Head's up! this is a looooooong smart phone review. to the non-techie people, this will probably bore you to death.. hehe
Since, early 2007, iv'e been a smart Phone user. i got used to using QWERTY keypads and been maximizing the capacity of the smart phone. Ive been a PALM user since, never did looked twice at other smart phones.
For more than 3 years now, the my Palm Treo 680 has been my loyal companion, on meetings, planning, note taking, calendar blocking, music, pictures. etc. sure it doesn't have a really good camera mega pix in it, but thats what digital cameras are for.
I've been tempted to buy the Iphone 3GS, because of its apps. im an apps guy and having an iTouch bursting with music, movies, books, comicbooks, audio books, yoga lessons, games, blog apps, cocktail menu, RPG, action, simulation, boardgames and other apps in my 16GB touch, i feel i can go more. i got some camera apps waiting for me, (the touch doesn't have a camera, fyi). so you can just imagine what i can do with it, a multimedia device in my hands, maximizing its full potential. BUT! it is really expensive.... :) same with the next phone im about to introduce. I'm just saying, that i think ill stick to PALM. :) there are so many reasons why i should stick to this mobile phone, that most of you guys don't see. i just hope you guys see it in this review.
going back, last 2009, palm release a new smart phone that was said to end iphone's reign. it is the PALM PRE see link http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pre/
THIS! is the smartphone that i want!. i want i want i want!
anyways, just check out the details review and comparison below.
The comparison is between iPhone 3GS vs BlackBerry Bold vs Palm Pre vs Nokia N97 but before that, here is my phone for more than 3 years now. i present to you. the PALM TREO 680.
http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9134/palm-treo-680-review/
Palm Treo 680 Review
By: Ryan KairerDecember 4, 2006
The Treo 680 is the fourth and final new Treo promised by Palm prior to the start of 2006. When it was announced it was billed by Palm as a lower cost, more affordable Treo. Palm has hopes that more customers migrate from the realms of feature phones and choose a Treo. To date price, complexity and the larger form factor of smartphones have held back most average users from choosing a smartphone. The Treo 680 addresses these points and debuts with the lowest introductory price of any new Treo smartphone.
Besides the nice price, the best new aspect of the Treo 680 is its slimmer and lighter form factor. While it doesn't seem like much of a difference on paper, the new size feels absolutely great and won't weigh down your pocket. Compared to the Treo 650 or a 700p, there is a very noticeable difference in weight, not so much with the thickness. The 680 is 2.3mm slimmer, but still a bit on the thick side for a mobile phone. It holds well in hand and grips better due to its more angled in sides. It also looks much more attractive, though slightly less distinctive without its external antenna, however that won't be missed by most.
The top of the 680 has a smooth black portion that contains the IR window and the silent mode switch. The silent mode switch now vibrates when activated, giving you a physical confirmation that it is engaged. It's also been made flush against the top and the notch shows a red strip to let you know its in the on position. The left side has the volume keys and a customizable side key, which is set to activate the voice recorder by default.
The right side is free of buttons and holds the SD card section in the center. The SD slot is now tucked away behind a small plastic door. The door is easy to access and remains hinged to the side via two flexible rubber joints. On my unit the cover seemed a little flimsy. When closed it doesn't always stay totally flush with the side and the cover pokes out a bit. While not a huge problem, I wonder if it would get worse over time.
On the top of the front-side is a small LED that simply now indicates battery charging status and also lights up when the phone is booting and when the radio powers up. In the center to the right of that is the main phone earpiece speaker. Thats followed by the display, the application and phone buttons, 5-way navigator and the thumb keyboard. Along the very bottom is the 2.5 mm headset port, charging and hotsync connectors and the phone mic.
The center 5-way navigator is a bit larger and has more of a inward curve to it making it a little easier to grip and thumb around with. The row of application buttons below the screen are user changeable and by default take you to the Phone app, Agenda view (calendar), email and home (programs). Hitting the blue option key before tapping a button gives you a few more shortcuts which you can also customize. The app buttons are now literally paired up together on each side, though they still operate independently. The home button has a new feature if you hold it for a few seconds it brings up a pop-up list of your last 8 apps.
The Treo 680 has the now standard green and red dedicated send/end call buttons just below the display. The red end key also turns the screen on and off and activates the keyguard. The end key is now the only means to end a call, as the onscreen display icon option has been removed.
The keyboard has square thumb keys in a smile pattern arrangement. This time around the keys are a little smaller and packed in slightly closer together. Palm has even changed to font used on the keys to fit better. I didn't notice a big difference in typing speed or accuracy. The overall thumboard experience wasn't any more difficult than earlier models, but its worth pointing out even if the changes are relatively minor. The backlighting on the keyboard and buttons is bright and consistent and the keys have a nice white illumination.The stylus silo is in the usual top rear corner the back, while on the other side of the top back is a black rubber cover for the internal antenna. Just below that in the top center of the back is the speaker grill, camera lens and portrait mirror assembly. On my standard color Cingular unit, the grill is a lighter silver color with a square row of speaker holes in a 6x6 pattern. The included stylus is mostly a thin black plastic rail with a small metal tip portion. It's pretty flimsy and can actually bend a bit with pressure.
The Treo 680 has dimensions of 2.29" x 4.40" x 0.8" inches (58.4 x 111.8 x 20.3 mm) and weighs in at 5.5 ounces (156g).
One interesting design change is the removal of the reset button. You're simply expected to disconnect the battery in order to reboot the Treo now. The same procedures apply for hard resets, simply remove the battery while holding down the power button as the device reboots.
The 680 is the first Treo to be made available in a variety of colors. The colored editions are sold as "Unlocked devices" exclusively from Palm.com. The SIM unlocked version denotes that it can be used with just about any GSM service provider with an existing GSM/GPRS/EDGE service plan. Cingular only offers the "graphite" color model and it is SIM locked to the Cingular network. Palm is currently offering the 680 in four colors: graphite (gray), copper (orange), Arctic (white) and crimson (red).
Hardware
The Treo 680 is powered by a 312 MHz PXA270 Intel XScale processor. It has 64MB non-volatile internal flash memory available for user storage. The dbcache is now up to 24 MB and the dbheap has a 10 MB capacity.
The Treo 680 has a SD/MMC memory expansion slot. It includes a FAT32 driver which adds support for SD cards up to 2 GB in size. Most standard 4GB cards will also work, but there may still be some incompatible ones out there. While the SD slot does support SDIO accessories with Palm OS device drivers, Wi-Fi via an SD card is still not supported. Palm has stated they have no plans to support WiFi on this model. The new SD slot cover provides an extra bit of security as you won't have to worry about about lost cards from tragic pocket ejections or accidental bumps.
Display
The Treo 680 has a 2" x 2" inch square touchscreen display. It is a 320 x 320 pixel TFT screen that supports 65,000 colors. The display is plenty bright, even at the middle brightness setting, and holds up well outdoors and in direct sunlight. The screen is a slight, but noticeable improvement over the Treo 650's. Colors are richer with better overall color saturation, improved depth and whites stand out better when compared side by side.
The Treo 680 has a 2" x 2" inch square touchscreen display. It is a 320 x 320 pixel TFT screen that supports 65,000 colors. The display is plenty bright, even at the middle brightness setting, and holds up well outdoors and in direct sunlight. The screen is a slight, but noticeable improvement over the Treo 650's. Colors are richer with better overall color saturation, improved depth and whites stand out better when compared side by side.
Having more pixels than most other smartphones is a definite selling point. People are often impressed at the quality of digital video the small Treo screen. CorePlayer supports pretty much all the formats including avi, mpeg, divx and mp4 (video iPod) files. You can convert your own videos using VEMoDe and there are a number of DVD mobile conversion programs. There is also a free app available that can automatically convert content from a Tivo DVR.
Camera
The Treo 680 has a built in VGA camera with 640x480 (0.3 megapixel) resolution and automatic light balancing. It has 2x digital zoom and can also capture movie clips in the .3gp format. Pictures are captured at a max 640x480 size, and movie clips have a 352x288 resolution. The camera's performance is equal to the Treo 650's. The resolution is very low and shots almost always end up being a little blurry and soft. It is disappointing Palm couldn't fit something a little better in here, but it works fine for quick shots on your phone and for creating picture contacts. Here are a few unedited example shots taken with the 680:
The Treo 680 has a built in VGA camera with 640x480 (0.3 megapixel) resolution and automatic light balancing. It has 2x digital zoom and can also capture movie clips in the .3gp format. Pictures are captured at a max 640x480 size, and movie clips have a 352x288 resolution. The camera's performance is equal to the Treo 650's. The resolution is very low and shots almost always end up being a little blurry and soft. It is disappointing Palm couldn't fit something a little better in here, but it works fine for quick shots on your phone and for creating picture contacts. Here are a few unedited example shots taken with the 680:
Bluetooth
The Treo 680 has built in Bluetooth wireless capabilities. This allows for accessories such as wireless Bluetooth headsets, GPS navigation kits and using the 680 as a wireless modem for your laptop. The v1.2 spec allows for faster device connections and adds the ability to use multiple Bluetooth devices concurrently. There is a new option to leave the device in discoverable mode for a short time period.
The Treo 680 has built in Bluetooth wireless capabilities. This allows for accessories such as wireless Bluetooth headsets, GPS navigation kits and using the 680 as a wireless modem for your laptop. The v1.2 spec allows for faster device connections and adds the ability to use multiple Bluetooth devices concurrently. There is a new option to leave the device in discoverable mode for a short time period.
Phone
The 680's phone is a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Class 10 device. It has a quad-band (850/900/1800/1900) capable radio. Data speeds on EDGE networks in the US usually average around 80 - 130kbit/s. When an EDGE connection is not available the 680 can fall back on GPRS data speeds. Palm says the internal antenna has better RF reception than the Treo 650's external stub antenna. In my informal tests the 680 matched the 650 in signal strength wherever we went and I never noticed a big difference in signal strength.The 680's phone is powered by a new Broadcom BCM2133 chipset. The overall call and sound quality was a lot better than what I was used to with the GSM Treo 650. The call quality was much clearer and calls dialed out and connected quicker. The volume is also improved and now works at a satisfactory level. This was a big concern seeing thatVolumeCare and other Treo utilities that increase the call volume limits have been some of the most popular Treo apps out there.
The 680 has some other notable improvements to its phone hardware. It has a reduced Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) rating. SAR is a value that corresponds to the relative amount of RF energy absorbed in the head of a user of a wireless handset. The GSM Treo 650 was one of the highest-radiation mobile phones in the US with a SAR of 1.51 W/kg. The Treo 680 has almost half that with a 0.780 W/kg rating. I also had a annoying issue with my GSM 650 interfering with many stereo speakers and some CRT monitors. It would often produce a buzz when the radio was active or when a call was about to come in. I also hear this effect some car and personal radios. Thankfully the 680 does not exhibit this same interference behavior and coexists peacefully with my speakers while resting on my desktop.Audio
The 680 has the usual Treo dual speaker design, with the front earpiece speaker used for phone calls only while the rear handles the speakerphone, sysytem sounds, games and music. If you want to listen to digital audio via a headset with standard headphones you'll need to use a 3.5mm stereo adapter accessory. The rear mono speaker is well placed next to the camera on the back and can get quite loud. There is an varied selection of ringtones that can also be used as alarms. You can even record your own sounds to be used as a custom ringtone via the voice recorder. You can transfer wav and midi files via Bluetooth, beaming or hotsync to your device for use as ringtones as well.
The 680 has the usual Treo dual speaker design, with the front earpiece speaker used for phone calls only while the rear handles the speakerphone, sysytem sounds, games and music. If you want to listen to digital audio via a headset with standard headphones you'll need to use a 3.5mm stereo adapter accessory. The rear mono speaker is well placed next to the camera on the back and can get quite loud. There is an varied selection of ringtones that can also be used as alarms. You can even record your own sounds to be used as a custom ringtone via the voice recorder. You can transfer wav and midi files via Bluetooth, beaming or hotsync to your device for use as ringtones as well.
Phone Functionality
The Phone application is the centerpiece of the phone functionality that controls calls, contacts, dialing, call log and accessing your shortcut favorites buttons. The Treo 680 includes v3.0 of the Phone app, which sports a new five tabbed simplified user interface. It integrates all the common phone functions and makes it easier to jump between the various screens. The phone application is also the main place that displays your phone signal and battery strength, bluetooth status, data status as well as the number of new text or email messages. You can customize the wallpaper and there is also an option to show your next upcoming calendar appointment.From the main phone screen you can simply start typing in letters and it will display your matching contacts, or just tap right on the d-pad to browse all of your contacts. You can also press the green send button when on the main phone screen to bring up a quick list of your recently dialed calls. The favorites tab allows you to setup quick shortcuts to frequently dialed numbers, groups of contacts, device applications, emails and also web links. It now shows the list of shortcuts in a single horizontal list that grows as you add new favorites. The phone dialing pad with the large onscreen numbers and call history log each have their own tabs as well.
The call in progress screen has also been revised with some nice new features. When a call made, the screen shows a small treo icon next to the name or number. If the current number has a picture stored in the contacts it will show their personal picture as an icon. Call related options and functions are available as large on screen buttons and now have a small text bar along the bottom that describes the current highlighted option. With one click you can activate the speakerphone, start a conference call, mute, switch lines on call waiting or exit out to the device to lookup something in your datebook or other application and remain on the call. When a call ends with newly dialed or unknown number, the Treo will ask if you want to save the number as new contact or add to an existing contact. It's a nice feature and you can also shut it off if you don't need it.
When you have an incoming call, the phone displays the name and caller picture (if you have one assigned). Underneath the answer and ignore options is a large button that allows you to "Ignore by Text." This is a popular feature taken from the 700w that enables you to decline a call and quickly type in an sms message letting the caller know you are busy.
One Hand OperationEven though it has a touchscreen and stylus available, the 680 really excels at one-handed operation. The 5-way navigator and on screen blue cursor combine to make most actions and tasks work without having to tap on the screen. In fact, it's pretty rare that I even use the stylus, except for games. Its a well implemented feature that really makes using the smartphone more intuitive and enjoyable.
Battery
The Treo 680 has a 1200 mAh Li-ion rechargeable battery that can be removed via the cover on the back. Official battery lifetime is rated at 4 hours talk and 300 hours standby. I can tell you that you won't get anything near 300 hours standby as battery performance was disappointing. It was a step back from what I was used to with the 650's decent battery life. Even with light phone use I would have to charge every other day. Sometimes just leaving the phone on overnight I would find it drains by about 15 - 20% by the next morning when it wasn't being used. (UPDATE: This problem has been remedied by theTreo 680 Camera Update.)
The Treo 680 has a 1200 mAh Li-ion rechargeable battery that can be removed via the cover on the back. Official battery lifetime is rated at 4 hours talk and 300 hours standby. I can tell you that you won't get anything near 300 hours standby as battery performance was disappointing. It was a step back from what I was used to with the 650's decent battery life. Even with light phone use I would have to charge every other day. Sometimes just leaving the phone on overnight I would find it drains by about 15 - 20% by the next morning when it wasn't being used. (UPDATE: This problem has been remedied by theTreo 680 Camera Update.)
The 680 doesn't seem any more power hungry, it just uses a much smaller battery that has less capacity that its predecessor. Unfortunately that's the trade-off Palm had to make to design a smaller and lighter model. While the battery life is not totally terrible, it will seem a lot shorter if you're used to the 650. Even with heavy use you'll at least get a days worth out of it, which is comparable to other smartphones currently on the market. Larger capacity aftermarket batteries will eventually be released, but in the mean time you'll likely need to keep the charger close by or pack a spare if you're a heavy power user. Of course, battery life varies greatly with how you personally use the device and its features.
Software
The Treo 680 runs the Palm OS Garnet operating system v5.4.9. While this is still the same Palm OS 5 Garnet core, there have been a number of improvements to the Palm Treo platform that extend the functionality and multimedia capabilities of this device.Besides the new phone app, the included software is virtually identical to the Treo 700p. Present is the usual Palm PIM suite which includes the Calendar, Contacts, Memos and Tasks (ToDo). Voice Recorder is present for voice memos, Pics&Videos does a good job organizing and displaying your photos and videos shot with the Treo. The whole user manual is included in the MyTreo app, which is a good way to get to know the ins and outs of the device and it also provides some basic tips and tricks for getting the most out of the device.
Pocket Tunes is included on the device for MP3 digital audio and music playback. Owners will have an option to upgrade to Pocket Tunes Deluxe for WMA/PlaysForSure support to subscribe to online digital music stores. Pocket Tunes works well and has robust support for playlists, background play and sorting through artists and tracks on SD cards. The 680 also has some of the nice streaming media features that debuted on the 700p. Both video and audio streaming over the Internet is now built in. You can access many common live radio and video streams. For instance, you can navigate to npr.com in the web browser and click on the 'live audio link' the media player will launch and start streaming NPR's live radio feed to the Treo. You can also visit a some movie preview websites such as Netflix.com and watch the streaming movie trailers.
Documents to Go v8.003 is included for office support. Docs to Go supports creating and editing native Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint files. v8 also includes PDF to Go, which is a native Adobe PDF viewer. You can view and edit office files received from email attachments, stored on SD or beamed and transfered to the device. Docs to Go also comes with a hotsync client that can keep your documents in sync with your desktop.
Email
Versamail v3.52 is included as the default email client, and has been renamed to simply "Email." It supports POP, IMAP and Microsoft Exchange accounts. The program also has preset support for Gmail, Yahoo Mail, .Mac, AOL email and others. For Enterprise users whose organizations run Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, the Treo 680 has built in Exchange Server ActiveSync that will directly import and enable corporate email, calendar and contact synchronization. Versamail is a fairly good email program, and if you are looking for push email options or other clients there is a wide selection of alternatives available.
Versamail v3.52 is included as the default email client, and has been renamed to simply "Email." It supports POP, IMAP and Microsoft Exchange accounts. The program also has preset support for Gmail, Yahoo Mail, .Mac, AOL email and others. For Enterprise users whose organizations run Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, the Treo 680 has built in Exchange Server ActiveSync that will directly import and enable corporate email, calendar and contact synchronization. Versamail is a fairly good email program, and if you are looking for push email options or other clients there is a wide selection of alternatives available.
Web
Blazer v4.5 is included for browsing the web. Blazer has been enhanced with new caching rules that make browsing both mobile device optimized and full size websites a more pleasant experience. Instead of having to refresh and reload the entire page each time you exit the browser or use the back and forward buttons, the page is reloaded from the device cache. This enables much faster navigation and rendering when browsing the web or jumping from the browser to another application and back. Palm has also improved JavaScript support, which increases the number of sites accessible and usable on the device. Previously on the 650, sites that used Javascript would render many sites inoperable and would sometimes even cause the treo to reboot. The browser is also better at loading and displaying larger, designed for desktop sites.
Blazer v4.5 is included for browsing the web. Blazer has been enhanced with new caching rules that make browsing both mobile device optimized and full size websites a more pleasant experience. Instead of having to refresh and reload the entire page each time you exit the browser or use the back and forward buttons, the page is reloaded from the device cache. This enables much faster navigation and rendering when browsing the web or jumping from the browser to another application and back. Palm has also improved JavaScript support, which increases the number of sites accessible and usable on the device. Previously on the 650, sites that used Javascript would render many sites inoperable and would sometimes even cause the treo to reboot. The browser is also better at loading and displaying larger, designed for desktop sites.
One the desktop side of things, Palm includes their Quick Install program for Windows. Quick Install simplifies installing Palm OS programs and converting documents and photos. Users can drag zip files, prc application files, photos, videos and even MS office files into the app and it will preform the necessary conversion and install the the files on the next hotsync. The software CD includes the Palm Desktop v4.2 for Windows XP/2000 and Mac OS X (10.2 and above) as well as the palmOne Outlook Conduit.Don't forget, there are thousands of commercial, freeware and open sourceapplications, games and utilities available for the Palm OS platform that you can download and install to your device in addition to what is built-in. There is a active developer community that creates some very handy treo specific programs and utilities that can enhance your device.
A unique new service that comes with the 680 is that Cingular and Palm will offer free telephone customer help desk support for 90 days after purchase. This is meant to help new customers get setup smoothly and answer questions. They will help users do anything from setting up email to customizing ringtones.
Summary
Treo 680 brings a much needed slimmer look and feel to the Treo line at a very nice price point. While still not the flashiest or thinnest smartphone out there, the Treo 680 still demonstrates why the Treo leads with its ease of use, large software library and powerful functionality. To trim the size a significant battery life compromise had to be made which may be a deal breaker for some. However the lighter load on your wallet and pocket make up for keeping a spare battery close at hand. Technical nitpicking aside, the Treo 680 is a very powerful smartphone that is a very capable and easy to use.
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THE COMPARISON
http://www.mobilitysite.com/2010/02/palm-pre-plus-vs-blackberry-storm2-3/#
Palm Pre Plus vs. BlackBerry Storm2
Posted by Dan H. on Feb 21, 2010
Two of Verizon Wireless’ top smartphones are going head to head in an in-depth comparison. We have the Palm Pre Plus, it runs webOS and features the best multitasking user experience on the market. And we have the BlackBerry Storm2, which runs BlackBerry OS 5.0 and features unmatched messaging capabilities. Which do I feel is a better smartphone
? Read on to find out.
Hardware
Let’s go over the specs real quick. The Palm Pre Plus has a 3.1” capacitive touchscreen at 320 x 480 resolution with multitouch capabilities. It has a full physical QWERTY keyboard, 3 megapixel camera with flash, all packed into a riverstone-like frame. The BlackBerry Storm2 9550 has a 3.25” capacitive SurePress touchscreen at 360 x 480 resolution. It has a unique touchscreen dubbed “SurePress” which uses four electronic actuators to make it feel like a click on a hardware keyboard. It also packs a 3 megapixel camera with auto focus and flash, and features unrivaled email capabilities.
The screen on the Pre Plus is bright and vivid, the colors displayed are quite nice, although the screen is on the smaller side, which is a small draw back. The screen on the Storm2 is innovative and unique, I have never seen anything of this kind. The click is subtle, and responsive at all points of the screen. Typing on the Storm2 isn’t bad at all, gives me the feeling that I’m typing on a physical keyboard. I personally love the updated SurePress technology, but it’s something that is purely out of personal preference. The colors looks pretty good, and overall I prefer the screen on the Storm2 slightly over the Pre Plus, although again, that’s personal preference.
Text Input
If you’re getting a smartphone, the text input is very important. The keyboard on the Pre Plus is small, slightly cramped, but useable. The problem with the keys on the Pre Plus is that it’s not clicky, I can’t tell whether or not I pressed a key until I look up at the screen. The typing on the Storm2 was pretty good, although the SurePress technology, as I stated earlier, is purely personal opinion. There is a “speed limit” to your typing on the Storm2, but nobody is really going to fire at 140WPM right? Or maybe you are going to? I call tie, at least from my viewpoint.
Software
Let’s dive into software a little bit. The BlackBerry Storm2 is running OS 5.0.0.320, the OS that Verizon shipped the Storm2 with. The Pre Plus is running 1.3.5.1, at the time of this writing.
Home
Pre Plus
Storm2
The home screen is the first thing you see when you power on the device. On the BlackBerry, you have a number of different options. You can set 1-3 rows of icons, or you can show “Today” which shows you what new notifications are on the device. On the Pre Plus, you have a dock with 4 icons which are customizable. And that’s it. Both of them aren’t my ideal choice, but I think the Storm2 edges out a little higher.
Phone
Pre Plus
Storm2
Call quality on both phones were pretty good. I did notice some signal issues on the Pre Plus, but the earpiece on the Pre Plus sounded louder and more clear than the Storm2.
Email
Pre Plus
Storm2
BlackBerry has always been known for their excellent push email service. Emails arrived on the Storm2 faster than it appeared on the Pre Plus, but reading emails (especially HTML emails) on the Storm2 wasn’t as aesthetically pleasing. On the Pre Plus, emails (when set on push) arrived a couple seconds later, but the text and the font were much easier to read. For the business user who is always on the move, and needs to access email instantly, I would recommend the Storm2. For the average consumer who just needs access to email, I would recommend the Pre Plus.
Web
Pre Plus
Storm2
If web browsing is important to you, get the Pre Plus. Pages loaded faster on the Pre Plus, the rendering was more accurate on the Pre Plus, and pinch-to-zoom make it much better than the browser on the Storm2. We saw at MWC 2010 that RIM is working on the new webkit-based browser, but for now, the Pre Plus has a much better web browser.
Camera
The Pre Plus has a 3MP camera with flash and the Storm2 also has a 3MP with flash, and the Storm2 adds autofocus to the mix. The Pre Plus takes pictures amazingly fast, I can take two pictures on the Pre Plus in the time it takes the Storm2 to take one picture. From the tests I conducted, the Pre Plus has slightly more clear images than the Storm2.
Pricing
The Pre Plus is available for $149.99 on a two-year contract and rebate. The BlackBerry Storm2 is available for $179.99 on a two-year contract and rebate.
Conclusion
What are my final thoughts? It boils down to this: Both phones are capable and they have all the features you would ever need. If you’re using your phone as a web browser a lot, I would recommend the Pre Plus. If you use your phone for sending and receiving messages, I would recommend the Storm2. Ultimately, what every person wants will differ, and there is no “better” phone…in most cases anyway. Your lifestyle really makes the final call…
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here's another review...
iPhone 3GS vs BlackBerry Bold vs Palm Pre vs Nokia N97 : A Detailed Comparative Study
By soumitra, Gaea News Network
July 16th, 2009
The mobile phone market is crowded by hundreds of mobile phone manufacturers with their thousands of phone models but if you know anything about mobile phones you must have heard the names of iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Nokia N97. These phones are four most hyped phones from four major manufactures like Apple, RIM, Palm and Nokia. We have made a detailed examination of the features of these phones and compared their strengths and weaknesses. Let’s take a closer look at these phones and decide which one you should go for.1. Design
iPhone 3GS : The full touchscreen design of iPhone has made a revolution in the cellphone design. There are now more than a hundred clones of the iPhone available in the market. The iPhone clones are selling only because they look like iPhone. The weight of 135g feels just right.BlackBerry Bold : The Blackberry Phones look much smarter than before. The evolved design of Blackberry Bold or Blackberry Storm can look as glamorous as any other phones. It weighs nearly same as iPhone at 133g.
Palm Pre : The design of the phone is less boxy than any other smartphone. Holding the phone in hand gives me a good pebble like feeling. It is also a good looking phone to compete with others. It also weighs the same as the above two at 133g.
Nokia N97 : This is the most beautiful phone Nokia has ever produced. Its slim look and glamorous finish has won the hearts of many. I am also one of them. It weighs a little more than all others at 150g. However the weight gives a nice sturdy feeling about the device.
Conclusion : No one wins in this field. Each phone has its own unique design essence and it is more of a personal preference which one you would like. However iPhone reserves some praise for their revolutionary design.
2. Display
iPhone 3GS : The iPhone has 3.5 inch screen and a resolution of 320 X 480 pixels. The display is capable to show off 16M colors and the overall impression is that it is an excellent screen with rich natural and vibrants colors with crisp image.BlackBerry Bold : It has a little small screen measuring 2.6 inches to make room for the full QWERTY keyboard. However the pixel count is the same as the iPhone at 480 X 320 pixels. The color count is not at par with its competitors and is only capable to show off 65K colors. In simple word, the display is not as classy as the others.
Palm Pre : The Palm Pre screen measure at 3.1 inches and has the same resolution as the above two at 320 X 480 pixels. The display is able to show off 16M colors and is as good as the display of the iPhone.
Nokia N97 : The display size of the device is same as the iPhone at 3.5 inches. It also shows 16M color but the resolution is way more than its competitors. The resolution of 360 X 640 means the display is very very sharp and clear and has more room to show things than other devices.
Conclusion : The N97’s display is a clear winner here with iPhone and Palm Pre following closely and BlackBerry lagging behind.
3. Keyboard
iPhone 3GS : No hardware keyboard for this phone. There is a virtual keyboard for typing text but it takes time to master the art of typing fast and accurate in this keyboard. The touches are not always registered and it becomes very fuzzy at times. There is a error correction system but it is not accurate for a large number of mistakes.BlackBerry Bold : Blackberry comes with a full QWERTY keyboard from its birth. Except the Blackberry Storm every Blackberry has the full QWERTY keyboard covering half of its entire face. Typing in the Blackberry keyboard is a pleasure with sure and fast response.
Palm Pre : Palm Pre also boasts a slide out QWERTY keyboard but the keys are small and those biggies with fat fingers will have problem typing in its keyboard. I was able to press as many as four keys with my thumb.
Nokia N97 : The N97 also comes with a slide out keyboard but the keys are not as small as the Palm Pre and and there is enough space between the keys for a comfortable typing. However, during our review, sometimes the keys did not register with soft presses and we needed to press it a little harder to get a sure type.
Conclusion : Blackberry is a sure winner here with its excellent keyboard followed by Nokia N97 and Palm Pre. Also Blackberry wins at the keyboard accessibility. There is no need to slide out the keyboard to get things done.
4. Memory capacity
iPhone 3GS : There are two models with 32GB and 16GB capacity of internal memory. No Card Slot. RAM capacity is 256 MB.BlackBerry Bold : It has an internal memory of 1GB and External Micro SD cards are supported up to 8 GB. RAM capacity is 128 MB.
Palm Pre : It has an internal memory of 8GB and no card slot to extend the memory.
Nokia N97 : It has an internal memory of 32GB and is expandable with a 16GB MicroSD Card to make it a total of 48GB. The RAM capacity is 128 MB.
Conclusion : The iPhone has enough memory to store all your favorite music and videos but N97 even exceeds that limit with its whopping total of 48GB.
5. Application Availability
iPhone 3GS : No comparison is complete without a mention of Apple’s App Store. iPhone is the easiest platform to develop application for. This is why there are thousands of developers developing millions of apps for the iPhone.BlackBerry Bold : Developers of BlackBerry Applications use outdated tools that doesn’t give them enough access to the Core APIs on BlackBerry Handsets. But there are some apps that are very useful to the Blackberry users. For example you can have look at these top BlackBerry Storm Apps.
Palm Pre : Palm Pre supports many of its old Palm Apps and they are developing new apps for Palm Pre also.
Nokia N97 : The N97 comes with preloaded Ovi Store to easily pick up any apps. You can also pick up any programs from wherever you like online unlike iPhone which lets you choose apps only from Apple’s own app store.
Conclusion : Though they Apple is not open like Nokia but still the amount of apps that are available for iPhone makes it a winner in this category.
6. Connectivity
iPhone 3GS : The device is capable of communicating over Quad Band GSM network supporting frequency bands of 850/900/1800/1900. It is also a 3G HSDPA enabled handset with frequency bands of 850/1900/2100 bands. The HSDPA Speed is upto 7.2 MBps. It is also GPRS, EDGE and WiFi enabled phone. It can also be connected using a USB port and Bluetooth with A2DP support for headset support.BlackBerry Bold : It is also a Quad Band 850/900/1800/1900 phone and is capable of communicating over 3G HSDPA 850/1900/2100 frequency bands. The 3G speed support is upto 3.6 MBps and there is also option for GPRS, EDGE and WiFi connectivity. It also has Bluetooth A2DP support and USB Connectivity
Palm Pre : This one is also a Quad Band phone and has 3G HSDPA capability of the common frequency bands. There is also option for GPRS, EDGE, WiFi connectivity and Bluetooth with A2DP Support alongwith USB connectivity via micro USB.
Nokia N97 : This is also a Quad Band phone and has 3G Connectivity with 900/1900/2100 bands as well as 850/1900/2100 bands for American version. The phone is GPRS, EDGE, WiFi and Bluetooth with A2DP supported. It also connects via micro USB ports.
Conclusion : All of the above phones have same connectivity options except that the iPhone 3GS supports 7.2 MBps speed while others support 3.6 MBps speed. However, in real life you won’t see any speed difference because there is no current service provider that gives out the speeds of 7.2 MBps. So, there is no clear winner in this section.
7. Usability
iPhone 3GS : The iPhone may be a bit awkward to use at first but you can use your intuition to get things done. The usability of this phone made this an unquestionable choice for many customers.BlackBerry Bold : Blackberry is known for its usability focused on business applications. It has shortcut keys to get things done very fast but still it needs some time to master the operating system.
Palm Pre : This phone has both of good usability and applications. Its Web OS is fantastic; has intuitive features as well as good applications.
Nokia N97 : It is based on Symbian Series 60 Operating System Version 5 which is very stable and tested operating system. The symbian users find using this phone very easy and natural.
Conclusion : Every OS has its own Pros and Cons but if you ask me to rate them, I will sort them as Palm Pre Web OS, iPhone OS 3.0, BlackBerry OS and Nokia’s Symbian OS S60 v 5.
8. Speed
iPhone 3GS : It uses ARM Cortex A8 processor clocking at 600 MHz and there is also a PowerVR SGX Processor that handles the graphics. Doing things is nice and fast which makes its name iPhone 3G S : S stands for Speed.BlackBerry Bold : The Bold uses a 624 MHz Processor which is very fast and doing multiple application are a breeze.
Palm Pre : Palm Pre uses the same processor as the iPhone 3GS - the ARM Cortex A8 Processor clocking at 600 MHz and a PowerVR SGX 530 processor for handling the graphics. Naturally the system, is as fast as the iPhone 3G S.
Nokia N97 : It uses a underpowered ARM 11 CPU clocking at 434 MHz. The animations look slow and jerky and webpage rendering also looks muddy.
Conclusion : Nokia N97 lags behind others in terms of speed. All other devices are quite speedy and have excellent response.
9. Camera
iPhone 3GS : It has a 3.15 MP Camera with autofocus, touchfocus and geotagging facility. It can capture videos at VGA resolution @ 30 fps. Although there is no flash.BlackBerry Bold : The BlackBerry Bold has a 2MP camera with LED Flash. No autofocus or other advanced features.
Palm Pre : The Palm Pre Camera has 3.15 MP sensor with enhanced fixed focus. It also has a LED Flash.
Nokia N97 : The N97 uses a 5MP sensor with Carl Zeiss Optics. There is LED Flash and video light. There is also some advanced features like geo tagging and video recording in VGA resolution at 30 fps.
Conclusion : The Nokia N97’s camera beats all others with its feature as well as image quality. The next comes the iPhone’s camera and then the Palm Pre and the BlackBerry.
10. Overall
iPhone 3GS : The iPhone is a blockbuster phone that has won many hearts. After some of refinements the iPhone 3GS model seems to remove all the flaws that it had in the previous models. Now it stands as an irresistible champion.BlackBerry Bold : BlackBerry is always the first choice for the business users and the BlackBerry Bold is the best BlackBerry phone ever made. It is also an unquestionable choice for a corporate person.
Palm Pre : Palm Pre did not get as much hype as the iPhone or Nokia N97 or a BlackBerry. There is nothing outstanding about the device but amazingly there is no major flaw in the device that can be a deal breaker.
Nokia N97 : It is probably the most talked about phone from the house of Nokia. It has a stable OS, a nice touchscreen, superb camera and a plethora of multimedia features.
Conclusion : At the end of the day all of the four phones are tough competitors and it is hard to decide which one is the best. None of the phones can be neglected for their shortcomings because they have some features that outdoes others in some respects. This is why there is no overall winner that outperforms others in every respect.
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