Buying a Blackberry - What I need to know?

warren_1979

warren_1979

warren_1979

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Hi. I'm thinking of picking up a Blackerry on Orange. I already have a PAYG sim on Orange. The reason I'm choosing Orange this time around is that I have found out that if you sign up to a Orange pay monthly contract they give you home broadband free. I'm currently paying £15 for a home broadband package from Namesco, so that would save me money straight away.

Mainly using the phone for net browsing, games, organising etc.

I just have a few questions still.

1)I'm undecided berween the 8520 and the 8900 Curve. I know the curve is better but I'm wondering the size difference berween the handsets. Are they of similar size? I really like the trackpad on the 8520 too. What is the ball like to use on the 8900?

2)What would be the best orange plan in order to fully use all the Blackberry's features? Looking for a plan in the region of £25-30. I've seen a O2 bolt on called 'unlimited blackberry' for £10 extra a month. Is there anything simlar that orange do?

Thanks.
 
Both handsets are good...the 8520 is a good entry level handset to the world of Blackberry....the 8900 is a nice phone too...small, light and thinner...in fact its much smaller than the 8520 if i remember correctly.

The trackpad from what i have heard is pretty good..a lot of people like it...the trackball looks to be on its way out as its prone to wear and tear ie the trackball can stop working or rolling altogether. I have the Bold and sometimes my trackball stops rolling in one direction but giving it a clean helps alleviate that problem.

Personally i havent used the 8520, ive only read what others have said about it...i had the 8900 curve as part of my upgrade back in may and i thought it was a great little handset but lack of 3G meant i just sent it back and stuck with my Bold although i did get another Bold from tmobile...unlocked it and sold it for a nice little profit.

As for Orange plans...you just need to make sure you have BIS or Blackberry Internet Service on your account...usually its about £5 extra a month unless Orange are bundling it within their price plans..with BIS you will get push email, blackberry messenger and unlimited internet useage. Best thing is to ring them up and see what they can do:)

Best place to go for all things Blackberry is the link in my sig;)...there you can get all the info you need about the 8900 and 8520.
 
Cheers Spawn thats a good overview there thanks.

Ah that was it BIS I'd read it somewhere and forgotten about it. Yes I will ring them up this afternoon and see what they can do.

Thanks again.
 
Hi, Basically phoned up this afternoon and got the 8900 on a 24 month contract. I was eligible for free broadband too so that's saving me £15 a month that can go towards my contract.

Anyway I wasn't sure of all the phone plans so I chose the Panther 30 with 'unlimited push email'. I said I wanted to do internet browsing on the phone and the girl I spoke to was adamant that free anytime browsing was included. All it said on the Orange website for the plan I chose about browsing was 'free evening and weekend mobile internet for two months'. But the sales rep was sure it was anytime browsing.

Anyway I've just had a look at the other plans and the Racoon 30 has 500mb unlimted browsing included. I think she may have got mixed up? What would be the difference between 'unlimited push emails' and '500mb unlimited browsing'?

I take it it is still possible to change my call plan? I've emailed the sales rep anyway but she said she was going at 5pm so I may get to speak to her tomorrow.

Thanks.
 
Hmmm dont know what they mean by that...i guess unlimited push emails means you get unlimited emails sent to your device but i would imagine that wouldnt include internet browsing...whereas the 500mb unlimited browsing would mean you get up to 500mb of internet browsing...so not really unlimited but in this case and other networks it means you can browse the internet at any time of the day.

Id ring them up and ask them to clarify both of them just to be on the safe side.
 
Hi Spawn.

I just rang up Orange and the guy said that what the previous sales rep said was correct. He said that because its a 'unlimited push email' service the Blackberry is always connected to the server and consequently you can surf all day for free. He said that's exclusive to the Panther plan.

Sounds good to me.
 
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Just a quick note to say that I have the 8900 Curve and it's definatly (by far) the best phone I've ever had. I thought I'd get one just for all the fancy features (email, satnav etc) but I've found I'm really making the most of it all. The email I use all the time for emails whilst at work that I don't want to use on my work email account and to contact friends etc. The GPS is also great. I use to have an N95 and I'm sure that used to take weeks to get any signal! The Curve seems to pick it up really quickly (a lot quicker than the iphone satnav in my experience).

You will also have the Blackberry Messenger (instant messenger for BB's) so if you know anyone else with one you can use that as well (send pics etc).
 
Just ordered the Curve too on Orange gone for the Dolphin 35, with BIS you must make sure you have this on your contract to enable it to work with the Blackberry server otherwise youll have a nasty bill.
If you ordered over the phone you have to ring connections when your phone arrives make sure then that BIS is applied to it, £5 per month.
Bare in mind if you have this you dont need an internet bundle at 500mb per month as they tried to tell me!.
Enjoy the BB!
 
I got Panther 30 mate BIS is included in the price. Unlimited email and internet. 3GB limit, which you will never hit really.

I had to phone up and double check this as the website is confusing and they confirmed it.

Hopefully getting the handset tomorrow. When are you getting yours?

I'm going from an old Nokia 8310 so it'll be some upgrade.
 
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Ahh well funny you should say that! Ive had mine on order since Friday Lastweek, yes thats a week Friday!
Ok it was out of stock and rang to confirm where my phone was they had only put it down on the wrong flipping product code which held up the order for 3days!.
Rang Friday gone and they confirmed for Monday delivery (tomorrow).
Fingers crossed it will come im itching to get me hands on it!

Out curisority did you order via the web or phone? did they give you a tracking number?.
 
When I rang which was thursday just gone they told me the 8900 had just come back in stock. I ordered over the phone mate and got a consignment number to my mobile the next day. You can use the consignment number to track the parcel on DPD website.

Me too hoping I get it ok tomorrow. Can't wait.
 
Ahh but your already with orange, unfortunatly they wouldnt do that with me as Im coming to orange as a new customer so no text.
Ill hold out till 5pm if theres no phone then its time to put a rocket up em I think, ive been chasing this for a week. Stock came in on Tuesday night of lastweek as I called they were updating there system with new product codes as mine was on the old one.
The operator even said if i hadnt have called they would never have realised and id have never got the phone! How stupid is that.
Anyway hopefully tomorrow will see mine delivered!.
Im sure we'll both have a few Q's then! lol
 
Hey Mike did you get yours mate? I got mine today just charging it now. Its a thing of beauty it really is. Its smaller than I thought it would be. Never held one properly till today.

EDIT - Its ok I've figured the power adapter thing I never saw the correct connector but have found it now.
 
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Received to my suprise two! Charging up and on phone to orange to collect the other one! BIS added to the account just reading up on the manual and looking at getting a 16gb sd card !
First impressions, the screens mega sharp! nice layout and my first quirk is that sms is not on the homepage, maybe theres a way to change that.......

Happy BBing!
 
Nice one mate!! Two eh..just like buses. Wait all week and two come along at once. Yeah I'm just charging mine and will then register the sim with Orange. I'm having a peruse through the manual too.

This is worth a look at http://crackberry.com/blackberry-101-how-lecture-series

I'm a bit paranoid over the trackball. Its working fine but I've read a load of horror stories about it. I would have really liked the trackpad, but the 8520 seemed a bit basic too me and the 9700 will be well out of my price range when released.

I'm just going to keep my hands super clean!!
 
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mikeossy said:
Received to my suprise two! Charging up and on phone to orange to collect the other one! BIS added to the account just reading up on the manual and looking at getting a 16gb sd card !
First impressions, the screens mega sharp! nice layout and my first quirk is that sms is not on the homepage, maybe theres a way to change that.......

Happy BBing!
Click to expand...

If your press your BB button ie the button with the 4 dots...it will take u into the menu system...the top 4/5 icons are the ones that sit in your homescreen.

Also click on messages,..then click your BB button, scroll down to options...in there click on general options and scroll down to SMS/EMAIL inboxes...in there you can set them to separate, combined or theme controlled.


Also any themes and wallpapers you might want...head over to the link in my sig where they have a huge forum for everything BB including apps, themes and wallpapers...some are free and some arent.

Have fun :)
 
warren_1979 said:
Nice one mate!! Two eh..just like buses. Wait all week and two come along at once. Yeah I'm just charging mine and will then register the sim with Orange. I'm having a peruse through the manual too.

This is worth a look at http://crackberry.com/blackberry-101-how-lecture-series

I'm a bit paranoid over the trackball. Its working fine but I've read a load of horror stories about it. I would have really liked the trackpad, but the 8520 seemed a bit basic too me and the 9700 will be well out of my price range when released.

I'm just going to keep my hands super clean!!
Click to expand...

Some 8900's have had a few issues with the trackball but if it starts playing up then just give it a wipe...thats what i do with my Bold...sometimes the trackball doesnt move to one side but i just wipe it and that usually solves the problem.
 
Cheers Spawn.

Another thing this is my first pay monthly phone for almost 10 years and I'm a bit unsure of the setup. I have a Orange PAYG mobile and I want to keep my number. Now do I register this new sim card then ring a number I've been given to transfer the number? I'm not sure I can't remember what the sales rep said now?
 
Bloody hell I thought I'd wedged the sim card into the slot then. That is a bad design that is, the women on the phone from orange number transfer was saying if I couldn't remove it take it to a Orange store and they will do it.

Panicking for a bit then thinking why me. LOL.
 
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