I have been using the Blackberry Curve (8330) on Verizon for a while now, but keep finding myself awwing at the iPhone 3G.

Question: Does anyone use a Curve and iPod Touch combo to get rid of this "aww"?

I don't know if I should go to the iPhone completely.

Thanks in advance!

-Sleam

the iphone does have some definite appeal, but how long would it take for that to wear off if you were to get one? my guess is not long. my view on the issue is this: iphone = novelty, blackberry = practicality. if you've grown accustomed to your 8330 and you switch to the iphone, what happens if you find yourself wanting to switch back? could be a pretty pricey little process for you by the time it's all said and done.

if you're up for a new phone, how about the storm? a lot of its features have that "wow" factor, and you wouldn't have to switch carriers.

my answer is obviously loaded with blackberry bias, but anything to help prevent someone from switching over to the evil iphone!

Wirelessly posted (Its All About the U!)

Great post above me.
In simple terms, go to the store and play with the iphone device. It begins with your touchscreen preferences.

Iphone has the best browser. For Email,you have the best now.

It also depends on how you will be using the iPod Touch.


Is this something you will be using throughout most of the day? Do you need the functionality of a Blackberry or do you really only use it for text messaging? I think we would need a little more information to really help you with it.

For me personally, I only use an iPod when I am driving, which is maybe between 1 and 3 hours a day. In this case, I have a curve (8310), and an old iPod nano that I will upgrade to a touch when it kicks the bucket. It will work fine for me because of my needs for an iPod, which are minimal. The increased functionality of an iPod Touch will be nice for when I travel, but for a typical day, I don't use it very much. It really depends on your situation which would be the best way for you to go.

Ick, I wouldn't want to carry two devices in my pocket. The BlackBerry does have a built-in media player, although you need to buy a microSD card to take advantage of that capability. As someone said, it is a matter of practicality -- if I bought all the devices I awed at, I'd be broke.

I guess I'm the first poster that meets your criteria: I own the BlackBerry Curve and the iPod Touch. I love both devices, but if I could only have one of them, it'd be my Curve. It is the more productive of the two, and I can use its media functions if need be. However, being able to own both, if I'm in a WiFi spot and want to do some serious web browsing, the Safari browser with my iPod is hard to beat. Plus, I like to watch movies from time to time on my iPod, which I can't see myself doing a lot on my Curve. For moderate to heavy texting though, nothing supplants the hardware keyboard, in my experience. So between these two devices, I can do just about anything I want to do electronically, and with pleasure. I would go with the combo before I'd go with the iPhone, hands down.

I totally agree with Jack, but that is mainly due to my need to be able to e-mail and text is why I have a curve. The touch screens are cool, but very unfriendly when it comes to having to do a lot of texting and emails (IMO).

A little off the subject, but if the rumor is true, they say the 2nd Gen iPod Touch has BT built in but only setup for the Nike thing. If true, the iPod gets a software update then WHAM!!!... BT tethering

I also have a curve and ipod touch as well. And I third what JackG058 said. The ipod touch is a nice device for viewing videos and web browsing (in a wifi zone) on the road to kill time. I don't use it often enough as a serious device for work productivity, though I have tried. Do I think this combo would get rid of the "awww" for the iphone? No. Once your mind is made up, nothing is going to change it, other than experience, and experience is a cruel but effective teacher. That said, I like the ipod touch and having used it, it doesn't make me want to "upgrade" to an iphone.

You can't beat first hand experience. Give it a shot and make up your mind before the return window closes.

I have both. If ATT had better service in my area I would have an Iphone. But I am limited to Verizon and went with a Blackberry. I am very happy with my BB but I too suffer from the awe of the iPhone.

I don't carry my Ipod anymore, I have my itunes in my SD card of my BB true media sync and use the wired stereo headset.

I'm another one that has both the Curve and the Touch. The Curve is all business with a little media. I work for 10+ hours a day, so that's very very important to me. The Touch provides much more entertainment value, especially if you've got accessible WiFi. I got the Touch as a gift from someone that didn't really understand how to use it and proceeded to call him from it a few minutes later. Great fun, but the Touch could never replace my Curve during the work day.

If you want the "aww factor" of the iPhone and still like your Curve, why not look at a BB Storm? At least with the Storm you can actually send MMS messages...

I have a BB Curve 8330. As mentioned a million times on this site, you simply can not compare the messaging (whether Email, SMS or MMS oops!) of the Curve to the iPhone. Cut/Paste are you kidding me? Didn't Apple "invent" that with the original GUI OS that M$ "stole" from them? Web browsing does go to the iPhone - but from what I gather, that's about it.

Now for media, on my 16GB microSD card I currently have: approx. 4000mp3 songs, a few audio books, a few episodes of The Office, the full movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall and a crapload of Pictures/video clips. My brother has the Storm - I put The Office on his to compare. As adequate as they play on my Curve they are even better on the Storm (if u dont mind touchscreen which you must not if you are thinking of going to an iPhone).

Just my 2 cents...BB all the way!

I have some concerns with the screen on the storm. From what I have played with at the Verizon store (all non-working models) you click the entire screen... Is that correct? If it is I wonder what the reasoning behind it is. The iPhone is a true touch screen where the storm does have a mechanical click. I would be interested in seeing what the expected life of the storms screen is, and also the life of the iPhone screen.

PS - Please don't flame me for appearing to "hate on" the storm. I have a blackberry, not an iPhone, so I'm in your club not theirs.

i'd also be interested in hearing others' opinions on this. while playing around with my friend's storm the other day, i was really annoyed at how slowly i had to click the screen when texting from letter-to-letter. i'm a pretty fast texter, and i had to consciously slow down in order for each letter i pressed to register. it's as if there was a lag time between when the screen could register one click before allowing me to click the next letter. i've never been big on touch screens, but this feature alone is a dealbreaker for me and the storm. i haven't texted on an iphone, so i'm not sure how this compares.

Having gone the *other* way, I can say "Your Mileage May Vary" .

My iPhone is a great entertainment device. On a trip where you dont want to lug a laptop, it is quite good for a movie, and the iPod functions are obviously great.

What it didnt do for me, was make my business life any easier. I use tons of minutes, e-mail and text during my work day. Given AT&T's motto of "we're not happy until you're not happy", the assorted 3G issues even in Southern California, and the $150+ bill added up to trying something else.

For me, Sprint Everything and a 8330 works better, and I can type when I am wearing gloves. And add memory capacity without out having to buy a new phone, cut and paste, MMS, etc...

In the end, it doesn't matter much what anyone says, until you give it a try you won't know for sure.

I second that. My curve does alot for me as far as day to day productivity and I have the touch to use at the gym or work. I had the "AWWW" feeling about the iphone when it first came out but now that I have the touch to play with, that feeling has gone. The touch is basically the iphone minus the phone anyway, but I have the curve for that plus more. Just think of the touch as an extension to the curve. I don't however carry the touch everywhere I go anyway.

Wirelessly posted

In regards to the BB Storm, yes you do have to press and click down on the whole screen. BB wanted to have the appeal of a touchscreen but also knew that many of their customers liked the tactile feedback of a physical keyboard. So the idea they came up with seemed like a happy compromise between the two. I have also heard that with their design, the act of having to push down acts as a confirmation of sorts because a gentle swipe can lead to accidental keys being pushed on a traditional touchscreen.

I just got a chance to play with the Storm yesterday, as my uncle and aunt both have one now. I must say I was impressed, and I felt that the onscreen keyboard was actually pretty nice, as was the screen responsiveness itself. If I were willing to give up the hardware keyboard, and the Storm was on Sprint, I can see myself moving over to it. However, I'll still take my Curve and iPod Touch combo, and look forward to the Bold on Sprint.

I've had an ipod touch pretty much since they first came out. (I had the 1st gen. 16gig for about a year, but now I have the 2nd gen. 32gig.) I believe that it is a great music and video player, and a very effective wifi machine.

I've never had a touchscreen phone and I have just upgraded to my first Blackberry (8330) a few days ago. When it comes to a phone, I believe that mechanical buttons are the way to go. Texting and E-mailing will always feel better with "real" buttons.

The combination of these two devices takes care of all the mobile needs that I will come into contact with:
Blackberry - phone calls, texting, e-mail, calendar
Ipod Touch - music, videos, internet, apps

This combination gives me the best of both worlds instead of watering down the functionality of one device to consolidate them into just one.

I have the 8320 and a 2nd gen 16gig touch. love them both. the combo, for me, is the way to go. I've been so happy with my curve that I almost didn't get the touch but I finally gave my husband back his mini and upgraded to the touch. great media (obviously) and internet and games, lots of whiz-bang for my buck. but email and typing on the touch, again for me, is almost torture. I never knew how much I liked my qwerty curve till I tried to type on the touch.

like everyone has said - your mileage may vary. go play at a store, borrow a friends, decide for yourself. good luck, let us know how it comes out.

imhave both and am satisfied

I don't get it. You have a curve, why would you need to carry an ipod as well?

Really....music, videos? You can do that on the curve. My only reasoning is if you want a tocuh screen device, or ulove the apps. Other than that, why carry two?

i would much rather use the curve and ipod touch combo simply because i can have the customizable apps and loads of music on the ipod, while also having the features of a blackberry that the iphone doesnt have. For example, i use a lot of MMS messaging.

If I had the Bold or the soon to be released Niagara on Sprint, I might not be as interested in the combo of the Curve/iPod Touch. However, I like to watch movies/videos a lot on my iPod, and as nice as the screen is on the Curve it doesn't compare to the iPod for movie viewing, at least IMHO. I actually don't carry my iPod too much, instead using it to watch video at night when I go to bed, or when I travel.

stay with the bb...if you want to "consolidate" then get an 8gig sd for your phone and youll b good

If you are replying to me, just to clarify the Niagara coming to Sprint is a BlackBerry. I'm not planning on leaving the Berry life.

Funny, I was just recently having a similar discussion in another forum.

For me, my cellular phone is a phone first, and anything else second. For that reason, and that reason alone, I could not own an iPhone, flat out period!

My best friend and his wife have both succumbed to the "follow the herd" marketing of the iPhone, and call quality when I am speaking with either of them has suffered greatly from their previous cell phones. For the record, he was on a Windows-based Treo with Sprint, and she was on an unlocked Motorola RIZR with AT&T.

Last night was a perfect example. My friend called on his way home. Over the course of a 25 minute call, as he was driving homeward from Chicago, he dropped twice, and faded in and out countless times. This was a route over which we've spoken numerous times without incident when he owned his Treo. If you cannot get reception in the Chicago market, then your phone is pretty much garbage IMHO.

Yes, the Safari browser is pretty nice, and if you want to do WiFi, you can view your YouTube videos much better over the iPhone or iTouch much better than they will appear on a Curve.

My solution to this is...

I use my Curve as my primary phone/email/text, etc device when I am out and about. If I want to stop at Starbucks, Mickey D's, Panera, etc, to take advantage of WiFi and maybe catch a YouTube video, I don't even bother messing with a small player (I have a Sandisk for such purposes BTW). I whip out my Acer Aspire One. Loaded with both Windows XP and Ubuntu Jaunty Linux, it is far more capable than the iTouch or iPhone, and at least when I'm on the Linux side, far more secure as well! Prior to the Aspire One, I had the 7" Asus Eee PC 4G Surf, but the little Acer just gives me more flexibility.

If you absolutely, positively feel that you just HAVE to be a follower, then join the Apple herd. Otherwise though, there are alternatives out there. Use your imagination. That is why your Higher Power gave it to you!

its matter of personal opinion. use iphone for 2 weeks and if you don't like it exchange it back for a blackberry. Personally I wouldn't want to carry 2 devices in my pocket unless I had always with me a bag.

I've had my BB and Ipod Touch for a few months and couldn't be happier carrying both devices. I used to satisfy most of my work and entertainment needs strictly on the BB (email, phone, time management, music, audiobooks, video, book-reading, etc...). It worked great if I didn't mind charging up my phone twice a day and sometimes hypermiling it when I couldn't, that is, until I got stuck at an airport without a charger thanks to an extended layover.

So I upgraded my Nano, which had been gathering dust thanks to the BB, to an Ipod Touch, and now I have the benefit of being able to work and to entertain myself without worrying about running out of juice for a pretty long time. My BB is mostly for calls, email, and time management, while I've relegated all my music, audiobooks, book-reading, and video to the Ipod Touch. I have to admit, the Ipod Touch screen is gorgeous and sharp. And with fewer apps on my BB taking up space, it has been running better.

I really don't mind carrying both devices as they are now serving the purposes they were originally built to serve. The Ipod is pretty slim in the pocket and my BB, well, when I don't have it, my body is all out of sorts and seriously missing it, as if it were a body part. It's the best of both worlds, with none of the bad of either platform. Hope this helps!

Cheers!
-h

exactly!

Of course, you could have bought an extra OEM battery through Amazon for five bucks, much smaller, but without the Apple "cool" factor attached to it. Oh yes, a charger for the spare battery, with power supply and from the same source, would have set you back less than ten bucks additional.

For those that plan on really being in the boondocks, but do not want to become part of the Apple herd, there's always the 3GJUICE "MAJOR MOJO" 5400mAh battery backup "juicer." It will set you back less than half the price of a Touch, and it will give your BB about three additional charges before needing to be replenished itself. That, and a spare battery, could take you to the mountaintop!

Curve is a great device, and I love mine. But I would still not say it is as pleasant watching videos on it as it is on my iPod Touch. This has nothing to do with "herd" mentality as you like to say, but simply the ability to enjoy great products. Really, who besides you wants to carry their Acer netbook around all the time? And I have one of those too so I have some experience with which to voice my opinion. Each device has their place, and I just feel lucky that we have so many superb choices to meet the varied needs.

No need to use inflammatory labels to support your position either!

Acer does not market its Aspire One, or any of its other devices as a "lifestyle," while Apple markets every one of its devices as such. That has been their market strategy going back at least since the introduction of the iPod. Every person that I know who owns an Apple product purchased it primarily based on its "cool factor," even though, as with the iPhone 3G, it may not do its primary job, that is, being a phone, even as well as a $20 TracFone!

The only reason for purchasing a sub-par product at a Rodeo Drive price that I can think of is what I term as "herd mentality."

I am sure that in your case, you have a justifiable reason for purchasing three products (your BB, your iTouch, and your Aspire One) to do the job of two, but many in this day and age, plain don't have the spare disposable cash to pitch on that third, redundant item.

We have become a society that for the most part associates itself with brands. Apple has capitalized on that to the max. At this point, they've out-Harley'd Harley-Davidson, and that's saying alot.

Hope I didn't ruffle your feathers too badly Jack.

I have owned an iphone 3g 8gb. I was caught by the wow factor and for the first week i thought it was amazing.

In fact it was the wow factor that was hiding all of the horrible bits.

These are the reasons why i got rid of my iphone (not in any order)

1) MMS - no mms

2) No more than 1 program open at a time

3) You cannot bluetooth anything at all. Only can be used with headsets and car kits

4) PC Connectivity. You cannot just quickly connect it to a pc and just copy files onto it

5) Texting is slow and hard to hit the right letters

6) You cannot forward text messages

7) There is always the fear of breaking the screen

8) No custom ring tones or text tones

9) Web browser is only good if you get 3g signal or wifi. Basic gprs is too slow for it.

10) No video camera

This is just my personal opinion though

No worries about ruffling my feathers. I do personally have a need for my 3 products. The Aspire One mostly for a cheap Windows XP laptop. I use my iPod for the video capabilities mostly, along with music. It also shows me that I would not be happy with the iPhone because of the onscreen keyboard. I much prefer the hardware keyboard of my BlackBerry, and my Palm's of the past. I'm just saying I didn't buy my iPod because of coolness factor. The screen is superb for watching video, and that is the main reason I have it. Any other usage, such as the occasional game, is just an added benefit.

Jailbreak.

You mean that "jailbreaking" the iPhone will allow for video function from the camera? It will allow for multi-tasking? It will suddenly add the OBEX profile to Bluetooth? It will fix the difficulty with texting? It will make the screen bulletproof? And last, will it speed up web browsing under GPRS?

Oh since jayuk022002 didn't mention it, I'll add it and ask here. Will jailbreaking fix the lousy RF reception?

I don't think so!

A garbage phone, even if it's sexy, is still a garbage phone. But hey, it is soooo desirable. HA!

Let me clarify my "Jailbreak" post:

1. MMS: Native iPhone App: You can now Send & Receive MMS on your iPhone using SwirlyMMS - iPhone Hacks

2. Running apps in the background: http://lifehacker.com/5058555/iphone...le-iphone-apps

3. Bluetooth: iBluetooth Released - First iPhone App to Allow Users to Transfer Files via Bluetooth - iPhone Hacks

4. PC Connectivity: No need to jailbreak here DISCOVER

5. Try a different keyboard: keyboard themes for iphone - Google Search

6. Forward text messages: Text forwarding/deleting with BiteSMS / Jailbreak req'd - iPhone 3G | iPod touch Forums

7. Cases: iphone cases - Google Product Search

8. Custom Ring Tones etc.: I'm not even going to link this one as there are thousands.

9. Browser Speed: Wouldn't know as I've got a Touch

10. Video: Lifehacker - VideoRecorder Turns Your iPhone into a Video Camera - Apps Worth Jailbreaking For




All of that being said, I'm a huge fan of my 8300 Curve and am really looking forward to my next BB phone. The point though is that jailbreaking can do sooo much more for your iPhone or Touch.