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New Phone Time. Blackberry Pearl?
Mashalot
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I lost my old phone, a Nokia... something or other. Small and cheap.
I had been using cingular but I think I'm gonna switch to T-Mobile.
So a few questions:
a) How easy is it to make the switch between providers and keep yr #?
b) I'm looking at the Blackberry Pearl. I think can afford the price (cnet says ~150 w/ contract) & I'd really prefer a phone w/ a camera. I sort of had an eye towards the 8800 but... yeah, no camera and $$$. I could be convinced though. Is there another Blackberry with a camera?
Another concern w/ the Pearl is actually the SureType system. I hate, hate predictive text. Can I turn it off and phone-type normally, just cycling through letters the key represents?
If I did go with a blackberry where/how can I get the best deal possible?
If I go blackberry am I barred from the usual crop of cel games?
c) I'm not necessarily fixated on getting a blackberry, another other reccommendations? It's like every phone I look at, on paper, has something crappy about it.
I had been using cingular but I think I'm gonna switch to T-Mobile.
So a few questions:
a) How easy is it to make the switch between providers and keep yr #?
b) I'm looking at the Blackberry Pearl. I think can afford the price (cnet says ~150 w/ contract) & I'd really prefer a phone w/ a camera. I sort of had an eye towards the 8800 but... yeah, no camera and $$$. I could be convinced though. Is there another Blackberry with a camera?
Another concern w/ the Pearl is actually the SureType system. I hate, hate predictive text. Can I turn it off and phone-type normally, just cycling through letters the key represents?
If I did go with a blackberry where/how can I get the best deal possible?
If I go blackberry am I barred from the usual crop of cel games?
c) I'm not necessarily fixated on getting a blackberry, another other reccommendations? It's like every phone I look at, on paper, has something crappy about it.
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As for b, I recently went with the Blackjack and have been very happy with it. 3G support was one of the biggest reasons I chose it over the pearl.
hunt around for deals - I got the blackjack free after rebate with only a minimum of looking online. keep an eye on places like bensbargains and fatwallet for a specific phone. i've found Amazon has pretty good cell deals as well.
another option is to go to a little wireless store and haggle yourself one. You can often save a bunch of money and do better on the contract - like getting 1 instead of 2 years.
Does the BlackJack fit comfortably in your pocket? I'm not really the holster type.
Unless they're having some crazy get the iPhone for $.01 with a contract deal. Then I'd consider it.
Both the Samsung and the Pearl can be scored basically for free, my budget's about $150 plus or minus a few bucks.
edit: the curve looks kind of bulky.. dunno
I'm not... thankfully that shouldn't be a problem. I've seen some references to a switching fee or something? Like buying a 'free' phone from amazon... some comments say they ship it with a new # then in the process of getting your old one transferred you get billed up for $250? Cripes.
Seems amazon only does AT&T/Cingular huh?
3G - very fast data speeds. otherwise you're poking along at what feels like a 56K modem. It's a drain on the battery, so I turn it off most of the time, but if I'm going to be browsing at all I turn it on. Rendering full web pages is pretty terrible just using EDGE.
The BJ does fit fine in my pocket. It's much smaller than I thought it would be from pictures. I kept my Razr around for nights that I go out and don't want to bring the Blackjack, but I find myself not really switching them that often. I'm comfortable jsut carrying the Blackjack at all times, and I like having access to my calendar and contacts. I run an Exchange server at home and set up push email and it works great. it's nice to have it always in sync with my server back home.
No, you can buy TMobile, Sprint, and Verizon through amazon too.
I don't think you can turn off the predictive text, but it is *really* accurate, and learns words you type that aren't in its dictionary. Give it a try before you discount it.
No, AFAIK there is no way to run games for other devices on any Blackberry. When I had one for work I looked for third-party software and found next to nothing.
The camera on it is surprisingly good.
Some things to keep in mind about it:
- It's not the most robust device ever. I ended up getting a hard plastic rubberized cover for mine.
- It does not come with a holster or case of any kind.
- Do not try to mount a belt clip on the battery panel, because it will snap in half and you'll have to spend two months tracking down a replacement because almost no one has them.
http://www.thelostworlds.net/
I've got an HTC 8125. Cingular 8125 on Cingular, I believe it's called the MDA on T-Mobile. No 3G, but it's full qwerty keyboard (the Cingular one is nicer keyboard), touchscreen, and has 802.11b/g so you can just go through your home/work/local panera wifi 99% of the time for good data speeds and go with a lower cost data plan. It has predictive typing, but it just pops up in a box below what you are typing, so you can just keep on going as usual and ignore it if you want.
Gives you games for Windows Mobile 5 and j2me games, too. It's not so good for carrying in your pocket, though, which is my main complaint. It's a bit thick, so unless you've got big pockets, you'll feel it in there.
The Blackjack, as six pointed out, is also a slick phone. A few guys here at the office have them and it's very nice.
Now, the blackberry plan I was looking at was Personal Max or something. Are there any hidden costs I should be wary of?
"BlackBerry® Personal MAX Add-On includes unlimited data usage (email, MEdia™ Net, internet browsing) plus 1500 messages that include text, picture, video, & instant messages. Additional messages are $.03. Use with non-enterprise BlackBerry® with voice."
I still have a year left on my current contract, and that's the only reason I don't have a pearl yet.