Blackberry

[RobbyZ5001]

Is a data plan necessary?

What is the your favorite model  BB?

[Sharkbite]

Dude you have to get the Data plan. I bought a pocket PC a while back thinking I could just use the Wi Fi but I thought wrong. It turned out that Verizon charged 1 cent per kilobite. I had a $260 phone bill. I think the data plan is about $30 a mounth. SO play it smart but then again you do go to PSU so it may be impossible to play it smart for you.

[RobbyZ5001]

How good is the internet on the blackberry?

You only would need the data plan if you use the internet right?

[Branuss04]

Blackberries are pointless without a dataplan.  It's been awhile since I researched them but without a dataplan they actually disable alot of features.. so once again it's pretty pointless to get one without it.

[senko_77]

They say you "have" to get the dataplan, but there is a way to by-pass it.  By it offline and activate it at home.  Before it gets there, call customer service and ask them to put a data block on your account.  After that, activate your phone at your house.  

As others have said, it's kinda useless to have a Blackberry without the data.  The internet is good, but sucks compared to Iphone IMO

[RobbyZ5001]

Ryan do you have an Iphone? How much do you pay extra for the data plan on that gadget?

[.dsaavedra.]

yea like others said i don't see the point in having a blackberry if you're not going to get a data plan.

[senko_77]

Ryan do you have an Iphone? How much do you pay extra for the data plan on that gadget?

I don't because I'm with Verizon.  I have a bunch of friends with it and the internet is great from what I've seen.  For the data plan on the Iphone, it's also $30 a month

[uicdent11]

If you are going to spend the money on a smartphone, it would be best to get a data plan. I would highly recommend getting the blackberry bold or I guess it is the tour for Verizon. I researched it for a long time, but it did not come our on Sprint before I had to pull the trigger on a new phone. My classmate has one and it is by far the best smartphone out there. He swears by the thing.

My wife has the older 8330 phone and she has nothing but good things to say about it. I do not think you could go wrong with a blackberry. The tour would get my vote.  

[adclem]

Had a BB till I tried the G1, no looking back now.

Later,

[nateobot]

In the other thread I think you said that you have AT&T?  If they see you using the phone without a data plan they will automatically add it on your bill.  They do scans to see which phone you are connected to the network with.

[NewAngler]

i have the BB Curve. It's MONEY.

You do need the data plan. Its the internet and it also has another feature, the BlackBerry Messenger. It's pretty cool, and resembles the AIM chat box where you can see the entire conversations youre having with the other person. you can also invite other people into the convo, so you can really be talking to like 4 or 5 people at once.

like mentioned above, BB= nothing with out the data plan.

[CFFF 1.5]

If you are getting a smartphone and are on AT&T get an iPhone. If T-mobile get a Google MyTouch. Blackberries in my opinion are for business not pleasure. The internet is a pain to navigate and you probably won't end up using it much. Also any Windows Mobile phone is pretty nice I had one for two years before just recently switching to an iPhone. I will never look back. I hate Apple but the iPhone is incredible.

[slider head]

I have a Blackberry that I am forced to carry for work. My personal phone for months was busted. Caused much trouble with the Mrs. It would just shut down, not ring, not show missed calls, not show messeges. She was convinced I was avoiding her or something until one day she said "give it to me and I will show yoou where I called." While she had it in her hand it turned off and on like 3 times. She appologized and said man you need a new phone. I fought with AT&T for 3 months......and they would not give me a new phone until I was eligible for upgrade. Finally I got the new i phone 3gS (sorry Glenn) Man it is bad a--!

It will pick up any wireless you are near. You can do anything in the world with this phone. Carrying both I can tell you the i-phone kicks the blackberry's butt! Spend the extra cash....and get the data plan. You will not regret it.

Also check to see if 3g is in your area. We do not have it here yet. It is supposed to be here by the end of next month. They had 3g at the beach we just got back from and man that makes a WORLD of difference!

[Branuss04]

In the other thread I think you said that you have AT&T? If they see you using the phone without a data plan they will automatically add it on your bill. They do scans to see which phone you are connected to the network with.

I don't know when they run their "Scans" but this is not always true.  I have Att and I ran my Motorola Q without a data plan for 3-4 months before I got my new job and needed it.  They never added it to my contract.  

I still have my moto Q and must admit the window's mobile phones are pretty sweet.  Very easy to navigate plus I'm able to view PDF's, Excel files, powerpoint files and Word files.  It also has outlook so I sync it to my work email when I'm on the road.  

[nateobot]

I don't know how it works either, but it is a new policy as of 9/6/09.

[adclem]

The only bad thing about the My Touch is the touch screen keyboard.  That is the only reason I went with the G1.  Both are awesome phones.

Later,

[NewAngler]

I take it glen works for T-Mobile.

I find that the BB curve is quite simple and fast to surf the web. 90% of my posts have been from this thing. I can see how people say its "for business" I can sync it up to 5 e mail addresses, get to facebook, mobile picture uploading to FB (I recommend BR looking into this!), and has great reception.

I must mention their durability too. I've dropped this thing at least 5 times, my youngest chews on it, oldest "texts" from it (pounding the letters) and I've dropped it in the river, it was sumerged for 10 seconds before I caught upp to, and STILL runs fine.

BB Curve 10/10 cosmetically 10/10 mechanically.

[done]

i got a BB, i will say the keyboard and mouse is easier to use ergonomically than my Q moto was. That being said, the Windows mobile (thought it would go insane from time to time), was much better for business. It did not require extra $$ for a BB service plan, and it seamlessly integrated with our exchange server without any special config or services. And while it is much more stable, BB has its own quirks. Also the browser in the Windows mobile worked better on sites than the BB browser.

For any smart phone though, without the data plan, there ain't much reason to get it. If you cannot afford or do not want to pay for the data plan, get a non smart phone with other cool features.  IMO, the data plan really is what you need to fully leverage the advantages of a smart phone.

[ArcticCat500]

went to Verizon friday, spent 2 hours looking at them with the Misses.

Ended up hating the things, navigating the web, small buttons, mouse, all felt to much like a chore to me....so we walked out with nothing...But I'll be going back for the Alis 2 thos, thats a nice phone.

[Koop]

I had a BB Pearl, got an iphone for $100 through AT&T, best thing I have done in quite some time.