blackberries

Hi, I'm Kelly and I'm a crackberry addict [&:]

I have the Pearlhttp://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=1053 and it's by far the best phone I've ever had (disclaimer: I've only had it a month). I had a Samsung Blackjack and after three warranty exchanges and needing a fourth I talked Cingular into sending me one of these instead - absolutely NO comparison to the Blackjack even though they're supposed be in the same class.

The internet isn't perfect, but it works well except on very complicated pages. I have 5 e-mail accounts linked to it and get every e-mail within seconds - sometimes even before my computer registers them. It has an amazing clear, crisp screen and everything on it can be personalized exactly how you want it. I also like the size of the Pearl compared to the regular Blackberry models. The only gripe I have is that you have to have a memory card. I ran out of memory the first day - and for some goofy reason the first thing it deletes when it runs out of memory is the call log, so you may have a missed call, but you won't know who it's from. My Pearl cost me $50 - but that's because that's what I had in the Blackjack with a two-year Cingular/AT&T contract.

I love my blackberry.  I have the pearl as well.  I have had mine for almost 3 months, & it is great.  I have 3 e-mail accounts linked to it.  I can work or play from anywhere with this phone.

Great tool, but not to be equated with a laptop.  You won't be creating documents on it, or managing most applications you'd take for granted on your PC.  It will manage your e-mails, calendar, contact lists, etc - basically, most of your Outlook/mail features, plus a phone, alarm clock, games, camera (in some models) and the Internet Browser... but with anything other than the 8100/Pearl, or the 8800 - which both have the trackball versus the trackwheel-  you'll quickly learn how poorly a website is put together when you're forced to follow their tab order that goes ALL over the place.  Plus, in anything less than EDGE signal, the download time is slow as HECK! 
For the monthly service charges (data plus phone) in addition to the equipment $$investment... I think the way to get your money out of it (as a non-business tool) is to be a heavy e-mailer, web-browser, texter, or be someone who is traveling often and needs to stay in contact without the bulk of a pc/laptop.  Otherwise, it's sort of overkill. 
 
So far, I like the 8800 best over - it's the second generation of the Pearl w/the trackball, and has a bigger screen than the 8100 (aka Pearl).  Downfall is it doesn't have a camera which the 8100 does.  I also prefer the full QWERTY keyboard over the combined keys of the 8100.  I have yet to get my hands on the Curve (aka the 8300), ... that looks like a promising rival to the 8800.
 
So, I guess the question is - do you want to use it primarily as a phone?  Primarily for e-mail?  Check your coverage maps for whichever carrier you're considering, too.  What a disappointment if you find you don't get decent coverage in your area.  Enjoy - they are addictive! 

I have one for work and I hate it, but its also one of the older ones.  Talking on it feels like holding a pork chop up against my ear (well, not that I've actually held a pork chop up to my ear...)  I don't find its surfing capabilities that fantastic, and it crashes on me constantly.  We use BB's exclusively here at my company and they are always breaking down or crapping out usually when the executives are overseas or something. 

My DH has one. He's so addicted to it that I have nearly thrown it through a window many times, but he loves it and does need it for work. He does say that if he didn't need it for work, it would be too much for his ordinary phone needs.

He has the BlackBerry Pearl and I have tried to use it once or twice. The keyboard drives me crazy. On my PDA I have a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out of the back of the phone, so it is smaller than an old BlackBerry but still with the full keyboard, so I will always prefer my PDA over his BlackBerry, even though his is "prettier".

so its a phone too? lol that i didnt know....
what i want it for is well, to be connected. i love to travel, but i dont like just heading out to a remote area with no way to keep in touch. true though, if your coverage sucks then you're just screwed if you're stuck out in the middle Tate's Hell with a broke down car.

so with a blackberry, its got a contract just like a cell phone, but it has other features? i dont care so much for surfing the web, though i can see myself tuning in to idog if i am waiting for a doctor's appointment... but i do want the access to my email and messengers....
i dont know anything about text messaging. seems to be all the rage.. but doesnt that cost money too? and i dont really care so much for the camera. i already have a good one.

I have one for work and I hate it, but its also one of the older ones.  Talking on it feels like holding a pork chop up against my ear (well, not that I've actually held a pork chop up to my ear...)

that made me lol for real [sm=lol.gif]
my husband's phone is an older version. its a nextel something or other.... we call it the big black brick. he actually succeeded in breaking it once.. it fell off the clip, bounced off the cement floor (like a hundred times before) but when it bounced it landed on the roller of a desk chair... which smashed the screen. the phone still worked but the screen was partially blacked out lol
we drove all over town trying to find someone to fix it. i think we visited four nextel stores, each one trying to sell him a new phone because that one was outdated. all the other phones are the size of like.. a paper clip lol  he wouldnt even know if he dropped it.
he finally did get it fixed. at one place there was a girl who was a real trooper lol she was about 20 something years old.. looked at his phone then said "yeah i can fix that" took it from him and fiddled with a box of parts for ten minutes... handed it back to him good as new!
supposedly his phone has internet access, but i dont know if he has it set up... but thats HIS phone. i want my own!

Hi everyone.

I'm considering a Balckberry Curve but was wondering do I have to get psecial blackberry service? Or how much extra do you pay for internet?

Any hidden costs?

AuroraLove

I'm considering a Balckberry Curve but was wondering do I have to get psecial blackberry service? Or how much extra do you pay for internet?

 

Not a Blackberry user (much to my brothers dismay) but I have a Sidekick which is a data phone.  I have my contract w/ the cell phone company and pay X amount each month for my minutes and then $20 a month for the Data plan (basically the thing that lets my phone DO anything other than be a phone)  The data plan included unlimited messaging (text, pic, etc)  I'm loving this phone.  My only gripe is that I can't log into iDog on it.  I sign in and hit enter but nothing happens.  The screen just reloads.  Sometimes the web pages are not fun to navigate, but there are different viewing modes which make it better.

 My pastor and brother both have Blackberrys.  They both love them and are practically addicted to them.  Kelly (pastor) said she does pay extra for a Data package (web access, messages, tv, etc)  she felt it was worth it and she is typically a very frugal person.
 

I think the unlimited internet package is like $29/month. You don't have to get it though. No hidden costs that i've noticed so far. 

I have the pearl, too. It took me about a week or so to get used to the QWERTY keyboard, but now i don't think i could text on a regular phone. I love it! 

 I had the Blackberry Pearl and wasn't all that impressed. I really only got it because it was small. I never ever got used to the qwerty keyboard that was set up on it. I just sold it, and I now have the Iphone. I told DH yesterday I think I love my Iphone more than him. He said for what I'm paying for it I better, haha. I am partial to Mac tho ;)

I had a Blackberry Pearl, I switched over to a Motorola Moto Q.  I liked my blackberry, but I LOVE my moto.  DH & I have an unlimited everything plan, so I'm not really sure what the data plan would be seperately.  I believe that it was around $30 when I had the blackberry.

Younger brother has a Curve, which he loves. 

I have a Curve and it's pretty handy.

 Dh has a Curve.  He loves it, I hate it, but that may be more to do with his Crackberry habits than the actual phone. ;)  He does have good things to say about it, though if I recall correctly he's had issues with Blackberry batteries.  Before this one he had the Pearl and I think he had to have the battery replaced a few times before he got one that would hold a charge for anything approaching the amount of time they claim.  Other than that, he loves them.  It should be noted though that he has one as well as a normal mobile, not instead of.  His Nokia is for personal use, the Crackberry for business.  I'm not sure how he'd feel with one as his only phone.