SteveMondragon
09-22-2007, 01:35 AM
I made this post on the BBforums.com site but figured I'd post on here as well for a good comparson from what I notice when using both phones everyday. FYI, both phones are setup on the $30/month 500min SERO account (the 8830 has the BB data plan added to it, extra $40/month), and both are on the Sprint EV-DO network and I use both phones everyday throughout the day.
I've had the 755p since the end of June and the 8830 about a month now. Both are great phones with their pro's and con's. I use the 755p as my own personal phone and the 8830 is paid for by my work. Both run fast in the EV-DO network when browsing the web or doing other things.
Some highlights that I can think of off the top of my head:
- Both are on the SERO 500 min plan ($30 month, unlimited EV-DO Power Vision internet, unlimited txt msg, etc). But with the 8830, you need to buy the Blackberry Data Plan for an additional $39 in order to use it to its fullest, and that includes unlimited data (no free txt but the SERO plan already gives you unlimited txt msg capabilities). So with both phones, and the $7/month protection service on them, I'm paying approx $110 a month for both phones. Kind of high when before my 755p only was $39.xx a month for unlimited internet, etc. But at least my work is covering $75 of that cost for me a month.
- The 8830 is much lighter and thinner, but a lot wider. Both feel awkward in my pocket but the 8830 feels better since it doesn't stick out as much.
- I used to like the qwerty keyboard on the 755p better since the letters are spaced out more, but I now I've gotten more used to the 8830 keyboard and I'm starting to like that one more.
- The trackball on the 8830 is pretty cool and you can move through the menus pretty fast. Although the touch screen on the 755p is nicer IMO since you can navigate faster.
- The 8830 is a more solid phone. Meaning navigating through menus and between applications, the 8830 is a lot faster and smoother than the 755p and it seems more reliable. There's more lag-time on the 755p at times.
- The 8830 can be teathered with the USB cable and it acts like a high speed modem for your laptop. You can do the same with the 755p but you need to buy a 3rd party software (USBmodem works great, costs $19 for the app).
- The 755p can run the Slingbox app so that's what I use every morning and afternoon on my hour long train ride into work. That's one of the main (and probably only) downfalls that the Blackberry doesn't have.
- Both use the 2.5mm smaller headset jack.
- Battery life is much better on the 8830, and that's still after I replaced my 755p battery with a Seidio oem-size battery that's 25% bigger.
- It's nice that the 8830 has a miniUSB port for charging it so you can use any universal cable or phone power plug to charge it. With the 755p, you need to buy the Treo charger as no other ones will work.
- Both have good web browsers, but it's nicer to have the touch screen on the 755p when clicking on links. Although drop-down boxes on websites don't work well on the 755p and works great on the 8830 web browser. Speed with loading pages is about the same on the EV-DO network in downtown Los Angeles.
- You can use the BES to run your Outlook on the 8830. Works great, which is why I have it (IT/network tech so work pays for it). It receives messages fast! As soon as an email is received by our mail server, the BES server sends the alert to my phone before Outlook reconciles and see's the message. As for the 755p, I haven't hooked up the Active Sync yet and don't really plan on doing so. I think the other email accounts (Gmail, anything else) looks and works better on the 755p.
- Performing a wipe on the 8830 is very easy by just going into the Advanced Options menu and doing it there. On the 755p, it's a little trick to do the 'zero wipe' but I've been able to do it no problem. But rather than it being a menu option, you have to physically do it by pressing 3 different buttons and removing the battery at the sametime.... a ltitle tricky but I was able to get it down and do it pretty easily with both hands and no help.
- GPS is cool on the 8830, not really needed by me but still cool to have. Works good with Google Maps on the Blackberry. The pre-loaded BB Maps map display is really crappy compared to the Google maps on the 755p. The Google Maps on the 8830 has the same picture quality as the 755p, but it's much easier to navigate on Google Maps on the 755p, and the maps load faster on the 755p.
- Google maps on the 755p is another thing I use all the time with LA traffic. It can show the current traffic conditions on the major freeways and it's easy to move around the map my dragging the image with the touch screen. It refreshes faster than the 8830 Google Maps program, and is easier to use with the map functions.
- AIM is already loaded onto the 755p so I use it on there. I downloaded Google Maps for free on the 8830 and it works well.
- I was able to download a cool Texas Hold'Em and Blackjack game onto the Blackberry 8830 for free. Fun to play while on the train, but it's still no Slingbox.
- The 755p came pre-loaded with AOL AIM, and I downloaded the Blackberry AOL AIM app and installed it. Both work about the same, both work well on my phones. The main thing I like about the AIM program on the Blackberry phone is that you can set specific ringtone for when you receive messages. On the Treo 755p, you either have the sound on or off. When the ringer is set to off (or you turn off the sound option within AIM), the phone won't even vibrate or anything... you just have to check the phone every now & then to see if you got a reply back or a new message. If you leave the ringer turn on with the 755p, the only sound you get is the default AIM sounds that are annoying IMO. With the 8830, you can set it to vibrate and/or use a custom tone for messages so it's nice to have a subtle quiet tone when I'm at work to let me know I have a message.
- I don't use the voice dial on either phone so I can't comment on that.
- I don't use the camera on the 755p but when I did at the dealership to snap some pics of some window stickers, the quality was pretty good... similar to my old 1.3 mp Canon camera I had years ago.
- Ringtones are louder and IMO, a better selection on the 755p than the 8830. I think the vibrator on the 755p is better and you can feel it more than the 8830.
- You can shut off the 8830 but you can't with the 755p. You can only put it in an "airport" like mode only (basically shutting off the voice & data service but still having the phone on to do all of the functions and apps on it - can't ever turn it off unless you remove the battery).
- I like the switch at the top of the 755p that allows you to turn the ringer off and into vibrate mode. Much better than having to go into the ringer menu and selecting the phone between vibrate & normal on the 8830 (I keep my phones on vibrate during the day at work, I turn the ringers back on when I get home and when I'm out doing other things).
- My 4GB miniSD card works fine in either phone.
- Video playback on both phones looks good. You need a 3rd party app (TCPMP) on the 755p to playback different media formats, but at least the app is free to download. Either use the trackball to fast-foward & rewind on the 8830, or use the stylus and move the time slide on the 755p. No real winner here but both work great. I never use either phone as a MP3 player since I have a Sansa player if I really want to listen to some music.
- BT works the same on both phones when pairing with my old Moto H350 headset. Both sync'd up fine with my 2006 Audi A4.
- The screen adjusts brightness, depending on your lighting, on the 8830. It's just one setting on the 755p and sometimes it dims on its own and gets bright again later (I think a defect or something wrong with it, as others have reported but not bad enough to bug me about swapping it out.... I only notice it when I watch tv on the Slingbox).
I'm sure there are a lot of other tricks and apps that I'm utilizing yet but for the most part that's all I need so far.
Here are some quick comparason pics that I just snapped of my phones:
I've had the 755p since the end of June and the 8830 about a month now. Both are great phones with their pro's and con's. I use the 755p as my own personal phone and the 8830 is paid for by my work. Both run fast in the EV-DO network when browsing the web or doing other things.
Some highlights that I can think of off the top of my head:
- Both are on the SERO 500 min plan ($30 month, unlimited EV-DO Power Vision internet, unlimited txt msg, etc). But with the 8830, you need to buy the Blackberry Data Plan for an additional $39 in order to use it to its fullest, and that includes unlimited data (no free txt but the SERO plan already gives you unlimited txt msg capabilities). So with both phones, and the $7/month protection service on them, I'm paying approx $110 a month for both phones. Kind of high when before my 755p only was $39.xx a month for unlimited internet, etc. But at least my work is covering $75 of that cost for me a month.
- The 8830 is much lighter and thinner, but a lot wider. Both feel awkward in my pocket but the 8830 feels better since it doesn't stick out as much.
- I used to like the qwerty keyboard on the 755p better since the letters are spaced out more, but I now I've gotten more used to the 8830 keyboard and I'm starting to like that one more.
- The trackball on the 8830 is pretty cool and you can move through the menus pretty fast. Although the touch screen on the 755p is nicer IMO since you can navigate faster.
- The 8830 is a more solid phone. Meaning navigating through menus and between applications, the 8830 is a lot faster and smoother than the 755p and it seems more reliable. There's more lag-time on the 755p at times.
- The 8830 can be teathered with the USB cable and it acts like a high speed modem for your laptop. You can do the same with the 755p but you need to buy a 3rd party software (USBmodem works great, costs $19 for the app).
- The 755p can run the Slingbox app so that's what I use every morning and afternoon on my hour long train ride into work. That's one of the main (and probably only) downfalls that the Blackberry doesn't have.
- Both use the 2.5mm smaller headset jack.
- Battery life is much better on the 8830, and that's still after I replaced my 755p battery with a Seidio oem-size battery that's 25% bigger.
- It's nice that the 8830 has a miniUSB port for charging it so you can use any universal cable or phone power plug to charge it. With the 755p, you need to buy the Treo charger as no other ones will work.
- Both have good web browsers, but it's nicer to have the touch screen on the 755p when clicking on links. Although drop-down boxes on websites don't work well on the 755p and works great on the 8830 web browser. Speed with loading pages is about the same on the EV-DO network in downtown Los Angeles.
- You can use the BES to run your Outlook on the 8830. Works great, which is why I have it (IT/network tech so work pays for it). It receives messages fast! As soon as an email is received by our mail server, the BES server sends the alert to my phone before Outlook reconciles and see's the message. As for the 755p, I haven't hooked up the Active Sync yet and don't really plan on doing so. I think the other email accounts (Gmail, anything else) looks and works better on the 755p.
- Performing a wipe on the 8830 is very easy by just going into the Advanced Options menu and doing it there. On the 755p, it's a little trick to do the 'zero wipe' but I've been able to do it no problem. But rather than it being a menu option, you have to physically do it by pressing 3 different buttons and removing the battery at the sametime.... a ltitle tricky but I was able to get it down and do it pretty easily with both hands and no help.
- GPS is cool on the 8830, not really needed by me but still cool to have. Works good with Google Maps on the Blackberry. The pre-loaded BB Maps map display is really crappy compared to the Google maps on the 755p. The Google Maps on the 8830 has the same picture quality as the 755p, but it's much easier to navigate on Google Maps on the 755p, and the maps load faster on the 755p.
- Google maps on the 755p is another thing I use all the time with LA traffic. It can show the current traffic conditions on the major freeways and it's easy to move around the map my dragging the image with the touch screen. It refreshes faster than the 8830 Google Maps program, and is easier to use with the map functions.
- AIM is already loaded onto the 755p so I use it on there. I downloaded Google Maps for free on the 8830 and it works well.
- I was able to download a cool Texas Hold'Em and Blackjack game onto the Blackberry 8830 for free. Fun to play while on the train, but it's still no Slingbox.
- The 755p came pre-loaded with AOL AIM, and I downloaded the Blackberry AOL AIM app and installed it. Both work about the same, both work well on my phones. The main thing I like about the AIM program on the Blackberry phone is that you can set specific ringtone for when you receive messages. On the Treo 755p, you either have the sound on or off. When the ringer is set to off (or you turn off the sound option within AIM), the phone won't even vibrate or anything... you just have to check the phone every now & then to see if you got a reply back or a new message. If you leave the ringer turn on with the 755p, the only sound you get is the default AIM sounds that are annoying IMO. With the 8830, you can set it to vibrate and/or use a custom tone for messages so it's nice to have a subtle quiet tone when I'm at work to let me know I have a message.
- I don't use the voice dial on either phone so I can't comment on that.
- I don't use the camera on the 755p but when I did at the dealership to snap some pics of some window stickers, the quality was pretty good... similar to my old 1.3 mp Canon camera I had years ago.
- Ringtones are louder and IMO, a better selection on the 755p than the 8830. I think the vibrator on the 755p is better and you can feel it more than the 8830.
- You can shut off the 8830 but you can't with the 755p. You can only put it in an "airport" like mode only (basically shutting off the voice & data service but still having the phone on to do all of the functions and apps on it - can't ever turn it off unless you remove the battery).
- I like the switch at the top of the 755p that allows you to turn the ringer off and into vibrate mode. Much better than having to go into the ringer menu and selecting the phone between vibrate & normal on the 8830 (I keep my phones on vibrate during the day at work, I turn the ringers back on when I get home and when I'm out doing other things).
- My 4GB miniSD card works fine in either phone.
- Video playback on both phones looks good. You need a 3rd party app (TCPMP) on the 755p to playback different media formats, but at least the app is free to download. Either use the trackball to fast-foward & rewind on the 8830, or use the stylus and move the time slide on the 755p. No real winner here but both work great. I never use either phone as a MP3 player since I have a Sansa player if I really want to listen to some music.
- BT works the same on both phones when pairing with my old Moto H350 headset. Both sync'd up fine with my 2006 Audi A4.
- The screen adjusts brightness, depending on your lighting, on the 8830. It's just one setting on the 755p and sometimes it dims on its own and gets bright again later (I think a defect or something wrong with it, as others have reported but not bad enough to bug me about swapping it out.... I only notice it when I watch tv on the Slingbox).
I'm sure there are a lot of other tricks and apps that I'm utilizing yet but for the most part that's all I need so far.
Here are some quick comparason pics that I just snapped of my phones: