Treo/Blackberry Pros Cons

[Kev]

My phone is about to die, and I still have a year and a half left on my Bell contract, so I'm looking at getting a used Treo or BB to try out for the remainder and see if I should go with a new one when the contract is up.

I just want to get some actual users personal opinions about their PDA/phones before I decide which one to grab.

[urban1]

What do you want out of the device?

Are you paying for your monthly plan out of your own pocket?

The big difference is that with the Blackberry you will need to get a BB voice plan and a BB data plan. These plans are different from regular plans. If you get the Treo, you can get a regular cell phone plan. Other than that, go and play with each of the devices and see which one you like the best. They all have their pros and cons and legions of loyal fans for each of them.

[fredr123]

Can anyone recommend a decent phone place that will let you play with the device? I've been looking around myself and it seems most cell phone shops just have a mock up that doesn't do anything at all.

Has anyone used their mobile device to save time and make changes to the TPS Report without going back to the office?

[Kev]

I actually didn't realize that I would only need a special data plan for the BB, but not the Treo. It's my own personal phone, not company. I've heard that the Treo isn't as good a phone as the BB, and wanted to hear some personal usage stories from actual current and past users to verify if this true or not.

[calculoso]

I have a Treo 650 and love it, except for 3 things.

Love:
- PDA: I have my calendar, etc with me at all times
- Lots of Palm OS programs out there to increase the functionality of the phone (be careful with quality...). EG: Word, Excel, PDF, Quicken, plus custom apps (Tip calculation, car mileage, conversion app, etc)
- Call quality is better than the old Nokia I had before

Hate:
- Bluetooth support is flaky. If I reboot my phone after using the Bluetooth headset, I don't have a problem. If I don't reboot it, my phone can spontaneously reboot itself
- Data Plans through Rogers are insanely expensive. I don't use my phone for email or internet at all.
- Needed to get an external app (VolumeCare, $15 or so) to boost the volume or won't be able to hear those I'm talking to.


I don't really know much about the newer Palm phones.. but I would definitely buy another one.

[ken0042]

Having used a BB for work in the past; I have found my fingers are too fat to be able to type well on it. I also found it sucked as a phone; primarily because I had trouble finding the "sweet spot" to hold it up to my ear, and also because I couldn't really hold it with my shoulder like many of us do to get the use of both hands. YMMV as I know other don't have these problems.

Originally Posted by fredr123

Can anyone recommend a decent phone place that will let you play with the device?

The Telus store in the strip mall by Ikea let me monkey around with my phone before I bought it. Couldn't make a call however.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Kev

I actually didn't realize that I would only need a special data plan for the BB, but not the Treo. It's my own personal phone, not company. I've heard that the Treo isn't as good a phone as the BB, and wanted to hear some personal usage stories from actual current and past users to verify if this true or not.

Whoa - if you're going to have email on a Treo, I think you need a data plan of some sort. That data's got to get to your phone somehow.

I'm quite happy with my Blackberry, gone from and 8703 to an 8830 World Phone. Nothing beats a BB for email. I too find the keys on my latest 8830 a bit small, but the older 8800's are just right IMHO.

[return to the red]

this thread couldn't have come at a better time. I was actually going to start one today as well.

What about the BB Pearl, I like the BB's but don't really care for the size

also, when we are talking about Data plans and such how much exactly are we talking?

Calculoso, I have a regular Palm Right now with all my contacts and such in them, is it possible to just zap them over?

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by calculoso

I have a Treo 650 and love it, except for 3 things.

Love:
- PDA: I have my calendar, etc with me at all times
- Lots of Palm OS programs out there to increase the functionality of the phone (be careful with quality...). EG: Word, Excel, PDF, Quicken, plus custom apps (Tip calculation, car mileage, conversion app, etc)
- Call quality is better than the old Nokia I had before

Hate:
- Bluetooth support is flaky. If I reboot my phone after using the Bluetooth headset, I don't have a problem. If I don't reboot it, my phone can spontaneously reboot itself
- Data Plans through Rogers are insanely expensive. I don't use my phone for email or internet at all.
- Needed to get an external app (VolumeCare, $15 or so) to boost the volume or won't be able to hear those I'm talking to.


I don't really know much about the newer Palm phones.. but I would definitely buy another one.

Can you use those programs to edit a .doc or .xls file without wanting to skip your device across the Glenmore Resevoir? I've heard doing things like that and viewing PDFs are infuriatingly annoying.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by fotze

My blackberry has been pretty good. Anyone know good blackberry NHL score update sites?

I'd kill for a good push realtime NHL scoring site! You can get text indicators but that's going to cost you per text/ The best I can do is go to ESPN mobile right now. Score has a mobile app, but it's not real time and you have to manually refresh it.

With RIM being Canadian, you'd think this would have been one of the 1st apps out.

Editing .xls or .doc is a bit of pain on BB as far as I can tell but I've really only viewed docs. I think a stylus Windows CE device is your best bet if that's what you want.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by return to the red

Calculoso, I have a regular Palm Right now with all my contacts and such in them, is it possible to just zap them over?

I'm not sure. If it's based on the same OS (ie: a PALMOS Treo instead of a Windows Mobile Treo) then I wouldn't see why not - or at least there would be some kind of conversion. If it's a WM Treo, there may be some kind of conversion to Outlook (or whatever program WM uses).

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by fredr123

Can you use those programs to edit a .doc or .xls file without wanting to skip your device across the Glenmore Resevoir? I've heard doing things like that and viewing PDFs are infuriatingly annoying.

If you want the .doc or .xls to look the same as it would on a desktop, you're probably out of luck. The latest version of the app I'm using is a lot better with Tables in Word, but still doesn't have near the flexibility as Word on a PC. If it's pure text (no tables, which is what I've dealt with mostly) then it's not terribly bad for creation... just make sure to proof it and format it on a PC afterwards.

Excel is kind of a pain, as the screen is only so big and can only hold so many cells at once, but it's still pretty flexible.

Haven't tried a PDF yet.

[Kev]

Anyone know of any good places to buy used ones, either BBs or Treos?

[metal_geek]

I like my BB pearl, The predective text thing works well and the email/data works great... No Video on the camera sucks.. and no stereo music though bluetooth sucks.. but thats supposed to be fixed with the Pearl 2 comming out shortly
________
Lovely Wendie99

[The Goon]

I agree with most of the pros and cons that calculoso lists for the Treo, as I've had one since Christmas '05. Only difference is that I'm on Bell instead of Rogers. I have also had friends complain about the keys being too small for their fingers, but I'm lucky to not have that problem.

I like the device, but I would probably look at a BB when this phone dies/my contract comes around next year (whichever comes first). I do tend to drop it a lot, making me think it'll be dead before December '08.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by return to the red

also, when we are talking about Data plans and such how much exactly are we talking?

Rogers Blackberry Voice and Email plans:
http://www.shoprogers.com/business/w...il&cat=3&typ=2
or
http://www.shoprogers.com/Business/W...emailplans.asp

Rogers Mobile Internet (not sure if this would work on a Treo or not...):
http://www.shoprogers.com/store/wire...e-internet.asp

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by metal_geek

I like my BB pearl, The predective text thing works well and the email/data works great... No Video on the camera sucks.. and no stereo music though bluetooth sucks.. but thats supposed to be fixed with the Pearl 2 comming out shortly

Rogers the only that carries the Pearl?

[urban1]

Yeah, sorry may be i wasnt clear. You will need a data plan but the voice plans are more flexible than the BB and the data plans are coming down in price. bottom line is you need to determine what you want to do with the device and then go from there. for the average casual user, a BB voice and data plan is still quite pricey even though recent numbers have shown growth outside of corporate users for bb plans.

www.howardforums.com is a good resource.

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Whoa - if you're going to have email on a Treo, I think you need a data plan of some sort. That data's got to get to your phone somehow.

I'm quite happy with my Blackberry, gone from and 8703 to an 8830 World Phone. Nothing beats a BB for email. I too find the keys on my latest 8830 a bit small, but the older 8800's are just right IMHO.

[Slava]

I have a blackberry and a Treo. I couldn't stand either of them. I guess if you email a lot and want constant access then the Blackberry would be useful. Otherwise its not all its "cracked" up to be. Using the internet on them is irritating to say the least...especially the wheel for the blackberry. In both cases the phone itself was horrible.

I finally went in and went back to the plain jane phone without many frills (as few as one can get these days!). I just prefer the phone and palm combination. I may still try the iphone when comes to Canada, but we'll see how that one goes.

I know that I'm in the minority in this case, but comng from someone who used both hoping that they were the best thing since sliced bread, those are my thoughts.

[burn_baby_burn]

I had a Treo 650 with the Palm OS for about a year and a half. This spring I picked up a Treo 700wx with the Windows OS. Both of them have their pros and cons (The OS I mean).

I probably have about 1000 contacts in my phone that I am updating and adding to constantly. Its great for adding info on the fly (my fingers are not too big for the keys so I find it easy to type on). On that note, I also love it for text messaging (I found the Palm OS better for this application, it keeps the messages in a chat forum. It also has a customizable quick response that can easily be selected). I check my email on it but rarely send emails or surf the web. It is very expensive. My bill is usually $200-$250 a month.

I do use Word and Excel, but unless your on a plane or bored waiting somewhere. You will not want to construct any major spread sheets with it. Allthough you could if you had the time and patience.

I also view PDF files on it. It is a bit annoying. But I carry those files to provide insant access to important product information that I can't allways seem to keep stored in my head.

Somebody asked how hard it was to load their contact info from their Palm Pilot to the Smartphone. Simple, it will put your entire contact list (if your use the palm or MS Outlook for your contacts) onto your smart phone when you set up your first sync with your computer.

Cons? The 650's speaker wasn't loud enough so I had to get additional software to boost the volume. The 700wx is loud enough out of the box. Both seem to lock up once in a while and need to be rebooted. Personally I have issues with the differant OS. PM if that interests you at all.