PPC6700 vs. Blackberry 8703e vs. Treo 700wx

[xywh]

Hi all,

I'm a current a900 user. I also carry a Dell Axim x51v. I would like to combine my phone and PDA so I only have to carry one. My company uses Exchange, which would interface well with all three of these PDA phones.

Price does not matter to me, as my girlfriend is switching to Sprint from T-Mobile and will get the phone from eBay (and then we'll switch). Also, the $40/mo Blackberry plan is okay with me, although I like paying only $15/mo for Power Vision right now.

I'm pretty much sold on the 700wx, except for the resolution of the screen. 240x240 seems pretty miserable for viewing webpages and emails when compared to the 320x240 landscape of the 8703e or the ppc6700.

Could someone please comment on their experience with the practicality of the screen size on the 700wx? Reading emails, looking at webpages, etc?

Thanks!

[Malatesta]

Hi all,

I'm a current a900 user. I also carry a Dell Axim x51v. I would like to combine my phone and PDA so I only have to carry one. My company uses Exchange, which would interface well with all three of these PDA phones.

Price does not matter to me, as my girlfriend is switching to Sprint from T-Mobile and will get the phone from eBay (and then we'll switch). Also, the $40/mo Blackberry plan is okay with me, although I like paying only $15/mo for Power Vision right now.

I'm pretty much sold on the 700wx, except for the resolution of the screen. 240x240 seems pretty miserable for viewing webpages and emails when compared to the 320x240 landscape of the 8703e or the ppc6700.

Could someone please comment on their experience with the practicality of the screen size on the 700wx? Reading emails, looking at webpages, etc?

Thanks!
I have zero problems/issues viewing emails or webpages or watching my Slingbox for that matter on the 700wx.

Sure bigger is nice, but the 700wx feels more phone-ish with a 240x240. I find the resolution and size quite effective on this device.

Just turn down the font to "small" (smallest is not needed, imo) and your emails will be easy to read and fit the screen just fine.

Exchange rocks, btw.

[osbornem]

I recently switched from a 700WX to an 8703. I found both screens to be very good. I prefer the 8703 bb as the screen I think is brighter, a bit larger and wider and I can read everything without my reading glasses (which I could not do on the wx). The bb does not have all the multimedia capabilities that WM5 offers (or the camera functions). But for my needs (email, SMS Text, Instant Messaging, web browsing, phone functions) the 8703 bb is exceptional....you could not pry it from my fingers for any other device on the market! Really I think the best thing about the bb is that it is light as a feather....a very impressive device. The Intellisync software works to sync with Microsoft Outlook flawlessly. I have had my device now for three weeks and have not had to soft or hard reset once (I don't even know how to)!! I found what works for me...and I'm a BB user for life!

[vman51]

like osbornem said, the bb is does not have the multimedia features or camera feature..

i have used both the 700wx and the 6700..

the 6700 is more of a pda, but it is just not as responsive as my 700wx is...i can swtich from program to program with ease on my 700wx, but not with my old 6700...sure, the big screen is really nice, but as a phone, the 6700 flat out sucks...the 700wx has an actual dialpad..

and i had to get so many extra stylii for my 6700, they just do not stay on..also, battery life is horrible..i couldnt even last a half day if i decided to have bluetooth on (forget infrared)..
however, the backlight on the 6700 is incredibly bright, and it saved me quite a number of times...

also, the 700wx has many more accessories available for it..

summed up:

if you don't need a camera or multimedia capabilites and are willing to pay the extra $40/month, go with the bb

if you aren't going to be using the phone all that much and do not mind the pda-first then phone idea, and you need a better keyboard, go with the 6700

if you want a excellent selection o accesories, a much better battery life, and more of a phone with pda functionality, go with the 700wx

[Malatesta]

vman51, good summary.

BB is attractive for all those reasons but as you point out, the extra $40 a month is just not an option when Exchange/Push is free.

[osbornem]

Its actually only an extra $20-$25 per month because on the wx you would typically have the $15 or $20 Vision plans. Plus with the bb the extra $20 or $25 gives you the ability to use the "phone as a modem" with your laptop which I believe is an additional $40 with Sprint if you have the Treos. This feature is going to really allow me to conduct business remotely over the holidays.

[Malatesta]

Its actually only an extra $20-$25 per month because on the wx you would typically have the $15 or $20 Vision plans. Plus with the bb the extra $20 or $25 gives you the ability to use the "phone as a modem" with your laptop which I believe is an additional $40 with Sprint if you have the Treos. This feature is going to really allow me to conduct business remotely over the holidays.
Partly true but certainly a notewothy distinction.

There are exceptions e.g. I only pay $10 for PowerVision and with PdaNet (http://www.junefabrics.com/pdanet/) (one time fee $34) you can avoid tethering costs and therefore PAM altogether on a 700wx.

[vman51]

6700 can tether for free :)

[xywh]

6700 can tether for free :)

My understanding is that the 700wx can tether for free as well, simply by dialing #777?

[Malatesta]

My understanding is that the 700wx can tether for free as well, simply by dialing #777?
It's up in the air technically.

Anyone can tether (who has WM5) the question is: Will Sprint charge you for large data fees?

So far, I have yet to hear of one person with a 700wx getting charged. But that is not to say that it can't happen.

If I recall, even a couple 6700 users have gotten caught due to extremely usage. But it is rare.

[kulnet]

The moral of the story is, don't go crazy with it. I tether with my 700wx from time to time and haven't caught any flack on it yet. YMMV.

[vman51]

i have a mac, and therfore can't tether...i cant even get bluetooth to work..all i want to do is transfer files, i have stuff on my gmail account, but i cant dl it from my phone since gmail keeps reverting me back to the pda version where i cannot dl attachment...arg

[Brooose]

i have a mac, and therfore can't tether...i cant even get bluetooth to work..all i want to do is transfer files, i have stuff on my gmail account, but i cant dl it from my phone since gmail keeps reverting me back to the pda version where i cannot dl attachment...arg

I used my old 6700 to tether with my Macbook Pro. I just paired it and it worked. Now with Missing Sync for WM5 version 3.0, you can sync, install programs and it works with itunes and iphoto as well.

[osbornem]

once you go BLACK (BB) you'll NEVER go back!!

[bluecoyote]

Yeah... do you want a device that can do a lot of things but none of them very well, or a device that does a handful of things and does them better than anything else?

Everything the Blackberry does, it does better than the Treo or PPC 6700. I'll even say it's true for web browsing, because its browser resizes pages a lot better than either, and manages to do so without slowing you down. As a phone, there's no comparison either. If a reliable phone isn't an option, the Blackberry is your only choice- you never know when/if your PPC 6700 is going to decide to lock up in the middle of a call. (Sprint considers this normal).

That said, if you're interested in doing some far-out things, like using Slingbox or trying to replace your iPod with a convergence device.... well, actually, I still wouldn't recommend either of these. When lined up to the smartphones of our GSM neighbors, they're just crap. Neither of these is going to ever work as well as say... a Nokia E61, SonyEricsson P990, or Blackberry Pearl. If you MUST have Sprint, maybe consider the Treo, but you know Slingbox is going to work with Symbian smartphones, and Cingular's got that nice shiny high-speed network coming, and Symbian is a helluva lot more pleasant than Windows Mobile.