[ttcfcl2]

I have an 8830 for work and a 1st gen 2G iPhone for personal. The iPhone does not have a carrier associated with it, so I cannot comment on call or service quality, but I've used it enough to list the differences and pros and cons of each.

Blackberry shortcuts: I have letter shortcuts on, so when on the main menu, A goes to address book, K goes to calendar, C goes to Contacts to Compose, D goes to notpad, M goes to Messages, etc. I can press the green call button and then start typing the name of who I want to call and it shows up. Press enter and youre calling. And in messages, T for top of email list (newest message) R to reply, F to forward, C to compose new etc etc. Boom boom boom. I am a very shortcut oriented guy. the five main icons are I want to do what I want to do in the least steps possible.

iPhone does not have this, and you are limited to 4 icons on the bottom for app shortcuts (5 if you jailbreak it and download a little mod). You cannot group the icons into folders, so you have this messy main menu full of icons across multiple pages. I had to download a 3rd party app on my jailbroken one to set up folders and organize my main screen. Blackberry can already do this.

iPhone DOES NOT run apps in the background. They don't allow it period. I think this is a terrible decision by apple and makes mail and IM apps mostly pointless. each time you close your Fringer or AIM to check your mail or website or change tunes, you get disconnected and have to reopen the app to get connected again to see if anyone messeged you in the meantime. I was able to solve this by downloading Backgrounder for jailbroken iPhones. Obviously, this is RIMs whole thing, to be able to push email and have realtime alerts. Another thing is the notification icons on the BB's lock screen. You can see how many emails you have, how many unread, how man new, number of missed calls, number of VMs, etc etc. AFAIK iphone does not have this unless you get yourself an unofficial app for your JB iphone.

I'm not sure if using wifi drains the battery a terrible amount for wifi-enabled BB's but it does on my 2G iphone. I went from a full charge to dead in one nights use. Granted, i was using it hardcore (cause it's new and shiny) and downloading a lot of apps and browsing web, but my BB lasts several days before needing a charge.

the touch interface can get finiky at times. especially if its a tiny area you have to touch (im looking at you, volume slider). and the keyboard for typing lots get to be a huge pain. physical keyboard ftw. But of course, you have this giant screen instead, which is actually very nice to have.

I know i keep ragging on the iphone, but I'll list what the iPhone has over the BB:

Apps. This one's obvious. Both official and jailbroken only apps. This includes games. I hear nothing but praise for SimCity iPhone (Basically SimCity 2000 with SimCity 3000 graphics), and Rolando. I think the iTunes Remote and VLC Remote are standout. So is Airmouse and MochaVNC. My BB can't view Youtube vids yet (older 4.5 firmware, not new 4.7 like my buddies 8300 who can watch youtube), but iphone is much better quality (not to mention screen size). Also listening to music is (obviously) much much better do to it basically being an iPod. Oh and 3.5mm headphone jack (versus 8830's mini headphone jack, which is hard to find adapters for). It's just alot easier and more satisfying to put music and videos on the iPhone than the Blackberry. OH also the iphone has Last.fm AudioScrobblling support, which is a HUGE plus for me. Also the Pandora app. I dont think there is a pandora app for the blackberry, but there IS a Slacker app for both iPhone and BB. Slacker.com is basically the exact same thing as Pandora.com exept you can subscribe for premium service and have unlimited skips and no ads. I know BB will have their own App store come march or so, but that is still about a year lead Apple has over RIM. There is also Shazam, which is very amazing. It is not available for BB yet, I hope it is soon since it's such an amazing service. If you dont know, you start it and hold it up to a song playing on the radio and it will tell you what it is. It's amazingly accurate and I tested it on numerous obscure songs I thought it would flunk, but it has only flunked on live piano peices which they already say aren't supported. Verizon has the VZNavigator app for BB which is very good service. Though Google Maps is a little slicker to operate, VZNav is good since it talks and works like a tomtom.

Webbrowsing: MobileSafari is amazing. BB leaves a bit to desire. 4.7 has a better browser, but my 8830 is still 4.5 so its lil bit slow and its all compressed and such. I hear good things about the Storms browser, however. But again, we come to the background processes. BB's will keep your web pages in memory so you can quit and go back into the browser and have it display instantly, while Safari has to reconnect and reload the page each time you leave Safari. Still, it has mutiple tabs so that is a plus.

This is a long rant, but I may actually be getting a G1. My roommate def is so I'll be able to play with it alot.

My ratings out of 5
Typing: bb=5 , ip=2.5
while the keys on the two are probably the same size, since the BBs are actual keys, you know where your fingers are and I get no spelling errors ever and can type amost as fast as I can on a keyboard. I phone has atuo correct, but it gets annoying when tying to use slang as it will correct into other stuff. reminds me of how annoying SureType is on the 8100's.

music: bb=3 ip=5

video: bb=2; ip=5

email: bb=5 ip=2

phone: no comment since I dont have a phone plan on my iphone

texting:
I dont have phone plan, but I do have a chat app Fringer on iphone, and blackberry messenger for blackberry. I like BB's so much better. Plus the pay app IM+ is very good too

It also feels like the iphone gets sluggish when you try and do alot of things and my 8830 feels much quicker.

If it think of any more I will add them later.

[wonkabar]

I recently went from a Curve to an iPhone 3G to a Bold. I have used BB's for years, but was recently allured by the iPhone 3G's supposed sexiness. Big mistake. The iPhone is a great device in my opinion, but there are too many annoyances which do not make it as practical as the BB. After using the iPhone for 2 weeks, I really started to miss the BB's OS, keyboard, push email/services, BB Messenger, Status Light, MMS, battery life, etc etc (I can go on and on....)

[cwosigns]

Originally Posted by greggov

I've had a few BBs, and when the iPhone 3G came out, I ditched my Curve for it. I love the iPhone for the seamless integration with iTunes, and MobileMe. I love having everything sync OTA.

However, I'm finding the honeymoon period is over. I find myself getting more and more frustrated with it everyday. Hardware is fine, and all of my main complaints could be resolved with a firmware update, but I'm not holding my breath.

The iPhone just doesn't do many of the things a basic flip phone can do, let alone a BB. I miss copy/paste, I miss MMS, I miss a decent call log, I REALLY miss the status light, I miss being able to set custom sounds for everything (being able to distinguish emails is wonderful...some are important, some are not. My friend also has an iPhone, when we're together and hear that faint "beep" we both have to pull out our phones to look...huge pita? no. ridic? yes) I miss the volume of the BB (I could actually hear the email, SMS alert, and phone ring....imagine that!), and I found the vibrate to be stronger on the BB.

So, you may ask yourself why I even bothered to switch when I knew all the shortcomings.
1) integration with the Mac. Ever tried pocket mac? its a joke...if it even works
2) MobileMe. Having everything sync OTA with Address Book, Mail, and iCal is great
3) Optimism. I kept hoping S. Jobs would figure out copy/paste, MMS, how to stop my custom ringtones from disappearing everytime MobileMe did a sync, and other issues. Well, I think it's been long enough.

So, as soon as I can afford the BB Bold, I'll be switching back.

For other Mac users in the same/similar boat: is there a comparable service to MobileMe for the BB? I've seen talk of MailStreet and Mail2Web as exchange services, but do those integrate with iCal and address book?

I'm in the same boat. I've had the 7290, 7100, 8700, 8703, 8830 and the Curve. I got an iPhone in October of 2007 but grew tired of it. I then got my Curve. Loved the Curve and my iPhone and switched back and forth between the two, but fell victim to the hype of the iPhone 3G and MobileMe (I already had a dot mac account). I was excited to finally get push email on my iPhone. I sold my Curve and 1st Gen iPhone to get the 3G. Had it since it came out and I've been mostly pleased. Lately, my push email has been shoddy and Apple's customer service in this department SUCKS. They basically have no idea why it flakes out occasionally but tell me they're looking into it.

I'm pretty much resigned to going back to BlackBerry, but I don't want to lose the 3G. So I'm either saving money to buy a Bold ($550 w/o discounts), finding someone with a Bold who wants to trade, or getting the Storm with Verizon. I have an aircard with them and am New Every Two eligible; I can order one online right now for $149. Just not sure if I'd love the Storm. I think I'd prefer the Bold, but don't have $550 lying around right now.

So I'm kinda on the fence...Storm, keep my iPhone and hope Apple gets it right soon, or just save for a Bold.

[test54]

same situation as OP and switched from BB to iPhone 1.5 years ago. No problems, love the apps / media / web. If email is not a big priority then no go ahead and switch, like everyone is saying - you can always switch back.

[srk]

Hi,

+1 for switching back to BB from iphone. I have used various windows mobile phones, palms, BB, iphone and back to my pearl and hopefully to curve (in mail as we speak).

Iphone is a very nice phone but I was sick of the sound quality and reception and on top of it the size of the phone bother me alittle bit.

However I have to say I do miss syncing calendar and contacts syncing wireless to the phone, and 80% chance that I will back to the iphone when they come up with a smaller version.

[rambo47]

I've switched from a Blackberry to just about every phone imaginable, and always switched back to Blackberry. What works best for you depends on your focus. If email and PIM function is your thing, the Blackberry is king. If you're into multimedia and cameras, maybe a Nokia or iPhone. I've used Treos (Palm OS and Windows Mobile), Nokia N-series, Nokia E-series, Motorolas of all flavors, an iPhone VERY briefly, and some HTC devices.

What kills the iPhone for me are lack of a physical keyboard, no copy/paste, and no MMS. I can't deal with the Apple tap-and-pray virtual keyboard. I send too many messages every day so this alone is a deal breaker for me. I use copy/paste daily as well. It's part of how I work. Not including this in a high-end mobile in 2009 is a puzzler. Also, my kids send me MMS messages from their phones. They don't have email on their cell phones so in order to get a quick pic from them I want MMS capability.

[greggov]

Originally Posted by cwosigns

I'm pretty much resigned to going back to BlackBerry, but I don't want to lose the 3G. So I'm either saving money to buy a Bold ($550 w/o discounts), finding someone with a Bold who wants to trade, or getting the Storm with Verizon. I have an aircard with them and am New Every Two eligible; I can order one online right now for $149. Just not sure if I'd love the Storm. I think I'd prefer the Bold, but don't have $550 lying around right now.

So I'm kinda on the fence...Storm, keep my iPhone and hope Apple gets it right soon, or just save for a Bold.

I hear ya. $550 + tax is quite a bit for a brand new one with no contract. I too have been looking for deals and used ones, but they aren't that much cheaper than the new ones. And, I'd like to have a warranty with it. When i got my Curve, I went through about 4 of them before I got one that worked as it should.

But I'm on the path to the BB Bold now. Today I ordered a skin for it, screen shield, and the charging cradle Now I have to get one, right?

I get paid this week, so hopefully I'll have my Bold by this weekend. I can't wait!

[KerriK]

Originally Posted by jdzialak

Sorry. IT IS a business-class phone. I don't USE it for business. It's not work-issued, etc.
Sorry. I was unclear in my description.
I assumed people would say the iphone is not suitable as a hardcore business phone. I don't use my phone for that was all i meant.

Joe

I went from my Pearl to an iPhone last February. After two months, I went running back to the Pearl. I never knew how much I used copy and past until I didn't have it anymore with the iPhone. I also missed the physical keyboard on my Pearl (the touchscreen with no haptic feedback of any kind wasn't for me). The phone was big and heavy, and I was afraid I'd break it.

I own a Curve now and I love it. I love the physical keyboards and can type much faster on them than on a touchscreen. I think I could give the iPhone another run, but I just don't think I want to.

[samwtaylor]

I had an iphone, both 2g and 3g, for about a year before switching to the bold. I liked the iphone, but really needed the physical keys of the blackberry to do any serious emails or texting.

The only reason I would consider going back to the iphone is for the internet service. I am unable to view my remote cameras with the bb and get denied for many web pages I try. Though I will say that the Opera browser has fixed a lot of those problems.

If I could just get my bold to connect to my camera's there would be no reason to use anything else.

[mikedanello]

i had the 1st gen iphone before getting the curve 8900.. i much prefer the blackberry...

[catwoman66]

I went from 2 BB Pearls to an iPhone in July, great browser which I didn't use very much and the weather lol missed the BB alerts, native background apps like MSN messenger and Skype for chatting...December was back on the FlipBerry and then last week to the 8900, the iPhone just sits on my desk as an ornament and every now and again takes a photo. The only advantage IMHO was the perfect syncing mac/iPhone RIM need to get their act together to make this happen between BB/mac

p.s great reading about all you other switchers...What else but BlackBerry

[ricpac]

I love the iPhone but just not as much as I do with my BlackBerry. So I just got me the iPod touch 2nd gen to feel like I have the iPhone.

[wilbuur]

I went iPhone 2G> Treo 750> BB 8310> iPhone 3G> BB Bold

And I love'd em all except for the Treo.

[modjo345]

The iphone is great if you want to learn how to type wrong and have the machine correct your mistakes.

[Arcangel]

I actually went from iphone to storm back to iphone , I get my emails and everything I need with the iphone, plus alot of extras. I do not need an office to go, if I did then BB would be the way to go, but as I don't the emails, constant contact with whomever and some real useful apps,both productive and fun im good

[morfy50]

I went from 8700->8300->iPhone 2G->8900

The reasons I went back to a BB are:
1) I got so use to a qwerty with real keys (not flatscreen). Had a hard time typing on iPhone.

2) Although the iPhone is loaded with apps through the app store, I never really used it to it's full potential. I must have tried over 100 apps, but was like a kid who plays with a new toy for a week solid then never uses it again. They were all cool, but just not that useful to me personally. I only need solid email, calendar and contacts with occasional web browsing

3) Exchange worked great with the iPhone, but my Gmail did not. I got spoiled with consistent, quick push from Gmail with my BB's. It drove me nuts waiting 15 minutes for Gmail to come in (or in some cases never arrive) on the iPhone

4) My BB's are on 24/7. My iPhone wasn't capable of this.... if I didn't turn it off/on every few days it started to act screwy.

5) Battery life on my iPhone was nowhere near any of my BB's.

[the_advisor]

New BB user here. After having an iPhone 2G for over a year, I have decided to make the switch over to the bold. Its currently sitting at home waiting for me to open the box this evening. The major features that prompted me to make the switch are the far superior email management (work now requires my 24 hour availability), and the document viewers. I am an avid apple user and loved the iPhone, however it has evolved into more of a toy then a functional business device. I have read of some difficulties with syncing and interfacing with the mac. I hope to aide this community in finding solutions, as my abilities to manipulate Apple are fairly high.

Thanks.

[aburamu]

Originally Posted by ricpac

I love the iPhone but just not as much as I do with my BlackBerry. So I just got me the iPod touch 2nd gen to feel like I have the iPhone.

I did just the same; I can't live without copy/paste. Also, I don't know why, i get less bothered on airplanes when I use the ipod touch.

The only really bad thing about my bb is not being able to sync perfectly with my Macbook Pro. Even though I use Mark/space's MissingSync, I still get problems any once in a while.

[the_advisor]

The official verdict is that it was not as difficult to switch as I had anticipated. Having never really used a BB product at length prior to setting mine up last night, I found it to be pretty simple. I used PocketMac to sync my contacts, itunes music, some videos, and iCal on the phone. It glitched a few times but I was able to get it to work fairly easily. All things considered I am really liking it so far, especially the ability download whatever I want right over the network. Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

[litt]

I ditched my iPhone for a Bold within two weeks. I could not get accustomed to the virtual keyboard. I do wish the BB web browsing experience was as slick as the iPhone but I am willing to sacrifice for a superior piece of hardware that will let me use it as I please. Just discovered the BOLT browser for BB and I find browsing the web much easier using BOLT.