Potential Blackberry Convert Torn...

[joecreed28]

Hey guys and girls,

I'm a newbie to the site here, even though I have been reading and researching for the past week or. I figured it was finally time to ask some questions. I currently use a Blackberry Pearl flip and have used a blackberry device for the past 4 years. After seeing the Droid and Eris, and using them in stores, I think it is time for me to make the leap. But I don't know to which one, so any advice you could give would be appreciated. I also have a few specific questions I was hoping you could help me with...

1) Will either of these devices make me sell my IPod Touch. I love the Ipod touch, but hate carrying two devices all the time. My IPod is mainly a wifi tool that I use to get weather updates before work, on shopping trips with my wife (o: , and to listen to podcasts and some music (an hour a day or so). Is the Droid or Eris's media player good/sufficient enough so that I could sell the IPod touch? Would either phone's battery's be able to take the extra use of the media player?

2) I'm a courier at FedEx, so I don't have the cleanest or most laidback job. I'm worried if I'd get the Droid, dirt and or wear and tear could get teh best of that sliding keyboard? Any thoughts?

3) Does Gmail push to the Android phones like my yahoo mail does to my blackberry? Or is it pulled every 5, 10, or however many minutes you set it to pull? I already forwarded my Yahoo mail to a Gmail account (in preparation for this switch) so I'm interested to see if it is a true push email. I also usually have friends text message me through my email, and I respond to them at 8145554444@vtext.com so that I don't have to have a text message plan on top of my data plan, so the email push relates to that too (I know, cheapo, but what can I say).

4) How is the call quality on both/either phone with background noise. Will I be able to hear people, will they be able to hear me?Once again, some of those FedEx trucks are beasts and don't exactly have the quietness of a Mercedes. Is one better than the other in this regard?

I guess those are my big questions that I haven't seen specifically answered on here. So what do you guys think, Droid or Eris for this soon-to-be former Blackberry guy? Thanks in advance!

Nik

 

[rigamrts]

1. as far as music i'd keep the touch cause the droid and eris won't last extended periods of constant music use

2. it's not a knock down bruiser like the bb but it's definatly not delicate and can take some everyday wear and tear

3. gmail polls the server every so often to check for mail but if you use your yahoo that seems to be instant.

4. call quality is great love it

hope this helps

 

[JackButler]

I switched from BB thinking I could return the Eris, but now I know I won't.
Not sure about abuse or music thing yet, but the pure fun (and I don't want a phone for fun!) and things you can do that you never thought you'd want to with it makes the BB seem like and old bagphone...My wife got the BB and I help her with it as I loved mine, but now when I mess with it, it is just really bland.

 

[Steve Lokenheimer]

As a former BB Fanboy I can understand your qualms. But After a week with the Eris I am more pissed at myself for holding on to my subpar Storm 1 for as long as I did. Its a great OS, great interface and overall waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay superior to any BB.

 

[joecreed28]

Thanks a lot for all the thoughts guys. Really appreciate the quick feedback!

 

[DroidDO]

I have the Eris now. I switched from a Blackberry Storm, but my phone before that was a Pearl. Something you should know is that the Eris has a built-in option to switch the keyboard to compact qwerty, which is the same keyboard you're probably used to using on your Pearl (suretype). The Droid does not have this option. This was a big deciding factor for me, as I'm used to that style keyboard.

The gmail is pushed to the phone, so you will see updates at about the same speed as you're used to on your BB. Any other email you set up via POP3 will be checked at whatever interval you set (15 mins).

My call quality is amazing, I can hear callers as clearly as they can hear me. Nice and loud.

The media player is a wash. If you are just going to listen to a few songs, in a playlist, then you should be able to get alway with just using the phone. My ipod touch still has a few more features (genius playlist, coverflow). On my Eris, I use pandora and therefor don't have to mess with the media player. However, It has all the standard categories (artist, album, genre, etc) so you should be able to use it. Media will drain you battery, so keep a charger in the truck. The first week I had the phone my battery life sucked. However, after a few cycles of running the battery down, it lasts all day now. I took it off the charger at 10am, and at 10pm I'm at 68% remaining (with phone calls, web browsing and emails). There a a ton of cool weather widgets for both phones. Eris comes with a weather clock on the homescreen.

As far as the durability of the phone goes. There are some nice protective cases on the market for both phones (droid and eris). The more protection = more bulk. So I opted for the Eris because its smaller to start out; adding a case brings it to a size I can still fit in my pocket. Seeing that the Droid keyboard slide is a mechanical part, if dirt or sand gets in the slider, it will cause problems.

Ultimately both phones are nice. I think HTC put a little (a lot) more effort into the software on the Eris.

 

[joecreed28]

DroidDo, does that keyboard pictured above work just like the Suretype? I mean, it figures out the words and stuff? If so, that is just another BIG plus for the Eris for me. Lots of people didn't like suretype, but I really do. Thanks alot.

 

[DroidDO]

Yes, it will guess the words as you type. When you've typed enough letters, and it guesses it correctly, you can just tap the word (from a list) and it inserts it. Very similar to suretype. There is an app that will install a similar keyboard on the droid, but since its not designed for the phone, it doesn't work nearly as well. I wanted to buy a droid, but I when I saw the keyboard on the eris, I had no choice. After all if you can't type on the phone, what good is it.

 

[Hockey4jack]

I have the Eris now. I switched from a Blackberry Storm, but my phone before that was a Pearl. Something you should know is that the Eris has a built-in option to switch the keyboard to compact qwerty, which is the same keyboard you're probably used to using on your Pearl (suretype). The Droid does not have this option. This was a big deciding factor for me, as I'm used to that style keyboard.

The gmail is pushed to the phone, so you will see updates at about the same speed as you're used to on your BB. Any other email you set up via POP3 will be checked at whatever interval you set (15 mins).

My call quality is amazing, I can hear callers as clearly as they can hear me. Nice and loud.

The media player is a wash. If you are just going to listen to a few songs, in a playlist, then you should be able to get alway with just using the phone. My ipod touch still has a few more features (genius playlist, coverflow). On my Eris, I use pandora and therefor don't have to mess with the media player. However, It has all the standard categories (artist, album, genre, etc) so you should be able to use it. Media will drain you battery, so keep a charger in the truck. The first week I had the phone my battery life sucked. However, after a few cycles of running the battery down, it lasts all day now. I took it off the charger at 10am, and at 10pm I'm at 68% remaining (with phone calls, web browsing and emails). There a a ton of cool weather widgets for both phones. Eris comes with a weather clock on the homescreen.

As far as the durability of the phone goes. There are some nice protective cases on the market for both phones (droid and eris). The more protection = more bulk. So I opted for the Eris because its smaller to start out; adding a case brings it to a size I can still fit in my pocket. Seeing that the Droid keyboard slide is a mechanical part, if dirt or sand gets in the slider, it will cause problems.

Ultimately both phones are nice. I think HTC put a little (a lot) more effort into the software on the Eris.

I believe that you can get that keyboard on the Droid, is it called Better Keyboard? Not sure, but you may be able to.

 

[Podivin]

I used to carry a dumb (non-smart is probably more politically correct ) phone and and IPod touch, now the IPod just lays around, haven't used it since I got the Eris. I drive about 30-40 minutes each way to work, and use the Eris as my music player. I also have the Listen app for podcasts. I DO have a charger in my car, but rarely use it. In my opinion, yep, you'll be able to get rid of the IPod.

 

[Caddyman]

i had a storm, now have an eris

i loved my storm

i love the eris

i saw someone put it like this

BB's do what they do, and they do them very well...

Android does more....needs some polishing though.

My storm was the shiiii for using it to call, get email, calendar, etc.....couldnt be better

Android does those thing, not quite as well (imo), but it does a whole lot more stuff too.

 

[DroidDO]

I believe that you can get that keyboard on the Droid, is it called Better Keyboard? Not sure, but you may be able to.

You can, but it doesn't work nearly as well. I tried it out. It doesn't guess the words correctly. I was sad about this because I really wanted a Droid and thought this would be a solution. However, after a few weeks with my Eris I'm so glad I didn't.

 

[tats_06]

And the spell checker on the eris is amazing!

 

[Needsdecaf]

i had a storm, now have an eris

i loved my storm

i love the eris

i saw someone put it like this

BB's do what they do, and they do them very well...

Android does more....needs some polishing though.

My storm was the shiiii for using it to call, get email, calendar, etc.....couldnt be better

Android does those thing, not quite as well (imo), but it does a whole lot more stuff too.

Very good way of putting it.

IMO:

BB = king of push email, scheduling, enterprise work.

iPod = best for hardcore media (podcasts, videos, music)

Eris = more than acceptable at the above for 99% of users (admit it, if you're not using a BB for work in an enterprise setting, you probably can use another platform) and the rest, well, is just great.

 

[88rich88]

As a former BB Fanboy I can understand your qualms. But After a week with the Eris I am more pissed at myself for holding on to my subpar Storm 1 for as long as I did. Its a great OS, great interface and overall waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay superior to any BB.

^^^^X2.....I just wiped my storm 1 and I was playing around with it a bit, and WOW what a difference. I could be wrong but Im pretty sure the storm 1 and eris have the same processor or atleast they are both 528MHz..Im not sure if it is exactly the same chip. But what a huge difference the Android OS makes. The eris is way faster than the Storm 1, even with the latest update. You wont be disappointed coming from a blackberry. If you normally keep your phone in your pocket at work, then you would be happy with the eris, you cant even notice it in your pocket, feels like my razr used to in my pocket.