New iPhone vs. BlackBerry 8830 World Edition?

D

DWK2

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Nov 3, 2003
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I turned in my company cell phone and don't presently have one. I'm thinking of getting something that will serve as a phone and be able to check e-mail when I'm away from my desktop. I don't do any texting and don't contemplate taking it up. I don't need to receive big files or documents on a phone. However, I am planning to do some traveling in both Western and Eastern Europe. Maybe a few more remote locales.

The new Apple iPhone is apparently $100 and so is the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition (under Verizon's present promotion). Verizon wireless performance is excellent in my area (my former company phone was a Motorola on the Verizon network). AT&T wireless performance isn't as good around here but is adequate.

Any recommendations on which phone I should buy? Should I be looking at something else?

Thanks for your guidance,

DancesWithKnives
 
both competent phones for what you want. just a matter of touch screen vs no touch screen and and the blackberry might be a little more suitable for drops just incase that happens. btw, i think the battery life on the blackberry is longer if I am not mistaken. if not then you can at least by extra batteries if that's the case. you can't take the batteries out of the iphone. and the iphone is geared more towards entertainment and the blackberry is driven towards work and such. hope any of this helps and someone correct me if i am wrong.

Jerry
 
DWK2 said:
The new Apple iPhone is apparently $100...
Click to expand...

Just to be clear, if my understanding is correct, the price on the 2nd generation iPhone (which is 3G network capable) was just dropped to $99. This price drop is in anticipation of Friday's release of the new Apple iPhone which would be the 3rd gen iPhone (3GS). The Price on the new 3rd gen iPhone, IIRC, is $199 for the 16GB, and $299 for the 32GB.
 
I think you're comparing apples to oranges. I have a 8830 and it's a great business phone. IMO Blackberry is the only choice for business, especially if your business uses MS Exchange and BES.

But... the iPhone is the number one phone out there. It costs an arm and a leg, AT&T blows, and it doesn't interface with Exchange well, but it's the coolest, most functional, and it's app store will serve up anything you can think of.

Have you handled both? What was your old phone?
 
Bronco,

Right: I should have said that Apple's new pricing schedule offers an iPhone model for $99.

henkyjenky: I had a Motorola Razor. [I think that's what it was called. Wasn't set up for e-mail, etc.] It was hooked up through a company Verizon plan and worked great.

I was down at Costco today and they seemed to have some pretty attractive deals on a couple Blackberry models (Pearl and one other) that I haven't personally researched yet.

From talking with the Costco phone guy, I couldn't get a feel for whether one phone is more readily adaptable to European cell system(s). He and others mentioned the option of buying a prepaid phone for use while over there.

Thanks for your input,

DancesWithKnives
 
While I can't speak for the iPhone, the 8830 I have with Verizon has worked very well overseas, even in some pretty remote areas. Then again, I use it for business purposes primarily, so YMMV.

- Mark
 
As long as you're at least considering going with AT&T, take a look at the BlackBerry Bold too. A better phone than both of them, IMO.

As has been said before, AT&T is better worldwide, but can't hold a candle to Verizon in this country.
 
DWK2 said:
I turned in my company cell phone and don't presently have one. I'm thinking of getting something that will serve as a phone and be able to check e-mail when I'm away from my desktop. I don't do any texting and don't contemplate taking it up. I don't need to receive big files or documents on a phone. However, I am planning to do some traveling in both Western and Eastern Europe. Maybe a few more remote locales.
Click to expand...

The iphone or blackberry might be overkill, then. I just got the new Nokia 5130 Xpressmusic. It's a traditional candybar design, but it can be used for watching movies, listening to music or surf on the internet via Opera mini. In fact, I'm tething at this very moment (GPRS/EDGE).
I use the browser to check my emails all day long, as well as my RSS feeds (from various news sites). When I'm bored, I even visit bladeforums on my mobile phone while drinking coffee.
Yes, an iphone or blackberry can do many things, but they're big and run out of energy very quickly.
BTW, the Nokia is a quadband phone. I highly recommend it. The display could be bigger, but it's a small phone and that's why I bought it. Also, you can hotswap microSD cards.
 
My friend in Studio City recently dumped her iphone in order to go with the Storm on Verizon. She liked the iphone enough but she hated the network and said her Iphone was constantly on Edge.
I think the iphone is all about fun. And they are the champ of Apps. (I have one en route.) My work phone runs Windows Mobile, which is really the standard for connectivity directly to company servers.

I think the blackberrys are the best for somewhere in between. They have something like 50% of the smartphone marketshare. They work seemelesly with most business apps, and have a decent selection of fun ones.

The network is a separate issue. Sprint sucks, I'm not sure if Verizon is world compatable, but seems to work better in hilly areas. I have no problems with ATT in the MDR and Miracle Mile areas, but its data signals seem to be dependednt on wind. ATT does have the Starbucks hotspots going for it...
 
For all their bloviating about having the best coverage, if you're in an area where you're getting a strong 3G signal on an AT&T phone, consider yourself very lucky.
 
I've been told that the Verizon network phones are not as adaptable for Europe (I think a couple posters above agreed with that) but they sure work great in West LA.

Thanks again for the input!

DancesWithKnives
 
for receiving emails the blackberry is great. i have three email accounts set up on mine (storm).

with the world edition (and similar) the only problem would be if you get attached documents in emails. they are normally too small to read, and if you zoom, it gets too blurry to read.

if you have never used a touch screen, you may find it a bit annoying at first. but the bb's little buttons might also give you fits.

the internet service on the bb's is decent, but not great. it can be a bit slow at times, and ive heard the iphone is much better in this regard.

if you're like me and drop stuff all the time, the bb is probably more durable.

you'll be surprised just how addictive these smart phones are.
 
The new iPhone launches tomorrow (Friday) morning. I just saw a 6000+ post count thread over on the macrumors forum where the enthusiasts who pre-ordered for home delivery are real time tracking UPS and Fedex flights from China to the distribution hubs and across the country. Classic. :)
 
DWK2 said:
I've been told that the Verizon network phones are not as adaptable for Europe (I think a couple posters above agreed with that) but they sure work great in West LA.
Click to expand...

IIRC the BB 8830 and the Storm are the only Verizon phones with GSM slots for use in Europe, but won't work on GSM networks here. The rest of Verizon phones are CDMA which works only in North America.
 
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