Treo vs. Blackberry. FIGHT!

[Damien Falgoust]

My wife's work is offering to buy her either a Treo or a Blackberry, and she's not sure which to pick. Neither am I, as I've never really followed the whole handheld PDA scene.

If anyone can shed some light, it'd be much appreciated.

I have no clue as to what model they're offering or anything. My wife showed me the email, and as it came from a clueless manager type, none of that data was in there. He spelled the one option "Trio," but I gather that's just a typo (unless there's another PDA out there using that spelling).

[Alan Au]

I haven't really used either so my knowledge is second hand, but my MBA friends use Blackberrys, while my informaticist friends use Treos.

- Alan

[DennyA]

The Blackberry is just a communicator with a few half-baked additional applications and almost no third-party support. (They didn't open it to developers until very recently.)

The Treo is a full-fledged Palm PDA in addition to being a communicator. You can put any Palm OS program on it -- games, diet programs, word processors, you name it.

If you just want a basic email gadget that even an evil lawyer* could use, go for the Blackberry. If you want a flexible, fun device, go Treo.

* "Evil" differentiation used to distinguish from the fine, intelligent, goodhearted barristers who populate QT3, one of whom has even purchased alcohol for me.

[extarbags]

The Blackberry is just a communicator with a few half-baked additional applications and almost no third-party support. (They didn't open it to developers until very recently.)

The Treo is a full-fledged Palm PDA in addition to being a communicator. You can put any Palm OS program on it -- games, diet programs, word processors, you name it.

If you just want a basic email gadget that even an evil lawyer* could use, go for the Blackberry. If you want a flexible, fun device, go Treo.

* "Evil" differentiation used to distinguish from the fine, intelligent, goodhearted barristers who populate QT3, one of whom has even purchased alcohol for me.


Way to slam the Blackberry!

Look, the Blackberry is designed to be a cell phone with email, and if a cell phone with email is what she wants, she won't find anything better.

A Treo is a Palm Pilot with a phone tacked on. That's what it is.

Another thing to consider: Treo -> stylus; Blackberry -> keyboard. This makes a big difference for some.

[Gary Whitta]

I liked my Treo 600 for the most part, except I found it a bit bulky to carry around. My Treo died recently (more on that in a bit) and since I've returned to my backup cellphone (Sony T68i) I can't help but notice the difference in terms of how much more lightweight and convenient the regular phone is.

Initially the Treo was a godsend for me when I went on trips out of town because I could easily check my email on it. I say "check" because actually writing and responding to emails is a different proposition entirely. I could eventually type pretty well on the little keyboard, but that doesn't mean I ever enjoyed doing it. It's fiddly and time-consuming, so you end up sending emails on it that are barely more expressive than SMS text messages.

I found that my Treo would crash quite often, necessating a full reset via the little poke-hole in the back of the unit. Often when connecting to the internet the thing would just die. Recently the screen started showing errors and a few weeks ago the sound stopped working entirely, so now it's useless and I've gone back to my regular phone.

I don't know if I got a duff unit - it came directly from Handspring as a review model right when the 600 was introduced, so maybe. Anyone else have any trouble with theirs?

These days I'm using a 12" PowerBook that I work with when I'm on the road and am much happier with. Of course it's not as portable and on-the-fly as the Treo but I've found I'm happier with the bulkier item if it means I can do much more with it. In towns like SF and LA you can get a wireless signal virtually anywhere.

I guess if you're going to get a Treo I'd say definitely get a 650 because the Bluetooth will make a big difference. I love the little earpiece I've got for my other Bluetooth phone, and it's great to be able to wirelessly update your calendar, contacts, etc with iSync.

I don't know much about the Blackberry, except that people seem to love them, I think they look a bit clunky and the new streamlined one that was recently introduced (two letters to each key) is apparently really annoying to type on.

[JeffL]

We've been using Blackberrys for about 8 months and I'm not too fond of it. Perhaps part of that reason is because, with its email capabilities everyone in the company now expects us to be able to recieve and respond to emails and PINs 24/7. ;) But the cell phone is pretty poor (e.g. if you don't hold the device in exactly the right spot on your ear you can't hear diddly.) It just doesn't have that elegant feel that some devices have - the interface isn't bad, it just doesn't have that "this is cool" feel that the best PDAs have.

[Justin Fletcher]

Another thing to consider: Treo -> stylus; Blackberry -> keyboard. This makes a big difference for some.
Au contraire, mon frere. The Treo has a keyboard, too, and is its only native text entry method (i.e. no Graffiti). It looks a little small at first glance, but it is actually quite easy to get a good WPM rate going with thumb typing.

The Treo 600/650 is bulkier than your average cell phone these days, but it is muuuuuuch less cumbersome than previous iterations of the Treo or other smartphone configurations. I find the extra heft negligible.

My only complaint with the Treo as a cellphone is that the microphone is on the back of the device. Thus, you normally have to use your full voice to be heard if you don't have a headset. Considering that I don't like to use my full voice and be "Annoying Cell Phone Guy" if I'm on the train or in a public place, this can be inconvenient.

Still, the ability to have a full-fledged cellphone and a full-featured Palm PDA in one device is incredibly handy. Receiving and responding to emails from remote locations has saved me loads of time.

I know little about Blackberrys, but if you're transitioning from another Palm OS PDA, then I think the choice is clear. Otherwise, I'd go to Best Buy or wherever and check out the form factors for yourself. Whichever one "feels" right is the one you should get.

[mystery]

The Blackberry is just a communicator with a few half-baked additional applications and almost no third-party support. (They didn't open it to developers until very recently.)

Not sure what you mean about very recently. The API has been published for quite some time now, and all you need is a working knowledge of java to create something. Just looking about the web gets you a number of free games, utilities, and (if you really need it) a replica of every app you can find on a Palm-based PDA.

My personal favorite is a VNC application I use to log into and control my mail and file server from remote. When I need to do some rudimentary maintenance, and I'm on the train, it's a godsend.


But the cell phone is pretty poor (e.g. if you don't hold the device in exactly the right spot on your ear you can't hear diddly.)

Perhaps it's your unit -- I've had a 7230 now for about 1.5 years, and I've never had this issue. In fact, sometimes the sound is too loud for the context of my discussion, and I have to turn it down lest the folks around me hear every detail of how my daughter is progressing on her poddy training.

[Murph]

I've spent the last few months in tech support for Sprint supporting both devices. I have yet to find *any* way in which the blackberry is superior, and the people that own them tend to be bigger assholes than people that own Treos.

[Squirrel Killer]

So the real question then, is how big of an asshole is your wife, Damien?

[Murph]

Nice. :-)

Should I have disclaimered that? YMMV, etc, etc, and there are exceptions to both. Happy?

Based on my experience with both, the Treo seems superior in every way, and I'll try and keep my opinion about the presumptiousness (is that a word?) of Blackberry users to myself.

Happy??

If anyone can name one thing that the blackberry can do (besides push email, which is misleading) that the Treo can't, I'll be surprised. And the Treo has a touchscreen, and is therefore superior.

[mystery]

If anyone can name one thing that the blackberry can do (besides push email, which is misleading)

Not sure what you mean by that. My BB currently has wireless bidirectional synchronization with email, contacts, calendar and task lists. With the AT&T/Cingular merger and the emergence of more GPRS devices, I now find it difficult to be in a place that doesn't have full data capabilities for my BB (that wasn't the case a year ago).

About a month ago, when I had a 3 hour layover in NYC, I sat at the gate and chatted in IRC for a while. Can the Treo do that? Not sure.

[DennyA]

About a month ago, when I had a 3 hour layover in NYC, I sat at the gate and chatted in IRC for a while. Can the Treo do that? Not sure.
Sure. The Treo runs all Palm OS software. You can access IRC, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ... It runs any of the tens of thousands of Palm OS apps.