Iphone vs Blackberry, best network, wireless

[quanttrade99z]

Hello All-

I have a couple of cell phone questions for the very-knowledgeable-about-cell-phones crowd.

#1
I currently have BB Curve, I really liked it and it was great. The battery is kind of messed up now, so I guess it is time to get a new phone. Everyone seems to love the iphone. I was a little worried that the iphone wasn't good for business users. I've searched around on the reviews and my conclusion is that the iphone is the best if you can live with that screen keyboard. Do people agree?

#1a
Can you hook up some kind of push thing with your email that will send all of your email to your iphone? I use POP3 mail with outloook, and I don't leave copies of my email on the server, so I'm worried that once my computer downloads them, there will be do good way for my iphone to get them.

#2
I've been using AT&T. I've heard that Verizon might have a better network. I live on the west coast. What do people think?

#3
I want to get setup with a plan where I can access the internet from my laptop from a cellular provider (in case my main internet connection crashes). (note: not looking for Wifi, looking for connection with cellular provider internet in the middle of nowhere). What is the best way to do this? I want an robust reliable solution (even though I would rarely use it), is ok if is expensive. If it matters, the computer I would setup like this is a Thinkpad W500.


Sorry for the "goofy" questions, and appreciate all of your advice.

quanttrade99z

 

[zerocool84]

From what I've experienced and read in many magazines, AT&T's network is less reliable comapred to Verizon/Sprint. I hate not having a physical keyboard. People say the iPhone keyboard is good but I never liked it and will never own a phone without a physical keyboard.

 

[pm]

#1 I wouldn't say " the iphone is the best if you can live with that screen keyboard". Blackberries on the whole still are better than iPhones for business users at hardware encryption, remote-wipe, multiple email accounts, and there's still a bit of bugginess to syncing my iPhone to Outlook (normally calendar entries that are a series with lots of cancellations in the series). With all of the above, iPhones have the features, but Blackberries implement them better or more robustly. At my company (a large corporation), the iPhone is still not certified for business use by employees. I think Blackberries on the whole still have the edge with business users - but I will say that the iPhone is slowly catching up with each major OS release.

#1a I don't know. You can physically sync an iPhone with Outlook running on a computer and move the mail over without affecting the server or computer, but if you directly sync an iPhone with an Exchange server... I have no idea. Never tried - my company doesn't allow it.

2. I think it depends a lot on where you live and work, and what towers are close to you. But, in general, Verizon has the edge over AT&T in terms of network coverage - which means better signal coverage.

3. If you want to do this with a phone, then this feature - tethering is the term - isn't allowed on the iPhone by AT&T yet. It is allowed with certain Blackberries plans on AT&T and Verizon. With a phone, you typically plug the phone into a USB plug and then run a program on both the phone and the laptop to make the connection. With an iPhone - when they finally allow it, you'll be able to use the iPhone's WiFi connection to connect to the iPhone and through it the internet. Beyond using a phone to do it - which is cheaper than a separate plan, there are separate plans available where you get a USB or PC Card adapter that gives you an internet connection on a laptop.

 

[bonkers325]

1. iphone is a good business phone, but blackberries are best if you just want e-mail and messaging functionality.

2. cant help you there

3. if you want to tether out in the middle of nowhere, then you will want to get a blackberry on verizon and get a tethering plan or download some tethering software like tetherberry or PDANet

 

[Capt Caveman]

I have both an iPhone for personal use and a Blackberry Curve for work. I hate the BB and love my iPhone. I much prefer typing with the iPhone's touchscreen keyboard over the crappy BB keyboard.

But Verizon's network is much better then AT&T.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
I have both an iPhone for personal use and a Blackberry Curve for work. I hate the BB and love my iPhone. I much prefer typing with the iPhone's touchscreen keyboard over the crappy BB keyboard.

But Verizon's network is much better then AT&T.

 

[roguerower]

1a

Reference this post for more info.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
I have both an iPhone for personal use and a Blackberry Curve for work. I hate the BB and love my iPhone. I much prefer typing with the iPhone's touchscreen keyboard over the crappy BB keyboard.

But Verizon's network is much better then AT&T.

I'd rather type using my iPhone than my BB. Have you used an iPhone?

 

[brikis98]

I'm definitely, not an expert, but I've owned a blackberry, WinMo and now an iPhone, so I'll share what I know.

Originally posted by: quanttrade99z
#1
I currently have BB Curve, I really liked it and it was great. The battery is kind of messed up now, so I guess it is time to get a new phone. Everyone seems to love the iphone. I was a little worried that the iphone wasn't good for business users. I've searched around on the reviews and my conclusion is that the iphone is the best if you can live with that screen keyboard. Do people agree?

Most likely, Blackberry or WinMo would be better for business, but not by much. iPhone does allow push email and syncs with MS exchange, even handling multiple accounts, and the email client is pretty solid overall. I'd say the keyboard on the iPhone is very solid and only a little bit worse than the physical keyboards I've had on a blackberry and WinMo phone. I don't make many mistakes, and with the landscape keyboard, I can type just as fast, but having to push a button to see the number and symbol keys slows you down a bit. Unfortunately, the iPhone has crappy calendar/reminders support. The calendar syncs up ok with exchange, google & outlook calendars, but it's pretty bare bones - any advanced options have to be done on the external calendar, not the iPhone itself. Worse yet, the reminders are pretty weak as you can't snooze them. Moreover, getting and viewing documents (pdf, ppt, excel, doc) onto the iPhone can be a bit of a challenge: definitely doable, but you typically need to use apps from the app store (not always free) and jump through a few hoops. Editing documents is even harder.

Originally posted by: quanttrade99z
#1a
Can you hook up some kind of push thing with your email that will send all of your email to your iphone? I use POP3 mail with outloook, and I don't leave copies of my email on the server, so I'm worried that once my computer downloads them, there will be do good way for my iphone to get them.

Yes, the iPhone supports push email and exchange and what not. I'm not sure about emails being deleted from the server.

Originally posted by: quanttrade99z
#2
I've been using AT&T. I've heard that Verizon might have a better network. I live on the west coast. What do people think?

That's really going to depend on where you are. The following resources might help:

iPhone 3G performance in 13 US cities
The definitive coast-to-coast 3g data test
3G coverage comparison

Originally posted by: quanttrade99z
#3
I want to get setup with a plan where I can access the internet from my laptop from a cellular provider (in case my main internet connection crashes). (note: not looking for Wifi, looking for connection with cellular provider internet in the middle of nowhere). What is the best way to do this? I want an robust reliable solution (even though I would rarely use it), is ok if is expensive. If it matters, the computer I would setup like this is a Thinkpad W500.

This is called tethering. Although the latest iPhone OS 3.0 supports it, AT&T currently doesn't and is likely to charge for it when it does. However, there are numerous ways of getting this now: you can either Jailbreak your phone and download from Cydia one of the several apps that enables tethering, or, follow this guide to do it w/o jailbreaking your phone.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
I have both an iPhone for personal use and a Blackberry Curve for work. I hate the BB and love my iPhone. I much prefer typing with the iPhone's touchscreen keyboard over the crappy BB keyboard.

But Verizon's network is much better then AT&T.

I'd rather type using my iPhone than my BB. Have you used an iPhone?

x2, landscape typing on the iPhone ROCKS. I absolutely hate qwerty phones like the Blackberry or Blackjack with the scrunched up keyboard. I'd take a landscape qwerty KB over the iPhones virtual one. But a Palm style phone Vs an iPhone is no contest. Especially with the 3.0 update where you can use landscape for anything. I don't care how good the keys feel, a portrait KB on a phone ranks at the bottom of my list of things I like.

 

[TheWart]

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
I have both an iPhone for personal use and a Blackberry Curve for work. I hate the BB and love my iPhone. I much prefer typing with the iPhone's touchscreen keyboard over the crappy BB keyboard.

But Verizon's network is much better then AT&T.

I'd rather type using my iPhone than my BB. Have you used an iPhone?

x2, landscape typing on the iPhone ROCKS. I absolutely hate qwerty phones like the Blackberry or Blackjack with the scrunched up keyboard. I'd take a landscape qwerty KB over the iPhones virtual one. But a Palm style phone Vs an iPhone is no contest. Especially with the 3.0 update where you can use landscape for anything. I don't care how good the keys feel, a portrait KB on a phone ranks at the bottom of my list of things I like.

I have to agree. It is something that you (the op) really need to play with and see whether you prefer a physical kb or the iphone's. I love the virtual one on the iphone and cannot stand the added thickness of phones with keyboards....but that is just me.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: TheWart

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
I have both an iPhone for personal use and a Blackberry Curve for work. I hate the BB and love my iPhone. I much prefer typing with the iPhone's touchscreen keyboard over the crappy BB keyboard.

But Verizon's network is much better then AT&T.

I'd rather type using my iPhone than my BB. Have you used an iPhone?

x2, landscape typing on the iPhone ROCKS. I absolutely hate qwerty phones like the Blackberry or Blackjack with the scrunched up keyboard. I'd take a landscape qwerty KB over the iPhones virtual one. But a Palm style phone Vs an iPhone is no contest. Especially with the 3.0 update where you can use landscape for anything. I don't care how good the keys feel, a portrait KB on a phone ranks at the bottom of my list of things I like.

I have to agree. It is something that you (the op) really need to play with and see whether you prefer a physical kb or the iphone's. I love the virtual one on the iphone and cannot stand the added thickness of phones with keyboards....but that is just me.

I'm a guy that hates vitural keyboards. I'd gladly give up some thickness for a true keyboard. I like it cus I can type without looking.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
I have both an iPhone for personal use and a Blackberry Curve for work. I hate the BB and love my iPhone. I much prefer typing with the iPhone's touchscreen keyboard over the crappy BB keyboard.

But Verizon's network is much better then AT&T.

I'd rather type using my iPhone than my BB. Have you used an iPhone?

Why, yes. Yes I have.

I'm just a little surprised as BlackBerry make pretty much the best QWERTY keyboard based devices on the market. The Bold and Tour having the cream of the crop.

 

[Jodiuh]

Best network? Email? Tethering?

Verizon Tour.