A few weeks back I blogged about ditching AT&T. I got everything set up to make the move: a BlackBerry on Sprint and a T-mobile account to set up the iPhone on. I haven’t canceled my AT&T service yet though, and I’m now torn on whether I will or not.
I got the BlackBerry Bold about 9 months ago, but despite it’s large size it’s hands down the best BlackBerry I’ve used. The keyboard is fantastic, then processor is fast, and the leather back feels great. Unfortunately, since it’s on AT&T’s network, phone calls and network access are intermittent at best.
The BlackBerry Tour on Sprint (or Verizon) is not a terrible device, but it has serious flaws. It’s the size of the Curve, but without the great separated keys that the Curve has. The keyboard style is the same as the Bold, but with the smaller keys I find myself making typos on the Tour, something I very rarely do on the Bold. The processor on the Tour is really underpowered – when refreshing my friend’s timeline in TwitterBerry the entire device basically freezes.
BlackBerry Bold : BlackBerry Tour :: iPhone 3GS : iPhone (1st gen)
That said, being able to make phone calls and having real 3G speed with the Tour is quite nice.
So basically I’m torn between the network and the device. I went back to the Bold this past week after using the Tour for 2 weeks before that. I really liked using the Bold again but the network…
I’m using the Tour this weekend and plan to make a decision by the end of the weekend.
I know how you feel. I’m going through the same thing with the iPhone 3GS vs. Palm Pre. I’m testing both right now and really enjoying the Sprint network and a few of the features of the Pre that the iPhone doesn’t have. That said, the Pre is very slow compared to the 3GS. But it makes phone calls and the sprint data network is nice and speedy.
[…] Device vs. Network […]
This is an interesting article since we use AT&T and just threw a away 2 LG Views because it has has feature that cannot be adjusted by the user you can not control the lock on the phone-all cell phone providers operate with a policy of brute strength and ignorance ignoring consumer needs I do think that T Mobile is trying and I think at 73 years old I am tired of being their guinea pig !
[…] with call quality, dropped calls, and lack of signal. More recently, developer Alex King has tried doing without his iPhone and BB Storm, although he is giving the AT&T Network one more chance before making a […]
I’m in the exact same situation. I do make quite a few more typing mistakes with the Tour on Verizon than I did with the Bold, but actually being able to complete a call successfully has been fantastic.
I still have the iPhone on AT&T, but I don’t use it for voice. It sort of feels like a waste, but the apps are so useful on iPhone — makes it hard to give up!
ATT just released a software update for the Bold. I would recommend checking it out. Lots of improvements, one being that you can lock the network to use 2G instead of 3G, in crappy areas that sometimes has helped me. I have great reception in a rural part of Washington State with ATT but going out toward the coast and stuff I can see this option helping a lot.
I understand the benefit of this feature, but it’s just about the most pathetic thing I’ve ever heard. We’re supposed to be getting better, faster networks – not features to allow us to access the older slower ones. 🙂
Also, the update doesn’t show as available to me (yet).
Here you go
http://www.blackberr[...]release.html
[…] up with a Tour on Verizon. His story is full of the idiosyncrasies of various carriers and devices. Part one. Part […]