Best PDA Cell Phone

I've had two of everything with both VZ and ATT. I don't think there is a right answer. About the only consistent thing i see is that the more tricks the phone does the less stable it is. I've been using an iPhone for a while. I like it for pictures, music and www but it locks up periodically and is slow to respond. BBerrys still have the best email in my opinion but are more clunky on the web. Some of the other LG PDAs look pretty fragile. Coverage just depends on where you are.

For all the billions of dollars spent on HW and service I continue to be disappointed in spotty coverage, dropped calls, and crappy customer service at both carriers. I'd really like a phone that just works well and a company that bills correctly.

I carry a Motorola razr when I don't feel like lugging the PDA. As a phone only, I still think it works better than either PDA.

Buy the one with the interface you like. Good luck.

 

I haven't had any PDA phone before the Blackberry Curve that I bought recently. I really like it and it works great for viewing and sending emails. The main reason why I chose it over the Iphone was because I can't afford to replace the IPhone every time the screen breaks. The blackberry is completely covered with insurance which you can't do with an Iphone. The blackberry is better for emails but the Iphone is better for surfing the web.

 

Well said... I also like the physical keyboard on my Curve over an all-screen PDA/Smart phone.

 

IPHONE hands down. exchange support is great and the amount of apps made for the iphone is redic

 

I take back my snotty comments about ATT customer service I made in a previous post. I just got off the phone with a service rep who went through my billing on a line by line basis. She moved stuff around and optimized a few things. It's going to save me about $100/month. She was more than helpful.

 

doesn't matter what carrier...get a blackberry.

but stay away from any touch screen phone, they crash more often than non-touch screen devices.

 

I've had the same experience with AT+T customer service. When I added a heavy texting son they retroactively adjusted my bill and switched to unlimited. Saved me more than the price of an iPhone.

Speaking of iPhone, I switched from a Treo 650 in June '07. While sometimes it is a tad slow in it's responses, web, and email it has a clarity of function that nothing else comes close to. It just works. It needs a good global search function and cut/paste, but I imagine those will come. It started off very good and has been substantially improved along the way. - GJ

ps seldom crashes

(still like the ol' Treo better than wifes Blackberry)

 

Iphone no contest.

 

If you use outlook a lot and do a lot of email correspondence Blackberry. I really like the new 9000.
If you mostly the phone and occasional email, browsing Iphone.
Also if you talk on your phone a lot, battery will be an issue. Big, huge problem on the Iphone. Blackberry is a lot better on efficiency and you can swap batteries.

 

I think those who say iPhone likely haven't tried much else There are a LOT of shortcomings on the iPhone.


-No SIP over WiFi... EVER

-Horrible battery life, forget about using VOIP on the iPhone

-Apple controls the apps, so many otherwise useful apps will never see the light of day on the iPhone


It's a cool phone, but it's the current hotness and I don't think it beats other PDA phones in terms of use as real business devices. I think the Blackberry is a better business device, and I think my E71 is a better device by a long shot too.

 

I use my iphone alot, all day, plug in at night, no prob. I've had phones with swappable batteries and the spare never has a full charge when you need it. Apps, who has as many, as useful, as accessable, etc Apple controls the apps so you do not end up with a phone that crashes all day. I reset perhaps once a month and almost never have a hic-up (three pages of apps)

iphone downloads full emails over an ok network so it will not be as efficient as the reduced email over a crackberry. If it is mostly a email requirement the crackberry wins, otherwise the iphone is a strong product. GJ

 

My wife and daughters have iPhones whereas I have a Blackberry. I prefer the BB as I do not like touchscreens...

 

iPhones are great for high school girls or college students. For a businessperson I don't think it would be very useful at all. Even as just a regular power user I couldn't stand mine and I gave it away when I didn't want it any more.

 

It's certainly a good phone, but I think it most certainly has shortcomings that make it not "the best PDA phone".

Battery life is a known weak point on the iPhone. If you are not using the Wifi very much, and you can plug it in every day, it's not a big deal. If you are a "power user" and use the Wifi, you're going to have trouble with battery life, most likely. Sure, it's not a shortcoming for all users but it's definitely an area where the iPhone falls short of the competition.

On the application side, I would say this is the biggest detriment to the iPhone. Saying that Apple controls them so you don't get bad apps is one way to look at it... but I tend to see that as more of a marketing line from Apple. There are applications that Apple simply refuses to allow - applications that would be useful to the iPhone marketplace but Apple does not allow them because it would potentially take money away from the cell service provider... SIP over GPRS/3G is one such application. Which means if you are a power user and you want to have people reach you at your work number while you are in Japan, the ONLY way to do that is to pay AT&T's international roaming rates which are sky high. With my E71, I can be in Prague and if someone calls my office and dials my extension, it rings to my phone as if I was sitting in my office. And the call is free. And I can leave it running all day... with the iPhone, you'd get maybe 30 minutes of standby before the phone died, making it unusable for this application.

Also, Apple is pretty hard core towards the developers - they essentially mandate low prices for the apps and the authors don't get a lot of $$... so there are many applications that will never see the light of day on the iPhone because Apple takes too big a cut to make it worthwhile for the developers. A phone that runs Symbian or Android doesn't have these problems. Apps that could crash the device are one concern, although if it were to happen you can just remove the app and also, any app is going to have an existing client base who will review and it's easy to judge from others if the app is good or buggy. I've also never had to reset my E71, it's never crashed, so having apps only from Apple doesn't eliminate buggy apps that crash the phone, obviously.

Not a bad phone at all, just not "the best" PDA phone and IMO not as good as a blackberry for "true" business use.

 

I own:

Blackberry Pearl

I've had extensive use with:

Blackberry Storm
iPhone 3G/"2G"
Blackberry Bold
Blackberry Curve 8900 Javelin
Blackberry Curve 8330


IMO, the iPhone 3G is the ultimate. It combines a fun to use phone with a PDA. Without the App Store, I'd say the Bold, but honestly, the App store is ridiculous.

 

How did you like the 9530 (Storm) vs the 8330 (Curve).
Looking for blackberry for my Verizon plan

 

I love both phones, but I'd say go for the Storm, mainly because the software looks a lot better compared to the standard 8330 theme and is far superior.

Also, typing on the Storm really gives it the keyboard feel, so you're essentially getting a 3.25in screen with a keyboard when needed. This makes it loads easier for reading e-mails, internet, etc.

My main use for the phone is the internet, and there's no comparison. For the Curve, the default browser sucks but the Opera browser makes the experience above average. With the Storm default browser, its easy to navigate through fchat and any other site for that matter.

The camera is great too - 3.2MP, auto focus, the whole 9 yards.

oh btw, if you're getting the storm, be sure to upgrade to the latest software. there has been a couple problems with the first gen software, but almost everything was fixed in the current one.

 

I've messed around with my friends iphones for a long time and hated the storm when it first came out. When it came time for a new phone I was checking out all the ones in the store and was pretty set on the dare. Had some extra time while waiting in line and played with the storm and couldn't believe how much better it was.

Just got the Storm 2 days ago and love it so far. Only problem I had was when I was downloading an app it said I didn't have enough memory. Tech said to pull the battery and it has worked awesome since. They did recommend pulling the battery once a month, I've had to do that with other phones anyway, so it's no big deal. The iphone is great, but I love the keyboard feel when you type, and verizon's service.

 

Depends what you are looking for, I have both a BB Curve and HTC Touch Pro (will get the Touch Pro 2 once it launches for my carrier). I love both phones.