Droid v. Blackberry

[kalabama09]

Hi, this might sound crazy to all of the Droid lovers, but I want to get my mom some sort of smartphone for Mother's Day and I'm trying to find out what would suit her best. I love my Droid, but she uses her laptop most of the time for Facebook, she also uploads pix from her digital camera to her laptop. She uses her computer for many different things. At this time, she is using the Verizon chip thing (can't think of what it's called) for internet on the laptop. Can't you connect to the internet thru the Blackberry? Is it as fast as her chip thing? Btw, the owns her own business and constantly checks her e-mail. Someone please advise.

[Darkseider]

The Blackberry as an internet device just plain SUCKS. Granted it does email well but that's about it. The Droid should have no problems pulling pop mail, Facebook integration is pretty tight, and sending pics to the PC is just as easy as it is with a camera. Plus the thousands of other things that the Droid can do.

Now the only questions I have for you and I don't mean to be nasty about it. You say you have a Droid yet you ask these questions? What do you do or for that matter not do with your Droid that you couldn't have answered these questions yourself?

[kalabama09]

I don't use Facebook. I know the Droid is Facebook friendly though. I don't own a business that requires me to have computer access at all times. I was more wondering about the speed of the Blackberry online and its functions v. her internet chip device thing. She just uses her computer so often as a business owner, so I was just trying to figure out what would be more logical. I know nothing about the Blackberry. I am the one who needs the helpful advice, but did this post answer all of your questions?

[warrior21]

It really depends on how much of a learning curve she wants to endure. The blackberry in general is an easier device to learn and for email it tends to be flawless. I love my droid but I'm not a blackberry hater either. My wife switched the the droid after having the curve and loves the droid for all the different apps and abilities it has but if your mother wants to keep it simple I would go with the blackberry. When it comes to the internet droid is quite a bit faster though.

[Darkseider]

OK. Well the Blackberry on the internet really does suck ass. It is SLOW and I mean S L O W. So forget about ever being anywhere near productive with the Blackberry browser. As for Facebook I would give the Droid a nod there as well because it is damned near stupid proof. POP email shouldn't be an issue although the Blackberry would probably have the edge in that department. As for overall speed the Droid will again be far faster than even RIMs flagships the Storm 2, Tour or Curve.

[dfuser10332]

I had a Blackberry Storm for a year and I spent a month with the Blackberry Storm 2 as well. Comparing Blackberry to Droid there is like a 10 year gap in technology. Internet on the Storm was very, very slow. Continuous issues like freeze up, battery pulls (daily to keep memory) and even having to worry about memory in the first place.

Get your mom a Droid. Don't hold her back and give her frustration with a Blackberry.

[blackngray70]

+1 for Droid. I was a BB user for years and Android is far more advanced.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

[01b5s4]

Well, I guess I'll speak on behalf of the BB. I was a BB user for years, and loved every minute of it. I never experienced slow browser speeds. The email on BB hands down beats the Droid. I can't stand using my Droid for email, but that's about the only thing I hate with my Droid. When I went to upgrade my BB, my wife and i were talked into the Droid, otherwise I'd still be a BB user now. But, even saying that I do love the Droid.

There really two different type of phones, so comparing them really isn't fair. If you mom is into wiz-bang apps and such, or the endless flex-ability of a Droid, then that would be the phone for her. But if she is more into business type usage; email, conference call, GLOBAL usage, then a BB is the way to go. And facebook worked great on my BB BTW. Both phones have there +/-'s.

Mike

[takeshi]

Hi, this might sound crazy to all of the Droid lovers, but I want to get my mom some sort of smartphone for Mother's Day and I'm trying to find out what would suit her best. I love my Droid, but she uses her laptop most of the time for Facebook, she also uploads pix from her digital camera to her laptop. She uses her computer for many different things. At this time, she is using the Verizon chip thing (can't think of what it's called) for internet on the laptop. Can't you connect to the internet thru the Blackberry? Is it as fast as her chip thing? Btw, the owns her own business and constantly checks her e-mail. Someone please advise.

Does she currently have a smartphone? I'm guessing no since you left out how she uses her phone and instead told us mainly about how she uses her laptop. Any idea what she might want to do with it? The Droid's a great device but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone (nor any device for that matter). Smartphones aren't a one-size-fits-all solution despite what many apparently believe. Selecting one is a matter of finding what fits a particular individual the best. Heck, an iPhone could be her thing for all we know at this point.

How technically savvy do you think she is? Are you going to end up providing tech support?

Now the only questions I have for you and I don't mean to be nasty about it. You say you have a Droid yet you ask these questions? What do you do or for that matter not do with your Droid that you couldn't have answered these questions yourself?

Most of the OP's questions were BB-related. I don't see how Droid ownership meant that he should have been able to answer those questions...

The email on BB hands down beats the Droid.

I was a huge BB fan before switching to the Droid but I'd disagree on this. Blanket statements based on anecdotal experience aren't very useful in discussions without acknowledging that they aren't truly representative of all situations. Your email accounts can make a significant difference in your experiences on various platforms. That said, I strongly prefer Exchange and ActiveSync on the Droid versus Excahnge and BES on the Blackberry. Again, YMMV. Don't assume that the experiences of others are the same as yours.

+1 for Droid. I was a BB user for years and Android is far more advanced.

Depends on how you're looking at things. From an IT standpoint the Droid has no management tools where as a BB is equipped out of the box for BES IT policies, remote wipe, intranet access, etc.

Again, watch the blanket statements based on anecdotal experience.

From a standalone consumer user I'd say that Android devices are likely to offer more of the features that they're looking for.

I had a Blackberry Storm for a year and I spent a month with the Blackberry Storm 2 as well. Comparing Blackberry to Droid there is like a 10 year gap in technology. Internet on the Storm was very, very slow. Continuous issues like freeze up, battery pulls (daily to keep memory) and even having to worry about memory in the first place.

Get your mom a Droid. Don't hold her back and give her frustration with a Blackberry.

Again, not all experiences are the same. I came from a Blackberry 8310 and never experienced any of the issues you mentioned (my 8800, 8700, 7290, 7100, 7230 and 6230 never had any problems either). However, the Storm and Storm 2 are definitely some of the most problem plagued devices if the BB forums are any indication. The Storm may be a BB but not all BB's are Storms.

Each product has its niche despite the apparent popularity of BB-bashing around here.

[davidjmorin]

Hi, this might sound crazy to all of the Droid lovers, but I want to get my mom some sort of smartphone for Mother's Day and I'm trying to find out what would suit her best. I love my Droid, but she uses her laptop most of the time for Facebook, she also uploads pix from her digital camera to her laptop. She uses her computer for many different things. At this time, she is using the Verizon chip thing (can't think of what it's called) for internet on the laptop. Can't you connect to the internet thru the Blackberry? Is it as fast as her chip thing? Btw, the owns her own business and constantly checks her e-mail. Someone please advise.

To be honest with you man i had a BB for about 10 years, like back when they were green and black screens haha and had an antenna. Anyway now that i have used a droid man i couldnt imagine going back. This phone rocks!!!

Did i mention that i have a blackberry social site haha thats how hardcore i was about it. check my sig.