Blackberry Vs XDA

jank

Hi,

Im wondering what are the benifts of a blackberry over an XDA.

The main one I presume is cost but is it really that much?

I dont know a whole lot about either but I know that the latetest XDA II models are blackberry compatible i.e. they can function as a blackberry aswell as having a much greater range of functionality.

Is it the size and cost of the XDA's the reason why companies arent going for them.

Just doing a bit of research for our company so fire away with any sugestions.

Thanks.

parsi

jank wrote:

Hi,

Im wondering what are the benifts of a blackberry over an XDA.

The main one I presume is cost but is it really that much?

I dont know a whole lot about either but I know that the latetest XDA II models are blackberry compatible i.e. they can function as a blackberry aswell as having a much greater range of functionality.

Is it the size and cost of the XDA's the reason why companies arent going for them.

Just doing a bit of research for our company so fire away with any sugestions.

Thanks.

Blackberries are handy devices - they do what they promise to do and they do it well. You can check your email, access your address book, access the corporate address book, so calendaring and scheduling and read most types of attachments and broswe the web. Its really a comms device rather than a document making device. Oh yes - they are fairly idiot proof - the end-user can't do much that will affect their workings.

PDAs are different beasts - they are primarily document making devices eg pocket word, pocket excel, pocket "this-app", pocket "that-app" with comms tacked on. They have greater scope for the user to go off messing about with settings and more settings that can go a bit screwy. They are harder to get people to ue as a sole phone and their battery life isnt as good.

Its not a pda but I trialled the Siemens SK65 which has blackberry connect on it and itwasn't that good - when you truned on the phone you had to turn on the blackberry functionality, the screen was small (not an issue with a pda) and the battery life sucked big time and it was heavier (or at least felt heavier) than the BB.

The end choice depends on what your users need to fo with their pocket device -is it to keep in touch or do they _really_ want tobe drafting excel and word docs on the go...

Gillo

Most xda's can now be upgraded to with Blackberry software, effective then you get the best of both worlds.

wirelessdude

that is the area that i work in...solutions that involve either/or/both xda and blackberry....feel free to ask anything that you want

memyselfandi

Stay away from the XDA - the battery life on them is absolutely brutal especially if you use it as a phone. The radio/coverage on the phone side is also not great. Go for the BB for email and keep your phone for phone calls.

woody

Blackberry Software is fairly unstable and the devices are over priced.

I have used both the 7100x and 7100v same phones different branding.

Had plenty of problems, unlike the XDA II,IIi & IIs which I currently use.

The main thing about the XDA is just to remove the O2 UI and do a corporate install : Code : 0506...

The O2 UI causes most of the issues, also in regards to the battery there are several things you can do to maintain longer running..

1. Switch of Beaming
2. Only Use BT and Wifi whenever necessary
3. Set the device screen to switch off after 2 mins of non use
4. Reduce screen brightness etc etc


I get about 2.5 days without charging out of my XDA IIs and with BT and sometimes Wifi 1.0 to 1.5 days without charging..

The battery maybe better on the BB but it is a crappy phone

parsi

I don't find the Blackberry Software to be unstable. We have around 40 7100v (and 1 7100x) and we don't receive complaints over software stability at all. The BES (server) software is extremely solid. With BES4.0 the BB neveer has to see your PC in order to keep itself up-to-date which is certainly a benefit - a lot of our users find over-the-air syncing of their address books to be useful (also saves the old complaint that used be made when they forgot to manually update).

emul

I have a BB 7290 and an XDA IIs. The 7290 is now a paperweight. I kept with the XDA for the following reasons:

1. pocket applications - word, excel, ppt - I only use occasionally but great to have. I have actually used the ppt to give a presentation...
2. screen size - I can read my email on the XDA - the 7290's screen too small
3. I have installed my GPS software on XDA - great when I travel
4. lots of applications available for the platform

On the minus side for the XDA

1. The battery is not that good on the XDA (currently a day) however I would describe my usage as high, 3-4 hours on calls and 90+ emails per day.

2. The stylus holder has a fault - when used for about 6/8 months it doesn't hold the stylus anymore - replacements disappear easily :-)

wirelessdude

Hey Emul,

Just wondering what GPS software are you using and where did you get it.
I'm currently researching it for a client.

emul

I use Navigon http://www.navigon.com/site/int/en/mobile_navigation/pda in conjunction with a Bluetooth GPS receiver. Upgraded SD card to 1gb - have maps of France, UK and Germany installed with that capacity. Works great - Irish maps are main roads only u can (and even then hit and miss). Voice prompts guide the way.