the Blackberry Storm in today’s Wall Street Journal on the front page of the Personal Journal section. It sounds like a great device, with a few flaws. It appears to be an option to the iphone that will appeal to more Blackberry users. It is a lot heavier than iphone, though.
[BlackBerry’s</a> Storm Joins Touch-Phone Fray - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122714533895043229.html]BlackBerry’s”>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122714533895043229.html)</p>
<p>I love my Blackberry. Haven’t even wanted to use the iphone. So, I really can not compare the two. I very much like to “click” when I type. Whenever I have used ‘touch screens’ before at metrocard machines, finding recalcitrant machines is a fairly common experience. So, I am not much of a fan for the razzmataz of iphone. May be it’s just me being old fashioned but I really believe that Googlephone and Iphone are more show than substance.</p>
<p>My BB works beautifully in most places I travel for work or pleasure (Asia and EU) with the exception of Japan for some reason. Not sure why Japan doesn’t support TMobile…or may be my employer doesn’t have a contract with TM in Japan.</p>
<p>I have seen newer BBs that can also take pictures ( which is wonderful when you attend conferences and want someone back at homebase to see a particular poster or a presentation. You can simply email it.)</p>
<p>When I do visit Japan and I can not use of my BB, I realize why it’s called a crackberry instead.</p>
<p>BB Curve takes pictures, but most firms would not allow that feature because they take up too much storage space (they backup everything on our BB). My firm also deactivated video, text messaging, GPS on our BB. When they were debating whether we should switch to iPhone I asked why bother.</p>
<p>I don’t have a BB and didn’t want one since I figured I’d configure the corporate email and the emails would be invasive and I’m handling emails enough without one. I have a pet peeve when co-workers are having a conversation and then glance down and read every single email every 45 seconds or so that buzzes into their BB while muttering “uh-huh, uh-huh” to whoever they’re talking to. </p>
<p>However, I purchased an iPhone a month or so ago. One of the reasons for it was for the internet access and its capability of using both 3G and wireless. With it I can have free access to the internet via a normal browser, access to corporate emails (at the times I choose), other email, text messaging, etc. I even configured its built-in IPSec VPN to be able to access some networks and used VNC over the VPN. Due to the iPhone’s popularity there are a lot of apps available for it and the number of apps is increasing a lot daily. It has a pretty cool GPS mapping function complete with satellite views of the location where one can zoom in like google earth. It has built-in accelerometers that allow it to detect its position. This has allowed me to ‘bowl’ with my iPhone. There’s a Labyrinth game that has unreal reaction to the position of the device and movement of the ball. The camera on it takes pretty decent pictures. Amazingly the iPhone is missing a few no-brainer features that there’s no excuse for including multimedia messages and video recording. There’s nothing inherent in the device to prevent this and the video is offered by some app providers so maybe Apple will provide these basic items in a future update. They’re not show-stoppers for me though. </p>
<p>Other manufacturers, including Google and also BB with the Storm, are clamoring to catch up with the iPhone and I’m sure there be some leap-frogging going on which will benefit consumers like us.</p>
<p>I love my iphone. I have no experience with a BB. </p>
<p>You know that Toyota commercial where the guy talks about how all these car companies try to compare their sedans to a Camry, so rather than trying to find a sedan that measures up to a Camry, he buys the Camry. Well I feel that way about the new touch screen wannabe’s. They all wanna be an iphone. So why not just buy an iphone.</p>
<p>I would agree that the touch screen, and probably any touch screen, is not that ideal for sending emails. But it is great for calls, texts, internet access, reading emails, and the apps. The new applications are AMAZING. The reference material available at a touch cannot be matched.</p>
<p>As everyone is talking about IPhones and Blackberries, here’s a bit of a “retro” question. My wife has a BB curve which is great for her emails, calendaring functions and contact list. Where it is deficient is with her memos. There appears to be a length limit particularly when syncing with Outlook. She has a couple of hundred memos that she needs to keep but many are truncated.</p>
<p>She used to use a Palm TX but it is notoriously unreliable. None of the cheaper Palm PDA’s which are still on the market have enough memory. Does anyone have any experience with the ITouch for memos. It would also be convenient for her since we use Macs at home and she would enjoy wireless connectivity and access to her music. Is it a viable alternative to a Palm for memo storage?</p>
<p>I just installed GPS Tracker on my iPhone. You could use it to track the location of your iPhone. I am thinking of adding my kids phones so I could track them. Anyone familiar with the application?</p>