WANTED: a BB... which one?

[cnb88]

Hey! So I've finally decided to bring my phone out of the stone age (mostly because I'm tired of it freezing on me and deleting the entire text I've just finished typing (and before sending) when I press "back" because I added the wrong letter:mad:). I've decided that a Blackberry would work pretty nicely for everything I need right now and may need a few years down the road (I hope..). Right now I'm looking at getting a 3 year plan with Virgin Mobile ($50 would get me 500MB of data, 200 anytime minutes, unlimited evening and weekends (7pm-7am) and unlimited text/picture messaging (plus an extra $10/month for voicemail/call display))- first question- would that be a decent plan/rate for what I'd be getting? Anyone else have something similar for cheaper with a different company (other than Rogers- from what I've heard, I don't want to go with them....)?

 

Next question... which Blackberry should I get? There's the Curve (8530) for $25 (with the 3 year plan) (and if I get it at Best Buy, there's a $75 Best Buy gift card that I'd get for buying it....). There's the Bold (9700) for $150 (again, would get a $75 gift card). Then there's the Curve (8330) for $0. Which one(s) do you guys have, do you like it, what are the +/-, and what the heck is the difference between them all? lol. Any help would be awesome and much appreciated

[cgy_guy23]

Hey! So I've finally decided to bring my phone out of the stone age (mostly because I'm tired of it freezing on me and deleting the entire text I've just finished typing (and before sending) when I press "back" because I added the wrong letter:mad:). I've decided that a Blackberry would work pretty nicely for everything I need right now and may need a few years down the road (I hope..). Right now I'm looking at getting a 3 year plan with Virgin Mobile ($50 would get me 500MB of data, 200 anytime minutes, unlimited evening and weekends (7pm-7am) and unlimited text/picture messaging (plus an extra $10/month for voicemail/call display))- first question- would that be a decent plan/rate for what I'd be getting? Anyone else have something similar for cheaper with a different company (other than Rogers- from what I've heard, I don't want to go with them....)?

 

Next question... which Blackberry should I get? There's the Curve (8530) for $25 (with the 3 year plan) (and if I get it at Best Buy, there's a $75 Best Buy gift card that I'd get for buying it....). There's the Bold (9700) for $150 (again, would get a $75 gift card). Then there's the Curve (8330) for $0. Which one(s) do you guys have, do you like it, what are the +/-, and what the heck is the difference between them all? lol. Any help would be awesome and much appreciated

 

Rogers is evil stay away! Windmobile has amazing deals and you do not need to sign a contract...with Rogers you are screwed once they sign you up and then you get stuck with all the exorbitant charges. I am pretty sure you can get a Blackberry with them too. Anyways just some advice...I have seen many disgruntled friends on Rogers contracts that suck, are ridiculously expensive, and do not give you a lot for your money.

[cnb88]

Rogers is evil stay away! Windmobile has amazing deals and you do not need to sign a contract...with Rogers you are screwed once they sign you up and then you get stuck with all the exorbitant charges. I am pretty sure you can get a Blackberry with them too. Anyways just some advice...I have seen many disgruntled friends on Rogers contracts that suck, are ridiculously expensive, and do not give you a lot for your money.

 

Hmm... yeah, I was thinking about Wind... my only concern is the $450 I'd have to pay for the BB because there's no contract. Seems like a lot :S. But then again, there's no contract...

[The Law]

I'm with Wind, I like it. I've checked out plans with the others and nothing beats having unlimited use of my phone. Mind you, the service is a bit less reliable than with the other companies, but it's still not bad. Have you tried craigslist? Maybe you'll find a bold 9700 that works on the Wind network and is used? Remember you need to have a phone that uses the AWS frequency.

[pininkid]

One thing with WIND that you might want to take into account is that WIND Home Zone only covers urban areas. If you think you might be changing cities over the next 2-3 years to somewhere less urban, you'll have a $450 phone that doesn't get 3G on Rogers or Bellus.

 

That said... WIND's plans are the ones to beat right now. The fact that they include CID makes them $5-7 cheaper than anyone else right now, and for ~$50 you get 5 GB data instead of a mere 500 MB.

[koppertone]

I have a curve 8330. Pluses are that I love the keyboard for messaging, sending emails and using Pepid. Minuses are that it can sometimes get really SLOW. The default browser locks up a lot if you start browsing nonmobile sites and it will occasionally get bogged down if you run the camera in the background while doing other things. It bugs me when my friends with ipods start pulling up web pages that I can't even navigate due to the trackball interface. Also the built in camera really sucks.

 

That said, it's a pretty trusty little sidekick if you have the right medical software on it and I'm happy enough with it that I don't regret signing a contract.

[Guest postman]

I say get the Bold 9700.

[skp1187]

I have a bold 9000 and would recommend getting the bold 9700. The phone is fantastic, reliable, and has good battery life.

 

I am with Rogers and pay an awesome price ($50) for what i get: 300 minutes, free enevings/weekends, unlimited text, unlimited incoming, 100 minutes of long distance in Canada, 500 MB data, voicemail, caller id. IF you want a deal like this just call Rogers and threaten them with switching to another carrier and they will pretty much do anything to keep you lol:D

 

Now I agree with above posters that if you can afford it, go for an unlocked phone. The main advantage is that your not tied down into a 3 year contract and paying $50 bucks/month for next 3 years. Also you can use the phone internationally without paying huge roaming charges. Furthermore, the resale value of your unlocked phone is far greater than a phone locked to a carrier.

 

What I did was purchase my bold from Rogers, then purchased an unlock code and unlocked it in 5 minutes. Now my Bold is unlocked! PM me if you want more details

[reflex]

Wait till the 9800 comes out, it's the new slider/touchscreen/keyboard blackberry with the new OS.

[ChicoMaki]

Fall 2010. but no official release date (some leaked photos showed it as being branded to Rogers, if that sways your decision for carrier). I'm waiting to upgrade my Bold to it. I like touch screen, but Ilove keyboards, so this will be a good mix (although, I was talking to a rogers rep and he was saying it won't be as amazing as everyone says). But google images if you want to see.

[cnb88]

Thanks for all your help everyone!

I've been going through all the plans and figuring out the cost over 3 years (including the price of the phone) and it looks like WIND works out to the cheapest. They offer the Blackberry Bold 9700 so it looks like I'll be going with that. Because of what I have left on my phone right now, I'm going to wait until mid-late July to get it, so hopefully they still have good deals for people switching then! (Even though it still works out cheaper paying full price with them for 3 years....)

[Guest postman]

Get a Nexus One from Google. It come fully unlocked and I'm pretty happy with mine!

[Gooner]

Fall 2010. but no official release date (some leaked photos showed it as being branded to Rogers, if that sways your decision for carrier). I'm waiting to upgrade my Bold to it. I like touch screen, but Ilove keyboards, so this will be a good mix (although, I was talking to a rogers rep and he was saying it won't be as amazing as everyone says). But google images if you want to see.

 

 

The 9800 is now on sale in the US but it will set you back a pretty penny at this point.