Blackberry vs. iphone vs. android???

[a 1 player]

To start off, this post is being typed on a Blackberry, so please pardon any spelling errors or queer letters that might happen to pop up.

So, I got this phone about a year ago or so because I wanted to upgrade fron a standard phone so I could receive emails, get on the internet, etc. What a right pain in the ass this thing is. I get the fact that it is not meant to be used as a primary source of sending emails, but jeezus, could they have made the keys any smaller? The applications are almost non-existent, it is confusing as hell to operate (yeah, I suck at technology), the battery dies quickly, it freezes up and is just generally a pain in the arse. So my question is... I want a new smart phone. Do I go iphone or Android? What is the difference? Can someone recommend a good phone that won't break my bank account? Unfortunately they won't let me take several models home for a week at a time so I can decide which one I like.

User friendly is important, but so is email, viewing documents and spreadsheets, and multiple email accounts.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[RAWD]

I've been on blackberry since the original pager model, so I'm biased. I'm also tied to communicating via bbm, and i am using playbook, so I'm pretty well RIM-med.

But, I have also used both the iphone and ipad. i love them. they are simply intuitive. it's hard to explain. they just work. you can open the box and figure it out. also, you mentioned apps. apple rules. period.

if you look at RIM, they are f-ed on apps. the current selection sucks, and won't much better. they have released OS 7 for their latest phones, yet they have also announced thst they will be releasing their nextgen phones, based on a completely new platform (QNX). no incentive for developers to create apps for an obsolete OS. what a clusterf*ck

 

[tboy]

I'm with you player, when looking at smartphones key size is a major concern. Not that I have sausage fingers but any phone with a builtin keyboard my fingers would hit 4 - 6 keys at once.

Iphones are great, and yeah, there's thousands of apps, but do you need an app to tell you when to feed your dog? there's an app for that. Do you need an app to tell you when to water your plants? The issue with Iphones is that they are extremely fragile. Everyone I know who has one has broken the front glass and they are mega bucks to repair or replace. For eg: all smartphones are big bucks unless you sign on to a long contract. If you break your phone, you have to replace it and guess what? You pay full pop so a replacement can cost you upwards of $500.00 (nless you can get a refurb)

Android based phones have a ton of apps as well and (I'm not sure if they still do) but Nokia phones come with free GPS. (gps based NOT cell tower based so you don't use airtime).

BB makes a touchscreen phone called the storm, a family member had one and I tried it out and loved it. Tiger Direct has an unlocked one for $149.99.

Do NOT get a windows mobile based phone. They suck ass. I had an HTC and rarely could I sign onto an available network. My nokia android based phone I could sign onto any network anywhere in 2.2 seconds. Plus I dropped each from the top of a 6 foot stepladder onto a concrete floor and neither broke.

I was at a fido store and someone was returning a phone. I don't know if it still applies but you have a week return policy.

I wouldn't buy a phone from a provider, I'd buy a used or outdated unlocked phone and insert my sim. Redflagdeals.com has a whole section in their buy and sell area strictly for used phones. I've bought a couple and known 5 or 6 people who have and never had a problem.

Just be careful, there are a lot of chinese knockoffs on the market now and most retailers will tell you they're chinese but kijiji and others are selling them as the real deal (and they're not even close).

If you want to try a pseudo iphone for $100.00 you can buy a chinese one. Then, if you damage it, BFD

 

[JustRiley]

I plan to get the motoral spice it will be my first android phone I enjoy my blackberry very much, but I like to see what else is out there.

 

[Chunky]

I use iphone and find it very easy to use and can pretty much do it all.

 

[tboy]

Oh yeah, I remember there are some issues with the iphone. Not sure if they still do this or not, but they automatically download updates or poll for updates even if the phone is off. What I think you have to do is sync it daily otherwise it calls up your ISP and downloads the apps via your phone service. There was a story about a guy who went over to europe, kept his phone off the whole time and when he got home he was hit with a cellphone bill of something in the thousands because the phone (on its own accord) was checking for updates.....

I also think (and chunky can confirm) that the only way to add music etc is via Itunes. So that means you can't just download a song, load it onto your phone, and play it. (some BS about DRM's and itunes). I know with my android phone I just plug it in via the usb to the computer and the PC sees it as just another USB device. I can add files to it, copy files from it, just like a USB stick.

Personally I don't mind being a little behind the technology times. I bought my HTC as a refurb for $100.00 and my Nokia as a blowout when The Source switched from rogers to Bell. I paid $129.00 for it 2 yrs ago and it is still going for $299 refurb now.

 

[LisaOfToronto]

iphone all the way

iphone all the way

iphone has everything you want and is user friendly, plus i love the map & gps app, its very accurate
keys r big enough for my big fingers :happy:

 

[tboy]

Oh yeah, just remembered a couple other issues with the iphone:
GPS uses air/data time
You can't replace the battery yourself if it fucks up
It uses a phone specific sim card so you can't move your info from your current phone to the iphone
You can't expand the memory yourself like android phones. I expanded my nokia to 16 gb for $15.00 when futureshop had the cards on sale one time.

 

[Butch]

Blackberry sucks. It is great to receive emails. The best out there but for browsing the net it sucks.


How many times did I say it sucks?.

 

[IFUSEEKAMY]

My vote is for the iPhone. I don't own one...I'm way too reckless with my phones so I have a cheap pre-paid... But I do know my life is sooo much easier and effortless because of my iPod Touch.

 

[RAWD]

Blackberry sucks. It is great to receive emails. The best out there but for browsing the net it sucks.


How many times did I say it sucks?.

it hasn't sucked since OS6 came out. it's not great, butit doesn't suck.

btw, anyone have a 9800 or 9900 for sale?

 

[tboy]

it hasn't sucked since OS6 came out. it's not great, butit doesn't suck.

btw, anyone have a 9800 or 9900 for sale?

here's the link to a 9800:

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/blackberry-torch-9800-used-only-two-weeks-telus-1074071/

and a link to the cellphone thread in general. Just about any phone you want can be found there:

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/bst-cell-phones-accessories-f45/

sorry, my bad about the refurb storm at Tiger Direct. Seems they are OOS.....

 

[RAWD]

Thanks tboy.

 

[Nova5]

My vote is for the iPhone. I don't own one...I'm way too reckless with my phones so I have a cheap pre-paid... But I do know my life is sooo much easier and effortless because of my iPod Touch.

What works for me is an inexpensive budget phone (with good battery life) and an iPod Touch.

 

[RAWD]

I hardly use my phone for calls. Maybe 20 min a month. But i'm a heavy email, bbm and webbuser. Can't do that on a regular phone.