Hi, all,
Recently, I switched Blackberry devices from the 9630 Tour to the 9650 Bold. A lot of customers have wondered what the main differences are between the two. Some want to know how both devices compare before they make a purchase. I thought I would give a comparison for you.
The 9630 Tour and the 9650 Bold are very similar in size and shape. As a matter of fact, the screen size is the same, 480 x 360 pixels and both very colorful. The main difference is the first one you notice. The Tour has a trackball and the Bold has the new trackpad. Any Blackberry owner will tell you the trackball is not without fault. Trackballs are notorious for picking up dirt from your fingers and over time, decreasing the function of the trackball. The Tour had some inherent trackball problems that plagued owners since its introduction about a year ago. Tour trackballs would have problems scrolling, especially to the left and right after time, which lead to many devices replaced under warranty. The Bold has an optical trackpad which is not affected by the normal dirt on a person’s finger.
Another large difference is the addition of WiFi to the Bold. Verizon Wireless has a very large network and their 3G data signal is great. However, there are those times when a data signal is not available for surfing the internet. An example is my employer, a hospital. My hospital has thick walls, mostly lined with lead to prevent xrays from being absorbed by the close proximity of other patients. This prevents a 3G signal from being detected by my device. Hello to WiFi. With WiFi, I can connect to the hospital’s public WiFi hotspot and surf the web or chat on Blackberry Messenger or other instant messaging apps.
The last difference is more space for adding apps. Blackberry devices use the main memory for installing and running applications. After a while, the free space becomes low on the Tour and performance is slowed. If any Blackberry device gets down to less than 10mb of free space in the main memory, the device will not work very well. The Tour has a lot of space, 256mb. The Bold compares with 512mb of main memory. This is a vast improvement, as any Blackberry owner will agree.
Last, comparing the accessories, the devices use most of the same items. Chargers, batteries, covers, charging docks are all the same and interchangeable. If you own a Tour don’t worry, that same cover will fit and that desktop charger will work also. This is helpful for current Tour owners who don’t want to buy accessories again. Applications such as themes are the same. If you have a custom theme you purchased for a Tour, it will work on your Bold.
I have had my new 9650 Bold for a few days and I am enjoying my Blackberry all over again. If you need only one good reason to go to the Bold, the trackpad is the reason. Try it and you will agree with me. I hope this answers a few questions about the Blackberry Tour and Bold.
Doc
Thank you for the excellent review and comaprison, Doc. makes me want to run out and get the Bold just to play with it....
Hi, all,
I have had my Bold 9650 for about 3 weeks after moving from the Tour 9630. I know there are lots of you thinking about the Bold and probably waiting for your upgrade date pops up. If you are looking at some good reviews of the Bold, a very good review was done at Computerworld Magazine a few weeks ago. The article gave a great comparison between the Tour and the Bold. It can be found at http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9177649/BlackBerry_Bold_9650?taxonomyId=15&pageNumber=1 and is very helpful if you are still trying to decide on a Blackberry device. I just thought I would pass this article along to you.
Doc
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