HTC Touch or Blackberry Pearl?

[sauga_kid]

I'm currently with Telus and want to get a new phone. I'm looking at either the HTC Touch or the Blackberry Pearl, I'm leaning towards the Touch right now but wanted to see what others had to say in terms of pros and cons of each. Thanks in advance for all your input.

[chinsterr]

Even though I own stock in RIM , i doubt i would ever buy their products. They are more business focused and not as appealing to the general consumer .

HTC TOUCH and get that unlimited data plan they are offering !

or you can ditch telus/CDMA and go GSM ! Then get an iPHONE ! :)

[Gizzmo_jr]

I picked the Touch out of the two, but I'm with Telus (for now) until Canadian release of the iPhone.

[bluntman]

The Touch isn't a bad phone, it's a little slow, but it's not bad. The scrolling action is not as smooth/sensitive as it is on the iPod Touch or iPhone, but judging it as a smartphone, it is quite feature packed.

[sauga_kid]

Thanks for the input guys, I've played with iPhone, only thing with that is that I use my iPod ALL the time and I always seem to find my phone dying as it is so damn if I'm without both, lol. I know CDMA doesn't give you the flexability of GSM in terms of phone selection/variety however I haven't really had any problems with Telus' network where as all my friends always b!tcH about not having any signal (Fido). C'est la vie, each company has its draw backs I guess.

[Xerox]

HTC touch is cool until the guy next to you pulls out the iPhone (or maybe even the iPod touch). ;)

[chinsterr]

HTC touch is cool until the guy next to you pulls out the iPhone (or maybe even the iPod touch). ;)

hahaha !

So true .

And the iPhone is cool right now until its released on the rogers network !

[Jeff-TheBiz]

I love the HTC, had it for about a month, and the aftermarket software for a Pocket PC is endless..

Lets see an iphone open a Power Point Presentation... yeah... right...

[Xerox]

I love the HTC, had it for about a month, and the aftermarket software for a Pocket PC is endless..

Lets see an iphone open a Power Point Presentation... yeah... right...

But to be fair, you can probably say the same thing about iPhone. I'm sure iPhone can do things the HTC can't.

[Jeff-TheBiz]

But to be fair, you can probably say the same thing about iPhone. I'm sure iPhone can do things the HTC can't.

true enough... I need to push a button to go landscape where the iphone does it on it's own... :whoa

never liked crapple.

[gqstunning]

If you need a phone that quickly accesses address info and plays nice with outlook then get a BB. You can do everything with one hand!

[garboui]

I love the HTC, had it for about a month, and the aftermarket software for a Pocket PC is endless..

Lets see an iphone open a Power Point Presentation... yeah... right...

im sure with some crack you will be able to run open office.


better yet, wait until someone releases a Linux distribution for the iPhone and Ipod touch like with previous generation ipods.

[Skarbro]

I love the HTC, had it for about a month, and the aftermarket software for a Pocket PC is endless..

Lets see an iphone open a Power Point Presentation... yeah... right...
Hey I'm going to drop in and check it out sometime if you don't mind. Does it have wi-fi?

[Jeff-TheBiz]

Hey I'm going to drop in and check it out sometime if you don't mind. Does it have wi-fi?

It does..

and it can overclocked.

I have the 200mhz (running at about ~260) one that takes a sim card.

The CDMI one that telus/bell have doesn't have wi-fi, but it is a 400mhz.

[SilentJay]

I am in the same situation - except Telus is supposedly willing to bend over backwards for me. Something about a circle of the president something-or-other. The lack of WiFi is definately a downer, but the touch IS a nice phone. If you read on one of those enthousiast forums however (ie. HowardForums), you'll hear about the crashing and freezing from the Telus Touch. I went in and played with both in a Telus store, and found that although the Touch has more "fun" factor, you can't deny the functionality of the Pearl.

[sauga_kid]

SilentJay, when you say that Telus is bending over backwards for you, are you in the middle of a contract and they're still willing to hook you up? Details please? Just wondering cuz I'm a year in to a three year contract and curious to what they will do. Thanks for the info once again.

[Skarbro]

It does..

and it can overclocked.

I have the 200mhz (running at about ~260) one that takes a sim card.

The CDMI one that telus/bell have doesn't have wi-fi, but it is a 400mhz.
GSM > CDMI :)

[chinsterr]

GSM > CDMI :)

indeed.

[SilentJay]

SilentJay, when you say that Telus is bending over backwards for you, are you in the middle of a contract and they're still willing to hook you up? Details please? Just wondering cuz I'm a year in to a three year contract and curious to what they will do. Thanks for the info once again.

I'm approaching my renewal period (within 6 mos of the end of my current contract), and they've been calling every once in a while (presumably because of LNP) first to gauge my likelihood to renew with them, then with "concern" to see why I wouldn't sign on again immediately.

Nowadays, they're calling me with bribes out the ying-yang to get me to sign. Free local calling, free features for the entire term of the contract, free touch/pearl, free accessories, etc.

I'd assume not everyone gets this treatment as I suspect its because I have been a client since ClearNet (1997), and for a while billed $300 months. That said, you'll always get a better deal from loyalty and retention if you threaten to leave/port to another company.

[SilentJay]

GSM > CDMI :)

Isn't it CDMA? I've owned at least 2 cell phones from each of the carriers, and I can say that my experience has been that one CDMA carrier provides better reception (telus), however Bell leaves something to be desired. GSM is great mainly because of the user's ability to change phones freely without contractual obligations or the need to wait for the technology to come to North America. Frankly the coverage is kinda splotchy in some metro areas, and the tower boundary handovers are terrible.

Just gotta weigh out what you want... Better phone flexibility vs. clarity/digital coverage.

[Skarbro]

Isn't it CDMA? I've owned at least 2 cell phones from each of the carriers, and I can say that my experience has been that one CDMA carrier provides better reception (telus), however Bell leaves something to be desired. GSM is great mainly because of the user's ability to change phones freely without contractual obligations or the need to wait for the technology to come to North America. Frankly the coverage is kinda splotchy in some metro areas, and the tower boundary handovers are terrible.

Just gotta weigh out what you want... Better phone flexibility vs. clarity/digital coverage.
I've been with Telus and their reception sucks in comparison to Rogers. GSM is totally clear and covers way more areas.

[SilentJay]

I've been with Telus and their reception sucks in comparison to Rogers. GSM is totally clear and covers way more areas.

Incidentally, i've been with both and find that Rogers/Fido sucked. It depends on area you're using it in, and the phone that you're using.

[chinsterr]

Bell/Telus suck for the markham and richmondhill area.

[S.F.W.]

I have Bell in Richmond Hill, and it is great. I am on the road all time as well, throughout Markham, Toronto, really across Canada. I've never had a dropped call, always top notch reception. Even when I head to the sticks(sister in Keswick, dad 45 min outside Peterborough).