What is 3G and non-3G phone?

Hi! I am new to this forum and new to BB. My boss ordered our BB for the two of us, when I was on holiday. When she enquired the available models, the carrier told her 8707g is the only 3G model and recommended that.

When I returned, I did some research on the web, and found out that the carrier also carries Curve 8300, and it was marked there 'Latest'. I did a comparison on BB official site and learnt that 8300 is a lot better than 8707g, has a built in camera, and is smaller.

I couldn't find any sources that explains the difference of a 3G phone and non-3G phone. And I thought all BB models are 3G phones - a wrong perception?

Wonder if any members here can help explain this? Basically I have 4 questions:

1) What is 3G versus non-3G phone?

2) Is 8300 a 3G or non-3G? I was told, just 2 days after receiving my device, 8707g price has dropped by approx $60, and the 8300 is priced the same as I paid for 8707g. :mad:

3) What about Pearl? My boss initially was interested in Pearl.

4) As we are using BES, is it necessary to go for a 3G phone (if there is a difference)?

Appreciate it very much if someone can enlighten me on this. Many thanks!

3g is a new chip set for cell phones. it allows for high speed data on cell phones. The drawback is that they use a ton of power, that is why most smart phones are still 2g to give the user the most talk and data time. I have had a couple of 3g phones including the black jack II and I do not think that it is that much better. Also the coverage is not great at this point kinda like when the first digital phones came out.

The curve and the peral are both 2g, and as far I know you do not need 3g for BES, we have it at my office and we all are on curves and pearls. I would very much recomend the curve 8310 with the built in GPS.

Hope that helps.

There are no 3G BB's as of now. Rumor has it the new 9000 coming out later this year will be 3G.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

as far as i know, a 3g phone is a phone where you can do video call = means you can see the other person

This info is not entirely relavant to the original post, but to confirm that RIM did launch a 3G capable Blackberry in 2006 which was offered by Vodafone - the 8707v.
http://eu.blackberry.com/eng/devices...Id=H0,C63,P163

Feiru, hopefully here are some answers for you. First, looking at RIM's website the information your boss was given is true, the 8707g is a Quad band phone with 2100mhz for UMTS (3G). The Pearl and Curve do not support UMTS, they are EDGE (2.5G) phones. In my own opinion it really doesn't make a huge difference except for power users who are always on the net. 3G is not required for BES service, that can use the normal data connection. My advice, send back the 8707g and grab a Curve! You will be happy that you did.

Originally Posted by SLVR6

Feiru, hopefully here are some answers for you. First, looking at RIM's website the information your boss was given is true, the 8707g is a Quad band phone with 2100mhz for UMTS (3G). The Pearl and Curve do not support UMTS, they are EDGE (2.5G) phones. In my own opinion it really doesn't make a huge difference except for power users who are always on the net. 3G is not required for BES service, that can use the normal data connection. My advice, send back the 8707g and grab a Curve! You will be happy that you did.

More than that, most cell towers don't really offer that much bandwidth given how many people are connected to them, especially in highly populated areas. It's important to remember that while 3G offers up to 384k data rates, that's subjective to the size of the pipe carrying the calls that are back-hauled from the tower.

Thanks for all the great feedback. Unlike in the US, I'm not quite sure whether I can send 8707g back and exchange for Curve or not, but I will certainly try.

Where are you sound like a country where edge is not common in which case utms will perform better. That said I am in australia and use gprs and find that quick enough for email and bb browser due to the optimisation that the bb does.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Here's the current choice of Blackberrys offered by Maxis, Maylasia. Looks pretty complete.

http://www.maxis.com.my/business/lmc...ry/devices.asp