Why Is The BlackBerry Better?

by Robb Dunewood on December 10, 2007 · 15 comments

We’ve got a very interesting email asking the question “Why Is The BlackBerry Better?” I can think of numerous reasons, but, admit that I am probably a bit biased. That being said, we pose this question to you.

Why is the BlackBerry Better?

BlackBerry

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  • Jason

    I think the most important reason is stability. I’ve had both palm and windows os based phones and I had countless issues with both phones locking up, freezing, rebooting unexpectedly, and so forth. Aside from a few RIM based outages, my blackberry is extremely reliable. It never freezes, it never locks up, and has only rebooted a few times (I’m guessing to apply security patches).

    I like a lot of the additional features of windows based phones but untill the reliability is at least close to that of a blackberry I will stick with RIM.

  • Sumit

    Counterpoint, I have owned a PocketPC before, and thought I was upgrading to a Blackberry (Curve). I fail to see why it’s considered special. BB is not so much of a smartphone – it shouldn’t call itself one without a doc/sheet viewer and editor and file manager out of the box. Email is reliable but, with text formatting, arcane. Newer apps seem to have been designed organically, rather than with a comprehensive thought.

    The pluses are with the Curve the form factor is close to ideal, core apps are integrated to a larger extent and it is certainly better in the freezes department.

  • Ben

    For corporate IT types… if you are running RIM’s BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) and someone looses a BB you can remotely whipe it clean of all sensitive (or incriminating) data with the click of a mouse. Also you have the ability to “push” applications/changes/security settings to HUNDREDS of devices at one.

  • http://beyondthebleedingedge.blogspot.com Andrew

    Its battery life and power management is in a class of its own. I am a light to moderate voice user and usually get an entire week out of my pearl on one charge.

  • jonabyte

    There is no better device for push emails. Period.

  • http://www.billbuchan.com Wild Bill

    Easy.

    1. Robust. Bounce a windows mobile phone off the floor. Bounce a pearl or curve (or perhaps even an 8800). Which one still works.

    I’ve dumped a Pearl in beer (had to lick the trackball for a day to stop it gumming up). Lived with the Curve, and abuse it frequently. It still looks shop-new. I did manage to kill an 8800, but that involved spilling a *lot* of 24 year old Malt on it.. What a waste..

    Your users will treat any mobile device like a phone. So get a robust one.

    2. A Keyboard.

    You dont NEED two hands to operate it (with a stylus). One hand can work, but two thumbs (and a bit of practice) and your even faster. Voice dialling is good (get a Jawbone – excellent kit)

    Try that on a sylus or touch screen. BlackBerries are good for volume eMail users – IMHO, the pearl less than the Curve or 8800.

    3. Coverage.

    Over 300 networks. Now China. Where doesnt it work (Perhaps Finland?)

    4. Easy to use.

    Your senior execs are old, computer illiterate control freaks with the attention span of a 2 year old. Are YOU going to run upstairs every time he needs to figure out how to use the Windows Mobile UI ?

    No. Neither am I.

    5. Control

    I know one multi-billion dollar company who rolled out BlackBerries to prevent the traders in their organisations (ferraris, ties, no control) waltzing into corporate HQ on a daily basis demanding that the latest whizzy PDA they saw in an airline flight magazine be connected and synced.

    Forget that.

    6. Secure.

    The MOD in the UK have certified the BlackBerry solution end-to-end. Various other governments and organisations have too.

    Do you know how easy it is for a script kiddie to get data off of windows mobile ? Do you think your CEO wants his p*rn collection and mobile phone records on the internet ?

    Neither did I

    7. Wifi.

    Heard of UMA ? You will. BlackBerry has it. T-Mobile in the US, Orange in France and BT in the UK have either rolled it out or will soon.

    Check it out… You’ll like it.

    8. Applications

    Yes, it syncs Mail, Calendar, Contacts. Over the air. You never have to see the complete horror of intellisync (??) again…

    But it can run applications using one of three different application deployment strategies.

    The two application development environments – MDS studio and JDE are free. JDE is based on Java, so no leaky c# code here. And the simulators actually work!

    So its no longer a phone. Or eMail. Is a robust portable computer with built in GPS, and a secure VPN network channel. Newer ones have Wifi.

    Do you have people who need that ?

    9. Cheap

    What ? BlackBerries ? Cheap ? Yes.

    The recurring cost on your BlackBerry is your data charge. Some carriers are down to €9/month for BlackBerry service. So get a second-hand handset from eBay (Remember, they’re robust, so there’s plenty), get a promotional BES for your Lotus Domino or Groupwise server and voila. Your there.

    Want to develop code for BlackBerries ? We did. And this was a really low-cost starter option.

    Dont get ripped off by the carriers. Remind them that *you* are the customer.

    10. Battery life

    Despite the abuse, my Curve (and previously my Pearl and my 8800) were champs at battery life. Depending on use, 2-3 days between charge. If you like, carry a second battery, or charge it from your PC.

    My last windows mobile phone lasted 8 months before it was down to 4 hours between charges, before wiping everything. Thanks Mr Gates.

    11. It works.

    Says over 10m *active* handset users… Yes. Active.

    Not a windows PDA or smartphone purchased and sitting at the back of the drawer, or on a desk as a rather ugly iPod.

    12. Seen BlackBerry Unite ?

    Now. Thats collaboration. Family and SMB focused.

    13. Future ?

    BlackBerry and Apple have one thing in common. They’re pretty secretive. So I dont know anyone who knows anything about new handsets. Basically, buy the handsets that you need today with a view to a 12-18 month usage pattern. If you get more – and I see lots of 3-5 year old BlackBerries still in use – then you’ve saved even more money.

    —* Bill
    http://www.hadsl.com
    BlackBerry Alliance member, and as you can tell:
    A bit of an evangelist.

  • Steve Hagerott

    I’m a recent switchover to a Blackberry, as of three days ago last Friday. Before that time, I used a Windows Mobile smartphone (the Dash) for a year, and several years of Pocket PC PDA’s. Here are my first impressions.

    1. Better screen usage: The status bar at the top is thinner and you don’t have a big strip at the bottom used for the soft keys. This amounts to some, what, 15% more vertical screen space? Some apps on WinMo allow you to run in Full Screen mode. However, it’s clunky to hit a soft key, get the strip to show up that shows what the soft key does, then hit again to get the menu. On the BB, EVERY app runs in full screen mode basically. Hitting the dedicated menu button always gets you the menu popped up and FAST.

    2. Short cuts, short cuts, short cuts. I had to read about these in my manual and online, because there are so many. I disabled “Dial from Home Screen” and I now can pull up most any apps with a single key press. On WinMo, you can only assign applications to hot keys on the number pad. ALL the other qwerty keys are wasted on the home screen. Within all applications, there is a smorgasborg of shortcuts that give you exactly what you need. Like hitting the delete key on my qwerty to delete an e-mail? Microsoft’s OS is still ten key focused and needs to fully embrace the qwerty.

    3. Better use of keys. On Windows, you have a dedicated Home key taking up space. This is simple to understand, but I like how you can just hit the End key on a BB to take you to the Home Screen. Not as simple to understand, but you don’t burn up button space. You only have a single menu key, not two soft keys to decide between. Also, you can copy text natively by using the shift key to select and highlight text. The delete key is used to delete items, not just text, just like it does on a PC. As I mentioned on item #2, the shortcut keys are not limited to the number keys, ALL the qwerty keys are available. Press and hold for speed dial, press once to get the app shortcut key on the home screen.

    4. Everyone has talked about robustness, but it’s really the speed to bring up my e-mails, tasks, and calendar that I love. No hour glasses! Granted, the graphics aren’t as pretty, but I don’t really miss it. I really like the BB’s Day View and quick entry mode.

    5. The trackball! I really love this thing over the bonk, bonk of a DPAD. It also makes copy/pasting text a breeze. Navigating a map application with it is really nice.

    6. The browser. Huh? I thought the BB browser was supposed to stink? Not for me! It’s always running in full screen (see #1), has a ton of options to control: javascript, stylesheets, images, background images, browser type emulation, etc. Also, the Desktop mode combined with the track ball allows me to navigate a complicated with a real cursor on the page. The fonts do look a little lame, but it’s not a big deal for me. It does seem to load a little slower, but I haven’t done any side-by-side comparisons of the two on the same Edge connection.

    7. Holster and profile intelligence. I really love how my Curve “knows” when it’s in the holster and when I’ve taken it in and out. I don’t have to dork with locking and unlocking my phone! I just drop it in and the Curve goes into auto-standby. This is just few button click and holds to worry about. I also really like how I can set different behavior based on whether it’s in or out of its holster.

    8. The form factor. The Curve is smaller than my Dash but has a less cramped keyboard. I really like my Dash, but was annoyed by the wasted vertical space on the device between the keys and the screen. The Curve just feels like its built rock solid.

    9. Yea, the interface and fonts aren’t as “pretty,” but all of these other items I mention above make up for that short fall for me.

    Sorry to drone on, but I felt compelled to share some specifics about what I saw. I was very hesitant to switch over to a BlackBerry after so many WinMo years under my belt. However, as you can tell, I’m very happy I gave it a try. I did have to read some manuals, etc., to understand everything I could do with my BlackBerry, but that’s my style, so I can’t really speak to which platform is “easier” to use.

  • Steve Hagerott

    Oh yea, and I forgot some of these cool things:

    10. Good ‘ole 3.5MM head phone jack that ALSO accepts the BB headphone/mic combo. No need to drag around a custom adapter to use standard headphones with the device.

    12. AutoText: it simply works, in every app. Well, it doesn’t seem to work in a web browser text box, but it’s awesome with e-mail and the other apps.

    13. E-mail speed and features. Everyone mentioned how the BB’s are “good at e-mail,” and man they sure are! What I like: super fast bring up of e-mail list, Search by Subject to see an entire thread of e-mails by conversation, push e-mail to my device for my personal e-mail.

    14. The Voice Command works! Maybe I’m weird, but my Dash always made me repeat my commands several times. After playing with if for a while, I gave up. The voice command on the BB actually works well enough for me to use it.

    15. I really like the Windows Mobile Live Search app. I was pleasantly surprised to learn they have a version for the BB and it works great. In fact, it locked up my WinMo phone several times but has yet to do anything like that on my BB. Isn’t that ironic?!?

  • http://www.solucionesdebolsillo.com Rolando Valdes

    Well I have a BB Curve, and I am happy with this.

    It is the cheapest way to have fully email wireless enable here in Mexico. I am paying 35 USD for the unlimited data using the BB Internet services, but with other equipment the carriers have a 80 USD unlimited data plans.

    QWERTY keyboard.
    Good reception ( Voice and data ).
    Cheap data plan.

    I used to have the BB for all email managing related and a Treo 650 for other thing like running Documents to go, main cell phone * because of the voice plan that I have, etc.

    Rolando Valdés
    http://www.solucionesdebolsillo.com
    IT Specialists.

  • bluehorseshoe

    Everyone makes a good argument as to why the BB stands out among it’s competition, but my number one reason is stability. I’m a heavy user of the device and happy to know that no matter what I do, it’s near impossible for me to crash this thing. I’ve been a Pearl user since the day it came out, and hasn’t failed me yet. Good call quality along with a solid OS that provides top of the line email and data services is my main reasons. Plenty of others, but those stand out the most for myself.

  • Scott A

    I have used a LOT of different phones over the years often times switching after only 3-4 months use (I get bored easily with my phones). I always come back to the blackberry though as the phone that I love and it does a lot of what I want.

    Stability and phone quality is paramount to me and the blackberrys usually are among the best for that. Email is pretty important to me and again the blackberrys outshine all others (even Microsofts exchange server).

    I will probably try other phones in the future but I will always come back to what works the best, the blackberry.

  • hellno
  • http://www.aplusclients.com Jonathan

    I’m an ACT! consultant. Most of my clients are financial advisors, lawyers and real estate agents. The clients who have palm or windows based PDA’s are always requesting help because they have issues with syncing their device to thier ACT! database.

    I always recommend blackberry’s to my clients and when they listen to my advice, I don’t get anymore “my database isn’t syncing with my phone” calls.

    Blackberry’s just work. Bottom line. No freezing no, troubleshooting needed.

  • dave

    Why does my Blackberry Storm delete some emails but not others? For instance, I’m working at my desktop using Outlook and sending and deleting received emails throughout the day but my Blackberry only delets SOME of the emails I’ve dealt with and deleted, but not all?

    • Mohanmarvadi

      mongha mongha mobiles lo ,, ane have marao, , , 

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