Blackberry vs, iPhone

[jkl]

Okay so it's time for me to come into the high tech era. I have a cell phone, of course, but no Blackberry or iPhone. Can my friends at FSU tell me which is the best choice for someone who finally realized it's time to get one!
I will use it for phone, text and checking email mostly.
Thanks for your thoughts.

[MOIJTO]

iPhone is extremely expensive not only the purchase cost but the monthly costs for usage. My son, daughter have blackberries, my husband had one and hated it. I have "hello/goodbye" phone, although I love the high tech era I hate phones and use them as little as possible.

If you can afford an iphone, buy the best one, then knock yourself out!!!

[Salome]

Blackberry is better for data (email and documents), iPhone is better for entertainment (videos and iPod). iPhone also has more diverse capabilities.

[numbers123]

I've never looked at the iPhone, but from my experience with the Storm and Droid.
Storm does have more capability with documents. Droid has more capablities/apps.
Because i use my phone for email and chatting, I like the droid more.

[Aceon6]

There are many blackberry "flavors". Some are optimized for email while others have full web capabilities. If you're going to use the phone to access the web, make sure you're comparing the cost of the BB+data plan with the cost of the iPhone+data plan. For example, Verizon has BB plans that appear to be quite inexpensive, but they're not good plans for web use.

I have an iPhone. I use the web much more than I use email/text. Fortunately, I do not live in NYC/NNJ, or SF, so my voice calls usually go through and stay connected. If you're in the Big Apple or Silicon Valley, you may not be happy with an iPhone.

[Stormy]

iPhone is extremely expensive not only the purchase cost but the monthly costs for usage. My son, daughter have blackberries, my husband had one and hated it. I have "hello/goodbye" phone, although I love the high tech era I hate phones and use them as little as possible.

If you can afford an iphone, buy the best one, then knock yourself out!!!

The iPhone starts at $99. That's not exorbitant. It's not the most high end model, but for many it will do just fine.

To the OP, the Apple WWDC is today and I'm sure some big news about the iPhone is going to happen. I'm hoping, hoping, hoping it will have something to do with them going to Verizon. Keep an eye on the news today if you're considering an iPhone.

[numbers123]

The iPhone starts at $99. That's not exorbitant. It's not the most high end model, but for many it will do just fine.

To the OP, the Apple WWDC is today and I'm sure some big news about the iPhone is going to happen. I'm hoping, hoping, hoping it will have something to do with them going to Verizon. Keep an eye on the news today if you're considering an iPhone.

I heard rumors of iPhone/verizon but that AT&T's exclusive contract wouldn't allow that? We will see what happens

[Cheylana]

I would have gotten the iPhone but I don't want to join AT&T's plan; I'm quite happy with Verizon Wireless. So I have the Storm - which I like a LOT - but as others said above, it depends on what you plan to use it for. The Droid does look really cool though!

[PRlady]

There are many blackberry "flavors". Some are optimized for email while others have full web capabilities. If you're going to use the phone to access the web, make sure you're comparing the cost of the BB+data plan with the cost of the iPhone+data plan. For example, Verizon has BB plans that appear to be quite inexpensive, but they're not good plans for web use.

I am a technodoofus with a Blackberry Curve. I need it most for email and phone and not much for web browsing. I didn't download the GPS or other popular apps, either, it's really a work device. I'm fine with it, it wasn't hard to learn.

[snoopy]

I have a work Blackberry which is fine for email and phone but for my needs it is waaaay more complicated than it needs to be. It seems that there is a lot of technology that my company is paying for than necessary. Plus my fingerpoints are too fat to quickly, accurately and easily type messages. Which is not a problem I have with my personal phone. I am in no danger of ever becoming a Crackberry.

Now, I could see becoming addicted to an IPhone. Much more user friendly IMO.

[cruisin]

JKL, the biggest part of deciding between a Blackberry and an iPhone has already been mentioned. If you do not use AT&T as your carrier, iPhone is out of the question. I will wait for today's announcement, but from what Verizon people told me last week, it's doubtful they will be getting the iPhone any time soon, if ever.

If you have Verizon, the Droid is as close to an iPhone as you will get. I prefer the Droid to the Blackberry. For several reasons. 1. mine is the Motorola version and I have had Motorola phones in the past and am more familiar with their operation. 2. Droid is a Google phone, which I am also familiar with. 3. They are continuously upgrading the OP and sending it to you. My husband and daughter have Blackberries. They seem to have more glitches than I do with the Droid, and I find them more difficult to use. But as has been mentioned they are each better at different things. so it's really about what you need it for. Go to your cell carrier's phone store, the sales person should be able to help you make a decision that is right for you.

[Kasey]

And if you have/like Sprint, the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi are both good phones that allow email, websearch, youtube, etc as well.

[UMBS Go Blue]

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference starts today in downtown SF and they are expected to announce the new iPhone. If there is a new iPhone and you choose an iPhone over a Blackberry, then wait until it goes on sale before buying one.

The Apple presentation starts at 10:30am PT/1:30pm ET.

NYT live blog
CNET live blog
Gizmodo live blog - the folks who caused such a sensation here in the Bay Area with their scoop on the new iPhone

Unless the new iPhone introduces some mind-blowing new features, I wouldn't get it if AT&T still has a monopoly over it. I have both a Blackberry and an iPhone, both with AT&T service, and I also had basic cell phones with AT&T from 2000-2006 - and the signal doesn't seem to penetrate buildings very well. That includes downtown skyscrapers (no service inside), large big-box retailers (supermarket, Borders, Target), and some houses. Now, the iPhone is fabulous, but I've had the same reception/service problems with other devices (my current AT&T Blackberry and my past AT&T phones) so all this leads me to believe it's an AT&T problem and not an iPhone hardware problem.

I had none of these issues with a Verizon-based Palm from 2006 to 2009. The Verizon service was great - not one dropped call, ever - but the Palm majorly sucks.

[cruisin]

I have both a Blackberry and an iPhone, both with AT&T service, and I also had basic cell phones with AT&T from 2000-2006 - and the signal doesn't seem to penetrate buildings very well. That includes downtown skyscrapers (no service inside), large big-box retailers (supermarket, Borders, Target), and some houses. Now, the iPhone is fabulous, but I've had the same reception/service problems with other devices (my current AT&T Blackberry and my past AT&T phones) so all this leads me to believe it's an AT&T problem and not an iPhone hardware problem.

I had none of these issues with a Verizon-based Palm from 2006 to 2009. The Verizon service was great - not one dropped call, ever - but the Palm majorly sucks.

I do think location has a lot to do with it. I live in an area where Verizon has the best coverage. My best friend lives in KY and there, she gets better coverage with AT&T. But, while AT&T is better than Verizon there, it still is not great. She gets a lot of dropped calls, I know, I get dropped a lot .

[numbers123]

I have a work Blackberry which is fine for email and phone but for my needs it is waaaay more complicated than it needs to be. It seems that there is a lot of technology that my company is paying for than necessary. Plus my fingerpoints are too fat to quickly, accurately and easily type messages. Which is not a problem I have with my personal phone. I am in no danger of ever becoming a Crackberry.

Now, I could see becoming addicted to an IPhone. Much more user friendly IMO.

Crackberry.com has a stylet for the Storm - I think that it works with a lot of blackberrys. Made my life much better. However, I love the droid both touchscreen and keyboard.

We have had Verizon for 12 years and very few problems, my son has had AT&T for one contract that he had, he had coverage issues and dropped calls quite frequently. We have had very few issues.

[Stormy]

Just announced the new iPhone on sale June 24th, pre orders June 15th. This thing is pretty darn cool. Face to face video calls! I'd wait and get the new iPhone especially since it's soon it'll be out. But again, AT&T is the drawback. AT&T is crap in my area but YMMV.

[cruisin]

Just announced the new iPhone on sale June 24th, pre orders June 15th. This thing is pretty darn cool. Face to face video calls! I'd wait and get the new iPhone especially since it's soon it'll be out. But again, AT&T is the drawback. AT&T is crap in my area but YMMV.

Yeah, no mention of any other carriers

[numbers123]

Yeah, no mention of any other carriers

no, as I understand it, it is a long term exclusive contract, through at least next year. When we were looking at new phones..DH had researched the iPhone

[agalisgv]

We're all AT&T here, so it works for me

[Lurking Skater]

I love my iPhone. I've always had AT&T and never had issues, but as others have said, it depends where you're at. I had a brief stint with blackberry and I thought it was slow and harder to use. My iPhone was much easier to set up.

I won't be able to upgrade my phone until next year, so no fancy new iphone for me, but I am looking forward to OS 4!