Or a review & comparison of the Blackberry 8700g, TyTN II (Windows Mobile) and Blackberry Curve 8320
Yes, you’ve asked for it and now you’ve finally got it, one of those techie type posts about a mobile phone or to be more precise three mobile phones, (or cellphones if you are reading this from the other side of the Atlantic).
Regular readers will have noticed that I like my Blackberry, it has served me well for the last 18 months of my contract with T-Mobile. It’s used daily for checking my calendar, reading emails and the occasional bit of web browsing. Its a Blackberry 8700g and by todays standards looks a bit on the retro side, however drop it and it would probably bounce right back up in to your hand with barely a scratch on its tough casing. It’s been super reliable for me and I think it’s locked up once in all that time when I had to remove the battery to get it working again.
However it lacks one thing, no make that two things, a camera and Wi-Fi. So at the end of my contract period with T-Mobile I was offered a free upgrade. T-Mobile do not do a Blackberry with Wi-Fi and a camera, also known as the Curve 8320 but they did do a rather snazzy Windows Mobile device called an MDA Vario III, this is also known as a HTC TyTN II (yet another snappy name!)
This phone seemed to have everything, even 3G (read fast Internet, video calling) and a built in GPS. I read some reviews on it and it came out well, very well indeed. So I called the good folks at T-Mobile and they said if I stayed with them for another 18 months they would send me this phone for free, well actually “£5.49 postage Sir”! How could I refuse. A couple of days later and this little beauty arrived at the door!
It weighs about 3 times as much as my Blackberry 8700g and packs so much in to a small device, even a fairly large keyboard which slides out and tilts! I was in geek heaven 
It didn’t last long though, as soon as the initial WOW factor had worn off I realised the battery would only last just over 1 day with fairly conservative usage. The next annoyance is the power on button, its almost like the designers went out of their way to make a button so unobtrusive, so hard to press accidentally that they in fact made it near impossible to turn the phone on. I guess I’d just got used to taking my Blackberry out of its case and it automatically switching on as it brushed past the magnet in the case.
Ok but putting that aside it’s got a camera, so that ought to be good? In theory yes but this camera is like nothing else you have used. Firstly the delay from pressing the button to the shutter taking the photo is probably between 2 and 3 seconds, I kid you not. Next the actual image you see on the screen is so blurred by motion the subject you are photographing has to be absolutely stationary, stationary as in a building or tree with no wind. I’m not exaggerating here, the camera is next to useless, sorry but it is.
On to 3G, well here is something that seems to work, I don’t have 3G coverage at home (something I was disappointed to find out when I got the phone - c’mon T-Mobile, lets have some better coverage 0.5 miles south of Lancaster city centre, please) but I did try it out from several locations, web browsing seemed fairly snappy, apart from Pocket IE, which is a story in itself, 3G video calling worked fine.
I’m sorry but the annoyances go on, the next big one is the actual interface itself, in this case its called Windows Mobile 6 Professional. I’m sure you’ve seen the nice screenshots in the advertisements whilst reading the Telegraph or staring at the opposite wall of one of London’s underground tube stations (just think instead of reading that book on the tube you could be putting the finishing touches to an important proposal or tidying up a spreadsheet for this mornings meeting!?), indeed it does look pretty and very much like Windows itself of course but thats where the appeal for me ended.
It’s just so damn ‘clunky’ and cumbersome in everyday use. Simple things like looking up a contact in the address book and dialing it are no longer a one handed experience as they are on the Blackberry. You either have to get the stylus out and start prodding around on the screen, risk doing it with your finger nail and easily mis pressing something or try to navigate around the interface with the scroll wheel and keys. You could pop out the hidden keyboard but this is certainly a two handed operation.
Then there are the occasional freezes and frequent slow downs of the device. It comes with all the quirks of a windows PC but with a phone bolted on too. Suffice to say it didn’t take me long to start looking on Ebay to see how much I might be able to get for it and to find something to replace it!
I’d decided I needed something with a full qwerty keyboard that is not hidden or needs sliding out. It must have a camera, Wi-Fi and be able to syncronise over the air with my Exchange 2003 server.
Enter the Blackberry Curve 8320, this was a similar form factor to my 8700g but included Wi-Fi and a camera, no 3G but that’s no great loss. Unfortunately T-Mobile in the UK do not sell this model, the only provider that does is Orange. I wasn’t about to switch to them as I’d just signed for another 18 months with T-Mobile.
I contacted RIM to see if they sell unlocked devices, “NO” was the answer. Back to Ebay then and I found somebody in the UK selling the Blackberry 8320 locked to Orange. A little investigation and I found I could get this unlocked, so I placed my order and received the phone.
I’ve been using it now for about 2 weeks since I got it unlocked and it’s superb! The built in camera seems to take good pictures and its so much more responsive than the TyTN. The Blackberry interface is very responsive and in my opinion is laid out in a much more logical fashion. I’ve not had any lockups or slowdowns on it either. The only criticism I have is that the radio receiver for the cellular network does not seem as sensitive as the one in the 8700g.
It works fine with my Exchange 2003 server and Blackberry Enterprise Server (free express edition), I’m able to book appointments on my calendar when at a customers and have everything synced without messing with any cables or bluetooth. It has voice dialing - no extra program required as with the Windows Mobile device and so far has been rock solid reliable.
Its a slightly smaller device than the Blackberry 8700g, fits nicer in the palm and the styling is much more recent!
If you have got a Blackberry and are in the UK and need it unlocking, use the contact form, I may be able to help.
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