Smartphone vs Cingular 8525

[bshpmark]

Is there anyone here who uses a Smartphone that has also had a chance to try out the Cingular 8525 yet? I know the 8525 is a Pocket PC but I was just wondering if after having tried it you would be willing to make the switch from your smartphone.

[stevew]

I've had many Pocket PC's and PPC Phones. Love them but my preference has changed now that some smartphones have come out with Qwerty key boards. A friend of mine has the 8525. Very nice device but I prefer the smaller size of the Blackjack. I debated the two and got the Blackjack and so far I couldn't be happier. I really feel the love with this device.

Is your priority a PDA 1st and phone 2nd or a phone 1st and PDA 2nd?

[antvega]

I picked up both handsets and I just returned the Blackjack. It was a tough decision, especially considering the BJ has the superior voice quality. But, and you know there would be a but, the BJ had a number of inconsistancies that I couldnt deal with. The navigation layout is pretty bad. I always hit the hang up key when i wanted to push right on the d-pad. i know that simply hitting the back key would bring me back to where i was, but i was hitting the wrong keys enough that it was driving me insane.

when in the messages app, typing out emails or text messages would result in lost key strokes. Ive been using qwerty phones for sometime now (former blackberry addict) so I dont know if it was because i was too fast or if the phone just wouldnt keep up, but that drove me crazy as well. the 8525 has yet to miss a beat. I also couldnt deal with the smaller screen as well. it was a nice screen, but it was smaller than some feature phones!! even my old n73 had a bigger screen! but thats just nitpicking, because the screen was very good on the BJ.

I also couldnt deal with the crappy battery and having to swap. I didnt get it so that i could force it into EDGE to preserve battery and put it back into 3G when i wanted to surf or use CV. I use direct push and could NEVER go back to PULLING my email. Its push or nothing, but thats me being spoiled by my old blackberry. On my 8525 I pull all day and use the phone and text and surf and i have enough to get me home at 10pm so i can put it on my charger. on the BJ, doing the same thing I was swapping out at 3pm! and for some of you thats cool, but the BJ doesnt have a battery cover that has a push in button to release it, its purely a slide on and slide off (like the dash) and I felt like doing that two or three times a day for the life of the handset would drive me crazy and wear out the cover...maybe thats me being paranoid but at almost 500 bucks, it wasnt a chance i wanted to see or take.

The BJ was more phone like, which i miss more than i though i would, but the 8525 makes up for it alittle with the addition of the jog wheel and the big number buttons the dialer screen.

some days i wake up and hate the touch screen and some days its all i use. with the 8525 theres enough software out there that you can make everything just really big buttons on the screen and not feel out of place. I even tried to tap the screen on the BJ a few times just out of habit. All in all, the BJ is a very good smartphone and I probably would have kept that if i would have gotten it first. But i purchased the 8525 first and I has sort of grown on me. It's the first phone I actually use most of the features for, watching movies on it is a very nice first for me and the phone is powerful enough to handle even high bit rate movies. When I get my slingbox (xmas woo hoo) I don't even know how im gonna get any work done. try that on your little BJ screen. (sorry i couldnt help it) :)

sorry about the long and scrambled post, its my first and i didnt feel like follow the english rules of punctuation and grammer...maybe on my second post.

Hope any of this helps...

[Jerry Raia]

As you can see from my signature I have 2 Smartphones and the 8525. I have to say as well now that the QWERTY Smartphones are here the distinction is much more blurry. It always comes down to what you want more of first, a phone or a Pocket PC. The Smartphone is still much easier to use as a phone than the Pocket PC Phone. The Pocket PC Phone is still, though the gap is narrowing, better at data entry and modifying.

Welcome to the site antvega! :)

[antvega]

Thanks, I've been hanging around for awhile and felt like it was time to put my pennies worth into the mix. PPCT and SPT are two excellent resources on the web for anyone looking for advice or just a nice place to add to the mix.

I had been meaning to ask you what your take on both phones were. I wasn't sure if there were reviews in the works. I gotta tell you, I really really really wanted to keep both, but I knew that would be counter productive in actually making a decision on which to keep.

[bshpmark]

Thanks for the input. Here's my situation. I have the SDA with T-Mobile. I also have an i870 with Nextel. I wear two hats. I am a cop and most of the cops have Nextel so that is pretty much a keeper and my wife will use the Nextel where she doesn't really like the regular cell phone calling especially in the car.

I'm also a pastor and Archbishop and the church number rings on the SDA. I use the SDA for checking my email, keeping my calendar, keeping the Bible handy, etc. I actually use the PDA portion more than the phone. So I was thinking that the Qwerty keyboard might be better. So naturally, the Dash is a definite consideration but I also use Skype to talk with some of my folks who are in foreign countries and the speed of the 8525 is appealing. I can't afford 3 devices and 3 plans, especially at the cost of the data plans.

So I was considering terminating T-Mobile, selling the SDA, and going to Cingular and getting the 8525 as the replacement.

Maybe I should just pray that I win the lottery, then buy a tool belt, get all the latest and greatest phones and have a ball! ha ha ha.

So many toys and so little dinero!

[JohnJohn]

I took my 8525 back to get a Blackjack. If you need the PocketPC features the divce is truely awesome, fast, reliable, etc. I do not use PWord, or PExcel, so it's really not worth the bulk for me.

Here is my device history (http://www.pocketup.com/about.html) if you have any other questions.

[antvega]

Hmmm... In a perfect world where money isn't an option I would say sell the SDA and get a TyTN. It's pretty much the same hardware as the 8525 (so is the i-mate JASJAM) and you could run skype on it. The Hermes variant is also more PDA oriented so that might suite you better. But alas, the unlocked versions are going for well over $700.

If you do go with Cingular, their data plans are much more expensive than Tmobiles, so in the end you might just end up spending the extra cash on the TyTN and making it up with the cheaper tmo data plan.

Cell phones are a horrible addiction.

[Jerry Raia]

Cell phones are a horrible addiction.

Oh no they aren't. I'm not addicted, ask anyone here! :worried:

[antvega]

yea tell that to my desk... anyone in need of a MDA or a 8700c, or a K790i, or a moto A1200...or a....ok I'm a sad case...

[Jerry Raia]

eBay can be your best friend.

[bshpmark]

Well, I did go to Cingular today and play with the Blackjack for a few minutes. First impression was that while it was a nice phone, I did not like the keyboard. I kept pressing two keys at once, given my big thumbs. Second, and nothing to do with the phone, the salesman kept telling me I needed the $40 a month data plan since it was a PDA. I told him it was a Smartphone and that the Media Max 200 plan would work fine at $20 a month and he said it would not work with the Blackjack. Whatever.