Back around June of 2008, I had been thinking of getting a new cell phone. I'd had my old flip top cell phone for about three years. Though it was working fine, I was looking for some more advanced features like calendars and web browsing. I went around to various stores and browsed at the newer phones. One that caught my eye was the Palm Centro. The Centro had a lot of what I wanted and the phone was inexpensive. Since my old flip top phone was still working, I put off the decision in getting a new phone indefinitely. In my mind, I would get a new phone when the old one broke.
Alas, that time came about a month later. My old flip top phone suddenly died and d-day was here. I had to get a new phone. I immediately went to look at a Centro. However, after playing with the Centro a little more, it didn't quite feel right. The keyboard was a little small and the web browsing was a little limited than I expected.
The next choices on the list were the Apple IPhone (non 3G or 3GS) or the Blackberry Curve 8310. I had played with the IPhone at the stores since it came out but never really looked at the Blackberry. My dad thought I should get the IPhone since I had also lost my IPod Nano a few months back as well.
Despite wanting the IPhone for the novelty factor, I just didn't like the touch screen. Ultimately, after getting a friend's recommendation on the Blackberry Curve 8310 (she had bought it a few months earlier) and playing with it myself, I decided to get the Curve.
Unfortunately, I got a defective phone which rebooted every few minutes so I had to replace it after a few months. However, since I got the replacement phone, everything has been smooth sailing.
While the IPhone has the cool factor and definitely has it's advantages over the Curve, it still does what I need to do including:
- Email (Hotmail, Yahoo)
- Web Browsing - This is one area the IPhone had a major advantage over the Blackberry. The Blackberry browser is not robust and Safari does have it beat. However, for basic news reading, most big websites have optimized for the Blackberry. Also, for sites that haven't been optimized, I used Opera-Mini for browsing. Opera is not perfect but it's a decent substitute.
- Games - While the IPhone has a ton of applications for business and fun, the Blackberry also has a few. The Blackberry comes with Brickbreaker (a variation of the old Breakout video games in the 80's). Also, I've downloaded free versions of Pac-Man and Tetris.
- Music Player - My friend reminded me that if I didn't need a separate MP3 player from my phone that the Blackberry could serve as a decent substitute. Guess what? She was RIGHT! Now that ITunes has decided to allow their songs to be playable on other MP3 players besides IPhones or IPods, I can play the same songs everyone else can. I know that Blackberries are generally considered business phones and I personally haven't seen many people listening to music on their Blackberries. But it's much better than one would expect. Plus I love it when people look at me weirdly for I know they're thinking "Is he listening to music on a Blackberry?"
- Blackberry or IBerry - Most IPhone users probably don't care about simulating the look and feel of a Blackberry. However, many creative folks have created IPhone themes for the Blackberry. So while I can't use a touch screen, I have icons that look like the IPhone on the Blackberry. My friends laugh at me for doing this but I'm open minded. I may not like the touch screen of an IPhone, but it doesn't mean I don't like the look of the icons or the interface! :)
However, I plan to enjoy my Curve for as long as it works. When that time comes again, then I will hopefully find another one that can be as fun as the Curve has been!
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