Q? Centro? Blackberry? Pros and cons for my needs.

[cowboys]

I've had my Moto Q for nearing a year now, and rarely use it (I've used it 3 or 4 times in the past YEAR.). It's a cool phone, but really does not suite my taste/needs. So, I am looking to change Sprint phones now and would like a little guidance in choosing them. I've read the spec sheets for all of the phones, but nothing compares to hearing user experiences.

A few notes:
I won't really need the new phone to be good at voice calling as I have a work phone for that.

Things that bug me about the Q that I want to avoid in the new phone:
- Battery life (!!!!!!). (I don't want to throw more $ at extended batteries.). I've tried the Q tweaks like ending running apps, candlelight, etc.
- The Moto Q buttons feel a bit small to me/hard to use. My hands are not gigantic, but I do find a little more keypad space helpful.
- Some lagging (both data and OS itself)
- No GPS (not a dealbreaker in the new phone, but would be nice)
- Built-in GOOD instant message program for AIM/Yahoo (I've tried Agile, IM+, and a handful of others and none have suited my needs of speed and battery life issues).
- An indicator 'you've got e-mail' light would be cool on the new phone.
- I love the sleek design of the Moto Q-- and am hoping that my new phone will not be a brick/overly heinous/insanely large.
- Playing online videos without TCPMP would rock.
- The Moto Q was a great price (mine was $100ish with contract). I want/need to stay under $400 for the new phone. Still have 1 year of contract left.

Palm Centro:
- Has anyone used this? Is the keypad more spacious?
- I love that it has built-in IM/chat-- is the software really any good?
- How's battery life? Better than the Q with *standard* battery (I hope)?
- Requires no extra data plan other than the Sprint unlimited that I have

Blackberry Pearl:
- has GPS... (does it really work well?)
- can you use POP e-mail without enterprise backend stuff?
- wouldn't this require an additional data plan? How much does it run most of you? (Yes, I currently have the sero plan but with vision unlimited.. not blackberry data plan).
- Does the keypad feel more spacious than the Q?
- I've read that the battery life is generally longer than with the Q. Is that true?

Any parting advice? I'm hoping to find another find with *good* battery life that comes with a basic IM/e-mail/mp3 playing/etc. software suite standard and that has a larger keypad than the Q. Any thoughts?

[n99hockey]

why not visit our sister sites and read up on other user experiences...
you have a long list and alot of people here use the Q few the BB and dont recall and centro users

www.everythingberry.com
www.everythingtreo.com

[TarHeelsRule!]

You have 30 days within you can exchange phones. Why not try each one out for a week or so and then decide from there instead of asking for reviews for other phones on a Q site?

The only phone I can offer insight on is the Q, only smartphone I have owned and will continue to own as I love my Q, poor battery life and all!

[rainmakerrc]

Originally Posted by cowboys

I've had my Moto Q for nearing a year now, and rarely use it (I've used it 3 or 4 times in the past YEAR.). It's a cool phone, but really does not suite my taste/needs. So, I am looking to change Sprint phones now and would like a little guidance in choosing them. I've read the spec sheets for all of the phones, but nothing compares to hearing user experiences.

A few notes:
I won't really need the new phone to be good at voice calling as I have a work phone for that.

Things that bug me about the Q that I want to avoid in the new phone:
- Battery life (!!!!!!). (I don't want to throw more $ at extended batteries.). I've tried the Q tweaks like ending running apps, candlelight, etc.
- The Moto Q buttons feel a bit small to me/hard to use. My hands are not gigantic, but I do find a little more keypad space helpful.
- Some lagging (both data and OS itself)
- No GPS (not a dealbreaker in the new phone, but would be nice)
- Built-in GOOD instant message program for AIM/Yahoo (I've tried Agile, IM+, and a handful of others and none have suited my needs of speed and battery life issues).
- An indicator 'you've got e-mail' light would be cool on the new phone.
- I love the sleek design of the Moto Q-- and am hoping that my new phone will not be a brick/overly heinous/insanely large.
- Playing online videos without TCPMP would rock.
- The Moto Q was a great price (mine was $100ish with contract). I want/need to stay under $400 for the new phone. Still have 1 year of contract left.

Palm Centro:
- Has anyone used this? Is the keypad more spacious?
- I love that it has built-in IM/chat-- is the software really any good?
- How's battery life? Better than the Q with *standard* battery (I hope)?
- Requires no extra data plan other than the Sprint unlimited that I have

Blackberry Pearl:
- has GPS... (does it really work well?)
- can you use POP e-mail without enterprise backend stuff?
- wouldn't this require an additional data plan? How much does it run most of you? (Yes, I currently have the sero plan but with vision unlimited.. not blackberry data plan).
- Does the keypad feel more spacious than the Q?
- I've read that the battery life is generally longer than with the Q. Is that true?

Any parting advice? I'm hoping to find another find with *good* battery life that comes with a basic IM/e-mail/mp3 playing/etc. software suite standard and that has a larger keypad than the Q. Any thoughts?

The Centro's keyboard is tiny, as is the screen!

The BB would require a separate blackberry plan on top of SERO (kind of defeats the purpose of SERO, if you ask me), though some folks say that it is possible to get one without the BB plan (YMMV on this one).

[cowboys]

Originally Posted by TarHeelsRule!

You have 30 days within you can exchange phones. Why not try each one out for a week or so and then decide from there instead of asking for reviews for other phones on a Q site?

The only phone I can offer insight on is the Q, only smartphone I have owned and will continue to own as I love my Q, poor battery life and all!

I like the trial idea, but that would (as far as I know) tie me in to a renewed contract before I've decided if I could live with any of the current Sprint lineup for 3+ years (2 years new contract, 1 year left of current contract). If the other phones would be 'equal' to my Q, I'd just keep the Q until my contract runs out,.. largely unused. I chose the Q site to ask so people who either have tried the other phones and came back to a Q, ... or for former treo/BB users who switched to Q... can reaffirm or shatter my other non-Q options. (And, I hadn't heard of the other everything-__.com sites before... I've been anonymously browsing everythingq.com for around a year since I got the Q). ;)

[cowboys]

Originally Posted by rainmakerrc

The Centro's keyboard is tiny, as is the screen!

The BB would require a separate blackberry plan on top of SERO (kind of defeats the purpose of SERO, if you ask me), though some folks say that it is possible to get one without the BB plan (YMMV on this one).

Thanks! That's good to know. Man, I was hoping the Centro was more spacious.. dang. Very true, the BB plan (though tempting) probably is a bit overkill for my light, non-business needs on top for sero. I guess I should either get used to the Q or look into the other options.. LG Rumor anyone? Ha.. it seems like a cool phone, though somehow has a 'young' vibe to me.

[cowboys]

Originally Posted by n99hockey

why not visit our sister sites and read up on other user experiences...
you have a long list and alot of people here use the Q few the BB and dont recall and centro users

www.everythingberry.com
www.everythingtreo.com

Cool, I'll try looking through those more later.

[manuks]

the new q9c's keyboard is plenty spacious.. larger keys than any palm or bb smartphone.. the OS also has many bug fixes that facilitate better battery life.. my black verizon q with updated os was great, but the battery life was probably 2/3 what i get with the q9c.. i think you'll consider the q9c to be quite an improvement over the older q in a number of categories.. not an expert in the IM utilities though, and still the same issue with online video (still need tcpmp for it to work well)

[lil_sunshine]

The Q9C has one of the best keyboards on any smart device right now. Much better feel and much easier to type on than the original Q. It's not as sleek as the original Q partly because it comes with an extended battery as it's standard battery, but it feels more substantial.

All three would serve your needs just fine honestly. The Blackberry has that 2 letter per key keyboard. I don't if that would be a problem for you. And, the Centro is small but thick with a little keyboard (although I've read reviews from thick fingered men who described it as surprizingly easy to type on).

[Tony Bag o Donuts]

Originally Posted by cowboys

Cool, I'll try looking through those more later.

treocentral.com is part of wmexperts.com and crackberry.com
they compared all the devices in a round robin segment.
i tried the centro last week...SMALL keyboard.....