1. trainerdoc's Avatar
    Hi

    I have a Curve 8310 with Vodafone in Australia at the moment. The data costs here are unbelievable ($1 per 5 minutes!). I was thinking about getting a Wifi enabled device for use when I am near a hotspot, at home, etc. A GPS would be preferable too, so I am looking at the 8820. Unfortunately, it is not released in Australia (and not likely to be). I have family going to Hong Kong soon, and I could possibly get one there.
    If I can get one that is unlocked and in English, would it work OK with my provider in Aust (can they tell where the BB came from), and would the current GPS content (provided by Vodafone Compass) work? Many thanks for your advice. Looking forward to a positive response!
    12-20-07 07:07 PM
  2. Bla1ze's Avatar
    It will work Ok as long as you still maintain your data plan, Vodafone won't care where the phone came from as long as your still paying your bill lol, as for their GPS program you may not be able to get that back onto your device unless vodafone can provide you a download link for the installation or if desktop manager will move the app, I'm not familiar with it so, in this case I'm gonna stick to no unless you recieve some cooperation from vodafone.
    12-21-07 01:53 PM
  3. dbltap's Avatar
    Just remember that not all Blackberry apps currently use the WiFi. For example Jivetalk only works over a carrier data link. I wouldn't go crazy using just any application over what you think is a WiFi connection until you are SURE it is actually using the Wifi link. The best way to test would be to disconnect from the data network and try the different applications you use with only the WiFi enabled.

    It's not really all that cut and dry about which apps work over WiFi and which do not. You'll find lots of threads indicating Opera mini doesn't work over WiFi. However, on my 8820, it works just fine. I can turn off the carrier data and Opera surfs right along. But too, I am on a BES data plan. So it appears, Opera works a bit differently with that.

    The bottom line of is it worth it for you is... it all depends on how you use your current Blackberry and how those particular applications work with Wifi.
    12-22-07 07:15 AM
  4. trainerdoc's Avatar
    Thanks for replies so far...
    I think that the only feature I miss from being a previous Windows Mobile user is the wifi. Make no mistake, BB is so much more stable (and much longer-lasting battery too!) that it is almost the perfect system for me. It is just that, if I need to do something quickly at home on my BB, or especially if I am at a free wifi hotspot, I would like to have wifi capability as data charges in Australia are SO expensive. I mean, how much money can you spend when surfing with GPRS at $1 every 5 minutes!
    But as dbltap says, that it would only be worth it if apps can take advantage of data streaming from wifi rather than GPRS. For example, are weather programs (eg. BBweater), Worldmate Live, etc, capable of updating via wifi? If not, it would remove half the reason that wifi would be useful for me.
    And also, I guess if I go to 8820 from my Curve, I would lose the camera. I don't know which one is more important at this point... Any experiences please?
    12-22-07 03:15 PM
  5. dbltap's Avatar
    BBweather does not use wifi.

    How important is the camera? Well.. I have a 8300 Curve with a camera. And it sits on the shelf. The 8820 goes with me everywhere. I can't remember taking more than 10 pictures in the 6 or 7 years I had a camera on a phone. So to ME.. it's no big loss. But I've used wifi dozens of times in the 3 or 4 months since I got the 8820. YMMV
    12-25-07 12:30 PM
  6. jsahim's Avatar
    I am considering getting an unlocked 8820 and using it with T-Mobile (USA), but want to be sure the GPS will still work. I know that T-Mobile just got the 8800, which I believe has GPS (Telenav advertises GPS mapping services for the T-Mobile 8800), so I figured that the 8820 should work as well. I didn't want to assume anything, though. Also, It appears that all of the unlocked 8820s in the US are former AT&T phones. Does anyone else have any experience in doing this?
    01-09-08 08:01 PM
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