Blackberry owners chime in....

I live in the boondocks and I don't have telephone (have cell phone). I am thinking of getting a blackberry because more often than not I need to look up different things when I am elsewhere. Are you guys that have a blackberry happy with it? I'm thinking about the new Blackberry 8800. The Pearl I don't like because it doesn't have a QWERTY keypad.

 

Yes i'm not a big fan of the pearl either. The smart keyboard is just too weird compared to the full qwerty. I know greg, jake and myself are using blackberry's as well as many others on here. I am using the 8703e for verizon. It was the first decent model that has been released for verizon until the most recent 8830, which I want very badly, but I'm hesitant because of the reliability issues I've seen with the pearl's "pearl" cursor input. All the new blackberry's are using it, ie, 8300 "curve" and 8800 world series, so i may hold off a bit and do some research.

Blackberry's in general are very stable devices. I often compare the use of a blackberry to a Windows mobile phone to that of a mac user to a windows user. The former is far more stable and all functions are very intuitive once you get the swing of it.

Depending on your service, the reception is excellent. As I said, I'm on verizon, and all though their BB selection is somewhat small, their service on the bb's the do carry is amazing. I have yet to find a dead spot. And the EVDO rev A network that they use for high speed is insanely fast for mobile. Way better than any EDGE based BS like the iPhone chose to use.

You won't be disapointed, and feel free to ask about any particulars.

 

I love my pearl.

 

I too have a 8703e from Verizon. It's very useful. I can SSH into my PBX at the office and make changes just like I'm sitting at my desk back at the office.

If you are buying new, look for the new 8830/ 8820, it comes with a camera and has full qwerty keyboard. Later this year it will also include WiFi and GPS all in the same unit.

I'm waiting for that one......

 

Honestly I first I didnt like it Ive got the 7100i (Nextel) but know that I figured out all the functions love Nav,internet etc. I really can do with out it

 

Just a correction. The 8800 series has GPS and no camera. And the 8300 "Curve" has a camera but no GPS. And yes WIFI will complete the package.

http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/compare/product-attr-compare.jsp?products=463&products=483&products=204&products=203&

 

Okay I am with Cingular or the 'new' AT&T or whatever crap you want to call it. I don't care about a camera in my phone...I've only used the one I have now like twice. How does the Inet work on it? Is it hard to read and navigate the inet or is it just a learning curve you have to learn to deal with?

 

inet=internet?

i think the internet is super easy to navigate. you can also control settings of how pages are loaded to make it faster and what not. you really can't go wrong, there are so many options on the device.

 

Yes inet=internet.

Cool it's looking like the BlackBerry is a good investment for me.

 

i live on the thing, it's great for work, getting around (nav), looking up random crap when your bored or when you're trying to win a bet over UFC statistics. lol

note: my particular 8703e has gps inside the device but verizon has it disabled for somereason. But i was able to add a bluetooth gps puck to it and there ya go. google maps + bb maps= ftw. though i'm interested in adding telenav or something jake told me about that seems to be free now and has alot more functionality for navigating using gps.

 

I love the 8703e but alas doesn't look like it will work with the AT&T network. THe 8700C is AT&T's. Is it practically the same?

 

oh yeah, it is. The 8700 series are all similar. The case is only a little bit different and grey as opposed to black or dark blue on tmobile and verizon's bb 8700 series. But the functions are the same. I'd go with brand new 8300 though if you want a cam, or the new 8800 if you want gps. You have many more options with at&t.

 

I just got a new telenav feature on my pearl that rock. Turn by turn directions anywhere for free. U can upgrade it for extra monies to include voice activation and audio directions.

 

Hmm, i just signed up with at&t but the only blackberry that i could get was the pearl. But yea the "smart board" or whatever definately isnt as good as the full qwerty keyboard but better than the abcdefg... keyboard. Still trying to figure out how to do everything though lol.

 

Well I'm the new owner of a 8700C. For $50 I jumped on it as I don't want to worry about redoing my contract.

 

Keys on the Blackjack are too small and close together for my fat fingers. I have alot of trouble typing on that.

Get the 8800. The built in GPS is nice if you don't mind paying for the service. I am getting 1 next week, but since I work for "The New AT&T" I don't pay for any service. Between that, and my new Laptop and free Wireless built into that, I will be good to go anywhere.

 

We are a provider where I work so I get UNLIMITED media for dirt cheap so I'm going that route.

 

Here's my chime, don't ever forget your password to get in cause after 10 tries it will erase everything on the phone. suuuuuck.

 

Password? I've only had to enter that once and I've removed the sim card multiple times.

And as far as signing up and only having the pearl available, I'd be willing to bet lots of money u didn't go to
A main store. Probly got urs in a mall kiosk or mini store didn't u?

 

yeah att and t-mobile both have huge selections of blackberries

 

I love the Pearl... nice and small, and once you get used to the smart keyboard, its done without thinking...