[DigitalNY]

Well.. I broke down and got a pearl, my first blackberry.. I've had it less than 24 hours and so far I love it.. I couldn't say no with the deal I got for it..

Purchased it through wirefly.com, paid $99 for the pearl with a $100 rebate, also got a Motorola V195s clamshell phone for my second line for $0.01 with a free jabra bluetooth earpiece and $100 rebate. Signed a 2yr contract, chose the $69.99 1000 minute familytime plan, with the $19.99 blackberry data plan.

So far as applications go, I've got:

Opera Mini
Blackberry's Yahoo! Messenger
jmIRC
midpSSH
Google Maps
jotp (For generating One-Time-Pass's for SSH logins(S/Key))
multiPlay (love the mp3 player)

I've got t-mobile's free fax relay service on my enhanced voicemail forwarding to my k7.net fax-to-email which I have set up to store the faxes and send them to my blackberry.

I'm one of those people that wish the pearl included Wifi though, I have marginal reception at home. I basically have to stand next to the window for it to work. I'm considering getting a 1900MHz GSM repeater for my home (their about $230), similar to the repeaters that some malls and large stores put in.

Overall, I couldn't be happier. The reception I pretty much had to expect though, my SLVR always had pretty marginal reception at home too. I'll keep the SLVR as a backup phone since it's unlocked and a decent phone.

Now all I need to do is send the rebates in and wait for T-Mobile to process my corporate discount migration form.

Ah life is good.

DigitalNY
BB PIN: 23EC8A4C

[takeshi]

Congratulations! This site and blackberryfaq.com (and even the other sites with Blackberry-related forums) are incredibly useful resources.

Originally Posted by DigitalNY

I'm one of those people that wish the pearl included Wifi though, I have marginal reception at home. I basically have to stand next to the window for it to work. I'm considering getting a 1900MHz GSM repeater for my home (their about $230), similar to the repeaters that some malls and large stores put in.

Yup. That's exactly why I switched my personal lines to Cingular. Actually, I had no reception at my home but I couldn't roam either because there was technically coverage but it was totally unusable -- even outside. If reception is better outside your house a repeater is an option but the decent ones seem to start at ~$300.

This is precisely why we suggest selecting a carrier based on coverage at important locations. Cheaper service and better customer service are nice but they don't help the signal any. ;)

[blakeatl]

Son of a gun!! You came out like a champ on that deal! Good buy!

[DigitalNY]

Originally Posted by takeshi

Congratulations! This site and blackberryfaq.com (and even the other sites with Blackberry-related forums) are incredibly useful resources.

I agree! This site is one of the reasons that I was ready and informed as far as installing applications and what applications are available goes.

Originally Posted by takeshi

Yup. That's exactly why I switched my personal lines to Cingular...

The main reason that I chose T-Mobile was that they offer SmartAccess and I have less than perfect credit, actually.. Ya might as well call it very-close-to-chapter-7-bankruptcy credit.

I have had a T-Mobile To-Go phone for about a year and the blackberry has the exact same reception (go figure..lol) the minute I leave my steel sided building.. FULL signal.. 5 bars and rock solid stable.. I just happen to live in a faraday cage..

blakeatl...

Aye.. I'm accused pretty often of shopping like a female.. I'm always on the lookout for the bargain.. I took the extra $100 in rebates into account and got my self a Motorola HS350 bluetooth earpiece for the blackberry also. In the end I still came out $50.01 ahead

DigitalNY

[BBChristopher]

Welcome, and Great Deal!

[brucejr]

Nice! Good score!

[DigitalNY]

brucejr:

your not by any chance a member on landroverworld.org are you? I've run across a member there that has the same avatar and I seem to remember him being from FL also. I lived 14 years in Ocala and miss the weather down there, just something that came to mind when I saw the Seminole FL location..

DigitalNY

[raa0425]

Originally Posted by DigitalNY

I've got t-mobile's free fax relay service on my enhanced voicemail forwarding to my k7.net fax-to-email which I have set up to store the faxes and send them to my blackberry.

Can someone explain to me how this works? I also have this service from t-mobile and do have a k7.net fax to email number, but I'm not clear how they work together.

Thanks in advance.

[DigitalNY]

Originally Posted by raa0425

Can someone explain to me how this works? I also have this service from t-mobile and do have a k7.net fax to email number, but I'm not clear how they work together.

Thanks in advance.

I'll give explaining it a shot.

I called T-Mobile and asked for the fax service on my voicemail.

Then I called my VM and set the k7.net number as the telephone number to relay the fax to, I think it's option 4, option 4 in the VM setup or something similar.

I have my k7.net settings set to store and forward to my @tmo.blackberry.net address.

Now when I know I'm going to be receiving a fax (like.. "Hey.. Go ahead and just fax it to me right now at this number" or if I have the fax numbers in my phone book so the caller id indicates it's a fax) I just hit ignore and let it go to Voicemail.

In the end.. It ends up stored on the k7.net site and a copy sits in my message inbox on my blackberry..

Works great..

DigitalNY

[DigitalNY]

by the way..

you can test that it's working by going googling for "test fax" without the quotes and choosing Interpage's fax test form.. fill in your mobile number.. put a single character in the line that asks for one.. type a brief message and hit "send fax" and in a little while (their service isn't instantaneous) you'll receive a call from them.. hit ignore and it should theoretically end up in your message box if everything is set up correctly.

DigitalNY

[brucejr]

Originally Posted by DigitalNY

brucejr:

your not by any chance a member on landroverworld.org are you? I've run across a member there that has the same avatar and I seem to remember him being from FL also. I lived 14 years in Ocala and miss the weather down there, just something that came to mind when I saw the Seminole FL location..

DigitalNY

Nope but would love to have a Landrover LR2! Co-worker has a Range Rover. Awesome vehicle!!

[raa0425]

Originally Posted by DigitalNY

by the way..

you can test that it's working by going googling for "test fax" without the quotes and choosing Interpage's fax test form.. fill in your mobile number.. put a single character in the line that asks for one.. type a brief message and hit "send fax" and in a little while (their service isn't instantaneous) you'll receive a call from them.. hit ignore and it should theoretically end up in your message box if everything is set up correctly.

DigitalNY

Thanks a lot. I'm going to try this.

[DigitalNY]

bruce:

Yeah.. I have a 96' LR Discovery SE7.. I love it because it'll go anywhere.. I threw on a high end aftermarket set of off-road suspension (springs and shocks) that gives it about 2" of lift and put slightly larger tires on it (nothing that looks ridiculous, in fact it looks very much stock).

I live in extreme Upstate New York now, some areas around me got ~ 10Feet of snow in less than 8 days.. It's kind of neat to putter around like nothing's wrong and see paths and footprints to second story windows.. My employer loves it because I have no excuse not to make it to work..

Ya know it's bad when the thread author starts hijacking his own thread.. ROFL

anyway.. yeah

DigitalNY

[DigitalNY]

Originally Posted by raa0425

Thanks a lot. I'm going to try this.

No Problemo.. Just be aware.. Unlike most things blackberry it's a bit slow. The relay to k7's fax number, the conversion process to tiff at k7.net and the relaying to your blackberry all take some time.. I've seen it take ~20 minutes to receive the fax but it works for me.. Nothing I do by fax is really time critical

DigitalNY

[brucejr]

Originally Posted by DigitalNY

bruce:

Yeah.. I have a 96' LR Discovery SE7.. I love it because it'll go anywhere.. I threw on a high end aftermarket set of off-road suspension (springs and shocks) that gives it about 2" of lift and put slightly larger tires on it (nothing that looks ridiculous, in fact it looks very much stock).

I live in extreme Upstate New York now, some areas around me got ~ 10Feet of snow in less than 8 days.. It's kind of neat to putter around like nothing's wrong and see paths and footprints to second story windows.. My employer loves it because I have no excuse not to make it to work..

Ya know it's bad when the thread author starts hijacking his own thread.. ROFL

anyway.. yeah

DigitalNY

Well to bring it full circle DigitalNY, that SE7 should keep your brand new Pearl safe and sound!

[Liv]

Very cool!

I got my pearl via Amazon for pretty cheap when I had one.

[DigitalNY]

Originally Posted by brucejr

Well to bring it full circle DigitalNY, that SE7 should keep your brand new Pearl safe and sound!

Yeah.. that and I can't wait for my next paycheck to buy a bluetooth gps puck and car cradle.. I'm getting this cradle and think it should work great in the LR: http://www.blackberryforums.com/hard...available.html

It also supposedly has an amplifier and external antenna.. I'll see how well that works when I get it, seems that it would be prohibitively expensive (especially compared to the $80 price) to put a multiband 850/900/1800/1900MHz amplifier in a car cradle.. perhaps it's just one broadband amp which may lack in performance..

Maybe I'll contact Bury Technologies and ask for a demo unit and do a full review here, I have a spectrum analyzer and more test equipment than any one person should own so I could probably do a rather technical review..

DigitalNY

[raa0425]

Originally Posted by DigitalNY

No Problemo.. Just be aware.. Unlike most things blackberry it's a bit slow. The relay to k7's fax number, the conversion process to tiff at k7.net and the relaying to your blackberry all take some time.. I've seen it take ~20 minutes to receive the fax but it works for me.. Nothing I do by fax is really time critical

DigitalNY

It worked!

The only thing is I have to send my K7 to another email, not the tmo one, because for some reason I never receive those. I guess I'll try to see what's wrong with that next.

[DigitalNY]

Originally Posted by raa0425

It worked!

The only thing is I have to send my K7 to another email, not the tmo one, because for some reason I never receive those. I guess I'll try to see what's wrong with that next.

Congratulations, glad I could be of help.

[bukzin]

Originally Posted by DigitalNY

Yeah.. that and I can't wait for my next paycheck to buy a bluetooth gps puck and car cradle.. I'm getting this cradle and think it should work great in the LR: http://www.blackberryforums.com/hard...available.html

It also supposedly has an amplifier and external antenna.. I'll see how well that works when I get it, seems that it would be prohibitively expensive (especially compared to the $80 price) to put a multiband 850/900/1800/1900MHz amplifier in a car cradle.. perhaps it's just one broadband amp which may lack in performance..

Maybe I'll contact Bury Technologies and ask for a demo unit and do a full review here, I have a spectrum analyzer and more test equipment than any one person should own so I could probably do a rather technical review..

DigitalNY

I too am very interested to a cell amp. Did you ever find some equipment
to connect to your Pearl?

Thanks,
Bukzin