[bmph8ter]

Hey everyone! Thanks for letting me in with the rest of you CrackBerry addicts! I'm getting ready to upgrade phones, and have decided to take the plunge into smartphone land this go around. Unfortunately, cell phone tech is WAY outside my area of expertise, so I'm a bit lost. Hopefully, some of you phone geeks can help me get a leg up.

Here's a bit of info that may be relevent.
My current carrier is ATT/Cingular and I will be staying with them.
Must haves: QWERTY keyboard, email, text/SMS, WIFI, web browsing, good as a phone.
Would be nice: music player of some sort, camera, an SSH client of some sort (even as pay for addon software) would also be great

That's pretty much it. I don't *really* like touch screens & want an actual keyboard, so I think that leaves the iPhone out. I've been looking at Blackberries (the Bold and Curve 8320 that are coming out), but like I said I'm not 100% sure what I'm looking at. Folks at my local ATT store aren't real helpful either. I get a lot of "this phone is on sale now, you should get it", so that brings me to the experts here.

If an unlocked phone not carried by ATT will be better for me, I also have no trouble ordering somewhere else as long as I can use it on the ATT network.

I know that this forum will be a bit biased toward Blackberries (that's OK), but I also know from lurking over the last few weeks that lots of you have TONS of knowledge about phones in general. Sorry if I posted this in the incorrect forum, but this seemed to be the best place as I am a newbie. If you need any more info, please let me know! Thanks for the help everyone!!

[Reed McLay]

...
My current carrier is ATT/Cingular and I will be staying with them.
Must haves: QWERTY keyboard, email, text/SMS, WIFI, web browsing, good as a phone.
Would be nice: music player of some sort, camera, an SSH client of some sort (even as pay for addon software) would also be great
...

Welcome to CrackBerry.

That is a perfect description of the Curve 8320, which is not currently offered by AT&T. AT&T does offer the 8820 with Wifi, but no camera.

The also offer the Pearl 8120 with Wifi and camera, but it has the compact SureType keyboard.

The hitch is, AT&T does not offer Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA). This feature allows the device to use Wifi for voice and data. Without UMA, Wifi will still be useful for web browsing at high speeds compared to EDGE. It will help to keep your data use in check, web browsing uses plenty of data.

As delivered, the current generation will not include the advance features like Video capture, Voice notes, HTML email and the ability to stream video from m.youtube.com.

We believe AT&T will be updating their software, eventually.

If these features are important to you, they are available from alternate carriers that have already approved the update.

[Reed McLay]

I had to lookup SSH client.

An SSH client is a software program which uses the secure shell protocol to connect to a remote computer. ...

One source for BlackBerry is:

MidpSSH | SSH and Telnet client for Mobile devices (MIDP/J2ME)

[hearmeoutx]

Welcome to CrackBerry.

That is a perfect description of the Curve 8320, which is not currently offered by AT&T. AT&T does offer the 8820 with Wifi, but no camera.

The also offer the Pearl 8120 with Wifi and camera, but it has the compact SureType keyboard.

The hitch is, AT&T does not offer Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA). This feature allows the device to use Wifi for voice and data. Without UMA, Wifi will still be useful for web browsing at high speeds compared to EDGE. It will help to keep your data use in check, web browsing uses plenty of data.

As delivered, the current generation will not include the advance features like Video capture, Voice notes, HTML email and the ability to stream video from m.youtube.com.

We believe AT&T will be updating their software, eventually.

If these features are important to you, they are available from alternate carriers that have already approved the update.

Actually, AT&T is coming out with the 8320 very shortly. Rumor has it sometime this month.

I would go with a curve if you are looking for a reliable phone right now, but if you are willing to wait, wait a few months until all the kinks are worked out with the bold.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[bmph8ter]

Wow, you guys are FAST! Thanks for the response Reed. I'd seen several posts about the 8320 coming to AT&T. I'm not in a huge hurry, so if I have to wait a couple months it's no big deal. Although lugging my laptop and using a crappy LG does kind of suck sometimes. =)

So UMA is mostly for routing phone calls over wifi? If I can't do that, it's ok. I mainly need the wifi to check up on various networks I've deployed. I'm involved with a local community wireless group, so the wifi is mostly for making sure the nodes are functioning as they should be. This is of course based on the assumption that there is some sort of site survey program (that shows available networks) on the Blackberry. This is also why I needed the SSH client.

As delivered, the current generation will not include the advance features like Video capture, Voice notes, HTML email and the ability to stream video from m.youtube.com.

We believe AT&T will be updating their software, eventually.

If these features are important to you, they are available from alternate carriers that have already approved the update.

So do you think the new 8320 will support those features when it gets to AT&T? I know that's a tough question to answer. So if they ARE currently available to other carriers, could I buy another carriers phone, unlock it and use it or would I need to switch carriers completely.

Sorry for the second barrage of questions.

[Reed McLay]

If the rumors are true, we should know soon, you are much better off using the carries supported device on their network. If there are any issues, you have a single point of contact.

[mding4gold]

Hello & welcome to the addiction!!!

[bmph8ter]

Actually, AT&T is coming out with the 8320 very shortly. Rumor has it sometime this month.

I would go with a curve if you are looking for a reliable phone right now, but if you are willing to wait, wait a few months until all the kinks are worked out with the bold.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Thanks for the info. I notice from your profile that you have the 8320. I assume you like it since you're recommending it. Do you really think it will be worth the extra wait and $$$ for the Bold? I can't see a huge functional difference; mainly just the larger display and faster processor. It appears that the core functions are the same. I may see what the price will be when it arrives and let that decide; I'm not 100% certain that my account is eligible for a discounted phone upgrade, so I may have to pay full price. I've also got a stupid question. How well does your curve fit in your pocket? The store I dropped by today had tethers on the display phones, and they were too short to check. =(

Hello & welcome to the addiction!!!

Thanks for the welcome!

[saechavarry]

Welcome to Crackberry!!

[bmph8ter]

Thanks for the info everyone. I've talked to AT&T, and my account is eligible for upgrade at the first of November, so I'll probably wait until then and pick up a Curve 8320.

What do I need as far as software goes? I've got a Gmail account (personal) & a work account (POP3 and IMAP) that I would like to be able to access. What would be the best way to set this up where read/deleted emails stay in sync. I'm currently using Thunderbird for my work email if that matters, but I CAN switch to a different mail client if I need to.

What should I use for a calendar? I've got a paper one now, but would like to be able to manage it from my berry & desktop.

Thanks for the help!!

[Mista Stringfellow]

Welcome to Crackberry.

[solxsurfer]

Actually, AT&T is coming out with the 8320 very shortly. Rumor has it sometime this month.

I would go with a curve if you are looking for a reliable phone right now, but if you are willing to wait, wait a few months until all the kinks are worked out with the bold.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

It's supposed to be Sapphire Blue too!!!

[nmaguire001]

Welcome to the crack