Blackberry 8900 Curve vs. iPhone 3Gs vs. MyTouch 3G

NYSpeed Automotive NYSpeed Off Topic
1

okay I know the phone debate is BEAT to death. but i’m so frustrated…i (was) a die hard blackberry fan, had a curve i loved and re-upped to the new curve 8900 the day it came out I liked my other phone so much. well, I feel like quality definately tanked. my buddy with a Bold feels the same way…both of our phones constantly lag and service just seems shoddy all around, and i’m on t-mo, he’s on at&t…it feels like it’s the phone more then the service. my buddy doesn’t even get 3G half the time. internet browsing seems way behind the competition in terms of speed and formatting…BBM is the only feature I even like anymore especially with the fact true threaded SMS is on every other phone BUT blackberry. and now that push e-mail is no longer proprietary, what’s the point of even having a blackberry? i don’t care about a camera and MP3 player, which is why I liked blackberrys original focus in what seemed to be reliability over fancy features…i always felt the blackberry was a little behind but reliability came first…and well that’s gone. and yeah, i’ve done the OS wipes, i’m not running beta shit, and my only applications are twitterberry & gmaps. no facebook, no myspace, nothing but the original phone’s things…not even weather programs. i also hardly even run anything in the background…i’m a freak about that kinda stuff. i don’t beat the shit out of my phone…my new curve doesn’t have a scratch on it, and after owning my other curve since the day it came out, i hardly had any scratches on it after tons of use.

iphone would cost me a lot, but if it’s truly the best device, i’ll sell my curve for ~350 unlocked, and buy an unlocked 16GB iphone 3gs, and eat the cost to have the fastest phone available.

the t-mobile MyTouch (the new G1) seems awesome, but it doesn’t seem like it has the following the iPhone has, so less apps. also, build quality and integration doesn’t seem as smooth as the iphone. it’s also MUCH cheaper, but probably not as fast in terms of processing speed and internet speed. in good news though, the G1 seems awesome and it’s quite the improvement on it.

cliffs:
most important things to me - speed (in terms of processing, internet/3G, and typing), reliability and durability.
least important things - camera quality, MP3 player, overall unit size (i don’t care if ones smaller then the other), voice memos and all those dumb features, i never use anything like that…no elaborate features of simple things like phone matter to me. most ‘consumerized’ features are meaningless to me.

opinions?

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another curve ball…T-mobiles 3G network is lacking heavy, even though they are improving quickly and rolling out a list of cities every month. I am not going to switch to AT&T, either. Hm…

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You’re fucked, you live in CT, you’re saving grace is Verizon. I’m not saying this because I’m being my typical Verizon humper self. AT&T, TMo, Sprint/Nextel blow huge donkey in Fairfield county, thanks in part to a shitload of rich ass pricks that fucked up certain parts of Conn a while back.

Fucking Metro PCS gets better coverage in whatever part of CT they cover…

Eh, I got an 8900 at work, it’s pretty nice, but you want speed?

Get a fucking Nokia.

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I don’t want to switch carriers! Especially to Verizon! I travel enough anyways.

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Just get the iPhone 3g off a cl near ya. Can pick up a 8 gig for about $250 in very good condition. No need to get the 3gs. Can’t use some of the new fetures on tmobile anyways then get the mobile to go web for $10 a month.

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Didn’t I read somewhere that you can’t get 3g with an unlocked iPhone on t-mobile? Something about different frequencies?

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Then you may be screwed, Howie is pretty much on the money. Aside from that my opinion on the g1 is that is a great idea sadly its on HTC hardware and they put out plasticy cheap feeling garbage.

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Why you would use tmo when you travel a lot is beyond me.

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works for international?

either way i’m probably getting the 3GS and going on ATT. we’ll see.

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so many choices for int. nowadays. tmo has the worst coverage out of the big 4.

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I hate Sprint, had them and it was like not even having a phone. T-mobile honestly doesn’t make me too mad service-wise…theres a few dead spots in EA but that’s what you get for living in a shit middle of nowhere town. Verizon call quality blows, cust. support sucks, and it’s expensive as shit.

ATT is up for review next…haha. i got a replacement 8900 on the way, i’m selling it new in box and selling, paying out of the contract and switching.

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I don’t think you’re being nearly as objective as you think you are if you’ve considered T-Mobile but won’t consider Verizon because their call quality blows.

Doesn’t matter though. iPhones are solid and AT&T’s network is good. I bet you’ll be satisfied.

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I understand, but I don’t like a lot of things about Verizon. Close friend of mine has had tons of issues with his blackberry through them regarding cust service they’re rude and atrocious, I don’t like how they get every phone last practically, their pricing is out of control compared to their competition, international is weak, it’s CDMA which is old news…every where else uses GSM minus the near-bankrupt Sprint, the phones are “locked” down - they all have the same interface garbage and they lock features out like the GPS and prevent you from using stuff like google maps as opposed to “VZW Navigator” which is garbage. Horror stories I’ve heard of people getting their service cancelled because of excessive “bandwidth usage” - no warning nothing, and you get fined up the ass (no personal experience with this however). Stores have a line out the door for getting help and live plusphone support is like dealing with someone reading off a sheet of paper, you feel like you’re talking to a computer with a human voice and it’s so cut and dry “policy this policy that” whereas ATT and t-mo will actually try and bend things to valued customers within reason - they’re phone companies so I don’t expect them to want to really HELP me, but VZW is just awful.

only reason I wanted t-mobile before was because at the time cingular wasn’t too hot in my house in Buffalo and i’ve had good luck with them ever since, but now it’s time to change it up with the times. keep in mind i’ve been on t-mo for close to 6 years, so minor issues haven’t bothered me, but now i feel the need to switch and improve my overall coverage. the 3G network will improve with t-mobile soon, I have faith…but now I’m seeing my friend with his 3GS and it proves 3G coverage really is that much better. I don’t want to wait 2 years for t-mo to have good coverage…I’ll jump ship to At&T, and maybe in 2 years come back. if I had 3G coverage where I normally live - buffalo and CT, I would rock the myTouch or G1. but there’s not enough coverage to keep me there.

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I am on the phone with Verizon, AT&T and T.Mo probably every other day - business and personal - you’re going to get a rude one with any carrier.

International is not weak, vodaphone roaming is actually quite good.

CDMA is old just like the new ZR1 is LSx based, which is old too, right? Still works, very well, better signal with slightly more battery consumption, higher sustained data transfers, higher overall network capacity… yeah, it sucks?

GPS is unlocked on every new BBerry. And you can call and request a code to unlock your phone to use with TMo, ATT, or any other pre-paid wireless phonecard you want in any country. Google maps works fine on both my phones (Storm / Tour).

5GB is clear in the TOS. Don’t go over it. You’re not using 5GB if you’re just using your phone.

Reps are the same at every store, every company has good and bad ones. If you look at Jeff when he was in retail he was the most amazing rep, You’re going to get good and bad ones on every carrier.

Verizon will not bend rules because it kinda doesn’t have to. Every other carrier does, because they need to, to make up for something else they lack.

AT&T is getting just as bad in the retention dept btw… they are just as expensive as Verizon now, with still shittier domestic coverage. With horrendous roaming rates in a lot of countries.

Sprint bends over and takes it up the ass because let’s face it - they suck ass.

T.Mo is in the same boat as Sprint. Nationally, they rank dead last in coverage. In big cities, which is where they thrive the best - they are fine, they include those in their findings… but ask anyone in Mystic CT what kinda cell phone they have, and if it works well, and they are going to say Verizon.

If you are bitching about … 20 bucks a month whilst driving an M3… I’m just saying…

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I see your points and they’re valid. I wasn’t saying the 20 bucks a month is that big of a deal - I have the money - I’m just saying they aren’t that far superior where I will pay another 240 bucks a year.

My good friend just jumped ship from the blackberry to the iphone. I’m going in next I think. This thing is a total pile of shit…coverage is the least of the problems, the actual phone is a piece of fucking shit. Blackberry reliability is laughable at best now. This thing crashes and needs resetting 1-2 times a day to function reasonably. Hell, it crashed while I was making this post. The phone is 2 months old, and it’s never been dropped, and fuck, it doesn’t even have any scratches. Keep in mind this is my second one…my first Curve didn’t even work - I bought it brand new and I recieved data for 2-3 days, and then afterwards it stopped working…no reason why. It failed me for a month, and one day randomly started working. I should gotten a paycheck for how much support I had to go through. Instead they compensated my bill…cool.

There’s no point in telling me how great Verizon is because I’m not personally a fan…I don’t want another blackberry because they’re yuppie toys now as far as I’m concerned. So I’ve concluded all smartphones are yuppie toys, and I might as well get the best yuppie toy available for my yuppie ass…a iPhone. In terms of internet browsing speed, it blows anything RIM makes out of the water with the simple stopwatch test. We have a 3G bold here, and my Curve 8900, and even on wifi the bold can’t keep up with the 3G speed of the iPhone due to processing. The iPhone 3GS is THE fastest phone on the market…period. I want the fastest my money can buy, so:

I got a replacement Curve coming in the mail. Who wants a brand new 8900 curve, t-mobile, new in box? I’m selling it, paying my contract fee, and putting the rest on a 16GB AT&T phone. Fuck it.

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However, the majority of us are not on the phone with those companies every other day. Statistically, you will easily encounter the best and worst that each has to offer. A lot of people I know like T-Mobile’s support.

In Europe or Asia, maybe. If it’s yellow in this map, it has no CDMA coverage. That means your phone just won’t work.

http://www.vodafone.hu/egyeni/english/szolgaltatasok/roaming/images/gprs_kulfold_hu_01.jpg
http://www.vodafone.hu/egyeni/english/szolgaltatasok/roaming/images/gprs_kulfold_hu_01.jpg760×591 161 KB

The ZR1 was and is a marvel of engineering. Still, GM has returned to its traditional LS designs, and modernized them as well. Historical milestones are great, but sometimes best left in a history book.

This is very new, and definitely the result of a lot of dissatisfied customers’ complaints. I’m one of those.

Some people do. I come close. And this sounds pretty aggressive:
http://www.newswireless.net/index.cfm/article/2928

Exceed 5GB and we fine you and cancel your service? Wow.

Jeff is great. I’ve seen upset customers in various stores. But only in Verizon stores have I seen numerous people storm out, cuss excessively, slam the door, and shred tires. A few times, actually.[/quote]

And although less factual, my personal experience tells me that the Verizon support guys are distinctly “robot” like. The blank stare and verbatim textbook lines are pretty specific to that company.

That’s called a short-term monopoly, not a long-term competitive advantage.

While neither of us have any facts to back that up, I am pretty impressed that my friend’s AT&T phone saved my lost ass in Otto, NY. I’ve never seen any phone work there. Albeit the AT&T phone only had minimal reception, but it worked!

Sprint stock is eroding faster than DSM rod bearings.

And Mystic CT? C’mon, you can’t build cell phone towers on water:

A penny saved is a penny earned, sir.

Trying to be competitive on the facts, but in all due respect, aren’t we debating phones, not the endless and hopeless cell phone carrier argument?

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Anyone who thinks at&t coverage is good can come with me on my next business trip. I’m using my personal phone instead if my work one now.

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Meh, the “robot” responses are due to companies cutting costs and losing good reps. Thats gonna happen at any company. I deal all day long with a B2B channel, and VZW is nearly identical to ATT in pricing. There are times when VZW beats ATT and vice versa.

I was good because I didn’t believe the hype, did my own research, and figured out ways to get what I wanted done.

But seriously? Not wanting a BB because its a yuppie device, yet you are going iphone? Really??

I guess what really gets me is complaining about bad call quality on VZW, yet you use tmo… the coverage isnt even comparable.

If you don’t want VZW, at least go ATT. They are pretty comparable in cost, CS, TOS, and coverage. VZW 3G coverage > ATT 3G coverage however.

edit: don, you ever think you maybe got a bad unit?

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I was kidding about the yuupie toy thing, let’s be serious iphone is the epitome of yuppie toy. My tmo coverage isn’t that bad, in ct I never have a problm, back home only in ea at like 2 spots. Regardless, att iphone here I come. I want the fastest phone made, and an increase in coverage, can’t go wrong.

I’m sw

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The iPhone interface reminds me of Windows 3.1.