BB user for 5 years- confused- need help!

[burkesh]

Hi
I'm new to this site so hope this request for help is appropriate.
I have used a BB for 5 years. 1 year with Rogers Canada and past 4 years with Bell Mobility. I have a Bold and previously had a World Phone on the Bell Network.

My most pressing issue is with coverage. When I purchased my new Bold last year I was told it had worldwide coverage, which does not seem to be true. For example, I was in Denmark and Finland in the spring and had no coverage. In January I had only sporadic coverage in Mexico. I have no coverage in Maine north of Portland and the list goes on. When I had my World phone I could manually switch to GSM when out of N America and never missed an email or call.

I am considering purchasing another World phone, and I can buy an older model 8800 or an 8830. I did a little reading and am I to understand that the 8830 may need a SIM card to work worldwide?? Should I just get the 8800? What are the main differences? Will be traveling in S america for 3 weeks in December so I need to be sure I have coverage there.
Is there an expert on World Phone out there that can help me???

Secondly, my Blackberry costs seem to be spiralling out of control. I have a grandfathered Uberdata plan with Bell that is unlimited data, txting, email unlimited incoming calls. I also purchase extra minutes for outgoing. Sounds and works great when in Canada, however, the cost of data and phone calls when travelling seems to far exceed that of my co workers on the Rogers or Telus Networks.
Now that I can take my phone # to another carrier, is there something better out there that works for high useage users.

Thanks in advance for any help

[Kirkx]

BB 8830 WE is not the best choice if you travel to S.America because those countries often use US/Canadian GSM bands, which BB 8830 WE doesn't support (850/1900 MHz). Besides, it's an older model, with very low memory. I'm happy with mine, but I have tweaked it a lot and I don't have lots of apps on it.

The latest hybrid CDMA/GSM BlackBerry replacements for 8830 WE are 9630 and 9650. They support all four basic GSM bands (900/1800, 850/1900 MHz) and will work on any GSM network anywhere in the world (please double check the frequencies on RIM's website).

Any hybrid CDMA/GSM phone sold by Bell or Telus will have a SIM card pre-installed. To replace it with your own SIM (let's say from some S.American carrier) the phone would need to be "unlocked" by Bell/Telus. I paid full price for my BB and it was unlocked, it's just one way to do it.
If you buy a second hand phone there are other unlocking methods available.

GSM coverage maps are here:

GSM World Coverage Map- GSM Country List by frequency bands

These days, as Bell and Telus are not investing much in their old CDMA networks and slowly switching over to GSM, you will only need a hybrid CDMA/GSM phone ( BB 8830 WE, BB 9630 or 9650) in a few places on the planet where CDMA is still dominant, that is in N.Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, all three Territories, Japan and in the US outside big cities (were Verizon CDMA rules supreme).

If you don't need coverage in those places, then you might as well get a new fancy GSM phone from Bell, Telus or Rogers, just make sure that the phone supports all four frequency bands mentioned above.

I have also heard that lately you need to call Bell before going outside US/Canada and they will unlock overseas roaming.

And don't believe in any technical information provided by sales reps. They are mostly clueless about technical standards. There are some exceptions among them, and you can sometimes see them on these forums, but they are just that, exceptions. Before buying a new BB check technical specs on user forums and on RIM's website.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[JAGWIRE]

+1.

The Tour (9630/50) are great for that, much better then the World Edition. Not as bulky and the trackball is very reliable.
Up here in the Territories there is GSM in two of the three capitals,Whitehorse and Yellowknife but not Iqaluit.
Ive never traveled outside the country so i don't know about the CDMA outside of Canada. You do have to call customer service to unlock your overseas calling. once that is done id advise getting the World Calling Saver feature on your plan.( Highlights - Bell Mobility - World Calling Saver )

[blackberry-unlocking710]

You can get new Blackberry device and unlock it, then just use pre paid SIM cards when you travel.