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LunkHead · 05-30-2010, 05:51 PM

I have recently spent some time with all of the following devices so I figured I'd compare them all here...

-- Motorola Droid
-- BlackBerry Curve 2 (8530)
-- Palm Pixi Plus
-- iPhone 3GS with beta OS 4

About me... I do not use any of these devices for business purposes and only use them for my personal life. I like to keep up on my sports teams, weather, news, and spend lots of time on the internet and texting..

I will briefly cover them for business purposes even though I don't use them for that, I have a pretty good idea of what would be needed..

The BlackBerry wins hands down of you want to use it for business... Rock solid OS, the best email on the planet, and a nice easy to type on keyboard. I would say the Palm Pixi comes in 2nd place, the iPhone 3GS with OS 4 in 3rd and the Droid comes in dead last for business purposes.. I wont go into a ton of why I ranked them this way because as I said I do not use them for business...

Now onto what I use them for... My life as a regular old consumer...

You might be shocked as I am... I am a long time BlackBerry lover and iPhone hater... I have always considered the iPhone nothing more than a toy... And it still is for the most part if you want to use it for business purposes... For consumer purposes it tops my list!

By consumer purposes I generally mean that you browse the web, text message, run social networking apps, play games, email for personal use, listen to music, and watch video...

My rankings for personal use as described above...

1. iPhone 3GS with OS 4
2. BlackBerry Curve 2
3. Motorola Droid (tie)
3. Palm Pixi Plus (tie)

iPhone 3GS with OS4

The iPhone 4 OS is really fast and snappy... I have not had to reboot it in over 2 weeks of use... With OS4 you get multi tasking, kinda, but it works and it's actually a pretty sweet way to go about it... The UI is easy to navigate and is rather snappy... The app store rocks even though most of the apps are useless there are plenty that are not...

The device boots in no time flat and the keyboard on it is actually pretty responsive... I can type rather fast on it with little to no errors... I am faster on the BlackBerry but it does have a physical keyboard... The battery lasts me a full day of moderate use of web browsing, pandora, texting and a few phone calls... The touch screen is dead on and very responsive..

Overall I'd give the iPhone 3GS with OS 4 a 9 out of 10 for consumer use...

BlackBerry Curve 2

It's a BlackBerry.... Enough said.... It's rock solid, the keyboard is easy to type on at blazing speeds and the email functions are awesome! The screen is OK just rather small for my taste.. The browser needs serious work for consumer use... For bizz use I imagine it will suffice...

Boot time is rather slow compared to other devices but once you get it started up, the OS is rock solid... Battery life lasts me an eniter day and then some with the same type of use described above.. The app store is a joke... It really needs some serious work...

Overall I'd give the BlackBerry Curve 2 a 7.5 out of 10 for consumer use....

Motorola Droid

Android OS is different... The widgets are awesome and to me the best part of the OS... The email needs work and the battery life was so, so... Maybe it would last the whole day, maybe not... This appears to be a serious issue with Androids... The New HTC EVO is getting horrid reviews on the battery life with most saying the are only getting 4-6 hours in 3G and 2-4 hours in 4G mode...

The app store is awesome... You can try an app for 24 hours and if you don't like it, you just delete it from your phone and you are not charged for it... Sweeeeeet!!!! The screen on the droid was very nice... The slide out keyboard was cramped and very hard to type on the top row if you have big hands / fingers.... The virtual keyboard as on all Android's is horrid... Tons and tons of bad reviews on Android's virtual keyboard... The browser was very nice and email worked just fine...

It's biggest downfall is the keyboard both physical and virtual and the battery life... Love the widgets, the app store.. The touch screen can be a bit erratic... Boot time is OK and I did have to reboot it a few times unlike the iPhone and the BlackBerry...

Overall I'd give the Motorola Droid a 7 out of 10 for consumer use...

Palm Pixi Plus

Loved the webOS... It's a little slow but it gets the job done... The screen is rather small and the keyboard is easy to type on even though it looks rather cramped... The browser is ok and email arrives as it should... The app store is even worse than Blackberry's... It's horrid... The touch screen on it is responsive for the most part but can be a little erratic...

Boot time is Ok and I did have several resets / freezes on the device...

Overall I'd give the Palm Pixi Plus a 7 out of 10 for consumer use....

Thats my take on these devices... I realize that new Android devices are coming out and that I have not tried Android OS 2.1... From the reviews it looks nice but again for some reason battery life on Android devices is horrid...

The iPhone 4G is coming out and aside from a faster processor and a few other tweaks I have a pretty good handle on what OS 4 will be...

New BlackBerry's are out all the time as new OS releases happen all the time.... I really wish blackberry would do something with the app store and have a better screen....

My .02...

Kris

LunkHead · 05-30-2010, 06:03 PM

Note: I also have a Tour and left it out from about because it would be at the very bottom and I'd probably give it a 5 out of 10... Hands down the worse BB I have ever owned... JUNK, pure JUNK...

My .02

zerog46 · 05-30-2010, 07:28 PM

Wirelessly posted (Tour)

What OS were you running on the Droid. I have 2.1 rooted and its fast as hell. Gmail works better on the droid than any other hand held I have ever used. Ya the battery is so so.

TBOLTRAM · 05-30-2010, 07:36 PM

I got my daughter a Curve 2 last week as she got a job. She picked it over the Tour, Storm 2 and the other smart phones at Verizon. Her company (she got a job before she graduated from college) pays for the BlackBerry BIS service.

My 1/2 cent comment based on inflation.

Kris,
Have you looked at the app store via a Storm 2? Not as bad as I expected. i like my S2 but I learned to pull the battery every two weeks.

davidA · 05-30-2010, 07:36 PM

Thanks LunkHead: your device comparison critique was well worth the read. A few weeks ago, my daughter asked my advice, on what device would best meet her needs. Yes, she surely loves hew new iPhone.

LunkHead · 05-30-2010, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zerog46

Wirelessly posted (Tour)

What OS were you running on the Droid. I have 2.1 rooted and its fast as hell. Gmail works better on the droid than any other hand held I have ever used. Ya the battery is so so.

I *think* it had 1.6 if I remember right... Gmail is integrated very well into Android... It's other IMAP's I had issue with

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBOLTRAM

I got my daughter a Curve 2 last week as she got a job. She picked it over the Tour, Storm 2 and the other smart phones at Verizon. Her company (she got a job before she graduated from college) pays for the BlackBerry BIS service.

My 1/2 cent comment based on inflation.

Kris,
Have you looked at the app store via a Storm 2? Not as bad as I expected. i like my S2 but I learned to pull the battery every two weeks.

No, I have not tried a Storm 2...

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidA

Thanks LunkHead: your device comparison critique was well worth the read. A few weeks ago, my daughter asked my advice, on what device would best meet her needs. Yes, she surely loves hew new iPhone.

Wait till she can get OS 4 on it... It's beta now and only available to dev's but it should be out in the next few weeks for all.... OS4 is a BIG leap from OS 3

LunkHead · 05-31-2010, 05:39 PM

OK I could not take it... I pre ordered a HTC EVO today... I should have it on the 4th...

tsac · 05-31-2010, 07:18 PM

I like the iPhone but still need the BB for business.

zerog46 · 05-31-2010, 09:56 PM

Wirelessly posted (Tour)

Wait til you see the email intigration now with the newer OS on the android. It even syncs regular pop and imap accounts now.

jsconyers · 05-31-2010, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LunkHead

OK I could not take it... I pre ordered a HTC EVO today... I should have it on the 4th...

I think you will like this better than your previous Droid. It is running 2.1 and 2.2 will have full Flash support. As you've stated, the battery life seems to be the only let down of this device. When Seidio makes an extended battery for this device, then I don't see a downside to this device.

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Droid -v- Curve 2 -v- Palm -v- iPhone