I'm deciding between getting the bold or the iphone... can someone please point me in the direction of which I should choose and why.

What is better overall, the bold or iphone?

Thanks in advance.

I found the iPhone too fragile and the keyboard just too slow - also if you txt a lot having to jump between chats was a pain. All in one messaging has its advantages.

If you have more than 1 mailbox, don't get an iphone.

My wife had the IPone for 3 days and went back to her Blackberry, I wouldn't even touch it. The touch screen IMHO is terrible for typing on.

I am a true Crackberry addict thats for sure.

Doubt you will get a true non-biased opinion here! i had an iPhone for a couple days. Gave up when it too 45 minutes and half the battery to try to retrieve email (and didn't). Went directly back to my 8800.

And besides, if you drive a 328i, you should have a blackberry, correct?

I don't drive a 328i and haven't for years, this is an old nick I have used all along. Actually down to a Volvo XC90 now .

It's all good, I want to get rid of my Iphone as well and go back to the BB. I sit and wait on the Bold, if I am going to do it, I'm gonna do it right, and do it with a Bold.

If you like the iPhone touchscreen you may like the Blackberry Storm even better. See the 9500 forum for details. From the specs it'll be better than the new iPhone in just about every category and the touchscreen is far easier to type on (tactile input as well as the electromagnetic highlighting of letters). Check it out. It will probably be released before the Bold in the US.

If you like to make phone calls with your phone then don't get an IPhone. Just horrible phone performance and various other problems I experienced while I had one for 2 weeks. Went back to my 8820 and I am happy again. Waiting on the Bold to launch so I can get a better device. The IPhone was very good at web browsing but that was about it, everything else was a PIA and didn't work very well at all. I don't see what all the buzz was about I thought the device was woefully inadequate for a person using it for business. Your mileage may vary though.

iPhone is really cool, but the battery life on that thing is horrible!! Couple of days ago me and my friends went for a road trip. I was using Google Maps + GPS on my Bold all day long, did not even bother to shut it down when not using, and by 9 pm my phone still had about 15-20% of battery left. My buddy's iPhone was 50% depleted after 1 hour of using google maps + gps!! As soon as you start using iPhone heavily, it just drains the battery.

Besides, if you send lots of emails and do instant messaging, Bold's keyboard is much better. Touch screen is a nice toy, but in my opinion impossible to use for typing fast.

I absolutely prefer Bold to iPhone even though is a very cool toy to play with. But as soon as you're done playing and want some performance, that's when iPhone sucks big time.

While not completely impartial - I can tell you that if multi-media is of prime importance to you for owning a smartphone then go iPhone.

If smartphone functionality is what your after with the emphasis on phone, then Blackberry is the answer.

My reason for staying with BB
- Bluetooth headset voice dialing
- keyboard is much faster - I email a lot
- copy and past (seriously)
- BES server functionality

You won't find a bigger Macintosh fanboi than me, but I won't use the iPhone. My wife has one and loves it, but I can't stand the virtual keyboard. MAYBE it would be useable to me if Apple let it function in landscape mode, but as it is I find it horrendous. That's Deal Breaker #1. If I can't type on it comfortably then it's of no use to me.

Deal Breaker #2: No copy/paste. I use this all the time. I can copy an entire paragraph from email and paste it into a note with my Blackberry. I can also copy and paste from one email into a new email. I do this a lot as well. How can a smart phone NOT have this in 2008?

Deal Breaker #3: No MMS messages. Hey, if everyone you know has email on their phone then this is a non-issue. But I have over 300 entries in my address book and only about 1/2 of them have smart phones with email. The iPhone will only send a picture as email. And it won't receive pictures unless they're in email messages. Again, in 2008, how is there no MMS in a smart phone?

I have an Iphone 3g I am using as my primary device to hold me over until the Bold is released sometime this year or next. For messaging the BB is better but its OS is dated when it comes to applications, programs etc. I will compare the 2 once I get the Bold and decide which one I will use the most. I will probably just swap the sim back and forth. I have been using my BB sim in my iphone 3g and it works perfectly.

Apple has released 2.1 software which fixes a lot of bugs etc. By the time the Bold is released they will probably have 2.2 out

This is what killed my iPhone experience. Battery Life:

Battery life on iPhone: 7 Hours.. Maybe
Battery life on BB: 2 Full Days

iPhone also lacks some truly simple features such as, No MMS, No Copy/Paste, No Video Recording, No Flash.

Points do go to the iPhone for App Repositories, an Amazing OS, the most user friendly virtual keyboard that I have experienced, and a great looking device. It's just missing some features that would truly set it over the top.

I have both, the bold hands down is a superior device. The only thing I like on the iphone 3g compared to the bold is the im style text and the ipod features (most of my music/videos are drm in iphone which is a bit of a pita now using my bold.).

I say go with the bold, you will not regret it.

My iPhone is the worst performing PHONE of my entire life going right back to the Motorola 'brick'.

Blackberry's are great for phone and email. The Bold needs the latest software revision though - first release had a few minor bugs.

I carry both and the iPhone is lucky it hasn't met an untimely death off a high balcony. DO NOT use an iPhone for business.

If you care about typing speed I estimate that I type on the iPhone at 25% of the rate on my Bold.

Dorian

I tried an iPhone. Keyboard just doesnt work for anything more than playing around.

Web worked well, thats about all.

I waited too long for the Bold to be available in my country, so bought iPhone.
iPhone is good for multimedia, picture presentations, music and games.

Have been using Bold since the day I can get my hands on, had problems with battery life on the old OS. But with new released OS 4.6.0.162, BOLD ROCKS.

Bold ftw !!

After years of BB use, I've been using an iPhone for the last 3 months or so. It's a great device, but for business use on a BES it isn't close to a BB. The Exchange sync worked well enough, but it was missing too many features that I came to rely on.

Just went back to BB this morning. It's like having an old friend around again.

Both are great devices. I think it comes down to whether or not you like touchscreens or actual keyboards. But if you plan on using the device through work, I would definitely say Blackberry. Their BES is untouchable to Apple.

BES is untouchable to really anyone...

It really comes down to whether or not the multimedia capabilities of the phone are not more important, but far more important to you then making phone calls and text communication.

If you make calls occasionally, email is something you check "occasionally", and text communication is something you do sporadically, and....
If you want your phone to be a fashion accessory, you plan on spending a lot of time listening to music on it, you love to watch YouTube videos, and you need a near desktop like web browsing experience at your fingertips at all times - then by all means, the iPhone is clearly the right phone for you.

However, the fact that you are even considering a Bold, and found this site, would indicate to me that you are a bit more savvy than the average iPhone user, and that the actual "smartphone" usage of the phone is important to you. In that case, definitely get a BB - Bold or otherwise.

Besides the points that have already been called out in this thread, here are some other advantages of BB devices that I simply cannot live without.

1. LED indicator. I just look at the light if I want to know a message is waiting for me (sms, email, phone vm, IM). This may seem minor, but compare that to what you have to do on an iPhone. You have to physically touch the phone, and do the slide unlock swipe.
2. As a consultant, I legitimately need to monitor 4 email boxes, and need to be able to send and receive "as" from all during the day. I don't think there is an efficient way to do this on the iPhone.
3. Profiles. I love how I can have different sound effects for my different email boxes. With a single tone, I know which email box received email. I don't even need to look or touch my phone. This extends to sms, IM and vm. In addition, it's incredibly easy to switch, configure and create profiles - Normal, Work, Sleep, Vibrate, Loud, Phne Only, etc.
4. Applications are applications. Some crucial applications like GMail, Remember The Milk and last time I checked JiveTalk are all browser based applications on the iPhone. They simply don't feel right and are not efficient. Of course, there are many applications on the iPhone that are true applications, but the 3 I mentioned above are crucial communication and productivity applications that I spend most of my time in.
5. Making a phone call from any application on the BB - Just hit the Green call button, and start typing the person's name and the phone screen will start bringing up people's name as efficiently as Google's search box. Below each name the screen will show each number type registered with the name (Home, Mobile, Work, etc.). Or, if you have assigned seed dial to someone, just hit the Red button, and then hold down the assigned speed dial button.
6. Keyboard Shortcuts - I can quickly navigate to any application with 1 key press, compose an email with one key press, etc.... As you can imagine, many efficient shortcuts with a physical keyboard.

I must admit, the iPhone is extremely attractive. It's the gorgeous blond at the bar that all the guys want to take home, and it's easy to get seduced by it/her. I was that guy before both iPhone launches, but after I played with my friends on both occasions, it became apparent that it's no better than a one night stand. A BlackBerry is like the girl you take home to meet your parents, and spend the rest of your life with.

-conker

Couldn't agree more. I think the iPhone is a great piece of tech, but as a business tool, it's really not there right now. The Blackberry does everything I need it to do today - not 'will be able to do someday...'. and it does it with style and sex appeal (which is still important).

But as you said at the beginning- it comes down to what is important to you.

I made the mistake of upgrading from my Blackberry Curve to the iPhone. I had it for less than two weeks before selling it. I couldn't get used to the typing, it would take me forever to type out long messages. The quality of the actual phone was crap, my calls dropped all the time. I hate no visual indicator of whether or not I have a message. Constantly having to slide to unlock the phone and check was frustrating. I got so fed up with it that I sold it and got the Bold, which was an awesome decision because I LOVE it.

I suppose it all depends on what you're looking for in a phone, but I found out that I will never use anything other than a BlackBerry.

What he said !

I'm an avid Mac user and was leaning to the iPhone immensely. However, after careful deliberation and trying out my friends iPhones and Bolds the Bold was hands down the better phone. Functionally it is simply a better phone. It's starting to get cold here in Canada and trying to type on the iPhone in cold weather is simply not fun.

Another aspect, at least for my use, is the ability to unlock the Bold easily. I travel a lot for work (England, USA, Russia) and not being able to pop in a local sim card into the iPhone 3g is a negative. Obviously you can buy an unlocked iPhone 3G from Australia, Italy and Hong Kong, however, the cost is prohibitive.

There is a simplicity to the Blackberry experience as far as messaging goes that the iPhone cannot match yet. As far as media is concerned the iPhone is a better device, however, I prefer to have a separate iPod for that purpose which I keep at the gym. Browsing is also better on the iPhone, however, for general browsing purposes the Bold does extremely well. The Battery life of the Bold is also considerably better.

The only drawback that I have with Blackberries in general is RIM's lack of decent software for Apple OSX. However, this is slowly being rectified and OSX software is currently under development my RIM; scheduled to be released early next year.

Alright thanks for everyone's feedback,

I've decided to get a blackberry, but the thing is is that I was wondering if I should wait on getting the blackberry bold 9000 because I'm wondering if there will be an updated version coming out very soon.. would this be true? like the blackberry bold 9100 or something???

Did the bold just come out or has it been out for a while?

Typing on the iphone for me is a pain in the ***!

Thanks

Although the keyboard argument for BlackBerry's is certainly relevant and a deal maker for many when considering the iPhone versus the Bold, I think it is much more important to think beyond that when considering the pros and cons of both devices.

Hypothetically speaking, what if Apple comes out with an iPhone with a physical keyboard? Would that sway you towards buying an iPhone instead of a BB device? For me, no, and I have listed some reasons in an earlier post. This is how I approach this discussion on the many occasions it comes up within these forums and with friends.

Good timing, checkout:

Logical BlackBerry Smartphone Speculation for 2009 | CrackBerry.com
Rogers 2009 BlackBerry lineup : Boy Genius Report
BlackBerry Magnum to appear at WES 2009? | BlackBerry Cool

My feeling is, you are always going to be behind the curve. Apple has stepped up the pressure on everyone by releasing a new version of it's product lineup every year! Look at how this has influenced RIM. They are cranking out devices! You've got to ask yourself what is missing from the Bold that you desire. The Bold is loaded. I suppose you could make a somewhat legitimate argument to wait for:

+ Higher megapixel camera
+ More on board memory
+ Touch screen
+ Larger screen

??? However, I think every other h/w specification that is important and desirable is in the Bold.

-conker

Thank you, so it's good timing to pickup the bold now?

Thanks a lot

Your call, we can only help you make an informed decision. Hopefully, others who are more knowledgeable will chime in.

I had a blackberry, then i went to the iPhone when it first came out, it is a great phone at first. Actually it is a great video ipod, but email just plain sucks. After 6 months i got very bored with the phone and I went back to the curve until the BOLD came out. Now I am never going back. My path will always remain BB.

Alright, so now my options have kind of changed....

It's between the iphone and the blackberry curve 8300. What would you say, use the iphone 3g or the blackberry curve... This is such a hard decision!

Thanks to everyone's input so far

what's changed?

I had the same decision between iphone and Bold and plumped for the Bold... too many problems i'd find on the iphone:

-no copy and paste (from the people who invented it no less!)
-no multi-tasking
-lack of true push email
-no forwarding of sms messages (not sure of this one)
-no tactile feedback on touchscreen
-poor camera (ok the Bold's isn't much better, so I keep my N82 around)
-lack of video recording
-lack of MMS messaging (though I've never used this)
-not being able to send or receive files/ringtones/music via bluetooth (so you have to email photos)
-no bluetooth stereo headphones (strange it's missing on a glorified iPod!)
-battery can only be removed by Apple which costs upto $100 ? (unless you void the warranty)
-no memory cards.. so no possibility of having hot-swappable 32gb cards in the future. 16gb cards are already out.
-no DivX/XviD support.
-poor telephony quality
-difficult to use one-handed.
-no mass storage support
-having to install the iTunes virus on your computer to transfer files/music.
-no rapid speed dial
-no BB Messenger ;)

-no hardware keyboard (duh! I just don't think I'd get along with current touchscreens, only the Storm with it's click may be ok).

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there is more, but it also does SOME things very well, like web browsing... the music player is supposed to be ok, and the screen size is a big plus of course.

I'll also add, the N82 seems to multitask better than the Bold and has native FlashLite support, a better 3.2MP camera (not a factor for me as I have the 5MP N82) as well as Fring available for it (great for Skype and messengers). I almost went for the Nokia E71 and the only thing that stopped me was the slightly smaller screen size, what *looks* like a more cramped keyboard (but is supposed to be one of the best) and strangely, lack of divx/xvid, though I know CorePlayer plays DivX etc (I have it on the N82). And I wasn't sure if push mail would be quite the same.

If you are really considering the iphone and don't mind no push email, I'd go for the E71. Great all-metal build quality.

Also, having both the Bold and the N82, the Bold seems to freeze more than the N82 which seems to be quicker, so I would imagine the E71 may be quicker. Still enjoying the Bold though Keep in mind for movie viewing, you will need well converted files into DivX or XviD or there are problems with sync'd audio etc. I've found myself converting a lot to the smaller mp4 format to fit in more as well, so that may defeat the whole reasoning for me wanting DivX support...!

Gotta say this, seems like there are more free Symbian apps available than BB :(

Why would you want to get old technology in the Curve and skip over the Bold?

ibodybuild, it is still a matter of what you want. My original reply to you still applies. The decision should simply be based on whether or not you will rely on the device for heavy text communication. If only casually, then go for the iPhone. Please see my original reply to you.

You want a true report i will tell u. i had the iphone 2g from the day it came out until the new 3g came out. i loved it. i used to have a BB curve and it was great for business. the iphone 2g was great because it filled all my needs at the time but it still lacked some key features. when i went to the 3g i was disappointed because of the quality and the service dropped. i will keep it short and sweet if you are a heavy email user BB if you want coolness and more meidia then iphone. i am now using the BB bold and i am loving it for emails and business. i sold my iphone and got the ipod touch for media. PM me if you want more info. i went what you are going threw now.

RIM is really missing the boat by not being able to get its stuff together with the Bold. I am a true BB lover and will wait for however long it takes them to perfect the Bold. As for general overall sales, the fact remains that most smart phone users are not the afficionados that we on this forum are. My wife needed a new phone and simply refused to wait for the Bold to come out so she opted for the iPhone. Despite what many have said about the iPhone on this forum about its shortcomings, the public has spoken and Apple's profits are up 26% almost solely due to the termendous sales of the iPhone.

RIM take heed and fix the Bold's problems!!

They are two totally different devices and you cannot really make a fair comparison.

The screen on the iPhone is twice the size of any Blackberry.

iPhone has a virtual keyboard (indeed - whole interface is touch of course) and BB obviously has a physical keyboard. I certainly do miss the physical keyboard on my curve as well as autotext, but I actually type a lot faster than I thought I would on the iPhone.

Internet -- iPhone, hands down. Period. Anyone who has ever seen one knows what the iPhone can do on Internet.

Email - Blackberry wins hands down. With iPhone, the only way to get true push is if you have Exchange, MobileMe, or Yahoo. Also no real IM on iPhone because as soon as the phone goes "idle" it kicks you off of any chat you might be engaged in, and you are unable to receive any messages.

There are some rumors that this might be fixed in the upcoming 2.2 firmware, but who knows........

The iPhone can do things that no Blackberry could ever even dream of doing. You can truly use the iPhone as an eBook reader.

I get tired of looking at lengthy e-mails on a Blackberry, let alone an entire book!

One more thing - 128mb on the BOLD vs. 8 or 16GB on the iPhone.

Enough said.

I had a Curve and an 8700 and do not (yet?) have a bold, but the call quality on my iPhone is amazing, much better than either of my Blackberrys and switching back and forth between calls is a lot smoother, faster, easier and much more seamless than it was on either of my two blackberries. It is a lot easier to quickly touch a large virtual button than to scroll a tiny wheel or ball to exactly the right option.

RIM lost one certain sale here as well by not getting the Bold out fast enough -- I bought an iPhone a couple weeks ago and I'm happy enough with it that I am no longer clamoring for the bold as I had been.

I was getting fed up with the pathetic amount of memory on my curve -- 64 MB???? Come ON, RIM!!!!! And having to constantly delete e-mails and keep on top of my system memory, finding things to delete or clean up.

With 8 GIGS on the iPhone, I'm constantly looking for things to fill it up, and new things to do with it instead of ways to pare it down like on my BB Curve. Worrying about deleting emails, etc.......

Even the new bold is only going to have 128MB of actual system memory -- the gigabyte they threw in is only for media!!! WTF????

*maybe* I'll change my mind after I see and play with a Bold, but I'm really liking my iPhone a lot - a lot more than I had expected to.