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Old 12-12-2009, 11:04 AM   #1
grahamtearne
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Hi guys, former iPhone 3g user. I sold my iPhone basically because I was struggling financially and I could get good money for my handset.

I am now in the market again for a new phone. Let me start by saying I am not a big talker, but I use a considerable amount of texts and I am a big emailer and enjoy access to twitter and facebook.

Ok so they are my basic needs, I would say in a phone I enjoy a good keyboard for typing emails and texting. The qwerty kerboard on a Blackberry surely meets that better than a normal phone keypad.

Coming from the iPhone I enjoyed the excellent web browsing capabilities. How is the Blackberry browser, what about Opera, can that be installed?

Facebook/Twitter - How are the native apps for these sites?

I am looking at the 8520 which I understand is a 'entry' Blackberry but it still looks and operates from what I understand similar to a more full featured one. It has GPS which is nice, but no 3g. I did have a standard 2g iPhone before the 3g one and while 3g is nice I can get a great deal on the 8520 so I would not be too concerned about losing 3g over saving money.

Also it has GPS in it, does anyone know of any apps that can be used to log my journey and use it to geotag my photo's? I am travelling America in the summer and I am looking at the various GPS tracking systems around such as the trackstick but wondered if this can be used in a similar way.

Apps - Is there any software I can download to browse available apps before I get my blackberry like one can with iTunes and the App Store (or any good websites with reviews and stuff to see if there are apps that would suit my needs.)

Thanks for you time guys.
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Old 12-12-2009, 11:30 AM   #2
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As far as the Twitter/Facebook apps goes, they work great. Facebook come with a link directly on the phone out of the box, and I have downloaded UberTwitter. UberTwitter is the best twitter app for BlackBerry.

And as far as getting a Blackberry, I am going to struggle if the day comes that I have to give mine up. I have loved it since the day I got it. It has so many shortcuts that makes things WAY easier than most phones.

As far as apps go, BlackBerry AppWorld. I have not liked it because it takes up a bunch of space, but if you are into getting a ton of apps, its there for you.
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Old 12-12-2009, 11:37 AM   #3
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Wirelessly posted

1. There are BB facebook apps and twitter apps. I use the facebook app frequently and find that it is slow in updating the status updates and news feed. I also don't like that it, by default opens to news feed...I'd rather have the status updates as I am not a big fan of FB's stalker feed (or news feed) and I have my FB setting to practically never post anything to the stalker feed. As far as twitter I don't use it but there are apps out there for it. ** check out the blackberry forums app store ** and the other blackberry forums have their oen stores you can browse. Depending on your service provider you may have to download FB and twitter.

2. The web browseing capabilities are good as far as I am concerned. I have heard that the native BB browser is not as fast as iPhone (loading pages) but it does have some nice features that I have come to enjoy and therefore do not use the opera or bolt 3rd party browsers which are faster at downloading. Generally you will have to download the opera or bolt browser as most carriers tend not to have them pre-installed but do a google search for the download sites or go to the main opera and bolt websites, then follow the links.

3. The 8520 has wifi capability which means if you are somewhere with free wifi you can use that instead of the 2g and it does have 3g capability I believe but don't quote me on that. Is it that your wireless carrier does not offer 3g?

4. GPS...watch that your wireless carrier does not lockout 3rd party apps from using the internal gps. Again go onto black berry forums app store or the other BB forums app stores and you can browse by category for apps. Maybe BB doesn't have the thousands of apps like iPhone but you can spend many an hour searching throught the available apps.

5. *my two cents*...one must remember that blackbery is mostly a business use phone that has adapted to the consumers wanting entertainment...there are other PDA's out there (such as the droid os, from what I hear from reliable sources) that are more geared to entertainment and the 'business' part comes in as the second priority. BB has a gmail enhanced plugin for the native BB Email program which is awesome! I have a BB 8330 curve which runs os 4.5 (the most updated 'official' os version to date that I know of and am eagerly hoping for the release of 5.0 for My 8330 curve) which is not suposed to run the gmail enhannced plugin as it is for 5.0 devices only but I am running the gmail enhanced plugin with no problems. SWEET!
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Old 12-12-2009, 01:54 PM   #4
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The 8520 does NOT have GPS.
http://uk.blackberry.com/devices/bla...ifications.jsp
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Old 12-12-2009, 02:45 PM   #5
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Thank you for the clarification MidnightDraven...I breifly looked up the 8520 but didn't read too much about because I made the mistake of assuming that because it was a newer device then mine (8330 curve) it would have GPS on it since the 8330 curve has GPS and the ability to geo tag photos. I am surprised that any phone besides a very basic mobile would not have GPS on it. I would think that if someone is looking for a blackberry or other PDS/Smartphone then that would be a basic expectation to have GPS but then that's one of the features that I, personally, look for -- everyone has their own preferences when it comes to stuff in general.

grahamtearne....
If you want to geo tag photos taken with your blackberry then I suggest you either look for a curve 8330 which is a good hardy phone or you look for a different blackberry model since MidnightDraven pointed out does not have that ability.
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Old 12-13-2009, 11:34 AM   #6
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Thanks for the replies guys, I think I have decided to go for it and get that phone on contract (it is the only BB Virgin UK have) get it unlocked and sell it and get a 8900. I am not too bothered about the 3g, but would like GPS in it for sure. I thought it was strange that the 8520 would have GPS but not 3g, stupid Carphonewarehouse magazine for telling me that it did.

Anyway got chance to play on one today, can't remember what model it was but I was so impressed with how fast a reliable they seem. I understand iPhone is more consumer and BB is more geared for business and that showed IMO, it was no nonsense snappy performance which I really liked. And after exploring the App world and 3rd party applications that are available there is even enough for consumers to get excited too :D
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Old 12-13-2009, 12:48 PM   #7
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Wirelessly posted

I used blackberry for an earlier job of mine and I was impressed with the general stability of the os...I left that job then had regular mobiles but got the htc xv6700 which was a good phone but windows mobile is absolute crap! Although I am surprised that I expected microsoft to put out a good mobile os when microsoft continues to botch up their main windows os. I couldn't wait to get rid of the horrid phone only because of the os. I have since then come back to blackberry and found that I am happy to be back and while blackbery os has it's querks it is much more stabile. I heavily use my BB 8330 -- in fact I pick it up more than I turn on my pc...

** update **
After I posted about using the gmail enhanced mail plug in for bb on my phone with no problems it started to go buggy. Not entirely sure that it was the bb gmail ebhabanced mail plugin but removed it and removed quick pull free and now my bb 8330 is working like a charm. I wouldn't recommend quick pull free...it was add supported and caused my phone to react funny when it was finished with the reboot process (buggy = after unlocking my phone from the completed reboot it would not display the home screen properly by having out lines of the quick pull free dialog box and I would have to hit the 'back' key after inputing my device password in order for the "processing" message to stop displaying. This was new because I loved quick pull lite which was the old free version of quick pull pro. I had no problems with quick pull lite.
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Old 12-13-2009, 04:17 PM   #8
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If money is that tight, you might consider laying off the $30 data plans for awhile.
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Old 12-13-2009, 06:57 PM   #9
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I don't expect GPS when I buy a smartphone, every phone is different, and not everyone needs the same things. What I would expect from smartphones in general is to call, text and go on the net, and depending on further needs go from there.

But I don't have a use for GPS as well.
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Old 12-13-2009, 08:07 PM   #10
grahamtearne
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mbranscum View Post
If money is that tight, you might consider laying off the $30 data plans for awhile.
In fairness, I am from the UK and we have much different plans than you guys have. The plan I am talking about it £20 (What about $30) but that includes 200 minutes any network any time minutes (remember we only use minutes for outgoing, not receiving) unlimited text's and unlimited data. That is the cheapest deal they do on the BB, the cheapest they do in total is £10 ($15?) and thats for a basic phone, no internet access and 100 minutes and 100 texts. The cheapest no BB plan with unlimted data is £18 but then for an extra £2 I get the BlackBerry over a standard phone and more minutes and more texts.

Unlike the US Data plans are affordable and come with plans rather than mainly add ons which is how I believe it works in the States.

Besides like I said, I use my phone for net access more than I actually do for a phone so getting email access is more important to me.

On top of this my Dad is a virgin media customer and he can change his TV/PHONE/INTERNET package to include a mobile phone on it and would save money on the other services by getting them as a foursome package so has agreed to pay the first £10 per month of the contract and I pay the rest.

So as you can see the money/plan isnt the issue. Its the fact we can save money by going with Virgin by tying our services together, I get pretty much half price line rental but have less choice in handsets and they offer a modest selection. The BB is what I want but I would really like GPS, hence my idea of selling it and getting a used 8900 for around the same price off ebay but then I get to use my contract plan on that.
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Old 12-13-2009, 08:36 PM   #11
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i'm the same as you graham, i mainly needed a phone for internet access and texts. was sat down in phones 4 u with a chap for half an hour while he tried to sort me out a deal for the BB bold 9700. he managed to get it for £30 a month, 200 mins, unlimited texts and unlimited browsing. although when he came back after talking to his manager he said 'sorry we dont do this phone on o2' (which is the network i wanted it on) pffft.

anyway, i got the 8520 on PAYG for £200, i'm thinking about taking it back to be honest, the screen resolution is average at best and for some reason i cant connect to even test the web browsing as it keeps saying i need wi-fi turned on. although i shouldnt think wi-fi has to be on in my house for me to be able to brosw on my mobile phone.

not sure if the bold 9700 is any better.
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Old 12-14-2009, 06:30 AM   #12
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JamieLeeWV, thats because your browser is set to HOTSPOT which ONLY uses wi-fi.
You need to set it to Internet Browser.
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Old 12-14-2009, 06:32 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JamieLeeWV View Post
...//..
anyway, i got the 8520 on PAYG for £200, i'm thinking about taking it back to be honest, the screen resolution is average at best ...//...
Strongly disagree, I think the screen is great.
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Old 12-14-2009, 10:31 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vintagetechtm View Post
Thank you for the clarification MidnightDraven...I breifly looked up the 8520 but didn't read too much about because I made the mistake of assuming that because it was a newer device then mine (8330 curve) it would have GPS on it since the 8330 curve has GPS and the ability to geo tag photos. I am surprised that any phone besides a very basic mobile would not have GPS on it.
Never assume (you know the old saying, right?) anything when shopping for tech. It's a very common mistake. There are countless

"For $XXX.XXX,YYY ought to ZZZ"

and

"In this day and age..."

posts all over every discussion forum out there that were completely avoidable. Perform your due diligence. If a feature matters to you make sure it's there and works as you expect it to.

Quote:
Originally Posted by grahamtearne View Post
I thought it was strange that the 8520 would have GPS but not 3g, stupid Carphonewarehouse magazine for telling me that it did.
I really don't get why people never seem to refer to the manufacturer's site when shopping (not just for BB's). Full specs for current models are always available at Blackberry.com.

Last edited by takeshi; 12-14-2009 at 10:36 AM..
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