Wow – there’s still somebody out there debating the merits of the Treo over the BlackBerry. Frankly, I thought the new discussion is the Pre vs. the 3Gs iphone. The Treo, in my humble opinion, is dead. And if I worked at RIM right about now, I’d be chewing Ativan like candy – trying to relieve the anxiety of having nothing competitive to show – ya know – like Palm was up until they were finally smart enough to hire the Apple guy and create a stunning, kick-ass, new product. Sometime later this year, Verizon will allegedly release an Apple phone product (which will NOT be called a iphone) and that will certainly throw another bauble into the mix.

As for me – I dumped my BlackBerry Curve for the new iphone – and I’m hugely happy with the decision. I’ve had great resistance to the iphone due to the virtual keypad. But eh truth is, that the damned BB Curve’s keys were so small and close together that I was constantly correcting many many typos after pushing out messages with my thumbs. With the iphone I’m using only one finger to type – but my accuracy has gone way up to a now acceptable level – so without having to go back and constantly correct – I figure I”m essentially typing accurately at the same speed minus the frustration.

I sure do like the Pre – and if I wasn’t a MAC user – I think I might have purchased it over the iphone. But, having the synching capability and the “mobile me” stuff gave the iphone a slight edge for my specific use.

Also, I know Sprint gets a bad rap for just about everything they do – and they largely deserve it – but I’ll tell you something – they have the best damned 3G network in the US – hands down. Even better than Verizon. ATT’s 3G network really isn’t nearly as good in terms of speed or coverage, but it works reasonably well where I am 95% of the time and that’s good enough for me, right now.

I now bid official farewell to the Treo vs. Blackberry debate. It’s been fun. But now it’s done.

Say what you want about Windows Mobile, when it’s time to get work done and plow through 100 e-mails, actually compose responses and do work, the Treo beats the snot out of the Blackberry. With the BB you wear the skin off your thumb trying to use their little track ball and scroll through the menus. EVERY option you need is always at the bottom of the menu and you can’t scroll from the first option “up” to the last option, you have to scroll all the way down (more skin cells scraped off by the track ball).

Read an e-mail, OK, I’ll have to get back to that when I’m in the office… hit the menu key, scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll (yes, six times) Close. Yeah… that’s a pain. Now do it about 50 times in a row. You just scrolled 300 times. How’s that thumb?

Treo, click (open), click (menu), click (close). Three clicks. Hmmm. Seems like an obvious productivity increase for a tool that’s supposed to be all about productivity.

Ya know why the BB is one hand operation? So people can use it when they’re driving. That’s the ugly truth and it’s just a bad idea. You’ve seen it and so have I.

Also, the idea that you have to pay for user licenses plus a copy of the server software for Blackberry, when Win/Mobile is free and runs off of existing Windows servers, is just irritating. Our sales guys FORCED us to Blackberry because that’s what they had before and they’re so technically challenged that the idea of anything else is just too scary. It has cost us THOUSANDS of dollars more than a similar Treo implementation.

I’m continually amazed by “reviews” between the two devices. These are productivity tools but the reviews make a big deal out of the camera! Really? For business, who cares about the difference between a 2mp or 3mp camera? Our field service reps use 2mp to document problems and it’s fine. Where’s the productivity review? Where’s the time it takes to read and process 50 e-mails? That my friends is a useful review.

BTW – iPhone is not an option simply because they decided to force companies to go with AT&T. If you’ve ever dealt with an AT&T corporate account you’ll appreciate how bad that decision really is.

By contrast, go to an Apple Store and ask any employee there about any product on their shelves. What a difference. And I’ll tell ya, if I were going to buy an iphone, I’d most certainly buy it at an Apple Store, not an ATT store.

And the reason I don’t have an iphone is because I’m terminally annoyed that ATT insists on an iron clad 2 year contract, even though they are charging an unsubsidized full price for the phone. That is ridiculous!

Anyway, keep your eyes and ears open as I believe there will finally be a “business compatible” corporate iphone coming out within the next 30 days. I’m not exactly what that means, but it may push me over the edge to get one. Or without a real keypad, maybe not.

Ken

I also like the larger icons on the treo. I heard that I will get my email every 15 min. BB is faster, but I do not see that as a concern.

Thank you for advise.
Rosane

Ya know, most phones, these days, have some sort of calendar program. Maybe you should look at something a little less….robust and expensive. What about the LG enV? That phone has some very cool capabilities including a qwerty keypad and may not be subject to the same unintentional button pushing problems you’re currently dealing with.

Ultimately, you should be trying these phones out in the store (this is my new mantra). You have to pick them up and handle them and press the buttons. the screen, the trackwheel, etc. and see how you like the way they they feel and navigate while you’re still in the store – hopefully with an employee who actually knows something about how the devices work.

Our brains all work in different ways, and some interfaces feel very intuitive for some of us but not for others. You have to figure out what makes the most intuitive sense for you. The only exception to this, is the iphone which seems to be intuitive for everybody. Amazing! But I digress. Go play with the Treo, the LG and maybe a Samsung of some type and just see what feels good and makes the most intuitive sense.

And don’t listen to those people who tell you that you absolutely MUST have a BB or Treo. That’s no longer true for the casual non-business user who wants basic outlook-like capabilities on a phone.

And, by the way, why can’t you “sink” (sic) your BB to your computer? It’s not that hard to do. And why isn’t Verizon helping you out with that? Do you have a laptop? Bring it into the store and demand that somebody help you do this! I’m tired of certain wireless carriers (and electronics stores, as well) hiring help that are poorly trained and unmotivated.

Don’t get me started….

Rosane

There are a lot of different flavors of how gps navigation is used. One of the biggest apps for gps, by the way, is for employers to track where their trucks and/or people are. And there are a lot of dispatch apps that use gps as a part of a total solution.

In your case, if gps navigation is one of the most important apps, you need to look past the carrier and device, and into the most app you like the best.

It’s always a three foot stooll – carrier, app, device. Take away one, and the stool falls.

Soooo, there’s NavMan out there, and Telenav, and Xora, and a few others. I’ve heard good things about NavMan but haven’t personally used it.

As far as networks are concerned, generally speaking, the gsm based neteworks (ATT and T-Mobile) are not going to be your best choice for gps based apps. Last time I checked, ATT put a lot of restrictions on gps capability and I believe did not offer a choice of application providers. If anyone has information to verify or contradict this, please let us know.

Sprint has generally been the most GPS friendly and GPS capable carrier with good access, accomdation of application, and, oh yeah…. it works very well in conjunction with their network. Verizon is probably a second best choice.

And as for device, well, I think that’s probably the least important component, assuming, of course, that it is, indeed, GPS enabled. I believe there is a BB model on Sprint that will do it. And the Treo will, as well. Talk to one of the somewhat informed reps at Sprint to get details on specific models.

ATT has a lot of advantages, as a carrier, but GPS is definitely not one of them. So, if you’re not going international for 99% of your use, really consider Sprint.

Their marketing is horrible but their network is actually very good.

Ken

Ken

First, thanks for the kind words. But I also want to follow up with your detailed and much appreciated “road test” of the Curve. I hate to sound like the Blackberry apologist I clearly am, but I want to lay the blame (or credit) where it deserves to be, at least in my opinion.

And that is with the carrier – in your case Rogers, who was once owned or part owned by AT&T. I believe that the lousy internet experience you are having on the Curve is more a function of Roger’s slow data network than it is a limitation of the device. BlackBerrys here in the lower 48 states, that operate on Verizon and Sprint’s fast CDMA network, perform very well. And, by the way, so do most other manufacturers’ devices.

If you’ll pardon this flawed analogy, it’s like buying a plasma screen HDTV and using one of those semi-cirlce antennas to pick up channel 86 and blaming the TV for the lousy picture.

As for BlackBerry’s legendary support – well, it is really superb. Honest. If, of course, you are an enterprise customers subscribing to their T-Support program. However, the arrangement that RIM makes with the carriers is that they (the carriers) are responsbile for the support of individual consumers, just as they would be for any phone. So once again, I place your bad support experience at the feet of Rogers. RIM has programs to train and certify carrier support personnel and they do a good job with it. But it’s up to the carrier to implement and support those RIM based programs.

I have little experience with Rogers, but I’ve worked with many of the US based carriers, and the BB support they provide varies widely by carrier. All I know is that RIM provides all the tools and support a carrier could ask for – and more – especially to the business customer. It is up to the carrier to implement properly. So good luck to us all. Even Apple has had significant support issues with AT&T with the launch of the iphone, most of which can be blamed on AT&T. No manufacturer can free themselves of the dependency they have on the carrier to do their job.

Maybe now that Google is getting into the mobile game, things might change…slowly. But it is interesting to note that both ATT and Verizon want nothing to do with them. It’s the second stringers – T-Mobile and Sprint – who arre jumping aboard the Google train. If Google is successful, they may finally change the “customer ownership” paradigm once and for all. And we, as consumers, all stand to benefit from it.

Thanks again, John, for taking the time to share your experiencewith us.

Ken