New AT&T phone, I-Phone 3GS, or BB Curve?

[SilverSleeper]

AT&T customers step inside.
I am looking into a smart phone, or upscale phone through AT&T.

Right now, I am taking a trial run of a Blackberry Curve 8520.
Initially, I was considering the I-Phone 3GS.
The voice dial was a must have.
The salesman pretty much had me sold on the BB, after listening to what I intended to use it for. It would work well in a business setting. But it lacks in the fun aspect as opposed to the I-Phone, from what I can tell. The apps just aren't there for the BB. They are geared towards the business user, and not so much for fun. Just from an apps standpoint, it looks like 40/60 work/play for the I-Phone, but like 85/15 for the BB.

Anyone out there have either? Pros, cons? Comparisons?
Since the plans cost the same, and phones pretty much the same, I'd rather get the one I am going to get more use out of while still in the 30 day trial period.

Thanks!

 

[Rodimus_Prime]

the curve 8520 is nothing more than a 3 year old phone in new packaging, christ it doesnt even have 3G.

Theres nothing the blackberry can do that a iphone cant, business or personal, NOTHING

 

[slow305]

I the iPhone and my wife has the curve. I love the iPhone for the fun aspect and it can do pretty much anything the Curve can do, but it does not push emails, which is kind of annoying. What I mean by "push" is you have to actually check you email for it to retrieve it where on the Curve you get alerted instantly like a text message. The Curve can write a word document and text to IM. She also says that she likes it because it's not Apple. Because of the app support on the iPhone, you can get almost anything you'll ever need like instant stock prices and stuff like that.

 

[SilverSleeper]

I know it doesn't have 3G. We don't have 3G coverage yet here. The sales rep did say by mid summer or so we should see it.
He didn't have the 9700 (?) in stock, so I took this one, knowing I could exchange it within 30 days. I wanted to see what the possibilities were with a BB, since we don't have 3G, it wouldn't have made a difference yet.

 

[VIN7]

I've had the BB Bold and Iphone 3GS, just having the larger screen on the iphone would be enough for me, plus the "fun" factor of the iphone is great. With the bb I had to get word, powerpoint and excel apps at a cost to open docs, not with the iphone. The bb has a push feature but I had to get exchange server app to use it. The 3GS has "push" but it does it at 15 min intervals.

I love my iphone...

 

[Madcat455]

How about an opinion from an att store manager???

Get the Iphone... as said before, there's NOTHING the BB can do the Iphone cant. Plus, the larger screen, and Apples customer support.

Remember, you're buying an APPLE.. so if you have any issues with it, head to the apple store and they'll fix it or swap it. If no store close, you have their online chat support, or phone support..

My wife has the Iphone.. we had an issue with a software upgrade, wiped her phone and we couldn't get it to install the update. Cust support was nice to deal with, and when they couldn't fix it, they set an appt for the genius bar guys.. they had it done in 5 min.

Try that with AT&T's tech support or warranty dept.. LOL. (I've worked there for 10yrs btw).

Granted.. BB's are VERY nice, and a solid platform that's been proven. But Apple has pretty much stolen the ball, and is running with it. All other phones are playing catchup.

There's a new Motorola backflip smartphone that's been released.. I'm waiting for my first order to arrive. Motorola has always made solid phones, and rumor has it, that it's running the android OS.. I'll know for sure this week.

Only reason to go with the BB, is for push email... and the enterprise service (connecting with your companies intranet for email). And, I even think there are apps for the Iphone that cover push, and intranet access.

My wife loves hers, the internet is FLAWLESS (just like a puter). The bb's is good, but not as good as the Apple for browsing.

I don't have one.. but I try every new phone that comes out... so I have a new phone basically every couple of weeks. When I leave AT&T, I'll get an Iphone. as there's nothing else that beats it.

There are lots of apps for the blackberry too... just have to download their appstore, and you can get a bunch.

Good Luck... Either choice is good.

 

[joemama]

What I mean by "push" is you have to actually check you email for it to retrieve it where on the Curve you get alerted instantly like a text message.

There is a setting to alert you when you receive an email. I had to turn it off because it was annoying. I can talk in any room in my house now, whereas with my nextel I had to walk outside to my front yard. Only regret I have is not switching to the iphone sooner.

 

[WeAreVenom]

There's a new Motorola backflip smartphone that's been released.. I'm waiting for my first order to arrive. Motorola has always made solid phones, and rumor has it, that it's running the android OS.. I'll know for sure this week.

Yes, it's running Android. Open source OS and free apps. That's hard to beat. My question to you is when is ATT getting more Android phones? The Motorola Flip one doesn't appeal to me.

If you get an iPhone definitely look into "jail breaking" it. It gets you around that whole "I can't customize my phone without spending money on apps" thing.

Oh, and don't expect to be browsing YouTube, Streetfire, or any other Flash based websites on an iPhone. Apple has deemed Flash compatibility unnecessary.

 

[Madcat455]

Yes, it's running Android. Open source OS and free apps. That's hard to beat. My question to you is when is ATT getting more Android phones? The Motorola Flip one doesn't appeal to me.

If you get an iPhone definitely look into "jail breaking" it. It gets you around that whole "I can't customize my phone without spending money on apps" thing.

Oh, and don't expect to be browsing YouTube, Streetfire, or any other Flash based websites on an iPhone. Apple has deemed Flash compatibility unnecessary.

I really don't know when we're getting more. AT&T literally stopped ALL announcement of upcoming launches. We used to get updates on what's coming, with a release dates in the same form as our back orders and EOL (end of life) notifications. They literally deleted the release columns from it... LOL.

I can imagine we're going to be getting more. Android, and Apple are dominating the sector. I'm waiting for Nokia to drop symbian for Android, Nokia has been struggling in the US smartphone market for years... all because of Symbians limitations. They build GREAT phones... if they went Android, they'd really give Apple a run.

I wouldn't jailbreak an Iphone... it's something I'd have to continue doing every time I updated it..LOL. Updates re/lock the phone. I'm holding out for Android... this week baby.... this week... Then I'll so a side by side with the wifes Iphone.

I'm soo gonna whoop her arse (be in the dog house, but after 11yrs of marriage, I'm used to it )

 

[WeAreVenom]

But the thing with ATT getting Android is the fact that those phones will be direct competition with the iphone. Will Apple put up with this? Or will they let other carriers sell the iphone? They might even jump ship and join another carrier or even do what Google is doing and sell them directly to the public. I've heard that you guys (ATT) will be getting 3 Android phones. One will be the Motorola Flip one, another will be made by Dell, and the last will be made by HTC.

The next 6 months are going to be interesting for sure. I'm just hoping I can put up with my Tilt for that long.

 

[Madcat455]

But the thing with ATT getting Android is the fact that those phones will be direct competition with the iphone. Will Apple put up with this? Or will they let other carriers sell the iphone? They might even jump ship and join another carrier or even do what Google is doing and sell them directly to the public. I've heard that you guys (ATT) will be getting 3 Android phones. One will be the Motorola Flip one, another will be made by Dell, and the last will be made by HTC.

The next 6 months are going to be interesting for sure. I'm just hoping I can put up with my Tilt for that long.

Only thing keeping Apple with AT&T is the technology. Verizon and sprint both use CDMA... CDMA is out, like TDMA was when we went GSM. Apple isn't going to design a phone for tech. that could be outed in 2yrs.

Now, I look to the Iphone going public after CDMA goes to LTE.

Apple doesn't have a hand in what phones AT&T can sell at all. We'll sell what we want. The only phones we actually "pulled" were the phones that used Itunes.. since that's an Apple program, we kind of had to oblige them there. But, Apple will have to compete just like all the other makers did before them(although, I'm sure this doesn't make Apple happy.. LOL). AT&T knows it was a second choice to Verizon, and we only got Apple cause some mega ego at V land wouldn't budge... LOL. (although, I think our network is keeping them here... for now)



Next 6 months for sure...

 

[SilverSleeper]

Funny you guys mention the BackFlip. I'm typing on one right now. Got it Monday, first day released, and its freaking awesome. Its definitely an Apple fighter. The android OS is nice. Lots of good apps, and I can't wait for us to get 3G here for it to really fly. Even is slated to support flash webpages by june. Has a 5MP camera with awesome flash. A bit on the hefty side, but built well. Always liked Motorola's phones. This thing will be plenty capable of taking away potential Apple customers.

 

[TurboTnZ06]

Oh, and don't expect to be browsing YouTube, Streetfire, or any other Flash based websites on an iPhone. Apple has deemed Flash compatibility unnecessary.

It can't run flash, but it does run youtube, always has.

 

[WeAreVenom]

It can't run flash, but it does run youtube, always has.

Because YouTube made an app just for the iphone. Did anybody else see the iTablet news conference where Steve Jobs pulled up a random site and there was a huge blank in the middle of the screen? The blank was the flash part of the site. Without flash support web browsing is almost pointless.

 

[bishir]

I got an Iphone 3GS 32gb this Friday and I've been on it almost nonstop ever since. Its hands down one of the best things I've ever bought and the apps are amazing.

So far here are my favorites:

Pandora: The best internet radio IMO

Google w/voice search

The Weather Channel Max (live doppler radar)

NCAA Live by CBS (march madness games live) and my tourney brackets

ESPN ScoreCenter (updates of my favorite teams)

PocketDyno: Basically a Gforce pro meter for your car. Like most of these it's free and plain awesome.

Craigsphone: actually better than searching craigslist on a desktop imo

AAA Roadside: call roadside assistance with a push of a button and built in gps

Red Laser: Scan barcodes at the store and it searchs the price at most local and online retailers. It's stunning.

Starmappro: This was expensive, but I like astronomy and you can simply use the Iphone's built in compass, GPS, and accelerometers to hold your phone to the sky and ID anything you see and cannot see.

Bible App: I can search verses during church, highlight them, and send to friends.

Gibson Guitar App: Tune a guitar and learn new chords.

Shazam: Play any song for up to 10 secs and Shazam will ID the artist, song title, and tell you where you can buy it.


I love this thing. I live in a 3G area, I'm connected to wifi most of the time anyways, and call all my AT&T friends on their mobile for free. (most of my friends/family have AT&T anyways)