[starsrblind]

I was a sidekick user for some time too. I switched from a sidekick 3 to a 8700g about a year ago and switched back to a sidekick about 3 months later. The trackball was just so much better than the side scroller wheel! I also used the camera a lot so I missed that. I kept using it until the Curve came out and will never go back to a sidekick (even though the new ones are very pretty).

The only thing I miss about sidekicks is the way all the data is synched up to the servers and everything always comes back. I liked the simple OS too. The text and email notification icons were different looking so it was so much easier to differentiate the too. The BB email and sms icons are very similar looking if you just glance. Also, IM was pretty smooth on the sk. I didn't use it, but you could view away messages and buddy icons, which you can't do with the AIM that comes on the BB. They keyboard was great too, but I would rather have the BB keyboard than have to "open up" the sidekick every time I needed to type. The Curve's keyboard is actually awesome, I find myself making up reasons to type on it! The desktop interface was a neat idea, would love if BB's had that.

The spam on tmail email on the sidekick was just ridiculous and yes, POP email just completely stopped working for me about a month or too before I switched. Unacceptable... and T-mobile nor Danger did nothing about it. That just goes to show you the population they are marketing to. I had to put a setting on my POP email to forward all messages to my tmail account, so I could not avoid the junk mail! I also found myself charging the sk three times a day to keep it alive. Curve: just at night.

The Curve has a lot of the things that remind me of the sidekick, so I don't miss it terribly. I would have a sidekick and BB if I could. But I'd probably use the BB more! I have not even used my mp3 player in 2 months, I have found that the Curve's media player rocks and I like just taking my BB to the gym with me, and not carrying around 2 devices.

[ubizmo]

Originally Posted by starsrblind

The only thing I miss about sidekicks is the way all the data is synched up to the servers and everything always comes back.

Yes that's a powerful feature, and not a "toy" feature either.

They keyboard was great too, but I would rather have the BB keyboard than have to "open up" the sidekick every time I needed to type. The Curve's keyboard is actually awesome, I find myself making up reasons to type on it! The desktop interface was a neat idea, would love if BB's had that.

If you're going to have a "landscape" oriented keyboard, then the phone will have to open and close, so that's just the price you pay for that extra keyboard real estate. The Sidekick swivel does this as well as any other mechanism I've seen. The only other options I know of are a sliding keyboard and a split or flip arrangement, like some Nokias. The kids like the "wow factor" of the swivel. Personally, I just put up with it. If I can get used to the Curve's smaller keyboard I'll be just as glad not to be opening and closing the device. It gets old after a few years.

As for the Desktop Interface, I agree it's a great thing, but of course it depends upon the active sync capability of the Sidekick.

The spam on tmail email on the sidekick was just ridiculous and yes, POP email just completely stopped working for me about a month or too before I switched. Unacceptable... and T-mobile nor Danger did nothing about it.

Coincidentally, since I posted the first message in this thread, the POP mail has been working well again! But since last May it has been very erratic, and has caused problems on more than one occasion. I'm especially annoyed by the fact that Danger disabled the MENU-U command to force-fetch POP mail. This was never announced, and when you execute the command it still says "fetching email", but nothing happens. I had to contact Danger directly to confirm that this functionality had been eliminated.

I also found myself charging the sk three times a day to keep it alive. Curve: just at night.

I've never had battery problems with any SK, except when I'd accidentally activate the camera when putting it into the case. Otherwise I get a full day out of it, with 2 bars or more left when I charge it at night. I expect similar performance from the Curve.

I have not even used my mp3 player in 2 months, I have found that the Curve's media player rocks and I like just taking my BB to the gym with me, and not carrying around 2 devices.

I don't use the LX media player that much. I like the idea of being able to play video clips on the Curve, and I'd like to be able to record and email clips, for fun.

[streetuner]

hey did you solve your dilemma as yet? im kinda in the same position as you are and im planning on upgrading from a sidekick to something more advanced..i hope all goes well with you and hopefully i can figure out what to do myself

[ubizmo]

Originally Posted by streetuner

hey did you solve your dilemma as yet? im kinda in the same position as you are and im planning on upgrading from a sidekick to something more advanced..i hope all goes well with you and hopefully i can figure out what to do myself

Here I am...I kept the Curve and sold the LX on ebay, not without some regrets. Making the decision really forced me to think about my priorities. Moving from the Sidekick to a Blackberry really does involve giving up some good things, but on the whole I'd say it's worth it. One of my main concerns was performance, which in my opinion had been deteriorating steadily on the Sidekick, for a period of over six months. This affected email, IM, and browser. There were good periods, then bad spells, and I just never knew how it was going to be. This was especially annoying with respect to email. Some of the problems may have been due to T-mobile and not the Sidekick platform, but now that I've had the Curve for a while, I have to say that the performance has been very good. This indicates that the Danger proxy system was causing a lot of the trouble.

I am a big fan of phone cameras. It has become a hobby to take random photos of....everything. The Sidekick LX camera is much better than the Sidekick 3's was, but the Curve's camera is better still.

It is absolutely a fact that the Sidekick's UI is better thought-out than the Curve's, although I don't know how much better the forthcoming OS might be. But I've gotten used to most of the BB's quirks by now.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[streetuner]

Originally Posted by ubizmo

Here I am...I kept the Curve and sold the LX on ebay, not without some regrets. Making the decision really forced me to think about my priorities. Moving from the Sidekick to a Blackberry really does involve giving up some good things, but on the whole I'd say it's worth it. One of my main concerns was performance, which in my opinion had been deteriorating steadily on the Sidekick, for a period of over six months. This affected email, IM, and browser. There were good periods, then bad spells, and I just never knew how it was going to be. This was especially annoying with respect to email. Some of the problems may have been due to T-mobile and not the Sidekick platform, but now that I've had the Curve for a while, I have to say that the performance has been very good. This indicates that the Danger proxy system was causing a lot of the trouble.

I am a big fan of phone cameras. It has become a hobby to take random photos of....everything. The Sidekick LX camera is much better than the Sidekick 3's was, but the Curve's camera is better still.

It is absolutely a fact that the Sidekick's UI is better thought-out than the Curve's, although I don't know how much better the forthcoming OS might be. But I've gotten used to most of the BB's quirks by now.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

ok kool im very happy for you and thank you for your help..i think ill be looking forward to getting one..just curious, which plan did you choose for the BB?

[ubizmo]

The BB Unlimited data plan for $20 is all I need. No hotspot@home add-on.

[streetuner]

Originally Posted by ubizmo

The BB Unlimited data plan for $20 is all I need. No hotspot@home add-on.

oh smart move...i JUST found out they had that add on while i was here busting my ass to calculate how much id pay a month for a BIS plan lol

[muck]

+1 for lunkheads comparison

ive always seen the sidekick as something a kid would use
and a blackberry as a real mans device.

[ubizmo]

Originally Posted by muck

+1 for lunkheads comparison

ive always seen the sidekick as something a kid would use
and a blackberry as a real mans device.

Any particular reason?

[muck]

no particular reason.

its just how they are marketed.
the target audiences lead me to believe what i believe.

the sidekick was too playful for me. i chose the blackberry :D

[ubizmo]

Originally Posted by muck

no particular reason.

its just how they are marketed.
the target audiences lead me to believe what i believe.

the sidekick was too playful for me. i chose the blackberry :D

It's interesting how the marketing influences the perception. The Sidekick has qwerty keyboard, push email, IM clients, html web browser, PIM applications, instant OTA sync/backup of data, mp3 player, 1.3 MP camera...plus whatever games and applications you purchase from its Download Catalog.

BB models vary. My Curve has qwerty keyboard, push email, IM clients, html web browser, PIM applications, media player, 2.0 MP camera...plus whatever games and applications I purchase from various vendors, or freebies.

In terms of function, as you can see, there's a pretty large overlap between the two devices. What makes one "playful" and the other serious? What makes one a "toy" and the other a "tool"? Mainly marketing. There are real differences, to be sure, but I wonder how many people really know what they are?

[muck]

i think its price ;)

[streetuner]

Originally Posted by muck

i think its price ;)

LOL i agree...the sidekick i have now is my second one and im trying to get away from it because i feel that i am maturing and i need a phone that can actually handle everything i need to do..the sidekick reception would just drop out of nowhere and at many times, even now, the IM client would just run slow for a week and even longer..i believe by upgrading to a BB is stepping up the ante for me mainly because of cost but i am anxious to get one very soon..i mean i love my sidekick very much but its just too much of a hassle to deal with compared to a BB

[ubizmo]

Originally Posted by muck

i think its price ;)

Hmm....with T-mobile and a new or extended two-year contract, the Sidekick LX is $300, the Slide is $200, and the Curve is $250. I'm not sure which price is more playful, but...I guess marketing is everything.

Streetuner, I know what you mean about the service issues. The IM client used to be the Sidekick's greatest claim to fame. And in fact, it is a very good client. But the service has been unpredictable for some time, just as you describe. One week it was great; the next week it would be so laggy as to be unusable. And similar problems were/are plaguing the email and browser service. In the end, the BB's reliable service trumps the Sidekick's better UI, at least for me, and that's why I have a BB.

[streetuner]

Originally Posted by ubizmo

Hmm....with T-mobile and a new or extended two-year contract, the Sidekick LX is $300, the Slide is $200, and the Curve is $250. I'm not sure which price is more playful, but...I guess marketing is everything.

Streetuner, I know what you mean about the service issues. The IM client used to be the Sidekick's greatest claim to fame. And in fact, it is a very good client. But the service has been unpredictable for some time, just as you describe. One week it was great; the next week it would be so laggy as to be unusable. And similar problems were/are plaguing the email and browser service. In the end, the BB's reliable service trumps the Sidekick's better UI, at least for me, and that's why I have a BB.

yea Ive been trying to find a BB Curve for a really good price..Im looking EVERYWHERE lol...i really dont wanna spend over $350 but it seems like i might have to, but i assume its worth each dollar..Wouldn't you guys agree?

[ubizmo]

I have no quarrels with T-mobile so I extended my contract to get the discount.

[muck]

here in australia the handset rrp's are similar its the monthly ongoings which is huge in comparison.
the blackberry almost commands double the monthly fee for a decent plan.

[streetuner]

Originally Posted by ubizmo

I have no quarrels with T-mobile so I extended my contract to get the discount.

so you payed 250?

[ubizmo]

Originally Posted by streetuner

so you payed 250?

$280 actually. I had only just bought the Sidekick LX in late October, and I renewed my contract then. So I was entitled to no discount at all, and they wanted to charge me full sticker price, which was over $400. I pointed out that it would be cheaper for me to pay the $200 to get out of my contract, and pick up a Curve at AT&T for $99. That got their attention, and we haggled a bit and I finally agreed to $280.

[LunkHead]

Are we still on this???

Sidekick = Toy

BB = Functional device