Blackberry vs PDA/Smartphone Internet plans?

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Scott Ehrlich - 23 May 2007 11:45 GMT

TM offers a $20/month add-on Internet plan for its Blackberries, and a
$30/month add-on Internet plan for its other PDA/Smartphone devices.

I've emailed their support people asking the difference, and would be
curious what people's experiences here can tell me of the difference(s),
if any, other than just a $10 cost savings?

Does the Blackberry, overall, perform better - phone, operation,
reception, fewer crashes, etc, than their WM competitors?

How does the BB stack against their WM SDA and their Dash?

Phone quality, speakerphone, Internet access (web, ssh), OS quality,
durability, etc. I'd also be looking at Google Maps for Mobile. My
six main areas of need are:

- Reception [quad band]
- Call quality
- Google Maps for Mobile
- Web
- OS stability for everything
- Large enough screen for web usage - my eyes are excellent, but if I want
to zoom into a graphic on a web page (i.e. weather radar or a google map
for a specific area), I'd like to be able to notice details important to
me).

Thanks.

Scott

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Todd Allcock - 23 May 2007 17:15 GMT

> TM offers a $20/month add-on Internet plan for its Blackberries, and a
> $30/month add-on Internet plan for its other PDA/Smartphone devices.
>
> I've emailed their support people asking the difference, and would be
> curious what people's experiences here can tell me of the
> difference(s), if any, other than just a $10 cost savings?

The $30 includes Wi-Fi at the T-Mo "Hotspots" found in Starbucks, a chain
of bookstores (either Borders or Barnes & Noble- I foget which, they're
interchangable in my mind!) and other locations. Since the Blackberries
don't have integrated Wi-Fi, T-Mo sells GPRS-only data packages for them,
but "punishes" WinMo customers, who's devices have Wi-Fi by forcing them
to buy the GPRS/Wi-Fi combo package. (However, WinMo customers can buy
the BB-data package simply by telling the CSR they have a BB and asking
for it- it works fine on WinMo devices.)

> Does the Blackberry, overall, perform better - phone, operation,
> reception, fewer crashes, etc, than their WM competitors?

That's really independent of the data plan. IMO, Blackberries are more
stable/less quirky, but also less featured and have less 3rd-party
software support. I'm a WinMo user personally.

> How does the BB stack against their WM SDA and their Dash?

It really depends what you're after- Blackberries support BIS/BES and
WinMo supports Exchange. Which, if either, does your company use?

> Phone quality, speakerphone, Internet access (web, ssh), OS quality,
> durability, etc. I'd also be looking at Google Maps for Mobile.

There's a separate (and better) version of GMM for WinMo, compared to the
Java version, and a similar, but superior (IMO) app from MS called
Windows Live Search.

> My
> six main areas of need are:
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> google map for a specific area), I'd like to be able to notice details
> important to me).

They're all good devices. I suggest you play with them, either at a T-Mo
store, or buy one to evaluate and exchange it for another model if you
don't like it, using the 14-day trial.

I use an MDA (a PPC phone, with touchscreen, recently replaced by the T-
Mo Wing,) and my wife uses a Dash. While I prefer my MDA for it's
versatility, I find the Dash more "stable." I soft-reset (reboot) my MDA
every day or two to reclaim "leaked" memory (memory not properly returned
to the OS by 3rd-party apps when shut down) but I don't think my wife has
ever reset the Dash and she has the same 17MB available she had a month
ago.

I'd still take a PPC (touchscreen) phone over a Smartphone, however- just
personal preference.

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