New BlackBerry now better than Sidekick (but more expensive)

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Mark Rejhon

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Reasons why Blackberry is better than Sidekick (albiet more expensive)

As I am a hearing impaired individual, there are several benefits of the BlackBerry for the Deaf and for Hard Of Hearing. Most deaf users often go for the cheaper Hiptop/Sidekick because of instant messaging and better color screen. But today's BlackBerries are now much better and more consumer-friendly, with screen quality to match nowadays.

  • Most Stable Wireless Email and SMS
    The BlackBerry is widely known to be one of the best wireless email and SMS device. Emails are instantly received and automatically displayed on the screen pager-style. No need to check email. No need to connect. Email comes in automatically. Much more reliable than Hiptop/Sidekick email, and you receive your emails faster with no delays and no lags like for Sidekick/Sidekick2/old 950.
    Methods of Receiving Email on BlackBerry
    SMS Between BlackBerry and Other Cell Phones
    .
  • Wireless TTY Relay Services Galore!
    Relay services are interpretor-like services that translates voice to text and voice-versa so you can use the thumb keyboard to speak; to make voice phone calls. There are several wireless relay services now exist that works on BlackBerry, including Lormar Logic, AOL Instant Messenger Relay, MCI Wireless IP Relay, and Fuse Wireless. You don't even need to buy a BlackBerry from a deaf provider anymore. No need to get Wyndtell brand; if you remember it. My favourite is MCI Wireless IP Relay, but requires an expensive telnet client called Idokorro Mobile SSH (Configure Idokorro to use hostname "wireless.ip-relay.com" and port "2510" for telnet protocol). You can do relay via WAP, via AIM, via SMS, and via telnet nowadays -- which all are possible on BlackBerry!
    .
  • Voicemail with Automatic Voice-To-Text / Alphanumeric Paging
    Even though most BlackBerries no longer provide paging included, you can still get paging-like services from a third party. The modern service today is a voicemail box that automatically has voice-to-text. This allows you to not need to explain to other people how to call you by relay service; they just call your voicemail and leave a message. And you simply read a transcription of your voicemails.
    More About How To Get Voice-To-Text Voicemail / Alpha Paging
    .
  • Instant Messaging, AOL, MSN, ICQ, IRC, Yahoo
    You can now do instant messaging on today's BlackBerries using WebMessenger and IM+. You may need to purchase a 3rd party BES/MDS service such as http://www.myblackberry.us on certain models of BlackBerries to get instant messaging to work. This is not necessary if you are running BlackBerryOS 3.8 or later, or if you are on Nextel, because they work without BES/MDS.
    Hosted BES FAQ: Get HTML/ICQ/AIM/MSN/IRC/telnet/SSH working
    .
  • Better Vibrate Alert Than Most Phones
    Current BlackBerry models has a very good vibrating alert that vibrates more powerfully than most other cellphones. Vibrate alert works on everything -- emails, SMS, alarms, and calendar appointment reminders!
    .
  • Vibrating Travel Alarm With Snooze Feature
    Your BlackBerry doubles as a vibrating pillow alarm that keeps persistently vibrating until you select Snooze. It is the most reliable travelling vibrating alarm I have ever found; even more reliable than other battery-powered vibrating alarms intentionally manufactured for the purpose of use by the deaf. If you need more powerful vibrating and are worried the BlackBerry will fall off the bed or out of the pillowcase, wear a long sock and slip the BlackBerry inside your sock before you sleep. That'll do the job!
    .
  • Vibrating Appointment Reminder
    Turn your Outlook Calendar appointments into a vibrating appointment reminder. BlackBerry is one of the best vibrating appointment reminders. Great for forgetful deaf people.
    .
  • More Software Than Hiptop/Sidekick
    There is more software for BlackBerry now than for Hiptop/Sidekick, including free software too. And you can even run Nokia/Motorola/Sony/Siemens Java phone software on BlackBerry now too!
    BlackBerry Killer Software Thread
    Midlets: You can use Nokia/Motorola/Sony/Siemens Java apps on BlackBerry!

    .
  • More Durable Than Both Hiptop/Sidekick 1 and 2
    BlackBerries are more ruggedized and will resist being dropped by clumsy guys like me. I have dropped my BlackBerry 7280 many times and it has never broken, yet. Even to cement and asphalt.
    .
  • Smaller And Lighter Than Both Hiptop/Sidekick 1 and 2
    The recent models of BlackBerry are smaller and lighter than other wireless handhelds, making it more comfortable to carry around, which is a good bonus.
    .
  • Faster Thumb Typing
    An experienced thumb typist on BlackBerry can easily exceed 50 words per minute after practice if you are already a fast desktop keyboard typist. (On a BlackBerry, it is possible to thumb touch type staring at the screen and not the keyboard, after some practice). The fastest thumb typist went about 84 words per minute on a thumb keyboard, in the Dom Perignon III Contest run by Fitaly Inc. After some switchover practice, it is easier to type faster on a BlackBerry thumb keyboard than a TREO or Sidekick.
    .
  • Longer Battery Life Than Both Hiptop/Sidekick 1 and 2
    On most modern GSM-network-based BlackBerries now, you can go away for a long travelling weekend without needing to recharge. 4 days, 5 days are not unusual for moderate always-on usage, 3 days for heavy usage with hundreds of emails and instant messages. Up to a whopping 9 days of very light usage!
    .
  • Better Color Screen On New BlackBerry Models
    If you get a newer BlackBerry model, the Blackberry 77XX series, the 71XX series, or the 7290 (not 7230 or 7280), the bright color screen is better looking than Hiptop/Sidekick!
    .
  • Bigger Chat Community
The [b][u]www.BlackBerryClub.com[/u][/b] website has more people chatting about BlackBerries, than other websites chatting about Treo's, Hiptop's and Sidekick's![/list]
But it's better, easier & less frustrating at the end.

All of this will work on all North American BlackBerries, regardless of who you buy the BlackBerry from. You may have to pay more money to purchase third-party services (i.e. you can get paging, relay, TTY, and voicemail-to-text services from another company separately from the network carrier). But the advantage is that if you ever switch between wireless devices, you can keep your existing services because they work over industry-standard methods such as emails, WAP, SMS, etc.

For more information, please feel free to read the BlackBerry FAQ link below:
The BlackBerry FAQ Thread
 
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New compact October model BlackBerry 7290 with brighter & whiter 16-bit color screen, BlueTooth, 32MB, quadband worldwide-capable (850Mhz/900/1800/1900Mhz), photo attachments, DOC/PDF attachment capability, etc.

Full QWERTY keyboard version.
 

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Reasons why Blackberry is better than Sidekick (albiet more expensive)

Just FYI - I tried the Tungsten W, Treo 600, and the Sidekicks. The Treo 600 is an amazing multimedia handheld but the BlackBerry wins because of these:

Longer battery life: Blackberry consistently lasts longer than other handhelds like PalmOS. Example, on the 7280, you can even run instant messenger software for 100 hours nonstop always-on, untethered, with the screen constantly turned on (with backlight turned off). Up to 9 days of light use, 4-5 days of moderate use, and 3 days of heavy use. That includes 24/7 instant messaging, telnet, emal.
Ruggedized: Blackberry handhelds survives drops much better than other handhelds such as Treo's or iPaq's
Data Loss Prevention: You can yank the battery out of your BlackBerry for a full week and put it back in one week later, all your data is still there. Everything is written to flash ROM on the fly, even your email drafts, so you don't need to make backups like you would with Palm or iPaq.
Security: All connections are encrypted. And applications need to be signed before they can access critical features interesting to virus authors. Blackberry come with the capability for remote-controlled lobotomy to delete your data if your Blackberry is ever stolen. Blackberry also requires cyptographic signing by RIM before the application can do any damage to the operating system or databases, which makes it much more impossible to write a virus for the BlackBerry than for Palm/PocketPC.
Email Software: The email on the Blackberry is superior to the other wireless push email software, even the recently available Treo push email software;
Stability: Uptimes well over 60 days are getting common on BlackBerry nowadays. Not nearly as common for Palm and iPaq handhelds.
Always On, No Connecting Needed: The BlackBerry is like a wireless Cable/DSL connection. It's always there. No connecting needed. It may not be as fast as a home cable/DSL connection, but it's always-on.
Configuration Free: No need to worry about configuring email software to automatically start up when resetting a Palm; no need to worry about whether the email software is running in the background or if it has crashed. The RIM handheld ensures that email is running at all times; by making it impossible to exit the push email software by accident.
No power button needed:Unlike on Palm/iPaq handhelds, on the Blackberry, it uses so little power, you just put it down -- no need for a power button at all. You can electronically turn off via menus, for those times like airplanes, etc, but with email reception of 4 to 9 days (assuming data-only usage) there is almost no need to turn off the unit. You get email, the email shows up immediately on the screen, and you can put it away immediately without touching a button or screen, if email is not important. No need to click "Do you want to read this message?", the email is automatically displayed pager-style when you pull the BlackBerry out of your holster.


The bottom line is that while TREO makes a better multimedia/gaming handheld, the BlackBerry makes a better communications/productivity handheld (nowadays). Albiet not cheaper though and there's more Palm/TREO software available (though BlackBerry only recently just exceeded 1000 programs)...

People also notice my relay conversations are more realtime too (less delay after GA's) with the MCI Wireless IP Relay from a BlackBerry through the Idokorro telnet client (if you get it, ask for a deaf discount). They now can't tell whether I am calling relay wirelessly or from the website.
 
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Mark, as much as I appreciate the info and comparism, I am gonna suggest that you see if you can ask the mods to consoliate your two threads into one. I can see how someone could get the impression you're advertising this stuff even though you're an independent programmer and don't have any investment into the Blackberries.

Wait -- you don't design software for blackberries, do you? Careful if you do....

Thanks for your opinions though.
 
I don't work in the wireless industry, I work in the home theater industry (Personal website links .... http://www.marky.com/hearing/ My Hearing FAQ and http://www.marky.com/hometheater/ My Home Theater Work) so I don't presently do any work with BlackBerry.

First of all, the two threads are different insofar that the other one announces a new BlackBerry just like the 7100 thread .... and this one just outlines the advantages.

The thing I might be the most guilty of are:
- writing too much text
- using too much fancy formatting
- using topic titles that are too similiar
- and maybe indirectly advertising a hobbyist BlackBerry-related forum :) ...

Although there hasn't been complaints when other people in the past linked to TREO-related and SideKick-related resources and discussion forums (resources and forums that do not sell anything, and actually not related to the deaf and thus not competition to alldeaf...)

If the mods wants to merge, I am not going to object...
But, please keep in mind and look at the title of these threads too:
The FlipStart is better than the Sidekick
color Sidekick for only $35 after $254 instant rebate!
SideKick for cheap cost til SEpt 19th!

Aren't these advertising that should be kept down too equally as me keeping it down?
And there are way more posts about Sidekick than BlackBerry too.
Or is it because I wrote too much text, fancy formatting, etc, that made my post look a little "ad-like" even though I am not profitting from anything?

Anyway, cheers!
 
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I think a topic renaming is more appropriate because I can see the confusion that they may be a duplicate thread when they are not.

One is news-related (keep name)
"New BlackBerry 7290 announced (full QWERTY version)

One is a comparision (renamed)
"Reasons why Blackberry is better than Sidekick (albiet more expensive)"

I gave the courtesy of warning people that having good Blackberry service is very expensive, so people looking for cheaper service can ignore this thread. Rogers like to take money from my pocket, then Mailstreet, then IMBOT, then Dictomail. So basically four third party services on one BlackBerry, adds up to something pretty expensive. That's money going out of my pocket, not money coming into my pocket.
 
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Mark Rejhon said:
I don't work in the wireless industry, I work in the home theater industry (Personal website links .... http://www.marky.com/hearing/ My Hearing FAQ and http://www.marky.com/hometheater/ My Home Theater Work) so I don't presently do any work with BlackBerry.

First of all, the two threads are different insofar that the other one announces a new BlackBerry just like the 7100 thread .... and this one just outlines the advantages.

The thing I might be the most guilty of are:
- writing too much text
- using too much fancy formatting
- using topic titles that are too similiar
- and maybe indirectly advertising a hobbyist BlackBerry-related forum :) ...

Although there hasn't been complaints when other people in the past linked to TREO-related and SideKick-related resources and discussion forums (resources and forums that do not sell anything, and actually not related to the deaf and thus not competition to alldeaf...)

If the mods wants to merge, I am not going to object...
But, please keep in mind and look at the title of these threads too:
The FlipStart is better than the Sidekick
color Sidekick for only $35 after $254 instant rebate!
SideKick for cheap cost til SEpt 19th!

Aren't these advertising that should be kept down too equally as me keeping it down?
And there are way more posts about Sidekick than BlackBerry too.
Or is it because I wrote too much text, fancy formatting, etc, that made my post look a little "ad-like" even though I am not profitting from anything?

Anyway, cheers!
Click to expand...

True, but they invited people to put some discussions in it. whiles your seems... "blunt and forceful" no offense I hope. Do you see what I am trying to say. Pls tell me if you dont understand and i ll try to clarify it
 
Ahh, aggressive style of writing. That would be it.

I'm like that -- I am a moderator of some other Internet forums (not this one though).
 
Mark Rejhon, I am VERY glad and happy that
you shared this here. I really do appreciate
your helpfulness. I know that
you were NOT trying to advertise at all.
I know that it's your style in writing etc...
Wow, I LOVE Mark's writing style very GOOOD !
Mark, Please do IGNORE others (only just because
they feel threatened competitive with you
about their products themselves anyway)....
Please continue "Just Be Yourself" !!
We do need you here from time to time....

I'm even thinking about buying Blackberry myself
anyway....
 
Glad to hear from you;

If you decide to buy one... remember that it's more expensive (both device-wise and services-wise). For the best model, wait one or two months until the BlackBerry 7290 shows up in stores (Probably Cingular since the 7290 is GSM/GPRS). It should work on T-Mobile or AT&T. Verizon users need the 7750. There are lots of models but the model 7290 with the good color screen, is better than the 7230 and 7280. You can go to the stores and test the units out, and there's a brand new 7100 series with a partial QWERTY keyboard which some people really like, in a tiny phone-like form factor. However, I prefer the full QWERTY.

By middle next year, many deaf providers will be selling BlackBerries, especially as third party Internet software on BlackBerries become much more widespread without the need for BES/MDS services.
 
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Marky and other advers, I actually do all due respect you all saying about blackberry better than sidekick.. oh well, i aint critize you all compares sidekick to others.. follow my own heart as comfort with sidekick and service as always as I am happy!.. because i already tasted Hiptop for 2 years. I fallen in love the tmo sidekick to death. T-mobile sidekick is full package. Even though, my fiancee really want to get blackberry so bad. I respect her wishes! she will get one someday. smile!
 
True, understandably, the hiptop and sidekicks are much easier to use "out of the box". Hiptops/Sidekicks cannot do as much as a modern recent-model turbocharged BlackBerry, but Hiptops/Sidekicks do require less setup and are more inexpensive!

The new BlackBerry model 7290 is finally at some of the Cingular and AT&T stores, and the screen is gorgeous! It has amazing reception too (much better than most older BlackBerry models).
 
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Here's more information for this.

In answer to your questions:
  1. Problem: Web is not usable (too slow)
    Solution: For the fastest BlackBerry web experience, you should make sure you have one of the newer 32 megabyte BlackBerries. You should install the third-party Reqwireless Webviewer from http://www.reqwireless.com ... which is usually faster than the built-in BlackBerry browser. In general, thids web browser is much better and faster than the Hiptop/Sidekick browser, although you may need to turn off a few features to minimize download bandwidth.
  2. Problem: Email only holds 6 megs
    Solution: There's 10 megabytes in most BlackBerry accounts, but you can usually request a free upgrade to 25 megabytes. Alternatively, you can purchase unlimited email space using a third party BES/MDS hosting provider. For more info, see Hosted BES FAQ.
  3. Problem: Cant do much with attachments
    Solution: BlackBerry on BWC now supports PDF, DOC, XLS, TXT, JPG, PNG, TIFF file attachments. The BWC will convert it to a fast-downloading format, like downconverting the JPG to a smaller size. You can even have 1 gigabyte of images and you can still download them on demand through your BlackBerry. Recently, you are finally now able to view images on BlackBerry without needing BES. And even better, if you are a power user, you may become interested in a free software program called "eFile" from Dynoplex that provides a filesystem for BlackBerries, if you like to copy images back and fourth over the USB cable.
  4. Problem: Not enough applications to keep me busy
    Solution: You're in luck! During year 2004, the BlackBerry software market exploded, and now you have over 1,000 applications compatible with BlackBerry. Some of my favourites are listed in BlackBerry Killer Software thread, BlackBerry PowerToys thread, and you can even install Nokia, Motorola, Siemens, SonyEricsson Java midlet apps on a BlackBerry nowadays!
  5. Problem: Security issues with T-mobile
    Solution: You're in luck! BlackBerry is one of the safest mobile platforms available, and if you are using BES within your company, your email/PIM is always encrypted all the way between your company and BlackBerry during wireless PIM sync. No worries about Paris Hilton and her stolen Hiptop/Sidekick addressbook! In fact, you can even stick with T-Mobile, since you will be bypassing their addressbook system.
  6. Problem: AIM is weak (bounces on & off) plus its clunky
    Solution: It should now be finally better on BlackBerry than Hiptop. Verichat is a very elegant program that's very simple and non-clunky. It was not until recently that improved IM software has finally made BlackBerry a more reliable IM platform than a Hiptop/Sidekick (At least if you are using BES/MDS, which is more reliable than either BWC gateway or Hiptop gateway). When you use BlackBerry Verichat/WebMessenger, it's finally reliable enough to be used as an always-on device. Personally, I successfully ran Verichat for 75 hours non-stop. Great battery life too! There's always occasionally some reliability issues with AIM itself, and some carriers have lots of problems with IM software until you obtain BES/MDS Hosting, but the fortunate thing is that you have many options now (many brands of chat software, many options of improved networking, all major carriers now provide BlackBerry service, you can cherrypick a good service). For more information, see BlackBerry Instant Messaging FAQ.
  7. Problem: 4 email accounts at once!
    Solution: BlackBerry handles this no problem. You can configure the BWC to do multiple email accounts. I can do up to 10, although I use email forwarding instead because it is much faster that way.
  8. Problem: Auto grabbing emails
    Solution: BlackBerry handles this no problem. BWC checks email every 15 minutes (although this temporarily speeds up to about once every 5 minutes if emails are coming in very quickly). You can even bypass this by using email forwarding, then your emails show up on the BlackBerry less than 15 seconds after "SEND" on the other end. Or if you use BES on an email address, then you get speedy delivery that can even be less than 5 seconds after somebody sends it.
  9. Problem: Email layout with various folders is nice
    Solution: You might come slightly short here, since this is usually a paid-extra service. The default BlackBerry software only provides a few folders. For a true folders system, including wireless synchronization of your Microsoft Outlook email folder tree, you need a BES, for more info, see the Hosted BES FAQ.
  10. Problem: there are so many downtimes
    Solution: You'll be very happy with BlackBerry's reliability. Downtimes on the BlackBerry network is extremely rare, and if you are using a BES server, it actually sometimes never happens.
  11. Problem: bulkier than Sidekick?
    Solution: That's not true. All BlackBerries are smaller than the original Sidekick I. Although a few models of BlackBerries are slightly bigger than Sidekick II.
  12. Problem: How is the "web" on the blackberry, is it usable or slow as all heck & timeouts all over the place?
    Solution: It's very useable! However, BlackBerryOS 4.0 web browser is very slow sometimes until you turn off JavaScript and turn off Tables/images. Or you can use a third party web browser such as Reqwireless WebViewer. I have never had timeouts on Rogers, although I heard T-Mobile is sometimes overloaded, so I might prefer to go with Cingular 7290 or Verizon 7250. Try a Cingular 7290 first, that has longer battery life.
  13. Problem: Any ideas if I would be happy making a swap from the sidekick to the blackberry?
    Solution: According to your needs, I think you'll wish you never purchased Sidekick - All the needs that you listed, can definitely be met.
Just be careful about which network you get it on, because some of the networks are much better and faster (i.e. Cingular). T-Mobile has better coverage in some suburban areas I have been in, but Cingular has a bigger coverage footprint, and I found data to be generally at least twice as fast on Cingular. I am on Rogers and am able to roam on both T-Mobile and Cingular, and the roaming seems to work better on Cingular. If Cingular is TERRIBLE in your area, you should try something like Verizon or perhaps AT&T (Cingular Blue). Nextel is GREAT but you won't be able to do SMS/text messaging very well on Nextel. There is NO "perfect" carrier, but Nextel is great if you can forgo outgoing SMS messages. If you must use SMS messages, try Cingular. Cingular's network is much improved since the last 2 years, so I would give it a test again. Cingular and AT&T merged, and now the network is more-or-less unified, which makes the coverage much better than it used to be (although there were some merger pains in some areas). On the other hand, if you want to save the most money, a T-Mobile BlackBerry plan is usually the cheapest one to go for. (And I think if you are in California, the T-Mobile BlackBerry automatically uses Cingular's network!)
 
The Blackberry appeals to me for the stronger vibrate. I have a Treo 600 and I miss so many notifications because of the weak vibrate. But the clincher, I read a lot of ebooks on my Treo 600 and last time I checked, the Blackberry didn't have an eBook reader. Has this changed?
 
eBooks:

Yes, you can read TXT/DOC/PDF file attachments (just email them to yourself)

PalmDOC is supported now too! For reading PalmDOC file format, I use Jedi Reader. It's at www.beiks.com ... originally designed for other java cellphones but BlackBerry is a java cellphone too, and it happens to work on BlackBerry too. (You can install Motorola/Nokia/SonyEricsson/Samsung software on a BlackBerry too!)

The Treo600 still has a better eBook reader, but at least you can read eBooks on a BlackBerry, finally :D
 
deaflibrarian, the only way to do VCO is to use an external TTY tethered to your BlackBerry, with a Y-adaptor to a headset so that you can have a microphone (for speaking) AND a TTY (for reading) connected to the wireless device at the same time.

i.e. VCO is possible on today's cellphones but you must use an external TTY
You just need a special cable...

So, yes, BlackBerry does VCO when you use an external TTY in this configuration. (And also on the Hiptop/Sidekick, if it has a headset jack)
 
Approximately year 2009 or 2010 in North America because they still need to deploy 3G networks that uses the same modulation scheme for simultaneous voice and data.

Just like the FCC 53 kilobits speed limit for the 56 Kbps, FCC does not allow cellphones to use Class A transmissions (A cellphone that transmits only data OR voice at a time is 'Class B' and legal to carry around in public .... but a cellphone that transmits BOTH voice and data simultaneously on the current GSM/GPRS or CDMA/PCS cellphone networks are 'Class A' industrial devices and are banned from carrying around in public in North America.)

Unfortunately, because of that technicality, you're not going to get user-friendly pocket VCO until approximately year 2010, unfortunately... It requires a totally new cellphone network before it happens!

Possible Bleeding-Edge VCO solution for Year 2006-2007 for Deaf Geeks familiar with Technology: Just keep an eye on WiFi and WiMax -- including "VoIP-over-WiMax" .... And there may be a user friendly VCO solution that uses the upcoming WiMax standard because WiMax can do simultaneous voice and data while being a legal 'Class B' device.
 
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