New to BB - confusions galore
 

Hi,

I am a newbie to the BB world and please pardon my ignorance.

I am in India and using Vodafone network in Mumbai. Right now, I have the plain vanilla GPRS/EDGE plan with a pay-per-use cost.

I have been contemplating between a BB 8320 vs a Nokia E71. However, since my BB will be at my own cost, I dont want to go for an expensive BIS plan. I plan to use my GPRS/EDGE data plan for it.

My usage is the following:

1. Occasional mail check through GPRS/EDGE 1-2 times in a day
2. Intermittent browsing, Facebook and Googling
3. Using other GPRS based application (which I use currently on my Nokia E51). These are Java/Symbian based applications for movie tickets booking , Air tickets booking, bill payment etc.
4. Gmail's mobile application, Yahoo Go etc.

So in a nutshell, when I am out of home, I would be using the BB on a plain vanilla GPRS/EDGE data plan (NOT A BB PLAN).

As soon as I enter my house (or any other WiFi enabled hotspot), I would be using WiFi for the above mentioned functions.

I have read reviews on other forums which say that "A BB handset is a life less brick and would not work without a BIS/BES plan".

This is the most surprising and unbelievable statement. Isnt BB supposed to be a phone first, and then an wireless email device? If answer to this is yes, then it should atleast support basic data protocols right?

If its supposed to be a phone having the requisite hardware for a BB plan, why should it not work on GPRS platform?

Or is it that a BIS/BES works on a completely different protocol than GPRS/EDGE?

Please also enlighten me on the following:

Are the above mentioned GPRS based applications available easily for a BB as they are for Symbian based Nokia E series? (this is VERY IMPORTANT for me!)


Hope I have been able to put across my requirements clearly.
__________________________________________________ ____________
My question is - can I use all functions of a BB handset (except ofcourse push email), on JUST GPRS/EDGE and not by subscribing to BIS plan?

In India, a BIS plan includes GPRS/EDGE, but not vice versa. And cost differential is high!

I dont need push email but like the BB handsets for their build and quality, hence the dilemma.

The phone will work, as will sms. What people mean is some of the very nice BB features do not work such as push email and BB messenger. Generally it's just a bit annoying to have to work around the limitations.

Lots of the Nokia GPRS apps you've mentioned are probably not available. Google and Yahoo apps are.

For the browser, you will have to use a browser like Opera Mini. Well there is a thread on how to get the BB browser to work, so you could try that. But generally you need a BIS to use the BB browser. Also I know in Thailand the BB browser will work with a basic prepaid AIS sim, but I doubt the Indian carriers will push the service books automatically. But if you're lucky they will for even the basic data plan.

Other than say the Gmail app and Yahoo Go (which is not good on this phone) you'll have to check email via the browser.

Over wifi, it's about the same I think with slightly more things you can do. Long thread on what you can/can't do. Read it somewhat backwards so the more recent stuff is first:
http://www.blackberryforums.com/wifi...-can-t-do.html