[dawnalee8]

Hey there, I'm about to take the plunge into the Blackberry world and get my first Blackberry. I want one that has WiFi, but I am not certain which ones have that function. Would anyone know exactly which Blackberrys available in Canada have WiFi? Thanks!

[JSanders]

The 9000 Bold model, most recent, and any BB device model named as "xx20" where xx could be 81, 82, 83 or 88.

[dawnalee8]

Originally Posted by JSanders

The 9000 Bold model, most recent, and any BB device model named as "xx20" where xx could be 81, 82, 83 or 88.

Oh, that pretty much limits me to Rogers, eh?

[roofus]

fraid so!

[dawnalee8]

Okay, I just had a nice talk with Rogers, and it would cost $30.00 a month more than with Telus. Telus is currently shipping around a student deal which I want to take advantage of, but since I want a WiFi, well, I'm in a pickle.

What if I bought my own WiFi BB, like from eBay or RIM, or even FutureShop or BestBuy? That would cost like $500, but I wouldn't be limited to a certain carrier, right?

[rachamphetamine]

You would not be limited to a carrier; however, I believe that CDMA carriers (such as Telus and Bell) require that any device activated on their network to be branded with their respective company. CDMA Blackberrys can only be used on CDMA networks, GSM Blackberrys can only be used on GSM networks. Rogers is GSM.

/possibly faulty knowledge

[dawnalee8]

Originally Posted by rachamphetamine

You would not be limited to a carrier; however, I believe that CDMA carriers (such as Telus and Bell) require that any device activated on their network to be branded with their respective company. CDMA Blackberrys can only be used on CDMA networks, GSM Blackberrys can only be used on GSM networks. Rogers is GSM.

/possibly faulty knowledge

Wow, that's kind of a heavy monopoly, eh?

[rachamphetamine]

Originally Posted by dawnalee8

Wow, that's kind of a heavy monopoly, eh?

It is the same for the CDMA carriers here in the us - only on the GSM networks (AT&T and T-Mobile) can you switch phones around on the networks.

Even though you would not be limited to a certain carrier with your device, you would still be tied to them through a service plan. Really the main benefit of having an unlocked Blackberry is if you travel overseas often and do not wish to pay high roaming rates.

[Evil Techie]

or you can do what i did

bought an AT&T 8820 from hofo and unlocked it
im using it on fido now

Wifi works but of course it doesnt do blackberry internet features such as pushmail and so on

also the number of apps that can utilize wifi is really limited
there are no GPS map apps so far that uses wifi without dataplan or GPRS/Edge

and only not too long ago did opera mini started supporting wifi on blackberry

[twistedwaffle]

Rogers also has the Blackberry 8120 that has wifi, very great phone, I own one, got it free with contract through The Source.

[dawnalee8]

Thanks everyone for your posts. I ended up going with a Curve 8320 from Rogers, and the store which is a supplier for Rogers had a 500MB plan for $47.50 a month. I don't know if I got a good deal or got gypped, but it was better than the $80-plus plan Rogers was trying to get me to go with. Turns out living in BC is not good per those student plans (the benefits aren't the same). As I said before, no idea if I got a good deal or gypped. I guess I'll find out when I get my first phone bill. If it is $400, then yeah I'm in deep doo-doo.