Help me Decide: ATT VS T-Mobile

[Sid59]

For the last 3 months, i've bounced back and forth between ATT and TMobile. The moment I finalize the service i want to go with, i hold off another week and re-evaluate my options. I'm leaving Verizon (SF Bay Area) for greener pastures.

i'll let you know my needs and you can vote based on what you think is more productive -

calendaring / syncing google calendar (available as google mobile for BB, not sure for iphone)
easy text messaging
emailing
internet
calling
videos (slightly skewed requirement towards iphone and youtube)

i've played with both, my brother has a curve and a few people have the iphone. So it's not a matter of 'playing with both and deciding' .. i can't make up my mind.

Plans are roughly the same and the same price point.

i guess the only slightly jarring point are the cost of the actual phones.

 

[pm]

Tough choice... and I mean that sincerely.

If you favor texting and email and calendar then go with the Curve.
If you favor watching videos and surfing the web then go with the iPhone.

If you aren't sure which you want to do more... then you have a tough choice. If you want to do both, then buy the Curve and then a Nokia N800/810 and carry both around.

 

[bigrash]

I'd go with the iphone.

by the way, Google Calendar works 10x better on the iphone than the blackberry. It's amazing how much Google keeps improving their site for the iphone (considering that they want to release the Android soon).

 

[Sid59]

you both make it tough for me.

i guess at this point, is the iphone worth the $350 premium over a blackberry.

 

[dnuggett]

I have both an iPhone and Curve plus an ATT Tilt. Personally I do not feel that any of them can replace the iPhone. The browsing experience is far superior, the few apps Apple gives you are very useful (maps, weather, photos and stock quotes specifically). The screen is fantastic and I feel like for the 1st time after trying with a Moto Q, Treo 650 and an Axim I can actually watch a full length movie. Not to mention I can rent them! Comes in handy for business trips. If I had to choose one it would be the iPhone hands down.

 

[intogamer]

I wouldn't go for a Two-year contract as the iPhone is not subsidized with your plan. The "backdoors" are much better options.

 

[DivideBYZero]

I would question the 10x better claims, but I am biased.

 

[Sid59]

went with ATT iphone .. decided that i was gonna get a new ipod, the premium extra for hte phone was gonna be better than the cost @ Tmobile. My gf ended up getting the curve, so not a big deal.

thanks all.

 

[imported_Mike]

Having owned the iPhone and now a BB, I would have to say the BB. Especially in your case. Out of all the features you listed, music wasn't one of them. BB does just about all of the features you did list better then the iphone IMO.

EDIT: Why would you go to T-mobile though? Get the curve on ATT.

 

[dnuggett]

Originally posted by: Mike
Having owned the iPhone and now a BB, I would have to say the BB. Especially in your case. Out of all the features you listed, music wasn't one of them. BB does just about all of the features you did list better then the iphone IMO.

EDIT: Why would you go to T-mobile though? Get the curve on ATT.

I agree with you on going with ATT.


I completely disagree with you about the BB doing what he mentioned better than the iPhone. I have both a Curve and an iPhone.

Easy text messaging- I'd call it a tie. I can text faster (albeit marginally) on an Curve but I prefer the conversation layout of the iPhone.

Emailing- BB wins here hands down. But only if you are willing to pony up the extra $ for the BB plan. The cheapest I can get that plan for is an extra $30 a month on ATT. I use my iPhone for Yahoo (push) and RR.

Internet- Both the Curve and the iPhone are EDGE only devices, so speeds are equal. The iPhone with Safari is so much better I almost said "you have to be f'ing kidding me" outloud if you were really saying browsing on a BB is better. BB is complete crap compared to the iPhone for browsing.

Calling- I prefer the interface the iPhone provides for merging calls, muting and hold. But really you could call this one a tie. Both devices are great.

Videos- Like browsing this one isn't even close. The iPhone blows away the BB for video because of the iPod interface and the far superior screen. If you are into youtube there is another plus.

 

[Sid59]

We were gonna go with Tmobile because of the myfaves and the flat 20 data plans on all media phones but the phones, plans and roll over are much better. On top, we get 18% off the bill for being in a union.

Like I said earlier I have the iphone and my gf has the blackberry. Thus far, the iPhone blows away the bb in all aspects except emailing.

Posting from my iphone while waiting for Juno to start @ the SF Metreon

 

[pm]

That's why I'm on T-Mobile too - it's a lot cheaper. I have a promotional plan that is very cheap, plus we have a family plan (my wife and I share minutes), plus I can stack a flat $20 unlimited data plan on top so that effectively I pay about about half what I would pay on AT&T for the same plan.

Beyond the fact, in the particular area that I live in, T-Mobile has better reception. I was up skiing at Eldora (near Boulder, Colorado) last weekend, and I had a full signal and EDGE while my co-worker on AT&T didn't have a signal at all. I regularly travel to the Bay Area in California and AT&T's coverage there is way better than T-Mobile's. But as a former AT&T customer, here in northern Colorado, T-Mobile seems to do a better job. And neither one of them have 3G deployed around here, nor are either of them likely to do so any time soon.

And, like I said in my post above, in my opinion a Curve is much better for sending email, doing a lot of SMS messaging, and for synchronizing with enterprise Outlook calendars and email. But I'd be surprised if anyone thought that a Curve was better than an iPhone at surfing the internet or watching movies.

From my perspective, if someone wants a phone to do business on, they likely want a Blackberry - either a Pearl if they don't do a lot of email, or a Curve if they do. If they want a phone for fun - like watching movies, reading the internet, and generally messing around with, then an iPhone is a good choice... particularly one that is jailbroken and runs all the apps that are out there (Shoutcast iRadio, Caissa Chess, iGo, Apollo IM client, etc.).

 

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: dnuggett

Originally posted by: Mike
Having owned the iPhone and now a BB, I would have to say the BB. Especially in your case. Out of all the features you listed, music wasn't one of them. BB does just about all of the features you did list better then the iphone IMO.

EDIT: Why would you go to T-mobile though? Get the curve on ATT.

I agree with you on going with ATT.


I completely disagree with you about the BB doing what he mentioned better than the iPhone. I have both a Curve and an iPhone.

Easy text messaging- I'd call it a tie. I can text faster (albeit marginally) on an Curve but I prefer the conversation layout of the iPhone.

Emailing- BB wins here hands down. But only if you are willing to pony up the extra $ for the BB plan. The cheapest I can get that plan for is an extra $30 a month on ATT. I use my iPhone for Yahoo (push) and RR.

Internet- Both the Curve and the iPhone are EDGE only devices, so speeds are equal. The iPhone with Safari is so much better I almost said "you have to be f'ing kidding me" outloud if you were really saying browsing on a BB is better. BB is complete crap compared to the iPhone for browsing.

Calling- I prefer the interface the iPhone provides for merging calls, muting and hold. But really you could call this one a tie. Both devices are great.

Videos- Like browsing this one isn't even close. The iPhone blows away the BB for video because of the iPod interface and the far superior screen. If you are into youtube there is another plus.

The SMS layout of the iphone is nice, but I perfer the SMS breakdown my BB gives me. After my iphone I canceled my ATT contract, so my BB is on Verizon. I also have opera mini installed which I perfer over the default BB browser or safari. This doesn't apply for the OP though, as the Curve would also be on edge. Calling interface on the iphone is very good as well. Iphone with youtube is so well integrated it's hard not to give it to the iphone. I hate the limited search functionality when on the iphone while on youtube. With opera I get the full youtube search results, but it's much more of a pain to get there.