[rpfeffer]

Which is better? I've heard the bold 3G isn't that highly regarded industry wide. I was quite dissappointed when they released the 8900 without 3G. Are they supposed to release a version of the 8900 with a 3G radio in a few months?

[ezrunner]

Wirelessly posted (overwhelmingly stressed)

I believe another BB is going to be released that is similar to 8900!that has 3G

It was released to TMO first which doesn't yet have a great deal of 3G coverage so no need besides it has wifi!

I have been overwhelmingly happy with my bold! Presently using wifi in hospital! I had it on ATT with 3G wasn't that impressed! Seems to be faster on TMO on EDGE

[Coach Lon]

I just went to look at an 8900 today and definitively decided not to get one now or in the future. While the size is very attractive, I find the keyboard to be much smaller than my current 8310. Also, no 3G is a big turnoff for me, especially since AT&T is upgrading their 3G systems this month for even better coverage. Even when they sell this phone with 3G, the keyboard will not suit me.

It's Bold or bust for me as soon as the price drops later this year.

[sean76]

I got em both, really depends on preference! Check out my thread called -> Long Time Berry user gets an 8900!
Gives you some in site on both, hope this helps.

[vas729]

I had a bold up until yesterday. Returned it for the 8900 without thinking twice! I loved my 8310, and missed it a ton ever since I gave it to my daughter when I got my bold. Love everything about it. The form factor is so much better than the bold. Yes, the bold may have 3g, but I'm in a fringe area and dont surf the internet hardly at all on my phone.

8900 for me for a while!

[TheBigNewt]

The Bold vs 8900 debate has gone on in forums endlessly. I'll just say my .02 and move on: the Bold is a larger phone with more space between the keys and some people love that (typing-wise) and some hate it (size too big). You gotta try 'em .
As for the EDGE vs ATT 3G debate, it's pretty old. The short version is that if what you are into is downloading web pages like this, Facebook, Twitter then they are about the same speed. This has been shown many times. If you are tethering to a laptop then 3g is quite a bit faster. And 3G does allow you to talk and receive email at the same time, EDGE does not.

[JW68]

Originally Posted by TheBigNewt

The Bold vs 8900 debate has gone on in forums endlessly. I'll just say my .02 and move on: the Bold is a larger phone with more space between the keys and some people love that (typing-wise) and some hate it (size too big). You gotta try 'em .
As for the EDGE vs ATT 3G debate, it's pretty old. The short version is that if what you are into is downloading web pages like this, Facebook, Twitter then they are about the same speed. This has been shown many times. If you are tethering to a laptop then 3g is quite a bit faster. And 3G does allow you to talk and receive email at the same time, EDGE does not.

Actually the space between the keys is larger on the 8900 which makes it much easier to type on (for me anyway). I think you meant to say that the Bold has larger keys. I personally did not like Bold keys.

Originally Posted by Coach Lon

I just went to look at an 8900 today and definitively decided not to get one now or in the future. While the size is very attractive, I find the keyboard to be much smaller than my current 8310. Also, no 3G is a big turnoff for me, especially since AT&T is upgrading their 3G systems this month for even better coverage. Even when they sell this phone with 3G, the keyboard will not suit me.

It's Bold or bust for me as soon as the price drops later this year.

The 8900 keyboard and the 83XX keyboard are the same size.

AT&T can't possible upgrade a whole network in one month, not to mention that the 3g network will take another hit in congestion when the new iphone comes out this summer.

As for downloading data: I was at an AT&T store two days ago and asked the manager if they had any 8900s in stock. He did and was nice enough to configure one for display. He had a bold on him so I ask if he wouldn't mind doing a speed comparison test. He was wanting to see this anyway, so I took his Bold and the new 8900 and went to Engadget (known for long loading times) as a good test. I cleared all cache on the Bold, but he had never been to that site anyway. Both phones went to the mobile site, so I then selected the full version at the same time on both. The 8900 beat the Bold by 15 seconds. How is this possible? Well the 8900 has an 8 channel Edge receiver compared to the 2 channel Edge receiver on the 8310 I currently own. Now I would still expect the Bold to beat the 8900 on many web sites and even more so in tethering (over all bandwidth is higher for 3g vs 8 channels of Edge), but to me the difference is minor. The only advantage of having 3g compared to the 8900's 8 channel receiver is the fact you can be on a phone call and surf the web at the same time. Add up the nicer camera and greater application memory, and longer battery life on 8900 and I would take the 8900, which I just might soon enough. Of course, to each their own.

[JW68]

Originally Posted by TheBigNewt

The Bold vs 8900 debate has gone on in forums endlessly. I'll just say my .02 and move on: the Bold is a larger phone with more space between the keys and some people love that (typing-wise) and some hate it (size too big). You gotta try 'em .
As for the EDGE vs ATT 3G debate, it's pretty old. The short version is that if what you are into is downloading web pages like this, Facebook, Twitter then they are about the same speed. This has been shown many times. If you are tethering to a laptop then 3g is quite a bit faster. And 3G does allow you to talk and receive email at the same time, EDGE does not.

I can talk and receive email and texts on my 8310 at the same time with no problem, I just can't surf the net will talking.

[TheBigNewt]

Originally Posted by JW68

I can talk and receive email and texts on my 8310 at the same time with no problem, I just can't surf the net will talking.

I stand corrected, thanks. I heard people complain that after they end a conversation they get bombarded with email in EDGE. They probably misunderstood. To be honest I never thought about browsing the web while talking on the phone. That's too much for my short attention span. The speed of downloading on 3g vs EDGE contest is won by EDGE about every time, which is technically expected if you listen to the geeks who know how things work on the networks. It's just that when ATT sells you 3g in ads you think everything's going to be so much faster than EDGE and then it's not. Same way with the Storm and Verizon. Downloading to that isn't any faster then EDGE either in comparisons. I think it's confusing myself. If I pay for 3g I want it to be way faster than 2g, like highspeed internet is way faster than dialup (but it's not). And why tethering speeds are way way faster with 3g than phone download speeds I still don't understand.

[harddude5]

Originally Posted by rpfeffer

Which is better? I've heard the bold 3G isn't that highly regarded industry wide. I was quite dissappointed when they released the 8900 without 3G. Are they supposed to release a version of the 8900 with a 3G radio in a few months?

This is much ado about nothing. I mostly use my TMO 8900 via wi-fi, which I assume is faster than any version of 3G. When I use it via Edge, performance is only marginally worse than via wi-fi. This morning I opened CNN via Edge and it took just a few seconds on each mouse click to bring up each story.

Obviously we all like speed, but in this case it's a trivial concern.

[mobrien118]

I ditched my bold AND AT&T for good to return to T-Mobile with the 8900...after 2 months of paying 2x as much for the same services (only with 3g).

The only thing I really miss is the tethering speed or 3g.

'nuff said.

[loriolus]

Is anyone using slingbox on their berry's? I would really like to know how 8900 handles slingbox.

[DallasFlier]

Originally Posted by JW68

I can talk and receive email and texts on my 8310 at the same time with no problem, I just can't surf the net will talking.

Originally Posted by TheBigNewt

I stand corrected, thanks. I heard people complain that after they end a conversation they get bombarded with email in EDGE. They probably misunderstood.

No, they - and you - didn't misunderstand, JW68 is the one who misunderstands. Its a technical FACT that you cannot have simultaneous voice and data with EDGE. Email uses data, so there is NO way to receive email while on a call. SMS texts use the regular voice network though, so it IS possible to receive (and send) SMS while on a voice call.

[JW68]

Originally Posted by DallasFlier

No, they - and you - didn't misunderstand, JW68 is the one who misunderstands. Its a technical FACT that you cannot have simultaneous voice and data with EDGE. Email uses data, so there is NO way to receive email while on a call. SMS texts use the regular voice network though, so it IS possible to receive (and send) SMS while on a voice call.

So I tested the heck out of this just now and sure enough,,, I was wrong. I cannot receive email while talking.

TheBigNewt - My apologies, you (and all the people you heard complain) are correct

DallasFlier - Thanks for the correction. I now understand.

Heading back to the noob corner now,,, ugh

[ultraspaz]

Originally Posted by loriolus

Is anyone using slingbox on their berry's? I would really like to know how 8900 handles slingbox.

The Slingbox App works much better then I thought it would on the 8900 with EDGE, depending on signal strength of course. There is some buffering and skipping with low signals but unless your signal is really bad it's something I can live with. With a good signal I can go through an entire show with oly 1 or 2 short bufferings. My Tivo follows me everywhere now and the Slingbox gives me great control over all the Tivo controls. Works good through tethering also if you want to use slingbox on a laptop.

[DallasFlier]

Originally Posted by JW68

So I tested the heck out of this just now and sure enough,,, I was wrong. I cannot receive email while talking.

TheBigNewt - My apologies, you (and all the people you heard complain) are correct

DallasFlier - Thanks for the correction. I now understand.

Heading back to the noob corner now,,, ugh

Hey, no problem, we were all noobs once - just didn't want someone giong and getting the 8900 and being upset that theirs wouldn't do email/phone simultaneously.

[cubinthecity]

not really THAT huge of a diff in my opinion

[loriolus]

Originally Posted by ultraspaz

The Slingbox App works much better then I thought it would on the 8900 with EDGE, depending on signal strength of course. There is some buffering and skipping with low signals but unless your signal is really bad it's something I can live with. With a good signal I can go through an entire show with oly 1 or 2 short bufferings. My Tivo follows me everywhere now and the Slingbox gives me great control over all the Tivo controls. Works good through tethering also if you want to use slingbox on a laptop.

Thanks for the reply! But how's the framerate compared to Bold in a good reception area on both?

[Trimix]

Originally Posted by JW68

The 8900 beat the Bold by 15 seconds. How is this possible? Well the 8900 has an 8 channel Edge receiver compared to the 2 channel Edge receiver on the 8310 I currently own.

This is the second time that I've heard about the 8900 having more "data pipelines." Could I ask where you read/heard/saw this? Interested in seeing the source.

[Modeler]

Originally Posted by Coach Lon

I just went to look at an 8900 today and definitively decided not to get one now or in the future. While the size is very attractive, I find the keyboard to be much smaller than my current 8310. Also, no 3G is a big turnoff for me, especially since AT&T is upgrading their 3G systems this month for even better coverage. Even when they sell this phone with 3G, the keyboard will not suit me.

It's Bold or bust for me as soon as the price drops later this year.

1. I had 8310 and I now have 8900. There is really no difference in terms of keyboard size and usability.

2. I had a 3G Blackberry (Storm on Verizon) and found it be not noticeably faster in real life than an Edge Curve on AT&T or T-Mobile.