Blackberry vs. Trio vs. Sidekick
 

Anyone own one?

Until recently, I worked for the gov't, so everyone I knew had a Blackberry. Aside from the court case (and possible ending of service!) the worst thing I heard about 'em was that (a) they were bulky (but I'll keep mine in my purse) and (b) the keys are too small (but wouldn't that be the case with anything like this?)

I'm looking to get some sort of hand-held device in about a month and a half, so I'd love to hear what people think... I don't even KNOW anyone with a Trio or a Sidekick - well, aside from Paris Hilton.

I'll be using it in DC - I'm worried about coverage, too - and Richmond, VA and Raleigh, NC on occasion.

I've checked the websites, but they make all 3 sound good, and what I really want is personal experience...

I have a blackberry 7100t-- my service is through tmobile. (that is another story in itself!) The keys are a little small, but I never had a complaint until I looked at the 7105T and the send and end keys are a much nicer size.

My husband complains that I sounds like I am "swallowing the phone" and I hear from a few other people that I sound scratchy. The first Blackberry I ordered the speak had a problem and Tmobile replaced the device and I don't hear the complaint nearly as much now.

My biggest complaint with tmbile is their handheld customer service. There are too few of those people consider the growing size of the market. You call into customer care, immediatly ask for technical support for a blackberry- the cust care says "i can help" you go thru the issue, then they tell you "oh you need technical, not me" (yeah that is who i asked for)-- they you get transferred and sit on hold forever. I have had my email stop forwarding several times now, called in and waited on hold over an hour so they coould resend the signal to the blackberry.

Other than that, it is very handy to have-- although being "connected" all the time isn't always the best. There are some people I just don't tell I have a blackberry as they would always be expecting an immediate response.

Good luck

I love my Treo. I used to have both a Palm and a phone, so the Treo was a perfect 2-in-1 solution for me. Personally, I prefer the Palm software to Blackberry's OS, but I haven't spent too much time with a Blackberry. There are lots of third party programs available for the Palm OS, so that's something to consider.

My only beef with it is that my husband's cheapie phone actually gets better reception in our house than my Treo does (we both have Verizon). Other than that, I've been very pleased with it.

To me, the Sidekick seems more like a toy. I'd definitely recommend the Treo or a Blackberry if you're looking for something a little more serious.

I don't go anywhere without my Sidekick II.

It's my email, instant messaging, text messaging, planner, address book, even games and a camera. The camera isn't that good , but if you need to send a pic in a hurry, either by phone message or email, it works wonders.

The only complant I had when I first got it was that it didn't have a touchscreen like my Palm did, but I quickly learned to use the buttons.

My friend has a Blackberry, also with T-Mobile, and she complains that my Sidekick seems to get things quicker than her Blackberry and have better range and reception.

Really expensive toy?! Everyone at my work has a sidekick, from the 60 year old boss, down to me, the lowly CAD tech. We were reccommended it for the ease of use and the multiple ways to stay in touch with the office.

The Sidekick is a toy.

The Palm is a geek toy.

The Blackberry is the only real professional tool. The government orders them as well as every top business because of the fact that it's professional, gets its messages so fast, and gets reception in areas most people can't imagine while working in emergencies.

The jerkasses that are suing RIM over patents that don't make sense deserve to be deported. Even the government is going through the court to prevent the disruption to their Blackberry services because it's a matter of national security. I doubt the service will be stopped anyway. Too many important people own one. Go to amazon.com and they have great deals on the Blackberry. You can find smaller ones also.

-Rudey

Why are "Blackberrys" really blue?

I have a 7100r (basically the same as the 7100t, but with a blue shell). I don't mind the keyboard all that much, though my q/w key doesn't seem to be working very well :(

Not all Blackberrys are blue. The 8700 series Blackberrys are mostly grey or black, as are the newer 7100s.

I decided on a 7100 because it's lighter than a Treo and not as wide as the older Blackberrys or even an 8700 series.

Being in Canada, I don't have to worry about a possible shutdown :)

Blackberry Curve 8310 (Red) is the bomb.

HotDamn,

I've had the sidekick id and lx , and now have the bberry pearl.

Sidekick id: i had problems with it freezing up a lot when i first got it and i went back and exchanged it ( they no longer make the id) (i had a pink cover on it :) )

Sidekick lx: LOVED THIS PHONE. it was amazing. it's a great texting phone. but the camera is decent. the only problem i really had with this phone was the limited space for pictures to be stored on. :( (oh yeah mine was blue)

Blackberry Pearl: so far so good i love it. i have it in red but i'm getting a cover to go over to protect the phone. the keys are a little small so it makes texting harder than with the sidekick. still trying to figure out the little things on it but other than that i LOOOVE it.

Go with the Blackberry, Palm hasn't overhauled their OS in a very long time. And the sidekick is going to make you look like a teenager. I personally have a Samsung i325 but I'd just as soon throw the sob in out of my window driving 80 mph. The Windows mobile update hopefully will help with my issues. And if you have Sprint, and are thinking about buying a phone that capable, switch companies, Sprint locks down a lot of features to make more money, it's quite ridiculous the security they put on their phones.

ETA: Be sure you get one with Wi-Fi capability.

FWIW, Jacquelyn (HotDamnImAPhiMu) hasn't logged on in almost a year.

I'm sure she has a phone by now.

Come back, Jac!

Wow, I normally pay attention to those, but I just noticed the post before mine was today.

yeah i didn't notice that either til OTW pointed it out. lol

Hey, OTW!

I do indeed have a phone now - I went with a Blackberry. I got a refurbished one on eBay and had a techie friend help me set it up.