[tywest]

Within about the next month or so we (wife and I ) are due to get new phones. We currently have US Celluar (Wisconsin), however would consider switching to Verizon.

Currently I have an old Moto Razor and so does my wife. I also forgot to mention that I am a mac user. I have an Ipod touch that goes along with me and my cell phone. I use the touch for checking email when I find free wifi.

I understand that BB's and mac's do not play well without the aid of third party software. This has me a little concerned.

What I really need to know is do I need to get a BB? I would like the convenience of being able to email from anywhere, use google maps, do some light browsing.

Yes, I have thought about the iphone but AT&T sux IMO. I am looking at the 8330 thru USCC or the 8330 or Storm from V.

This is all probably rubbish that no one can really answer except for myself. I am just trying to justify the monthly expense of the data plan.

[xliderider]

If Google Maps is important to you then Verizon is the last carrier you should be considering because they lock the GPS down to their pay for service VZNavigator, and Blackberry Maps (free). Other third party GPS mapping and navigating software cannot access the GPS chip.

Google Maps will only use cell tower triangulation to approximate your location. If you are in a rural area with limited cell tower overlap. Google Maps will be off by thousands of meters.

[btdown]

I understand that BB's and mac's do not play well without the aid of third party software

So buy a real computer and be done with it.

[teal]

Yup. What has been said. Don't think a BB is for you.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[skwij]

Something to think about.

Get an iPhone, and Jailbreak and UNLOCK it. No need to PAY to do that. pwnagetool will jailbreak and UNLOCK it so you can use any carrier's sim in it.

That said, I'm loving my Pearl, but am VERY leery of syncing it with my Macs.

[chaznsc]

If you are convinced a smart phone is what you would like, I cannot NOT recommend the blackberry. Windoze Mobile devices are slow, require a lot of recharging and just arent as smoothly put together as the BB. Of course, the iPhone is another choice, if you can stomach ATT.

In the end, its a judgement call. I would say if you are looking at a Storm, please go play with one before jumping. The Storm really is a horse of a different color.

I have the Cuve 8330 from Verizon, and I couldnt be happier.

Good luck on your quest. PM me if I can be of further help.

chaz

[just txt and calls mam]

I've had my bb storm 9500 for 3 days now and although some may say it's too early to say I normally know within a very short time wether something is right for me or not.

I don't feel the storm will be with me too long

the mac issue is also something that has become apparent

[Curve63049]

Perhaps one question to ask is: do you want or need your email to come to you . . . rather than *you* going to it?

I use my BB Curve for both work and personal matters. And I live in an area that has really good 3G coverage - no more "hunting" for wi-fi hotspots for me.

On the personal side, I've *always* had problems keeping up with my personal emails. Logging into my personal email account and checking for stuff was just ONE more chore in a long chain of daily chores. Result = didn't get done. Consequence? People would say "hey, I emailed you, but you didn't respond" or I missed information that others had.

Truthfully, 99.99% of my personal email isn't of earth shattering importance. So, being a few days behind in checking my personal email account was more annoying than life altering critical. But, with my BB Curve I'm NEVER behind on my personal email because it comes to me on my BB - and I can make the on-spot decision to act on it immediately, or act on it later, or delete it.

Work email - well 99.99% of that *is* important. So getting work *sent* to me - without the need to log into a network or lug my laptop around - has been a godsend.

Yesterday, for example, I "stretched" my daughter's doctor's appointment into a little Valentine's Day shopping. While at the mall, I got an email from a co-worker.

[Actually, the email was a voice message - at my work, messages left on our office phone can be automatically converted into .wav files which then go out as emails.]

The message concerned a hot-topic legal issue that she needed some guidance on.

I was able to listen to her message, find a quiet spot, and call her back to the discuss the matter. All within 5 minutes of getting her email.

As far as I can tell, she wasn't even aware that I wasn't in the office (or not at my home teleworking). I look like a hardworking productive employee and she got her problem solved - instead of having to put it off until *I* logged into the system with my laptop.

To me that *type* of functionality has been useful. It's made me more productive (I can get a lot more stuff done at home AND for work).

That, to me, as been the boon of having a BB. Information *comes* to where YOU are. For example, I installed the Facebook app on my BB - so Facebook notifications about what your friends are doing come to *you* on your BB, you don't have to find a network connection and log in if you want to find out what your friends are doing. Facebook isn't a "life critical" application, but it is *fun* entertaining one.

Another example: I have Podtrapper on my BB too. Podcasts download *directly* to my BB without me having to do a thing. I set it and forget it. No more downloading podcasts to my PC and, then, transferring it to my phone or mp3 player. So if I have some freetime - say I'm stuck waiting in the doctor's office or in a long line at the the Dept. of Motor Vehicles - I can just open podtrapper (or my media player) and get caught-up on all the podcasts I subscribe to.

Only you can decide whether that function - that things come to YOU (not you going to it) - is worth the money.

For me, it has been.

[Guru]

Since you have wifi available and do quite a bit of email and texts, have you considered the TMobile 8900? It's only $50 right now with contract and is like a Bold lite (the one I would recommend if you didn't hate ATT so much). The push email on BB is the BEST! I've heard T Mobile customer service is pretty good.

[berry-addict]

Within about the next month or so we (wife and I ) are due to get new phones. We currently have US Celluar (Wisconsin), however would consider switching to Verizon.

Currently I have an old Moto Razor and so does my wife. I also forgot to mention that I am a mac user. I have an Ipod touch that goes along with me and my cell phone. I use the touch for checking email when I find free wifi.

I understand that BB's and mac's do not play well without the aid of third party software. This has me a little concerned.

What I really need to know is do I need to get a BB? I would like the convenience of being able to email from anywhere, use google maps, do some light browsing.

Yes, I have thought about the iphone but AT&T sux IMO. I am looking at the 8330 thru USCC or the 8330 or Storm from V.

This is all probably rubbish that no one can really answer except for myself. I am just trying to justify the monthly expense of the data plan.

blah blah blah

[tywest]

blah blah blah

Wow, not sure what that means.

I appreciate all the feedback. In the end, I think we will be sticking to "normal" phones.

[DenverRalphy]

If Google Maps is important to you then Verizon is the last carrier you should be considering because they lock the GPS down to their pay for service VZNavigator, and Blackberry Maps (free). Other third party GPS mapping and navigating software cannot access the GPS chip.

Google Maps will only use cell tower triangulation to approximate your location. If you are in a rural area with limited cell tower overlap. Google Maps will be off by thousands of meters.

This is no longer true.

Verizon has unlocked GPS on their blackberries. Google Maps has not yet made a storm compatible version yet, although on the Google Maps forums they have stated that it is being worked on. Other 3rd party apps have already started to utilize GPS on Verizon BB's.

[GearheadGeek]

So, I'll offer my opinion as a recent convert (crackberry-addled since November '08.)

For the price, functionality and reliability I couldn't convince myself to buy something else. I never really wanted a crackberry, mostly due to the "always available" stigma they have for people who have corporate devices. I was sure that a PalmOS or WindowsMobile device was going to satisfy my geeky "needs" for a high-function smartphone with all the slick new toys out especially in the WinMo space. iPhone isn't an option for me because of a huge corporate discount with Sprint. I have a Curve 8330.

I fiddled with devices and talked with people who have them, and I just couldn't do it. PalmOS was too outdated (and the devices either too cramped or too expensive) and WinMo was too fiddly if you want any real performance. All of the people who love their WinMo devices are hacker types who are running custom firmware and all sorts of registry hacks and accept the fact that they'll brick their device from time to time.

I want my phone to work, all the time, every time. I want to be able to answer when it rings, and I want the alarm to go off in the morning every day it's set to, so I don't sleep until 9 or something. I want to be able to do a little surfing and email and maps and have a relatively current version of my calendar in my pocket, and I want all of this stuff to be RELIABLE.

So you know how I decide about such things, I'm the kind of guy who still runs Windows XP because it's faster and more reliable than Vista. WinMo may be prettier and have a few apps that the Crackberry doesn't, but if you read comments of people who OWN those WinMo devices, there are lots of complaints of hangs/freezes/device death, and of course always at inopportune times.

I'd probably run OSX if I had no other constraints, but my work world is Windows-based and it's way cheaper to run adequate hardware for Windows-based stuff than to buy Mac toys, so I can't really help you on the OSX-to-crackberry stuff.

[RIRUNNER18]

Get a little taste of the BB experience. Im sure you wont be dissapointed, better than alot of other PDA's i feel and is a close competitor with the IPhone.