Insanely Awe-dical

I spent some time weighing these two in my head, and I feel like sharing the comparisons.

It seems I have a knack for temporary obsession - when I was deciding between receivers for my stereo system, I made no less than 3-4 panicked emails to family and friends, comparing the two down the the wire. This comparison did not leave me with as many late nights of searching and feverish comparisons, but granted, I'm more familiar with what I do with a cell phone than what I do with a HTS receiver.

Key elements for me

• Calendar: Both calendars are straight-forward ports of Outlook - appointment time w/recurrences, reminders, notes. Centro has a slight edge since it has a touch-screen and can take advantage a little bit more.


• Text Messages: Palm presents texts in a conversation format, keeping related messages to a contact together in one item in your inbox. As new items arrive, they are added to the bottom, as in a chat in an instant messenger client. In the Curve, text messages are like e-mail - one line per received item, and new info is added to the top, like an email thread. This is particularly annoying when text messages are long, and are split between two, resulting in the second part of the text appearing above the first.


• Contacts: Just like the calendar, this mimics Outlook very well, with multiple phone numbers, details, address info, etc. Pretty much even since touchscreen isn't as much as an advantage here.


• Navigation: Palm has touch screen, and a 4-way directional pad with center button. The center is really a large round button with a rim that represents the directions. Can make mistakes there. Blackberry's trackball works wonders in all directions.


• Keyboard: Blackberry by a long shot - a wide, spacious keyboard with intelligent things like double space adds periods and autocorrect. Centro's keyboard is packed and has room for error (IMO a big step down from Treo's keyboard)
  

I don't do any web browsing or any e-mail to phone, so those were not considerations. However, any review will tell you that e-mail is Blackberry's bread-and-butter. Even though they are perfectly viable solutions on Palm, if you do any e-mail on your phone, the decision is a no-brainer.

I was really leaning towards the Palm for a couple of reasons - the Palm OS is open, which means lots more software for it. Palm OS also feels very responsive in it's simplicity. I enjoyed the touch screen and the texting interface, as well as the audio recorder that allows me to record my own ringtones and sound effects

However, I ended up going with the Blackberry. The keyboard was a BIG factor for me, as well as being a little more future-proof. Palm OS seems to be losing every battle it fights, while Pocket PC and RIM OS being the dominant handheld operating systems. I would have actually been more inclined to go for Palm, were it a Treo 700p with a larger keyboard.

My limited experience with the Blackberry so far has been great - discovering where every thing is, organizing my contacts, using the full PDA functionality.

UPDATE: An additional factor to consider - Palm will lock it's keys fairly easily (and automatically after a few moments of idle), while a BB uses the holster system, which automatically turns off screen and locks keys, until it is unholstered, and automatically accessible. Sort of a nice feature that BB's utilize that others do not.