I'm curious what the community thinks, or perceives, r.e. Blackberry vs. Windows Mobile internet download speeds.

I was in a retail store for one of the major carriers over the weekend setting up two new lines of service.  I described my needs, and that I was a heavy email and internet user.  I purposely didn't march in and say the particular device I'd already chosen, out of curiosity for what the rep would recommend.  The first words out of his mouth were, "So, you want a BlackBerry?"  I asked him why he recommended BB over another device, perhaps one running Windows Mobile, and he said that BlackBerry devices had a faster download speed and the internet was slower on other devices. 

His explanation wasn't factual and seemed to be a perception.  What do you all think?  Is there any truth to this?  If not, why would this rep believe BlackBerries are the first recommendation based on data speeds?  In case you're wondering, I got the BlackJack II and am quite happy with it, and its internet speeds.

I would think that this would depend on the processor speed of each individual device.

The Blackberries on AT&T don't even have 3G internet access.  Your Blackjack II does. 

That doesn't make much sense. 

Did he ask if you were using an Exchange server?

I told him I would be accessing mail on an Exchange server.  Yes, none of it made sense, which is why I thought it was his perception vs. facts. 

The facts are that at this moment in time there are NO HSDPA capable Blackberries on the market. I believe RIM has a HSDPA product in the wings, and I've heard rumours that launch is imminent, but as of now, no HSDPA. From a pure download speeds perspective this means WM is capable of far superior download speeds, period.  From personal experience, I find the directly connected EAS to deliver mail to push devices in the region of at least 10 seconds sooner than that via the RIM servers too, so another feather in WM's cap. In my opinion Using an HTC Kaiser or indeed any of the slide out thumboard WM machines is also a faster input method than any of the Blackberries too, but you could argue that one. So factually, no, the WM device will be faster. Unfortunately, as we've been discussing in another thread the High Street staff (at least in the UK) see Blackberries as the only email device and WM devices in a Geek niche market called "PDA's". A term which none of the aforementioned Staff seem capable of defining.

I recently spent a fair amount of time in London, and the WM marketing campaign going on there was very impressive. Big, bold, adverts in all the tubes and airports. That's great, but it's the ONLY WM advertising I've EVER seen in the UK, and only a small percentage of people live in London. Personally, from a UK perspective, I think WM marketing needs to go prime time TV.

Dave Parker MVP:

I recently spent a fair amount of time in London, and the WM marketing campaign going on there was very impressive. Big, bold, adverts in all the tubes and airports. That's great, but it's the ONLY WM advertising I've EVER seen in the UK, and only a small percentage of people live in London. Personally, from a UK perspective, I think WM marketing needs to go prime time TV.

I decided to make a new thread about Windows Mobile Marketing here.  I think it's a great idea to start giving Microsoft some suggestions about how to make it better.

Dave, thank you for the information and validation of the facts.  It's suprising to me how quickly this retail rep mentioned BlackBerry as if that is synonymous with email and the only option.  This Forum is a great way for all of us to iron out these misconceptions and set the record straight.  Next stop, every retail rep in America.

Off to check out Adam's thread....

Katherine Tighe:

Next stop, every retail rep in America.

.....could be a long day.....  

The BlackBerry Device on the way with HSDPA is the Blackberry Bold: I cannot believe that BB DL faster than WM devices with HSDPA. Sounds like I need to do a little test at work this week. Great idea Adam on the new thread!

I think that with the Blackberry Internet Browser it can be a little faster on pageloads, however that is because it is more condensed and doesn't download all of the page. Blackberry is infamous for downloading minimal information from a page. Link Anchors and crucial pictures for banners ect. Where as the windows mobile "Internet Explorer" browser is more sophisticated and downloads the entire page, just like you would expect to see on a computer desktop. I recommend showing this to customers. It's a bit strange what Blackberry browsers end up missing. I would say this is a reality. Blackberry is a bit faster for page loads, but it may not be a good thing.

Welcome martym. Thanks for the input - a good explanation of this.

On the same note you could point WM internet users at one of the browsers that caches pages through their own server and reformats to the mobile form factor. Opera Mini kind of stuff.