Blackberry vs Windows Mobile Phone

[GaryRW]

I need to get a phone capable of syncing with microsoft exchange for work. Most important is email, though having online access to shared exchange calendars would also be very handy.

The IT guy at work has recommended a windows mobile 6 phone. Having had a quick look, seems the HTC TyTN II would be the one to go for, if I could find it for a reasonable price and monthly fee (any suggestions very welcome - I'm on t-mobile at the moment if that's relevant).

Anyway, I though I was sorted until I mentioned that idea though to a mate who codes for pocket pc's, and he said you must be joking, WM phones are basically crap for phones - they're a PPC with phone tacked on, they crash and are generally unstable. He strongly recommended a blackberry, and mentioned his mate had replaced his TyTN II with a blackberry. To be honest, I really don't use my phone much as a phone anyway, but when I do use it for work calls, it needs to be reliable.

So what do people think? Blackberry vs Windows Mobile Phone?

As above, working with MS exchange is important - I'm also reliably told we don't have BES and won't be getting it either!

(I currently have a Motorola V3i with sellotape holding the front LCD together, so hopefully that gives you some indication of how tech'd up my phone use has been up to now!)

[gss03]

Windows Mobile it is then!

To do all the fancy things like calendar and contact syncing you need BES.

Windows mobile devices can be a pain to set up....but once they work they don't go wrong!
From memory seeing anyone elses calendar in WM6 can't be done. You can only see and edit your own calendar.

Not sure if it is possible to see shared calendars that are within your public folders tho'

[DR]

Blackberry with Normal Internet can do Exchange Sync - but only new mails not old mails or access mails not on the device.

BES can be installed very low cost... or I suspect some companies offer hosted BES solutions

The issue is Windows mobile is slow, and not 'great' it is better than it used to be....

I had a TYTN II and ditched it for my 8120 Pearl...

[GaryRW]

Cheers for the comments.

I had a look at price and looks like I'll be able to get a blackberry cheaper, but I do like the idea of getting access to all emails, not just new ones. I'll badger so of the others at work, as there are people with each. (none are very technical though...)

I have to say, I like the idea of having the windows pc, but scared I'll regret it 2 weeks into an 18 months contract. (edit: & have my mate saying told you so...)

How slow is slow? & is it just general responsiveness we're talking about?

[gss03]

BES can be downloaded for free from RIM (you need your device's PIN to get it)
This comes with 1 CAL for use.

Also generally needs to be on it's own server (not on the Exchange server!).

DR is right that you can install the blackberry software to your PC and do sync of the your contacts and calendar that way. Mail can be forwarded out to a Vodafone/ orange or O2 mailbox....but in doing this it does not update your Exchange mailbox.

Only BES does that.....or WM6/Exchange.

I myself am tempted with WM6, but I have the same fear that 2 weeks into a new 18/24 month contract I will regret my decision....so I'm sticking with my Nokia 6300 :-)

[Steve B]

The issue is Windows mobile is slow, and not 'great' it is better than it used to be....

It is getting there, but i've got a WM6 TyTn and its welll slow sometimes, right pain in the bum!

WM6 gets my vote, but i dont particularly like blackberrys!

[TheAnimus]

TyTn II is also bloody heavy.

I'm using a glofiish atm, which was damned expensive, and in retrospect i'd probably not buy it again. Its sluggish all of a sudden for no apparent reason.

However it does do push email etc flawlessly, it just needs a restart once a week (which i think is completely un-acceptable for a phone)

[nichomach]

We have a number of WM6 phones in service (Glofiish M800, HTC Touch Duals, Treo 750, Touch Cruise, TyTN II etc). The TyTN II's a brick - a superbly featured brick, but a brick. I have one that's been returned from a director, because it was too bulky to use as a phone; he went for a Touch Cruise instead and loves it. Unless you have to have the QWERTY keyboard, I'd say the Cruise is the one to go for. It has all the functionality of the TyTN II (GPS, WiFi, HSDPA, Bluetooth), but is a lot skinnier and lighter. Seriously, it's great. The OP's mate, with all due respect, was talking through his hat; I've found all of them to be stable in general use. I don't object to a soft reboot once in a while, if only because I'm getting a lot more than a phone with the devices. My own personal phone is an HTC Touch Dual (didn't need WiFi or GPS) which I use with a hosted Exchange service, and I do not regret getting that one bit.

If they already have a setup for Activesync at work, they probably won't be keen to implement BES (I know I wouldn't be, and I have a FE/BE Exchange config that provides Outlook Web Access and Activesync), on the basis that they'd be shelling out for additional software that doesn't get them a lot beyond what they already have.

[GaryRW]

thanks for all your comments. I think you've reassured me that WM is best for exchange.

I'll keep reading up on reviews etc though and looking what I can get on which tariffs (not helped by their need to rebadge each model to XDA, Vario etc! - don't suppose anyone knows a nice summary page that lists what each is known as?)

I suspect I have a similar view to nichomach - I don't mind a bit of hassle (i.e. a soft reboot/switching it on and off once a week) because it's clearly more than just a phone. I think that's the difference between me and my mate - he primarily wants a phone, but wants it to do email as well. I'm happy to accept something that's more balanced between phone and other functions and I accept that's probably a compromise at this point.

Slightly off my original question, but if you load a media player onto something like the TyTn II or Touch Cruise, can you watch video? I've just found a little app called Media Center Buddy which keeps an eye on your recordings folder and can automatically convert them to DivX etc... but scaled down to PPC resolution .

To try to bring it back on topic, I assume that a blackberry can't do that?

[TheAnimus]

Media Player is bundled as standard

[GaryRW]

I'll take that as a yes then for WM & video!

What about blackberries? The more general point I suppose is, what are people using WM phones/devices for that Blackberries can't do?

[Steve B]

one of the chaps in work has a blackberry, not sure what model, and it can only do bluetooth file transfers between blackberries, not to other phones. Stupid

[j.o.s.h.1408]

i hate blackberrys. overated and useless. only good for email but WM does email too quite easily and more

[Betty_Swallocks]

I'll keep reading up on reviews etc though and looking what I can get on which tariffs (not helped by their need to rebadge each model to XDA, Vario etc! - don't suppose anyone knows a nice summary page that lists what each is known as?)

Have you found the XDA developers forum and wiki yet?

xda-developers - Powered by vBulletin and XDADeveloperWiki - Home Page

A wealth of knowledge about all of the HTC phones including custom firmware rom images, mods, themes and sound schemes.

Well worth a look.

I can't change my phone until September but I'm planning to get the TyTn II (HTC Kaiser/T-Mobile MDA Vario III / AT&T Tilt / O2 Xda Stellar/Vodafone v1615 / Orange & HTC TyTN II ) when I do.

[nichomach]

I have one sat on my desk at the mo'. They are GREAT devices, IMO, but you really need to be sure that you want to carry around something that size all the time; if you do, then you have everything in one package including the QWERTY keyboard. If not then I repeat DO check out the Touch Cruise (O2 Orbit 2).

[Funkstar]

We have Blackberries at work but refuse to get involved with them or learn about them. According to my boss I should be the expert, I told him to buy me one if that is the case