iphone or Blackberry?

[iluvwesties]

Which would you get and why?

(I'm looking for a smart phone with Touch screen, GPS, bluetooth, qwerty keyboard, wifi and easy operating system for internet)

Went into Rogers (my current provider) to look at phones but was confused and CSR's were very busy, so didn't get to ask questions,
so I'm hoping my DIS friends can help me out :goodvibes

Also would love to be able to use the phone in USA when vacationing without a HUGE phone bill afterwards, any thoughts?

[Valjean13]

If you need a touch screen, there's only currently one blackberry to choose from, and it's not sold through Rogers. If a touch screen is your "must have" feature, then perhaps an iPhone would be the best bet. However overall I'd have to recommend Blackberries (the Bold is a great device). If you do a lot of emailing (or typing) having a real keyboard is usually much faster and more accurate. But if you want to add all the cool apps and load your itunes, then the iphone is better. Purely personal opinion I guess.

If you are going to be using your phone a lot in the states, especially if using data, you normally get huge roaming charges from Rogers. You can sign up for special plans if you travel to the states a lot, not sure how they work for data but they do work well for the phone minutes. Most people just sign up a few days before going on vacation, then cancel it when they get home. I've used my blackberry just to read the odd email and check facebook while in the states for a week, and it usually costs me an extra $5-10 that month. Keep in mind that I only get a handful of emails per day.

[braydensmom]

I always find this question to be a little funny....blackberries and iphone are really two completely different tools. A blackberry predominantly is for people that need to do business on the go, with easy access to email accounts, and the use of microsoft tools, such as microsoft word. An iphone is more or less for media use, through all the different applications... using YouTube, Itunes, etc.
You can of course listen to music on you Blackberry, and you can use your email on your Blackberry, but the applications for either system arent as great because that wasn't their intended use.

That being said, my 2nd blackberry was the blackberry storm...it was returned after a week. I absolutely hated it. The touch screen is not the same as the iphone touch screen, you are pressing buttons on the screen.
If you are looking at a blackberry Id suggest the new wifi blackberry curve, thats my newest blackberry and I absolutely love it.

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Next Saturday I am going to the Bell Mobility store and upgrading to the brand new BlackBerry Tour - 9630. The reason I am getting is for checking my e-mail, it's got a 3.2 mega pixel camera which is better then the 2.0 camera on the Bold, it's smaller then the Bold and it's got everything I will need in a Smartphone. Anyway here is a link with a lot more information about it.
http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/blackberrytour/

[Sue M]

I would go with the I phone, I don't need it for business, just for e mailing, and all the cool apps :) I'm on Telus, and have heard rumors in the next year they will be switching systems, and may be getting them. My Laptop is a Mac, so I want the i phone for ease of sync too.

When I go to the states, Telus has an add on to your plan that for $xx you get so many minutes, and no roaming or long distance. There are several options depending on how many minutes you need. So just before I leave, I get the add on to my plan. If you go for shorter than a month they will pro-rate it.

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

When I go to the states, Telus has an add on to your plan that for $xx you get so many minutes, and no roaming or long distance. There are several options depending on how many minutes you need. So just before I leave, I get the add on to my plan. If you go for shorter than a month they will pro-rate it.Bell also a similar plan where you get 100 roaming minutes for $20.00 and you are allowed up to 100 text message for $20.00 on another American plan without being charged long distance for them.

[btcrane]

I've had both and much prefer my iPhone, even for business. Typing emails/texts is no issue and it has much greater versatility than the Blackberry. JMO.

[yxe dad]

IPhone is the way to go.

Rogers doesn't have great plans for the US, but have recently released new plans I haven't used yet.

I never had a MP3 player/ IPod before getting this phone and can't believe how great this device is. 5 family members have/had blackberries and since buying my IPhone 4 have switched over with great reviews.

Just my .02

Shayne

[iluvwesties]

Thanks everyone for responding :thumbsup2

I'm still researching to make a descision, but hope to have something by the end of July ;)

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

You're welcome and good luck with your decision.

[who's ur daddy?]

I always find this question to be a little funny....blackberries and iphone are really two completely different tools. A blackberry predominantly is for people that need to do business on the go, with easy access to email accounts, and the use of microsoft tools, such as microsoft word. An iphone is more or less for media use, through all the different applications... using YouTube, Itunes, etc.
You can of course listen to music on you Blackberry, and you can use your email on your Blackberry, but the applications for either system arent as great because that wasn't their intended use.

That being said, my 2nd blackberry was the blackberry storm...it was returned after a week. I absolutely hated it. The touch screen is not the same as the iphone touch screen, you are pressing buttons on the screen.
If you are looking at a blackberry Id suggest the new wifi blackberry curve, thats my newest blackberry and I absolutely love it.

I think this is bang on.

If you're a heavy business user with lots of e-mail usage, the blackberry is the way to go. My colleague just tried the iphone and it was simply not as good for heavy e-mail use.

Iphone has a gazillion apps, so it's very good for things other than e-mail. I love playing poker on the wife's iphone! Occasional e-mail use through the iphone is okay - guess you have to get used to typing on the iphone screen.

[Kernelpanic]

I vote iPhone! I love mine

[Ham Ham]

iPhone user here. It does most thing better than a BB.

However if this is primarily a device for e-mail/texting I would go for the BB.

DD15 upgraded her phone this past may and she wanted the BB.

Took me 1 minutes to configure my iPhone for mail last year. Took 3 hours with 4 calls to Rogers to set up the BB.

If you go for a BB ensure the one you order has Wifi.

Here's a comparison of the two devices.

http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/deathmatch-rematch-blackberry-versus-iphone-30-843

GS Search
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=BJr&ei=CA1dSu6ZOaTIMr6bgZIH&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=blackberry+or+iphone&spell=1

http://www.product-reviews.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/blackberry-thunder-vs-apple-iphone.jpg

[TagsMissy]

I have a HTC Magic and my hubby HTC Dream and after using them I won't even touch an iPod... LOL I won't go into a rant and leave it at that. ;)

Our phones are unlocked so we can just toss in our simcards from our US phones (or we can use our original US phones -- depends on our mood when we travel as to what we do.) as we both have Pay as you go for our US Travels with US carriers

[AndyMcV]

Stay with a BlackBerry, it's Canadian :thumbsup2

[jlewisinsyr]

For e-mail (personal or business), Blackberry hands down. Texting is pretty good with Blackberry.

Also, I used to think touch screen was the best, but nothing beats a real keyboard in terms of use for texting or e-mail, so I'd personally never choose a phone with touchscreen at this point in time.

There is a reason Blackberry is the number one smart phone (and has regained some of the market share lost to IPhone users).

[MichaelaMouse]

I got an iPhone back in October with Rogers and have never regretted it. I love my phone and all the things I can do with it, especially e-mail, facebook, etc. Not to mention all the Disney World apps you can get! There are interactive, GPS based disney maps, and some that use google maps for theirs. There is also an app that gives attraction wait-times submitted by other users of the app. It was quick and easy to set up my mail, and I like the wifi feature. I also like that it has the GPS and iPod features, so you're really getting several things in one.:goodvibes

[iluvwesties]

Well, I'm still on the fence about these :rotfl:

I've read that because of the overwhelming success of iphones, that the system has slowed down :confused3

and with the Blackberries I've been told that they "crash" often if you try to multi-task or sometimes their system goes offline?

Any thoughts about these factors?

and What is a HTC Dream/HTC Magic and what system does it use?

Questions. questions and I still don't know which system to buy into :laughing:

[bunnyfoo]

Well, I broke down and ordered an iPhone. I'd tell you more about it but seeing as they're all back ordered, I'll probably get mine ... oh just about the time that the next iPhone model is released :laughing:

I'm buying DF a BB for his birthday. That one should ship pretty quickly. He's going to be primarily using it for e-mail. We went to the Apple store and tried out the iPhone and he didn't like the keyboard.

Well, I'm still on the fence about these :rotfl:

I've read that because of the overwhelming success of iphones, that the system has slowed down :confused3

and with the Blackberries I've been told that they "crash" often if you try to multi-task or sometimes their system goes offline?

Any thoughts about these factors?

and What is a HTC Dream/HTC Magic and what system does it use?

Questions. questions and I still don't know which system to buy into :laughing:

Go to the Rogers store and try out the Dream and Magic. I didn't like the Magic as much as the iPhone. It didn't feel as solid but I do have friends with other HTC phones and they love them.

[iluvwesties]

OK, folks, Here's another question for you ;)

What is your typical monthly cost for a voice/data plan to support your smartphone?

I am under Rogers right now and have a $20/month voice plan only.

Went to the Rogers store and CSR recommended I either add a data plan for an additional $35 per month OR change to a voice/data plan at $45 per month (less voice mins but 1000 texts per month) CSR said he didn't feel that I needed more than 500MB per month for data usage (there is a plan right now that is ending on July 31st for $30 per month for 6GB, which I had been considering signing up for)

I use my cell daily but only 1 or 2 calls and text around 30-50 per month.

Just wondering what everyone else pays per month and if the $45 is the best plan for me?

(I know I will also have to pay the monthly $6.95 system fee, .50 911 fee and $8 per month for call display plus taxes)

It seems if I go with the $45 per month it will actually cost me $68 per month (yikes :scared1:) does this seem correct to you? :confused3
Any replies would be appreciated. TIA :thumbsup2

[bunnyfoo]

Carol - Call into Rogers customer retentions department. They are the ones who will give you a better deal on your voice plan - they're suppose to retain customers. You have to ask to speak with them directly. The regular customer service reps should transfer you. Just note that they can't give you extra minutes or discount your plan.

My plan comes up to $45 before taxes, 911 and SAF. Here's what I have:
200 minutes weekend & evenings 8PM
100 bonus minutes
Rogers to Rogers
Voicemail, Caller ID, 2,500 txt msgs
6GB Data

What I did was I asked them to price match a plan from Bell, Telus etc. Don't bother with Fido since they're the same company. Look for the features you want and come up with a price. Make sure you remind them that you've been with Rogers for x years and that the last time you upgraded your phone was x years ago.

Check out this thread to get a better ideea of some of the recent plans (and strategies) that people have used :) It's a long thread, so you might want to start near the end to see what people have been getting recently.
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=859401

The only tips I have for you when negotiating are to be nice to the rep and to ask for a price match - don't threaten to cancel or say my friend got this and that. Sometimes you'll get someone who won't budge and give you a break on the phone or the plans. Just hang up and try again. I had to call in 4x before I got someone who gave me what I wanted.

Good luck! PM me if you have any questions :)