[Sue-zz]

"What is the cheapest BIS plan out there these days (any country)?"

BIS in the UK is generally around £5 a month, plus calls, texts, including 20% tax.

A Big Mac is £2.99 if you want to compare exchange rates.

I've also got a second plan with 20GB a month for £12 (four Big Macs) so the non-BIS phones are normally WiFi'd to that. It's an old contract I keep going for cheaps.

[EFats]

Freedom Mobile is only available in a few cities. It costs extra to use it outside of those "zones". Nice to know they have BIS though, if they ever make it out my way (NS).
..

Really? It's pretty good out west here. There are even times where I get coverage and the Koodo phone doesn't. Then especially late last year when they upgraded the network, the reliability & speed boost was very noticeable.

I think in the beginning they were aware of the coverage issues so they made roaming cheap (or free?). I actually don't recall ever getting tagged with "local" roaming charges. The big upside is that when I'm south of the border, roaming is incredibly cheap. So much so I don't think twice about using it.


Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[anon(8063781)]

Really? It's pretty good out west here. There are even times where I get coverage and the Koodo phone doesn't. Then especially late last year when they upgraded the network, the reliability & speed boost was very noticeable.

I think in the beginning they were aware of the coverage issues so they made roaming cheap (or free?). I actually don't recall ever getting tagged with "local" roaming charges. The big upside is that when I'm south of the border, roaming is incredibly cheap. So much so I don't think twice about using it.


Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

According to Freedom's own maps, almost all of BC is in roaming zones, where you pay by the minute or per text, over and above your regular plan.

[Doug_M]

I think in the beginning they were aware of the coverage issues so they made roaming cheap (or free?).

The entirety of Canada east of GTO is in their "away partner" network. So to use them on their cheap plans makes everything pay per minute/mb. To get away from that I'd need to go to their $60 per month plan to get data.

[anon(8063781)]

The entirety of Canada east of GTO is in their "away partner" network.

Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton are within Freedom Mobile 'home' coverage zones.

[idssteve]

A Big Mac is £2.99 if you want to compare exchange rates.

Haha! Great one! Who needs gold when you have Golden Arches? Lol.

ExRate is a perpetual pita when bidding projects around the globe. I WILL include local Big Mac data in the future! For perdiem sanity checks, if nothing else.

Thanks for the idea!

[anon(9721108)]

Check out the phone they're showing being used in this brand-new article from tonight…

http://a.mynews.ly/!MD.F3Eqp

[Sue-zz]

Haha! Great one! Who needs gold when you have Golden Arches? Lol.

ExRate is a perpetual pita when bidding projects around the globe. I WILL include local Big Mac data in the future! For perdiem sanity checks, if nothing else.

Thanks for the idea!

There was a 'thing' in the UK a few years ago about using the international price of Mars Bars as a comparison for exchange rates. I don't eat either of these delightful comestibles, so I kinda work on the price of gas, in Euros. :-)

The price of re-furbed Bold 9900's is now about 10 x Big Mac, at £29.95 over here. I picked one up, but it was a US model, and couldn't download the service books (or something) or work on my carrier. Back it went.

[Doug_M]

Check out the phone they're showing being used in this brand-new article from tonight…

Too funny! If it was just some stock photo I could understand but this has sample alerts on it. Someone there must be a fan!

The Amazon Prime tv show Patriot features 9900's heavily. It is set in around 2012 I believe.

[idssteve]

There was a 'thing' in the UK a few years ago about using the international price of Mars Bars as a comparison for exchange rates. I don't eat either of these delightful comestibles, so I kinda work on the price of gas, in Euros. :-)

The price of re-furbed Bold 9900's is now about 10 x Big Mac, at £29.95 over here. I picked one up, but it was a US model, and couldn't download the service books (or something) or work on my carrier. Back it went.

I don't travel abroad, any more. One of the conditions negotiated with the wife for un-retiring... again... lol.

BUT I'm too frequently involved in assembling bids for projects in spots of the globe where available perdiem charts just don't sanity check, once a crew is on site... turning out to be crazy high, or crazy low... possibly owing to "tourist trap" influence? We lose bids only enough to prove we're not too cheap but our very capable competition can be fierce, at times. Guess I'm one of those guys who feels exposed without plans B, C, D, ... ZZZ... lol. Haven't "dined" under the Golden Arches for decades but their reputation for local market research and spot on pricing can't be ignored. Someone in that organization knows their business. Imo. At least a few market research lessons there that might have benefited RIM/BBRY... or not. Lol.

[anon(9721108)]

Someone sure mucked up identifying this poor Blackberry for sale!!!!

What model is this anyway? Looks like OS5

[idssteve]

Haha... close to what the Q10 SHOULD have looked like, imo. Lol. I've seen that critter b4 but my old memory doesn't place it. Looks about similar sized KB to a 9650 but not sculptured like a bold's keys. A notch or two from the 9650? Is it a Curve? Idk. The "chicklet" keys might be better suited to finger pad technique? As opposed to my thumb nail typing. ? Idk.

I know and work with a few folks using OS5, including my mid 80s father... OS5 is really amazingly capable AND snappy. OS6 didn't really add THAT much functionality that those users use but added noticeable lag to the overworked half gig processor. Dad reports OS5's browser on his 9650 balks at about 25% of youtubes and probably 10% of other websites. BUT lack of hmi lag is important to him for compensating the shakiness of his thumb. If that makes sense. Him and Mom are both too "shaky" for non-frustrating touch screen operation. They're forever unintentionally touching unintended things on touch devices. Mom prefers a 9900 with a touch UI lock app my "smart guys" hacked together. Unfortunately, that app must be manually restarted after a battery swap. Dad prefers his non-touch 9650 because he's a frequent batt swapper... OS5 is his OS of choice... and I really can't fault it.

[Michniks]

This is definitely in Europe BlackBerry 8520 - my first Berry! But I had black model. BTW. heey, c'mon white BlackBerry? What next - WhiteBerry?

[anon(9721108)]

Haha... close to what the Q10 SHOULD have looked like, imo. Lol. I've seen that critter b4 but my old memory doesn't place it. Looks about similar sized KB to a 9650 but not sculptured like a bold's keys. A notch or two from the 9650? Is it a Curve? Idk. The "chicklet" keys might be better suited to finger pad technique? As opposed to my thumb nail typing. ? Idk.

I know and work with a few folks using OS5, including my mid 80s father... OS5 is really amazingly capable AND snappy. OS6 didn't really add THAT much functionality that those users use but added noticeable lag to the overworked half gig processor. Dad reports OS5's browser on his 9650 balks at about 25% of youtubes and probably 10% of other websites. BUT lack of hmi lag is important to him for compensating the shakiness of his thumb. If that makes sense. Him and Mom are both too "shaky" for non-frustrating touch screen operation. They're forever unintentionally touching unintended things on touch devices. Mom prefers a 9900 with a touch UI lock app my "smart guys" hacked together. Unfortunately, that app must be manually restarted after a battery swap. Dad prefers his non-touch 9650 because he's a frequent batt swapper... OS5 is his OS of choice... and I really can't fault it.

I checked that post an hour later and they re-named it a "Curve." But I have no idea what model.

I liked OS6 and comparing to OS5 I did think the icon graphics were greatly improved but then they were basically PERFECTED in OS7 compared to anything else at that point. The "camera" icon alone is a thing of beauty

I'm still regretting not talking to that woman at Costco I saw last month with a white 9900 (but it didn't help that she was in a heavy convo with someone) and I would have asked her how long she had been using it or how many batteries she has gone through. When I gave my white 9780 to a friend last year (who STILL has not bothered to activate it, even on a cheap Rogers Pay as you Go plan) the original battery was the one that still worked after 5 years. All the others i had for it were toast long ago, either buldging pretending to be pregnant or just not holding a charge, so they went BYE BYE.

To me the 9900 is still like a "fresh" device compared to the others I have had, it's something psychological and very difficult to understand unless one has one or used one and appreciated it. I don't see many people ever saying "I hated my 9900!" Most are positive experiences and reviews and many long for the old days.....

-sent from a beautiful Bold 9900

[idssteve]

I checked that post an hour later and they re-named it a "Curve." But I have no idea what model.

I liked OS6 and comparing to OS5 I did think the icon graphics were greatly improved but then they were basically PERFECTED in OS7 compared to anything else at that point. The "camera" icon alone is a thing of beauty

I'm still regretting not talking to that woman at Costco I saw last month with a white 9900 (but it didn't help that she was in a heavy convo with someone) and I would have asked her how long she had been using it or how many batteries she has gone through. When I gave my white 9780 to a friend last year (who STILL has not bothered to activate it, even on a cheap Rogers Pay as you Go plan) the original battery was the one that still worked after 5 years. All the others i had for it were toast long ago, either buldging pretending to be pregnant or just not holding a charge, so they went BYE BYE.
‎
To me the 9900 is still like a "fresh" device compared to the others I have had, it's something psychological and very difficult to understand unless one has one or used one and appreciated it. I don't see many people ever saying "I hated my 9900!" Most are positive experiences and reviews and many long for the old days.....

-sent from a beautiful Bold 9900

Yeah, RIM struck "Goldilocks" perfection on so many levels with 9900. Not just dumb luck perfection either. Perfection derived thru quite a few years of hard won trial and error experience. Some of that experience was, perceived at least as, guided by feedback from their enterprise customers. ‎ We frequently complained about whether RIM was listening to OUR feedback but it's obvious someone's feedback made it in to 9900 design.
‎
It's pretty commonly accepted that ML and JB carried and used BB handsets themselves. Including 9900. Their hands-on feedback, or at least expected feedback, obviously made it in to 9900 design. In some industries‎ we refer to management actually using the products they sell as "Eating Alpo"... derived from a famous news conference where an Alpo exec (CEO?) publicly opened and consumed a can of Alpo just to prove it's good enuff for pets! Lol. Clearly, ML & JB were regular "Alpo diners" and development teams surely knew that. Including 9900 teams. Imo.

Where that fell apart was in rushing the half baked Storm 1, imo. I'd be hard pressed to believe ML ever held and used that thing for 5 minutes before launched. Imo. Heads, including ML's, should have rolled over that fiasco. imo. Instead, we got half baked PlayBook and BarelyBaked early ZQ10. As if the Chefs forgot to taste test their products! Lol.

BUT, our 99s were clearly the product of an experienced kitchen staff. Someone, somewhere, invested some heart felt love into 99 and it reminds us every enchanting click of the way...

[David Tyler]

What happened to the good ol' days where I could just pay you directly?

They're with all the other stuff that allowed us to conduct our business in private.

Passport SE: All the snooty prestige of a device with a precious metal in the name at less than half the price!

[David Tyler]

Instead, we got half baked PlayBook and BarelyBaked early ZQ10. As if the Chefs forgot to taste test their products! Lol.

I was SO disappointed with my PlayBook: I couldn't believe they'd released a tablet I couldn't sync to my phone's contacts, calendars, etc., without the kludgy Bridge (which, as I recall, I'd have had to get a hot-spot plan from AT&T to use).

But I LOVED my Z10!! Sure, it'd reboot itself every few days (a problem I solved simply by proactively rebooting it every night), but I dug BlackBerry 10 from the start. After my head-banging, teeth-gnashing experience with a Sammy Galaxy II, I didn't think it was possible to get a vkb right, but BlackBerry hit it out of the park; and the Hub -- straight from the BBOS "Messages" -- was a thing of beauty to me.

The only reason I moved to the Z30 was because the Z10 was locked to AT&T, and they were painfully -- months and months would go by -- with the OS updates (it was the last time I made that mistake).

None of which is to argue with your assertions about the Bold!

Passport SE: All the snooty prestige of a device with a precious metal in the name at less than half the price!

[idssteve]

I was SO disappointed with my PlayBook: I couldn't believe they'd released a tablet I couldn't sync to my phone's contacts, calendars, etc., without the kludgy Bridge (which, as I recall, I'd have had to get a hot-spot plan from AT&T to use).

But I LOVED my Z10!! Sure, it'd reboot itself every few days (a problem I solved simply by proactively rebooting it every night), but I dug BlackBerry 10 from the start. After my head-banging, teeth-gnashing experience with a Sammy Galaxy II, I didn't think it was possible to get a vkb right, but BlackBerry hit it out of the park; and the Hub -- straight from the BBOS "Messages" -- was a thing of beauty to me.

The only reason I moved to the Z30 was because the Z10 was locked to AT&T, and they were painfully -- months and months would go by -- with the OS updates (it was the last time I made that mistake).

None of which is to argue with your assertions about the Bold!

Passport SE: All the snooty prestige of a device with a precious metal in the name at less than half the price!

My company jumped on to Z10 the day they were available. Migrating from (troublesome at that time) 9900s we eagerly anticipated "productivity miracles" from the newer & "better" technology. Once thru the expected learning curve, at least. Problem was, that learning curve leveled onto a perpetual plateau of frustration, after a few months. The productivity gains promised by the newer technology never materialized, for us. In fact, we took quite a hit that never recovered. Since I'm inevitably tasked with estimating job costs for bidding purposes, tracking productivity is an essential part of my job. Pretty precisely quantified... on spreadsheets, of course. Lol.

In all fairness, tho, our experience doesn't necessarily extrapolate for others. Our business revolves around spreadsheets. We live & breathe spreadsheets. Even spilling into personal life thru things like grocery lists, etc... lol. Great for trending & comparing price history, etc. Lol. (9900 makes a GREAT single handed shopping list!! Lol. )

Simply put, no glass slab we've tried to date has challenged 9900 for editing hundreds of spreadsheet cells. 9900's trackpad, menu and shortcuts make it a complete joy for that activity. Even preferable to much of desktop editing, imo. An activity we should have researched better before jumping blindly into early Zs. Folks who don't use spreadsheets probably tolerate occasional "form filling" with only minimal complaints. So... the relevance of my "laboratory" results must be considered individually.

To insult the injury of ignorance, realizing Z wasn't the best choice for us, and having killed my poor Z with HOT coffee, I stuck my head in the door to ask IT if the new Q10 was available. They said yes, I said set me up. Having seen only quick glances of photos, imagine my surprise to find NO tool belt!! Ug!!! My ignorance...

At least we eventually got a Q with tool belt in the Classic. AND programmable shortcut keys! Lol. All I need is longer thumbs for it... lol.

After a year with ZQ, my smart guys handed me an updated OS 9900 and asked: "show us something you do on Q that can't be done on 9900?" (other than hdmi, I guess).
After a few minutes with Old99, I was smitten all over again. Have been since. ... "from my cold dead hand!!" ?? Lol.

[David Tyler]

...Our business revolves around spreadsheets. We live & breathe spreadsheets... Simply put, no glass slab we've tried to date has challenged 9900 for editing hundreds of spreadsheet cells. 9900's trackpad, menu and shortcuts make it a complete joy for that activity.

I can totally see that. Also, while I never had any issues with the BlackBerry 10 calendar, it, too, seemed draw a lot of fire.

Saw you mentioned the "missing" toolbelt on the Q10... I was also surprised at that. The BlackBerry 10 "squircle" is only sorta-kinda acceptable.

Passport SE: All the snooty prestige of a device with a precious metal in the name at less than half the price!

[anon(8063781)]

Also, while I never had any issues with the BlackBerry 10 calendar, it, too, seemed draw a lot of fire.

When I was using my Q10, they introduced changes to the calendar and the music app that made them much less user friendly. There was, for example, barely room to scroll through the artists in the music player. Now that I've spent time on the Passport, I believe that they changed the size of many elements to suit the Passport. It seems they didn't care much about the impact on the Q10.

[idssteve]

When I was using my Q10, they introduced changes to the calendar and the music app that made them much less user friendly. There was, for example, barely room to scroll through the artists in the music player. Now that I've spent time on the Passport, I believe that they changed the size of many elements to suit the Passport. It seems they didn't care much about the impact on the Q10.

Hmm... that explains a few things. BB10 calendar got good-tolerable at one point. Then they "fixed" it. I like monthly view. It's possible to get things wacked out on Classic till the month you're viewing isn't the month that's labeled. Even a light diet of Alpo should have caught that non-sense, imo. That's OK with me because I'd rather use a comfortably sized 9900 as a single handed pocket calendar... or as a single handed shopping list...

[idssteve]

Look closely... which date is selected? How many days are in April?? Lol. First noticed this while Classic was Mirracasting on the 100" conference room display... during a planning meeting, of all times... lol.

[EFats]

I was SO disappointed with my PlayBook...

That's funny because the PlayBook was my first BlackBerry product. Till that point I had never wanted one of them BlackBerry phones that everyone else was toting.
It was the quality of the PlayBook and the OS was just so enjoyable to use (I had iPad before) that got me hooked onto BlackBerry and I soon upgraded my infuriating Nokia for a brand new Curve and eventually the Bold.


Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[anon(9721108)]

Wow looks like the guy who wrote a recent Forbes article on "Physical Keyboards" and nobody wanting them anymore was full of hot air!

Seems to me the K1 is selling VERY well and almost sold out from this Montreal retailer on eBay!

[anon(9721108)]

And BTW here is the guy from Forbes that is full of hot air about physical keyboards

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspe.../#58bb57307c73