Should I switch out my 9550 or wait..

[fraunhofer]

Hey Everyone,

So I called telus the other day to get some roaming credited since I wasn't in the united states and it would seem that I got a rather nice rep because not only did he put a note on my account to never harass me about roaming charges and just credit it, but i started talking about how I wanted a 9700 and he gave me a rather compelling offer that I can't help but stand back and look at.

Currently i've got 600 anytime minutes, unlimited calling after 5, unlimited texting, unlimited personal email IM & web, unlimited local telus to telus calling, and 75 free long distance minutes (can/can or can/us) on my CDMA Storm 9550. With this during my infrequent (but existent) trips to the states I'm able to text for free and get away with some credit as long as I stay in the state below where I live. This to me is a very, very nice thing to be able to do without worrying about incurring more cost. Plus i've got tetherberry which works rather nicely.

Now, my offer was to get a bold 9700 for $150 on a 3 year, and I could keep all my features (since most of them are built into my original voice plan) and get 2 gigs of data plus being able to tether of course. But, i will lose my unlimited data, and I will lose my ability to text for free in the states. Not to mention being on a lousy roaming carrier like AT&T when i'm down there. The data i'm not too concerned about since i limit my data use when roaming anyhow, but the texting is something i stop on and think which causes me to hesitate because if I recall correctly texting while roaming is 60 cents a pop and you cannot "block" texts from coming in. So in other words unless my phone is off, i'll get billed.

My question to the community and everyone who reads this is do you think its worth switching to a network with no fall back and losing some unique advantages of being on CDMA.

[Krypto]

I think it comes down a lot to how much you want the 9700.

When it comes to texting in the US, double-check because I think they may now offer a text messaging option for use in the US, even with the HSPA network. Now then, I could be wrong, but I thought Telus and Bell finally worked something out with AT&T for users roaming in the US and that it was no longer an issue.

Now then, as to data, I'd get off the unlimited plan unless you're actually using over 1-2GB per month. If not, it simply isn't worth the cost. Plus, once you switch, you'll end up with better data roaming prices in the US ($3/MB versus $8/MB).

I can't say whether or not you should switch out your Storm2 for the 9700, but plan wise, I don't think itd be a big issue to change. Just double check that texting bit.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[fraunhofer]

Hmm yea thats also a big determining factor (nice work figuring that out :P).

Yea i'm going to check on it but from what i've read in this forum in the past people who have "unlimited" texting plans on HSPA were dinged when they were in the states even if they blocked the messages. I'm just trying to avoid being dinged when i'm down there.

Yea, the unlimited plan i'm not holding on that tightly too plus 2GB's of data with tethering will do just fine.

Thanks Krypto!

[j8330]

i would say no. Leave unlimited date behind, i think 2gb is good enough. But i do not like their new charges for texting US. I am going to see if they have anything to match my current CDMA plan, if not i am gone to FIDO or ROGERS they are giving unlimited texting anywhere in the world. They should do something of that sort too. Plus with CDMA international texting is 10 cents where as HSPA is 30 cents i beleive. If you do not send a lot of text messages, i guess 9700 is a pretty solid device, but hey ! Tour 2 is coming soon on CDMA cant wait for that !

[blackmarket]

wait for the new bold 9650 to come out and stay with cdma that is if telus gets it.

[Krypto]

Actually, really good point blackmarket. Assuming it comes to Telus, that might actually be the best move given that it will be OS 6.0 ready (supposedly) and will come with 512MB app memory (supposedly).

Like that, you can get the best of both worlds.

[fraunhofer]

Hmmm true, but the lack of high speed data is another thing thats making me want to switch. Not to mention the sweet offer. Plus the 9650 is just a tour with a trackpad and honestly I wasn't a huge fan of the Tour keyboard on a comfort scale.

More to j8330's comments, when i'm in the states I do text a lot since its the only cost free way to keep in touch. So i'm still left humming and hahing..