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Hi, I just recently left NYC and have used a windows based phone on verizon (samsung i-760) through my company. i think the phone is discontinued but was not a horrible phone, very versatile. I previously used a treo wx, and loved the QWERTY keyboard that was always in plain sight.
I would like to switch over to the blackberry world, i am now in san diego. I was waiting for the bold, but the problem I have is ATT has one to zero bars of coverage at my home. So i am once again forced to verizon who has great call quality here, and i don't think i like the storm. I want a keyboard available 24/7...
so here is my question currently verizon offers the 8330, 8830 as well as the 8703....im not sure if i should just get a cheap phone and pray that the new curve 8900 drops soon ? alhtough praying hasnt helped much in the past :P...here is whats important to me on the phone
1. i loved google maps on my windows based device, and being new to the san diego area i think this is key...does verizon offer the GPS unlocked ? and is google maps available for these devices ? how does it compare to the windows mobile version.
1.5 battery life, my wm6 device dischagred by 9pm on a workday, i have had coworkers with older blackberries who said they didnt charge their phone for 2 to 3 days...battery life is key and one of the reasons im staying away from the storm.
2. I use AIM and MYSPACE....both have mobile versions (m.myspace.com) and (ebuddy) i know recently myspace has released blackberry software any comments, i tried the myspace app on the iphone and its sexy. how does BB compare ? and is AIM push enabled or even available , i always had the problem of having aim turn off one me during phone calls or high memory usages on the WM6 device. i would like aim to be always one with minimal battery drain if possible. otherwise theres always ebuddy
3. I would like to use it as a mp3 player i dont need a huge ammount of space, but my ipod broke during my transition to California. but would be great for the gym. ALSO its not a deal breaker but do these allow MP3 ringtones ?
4. I use wikiepdia quite a bit to look up fun facts during arguments on the road, in the bar.. anywhere away from the office. Im pretty sure wiki has a mobile enabled site and this shouldn't be a problem ??? The web experience i understand isnt as desirable on these phones compared to the bold or the storm ? but can i access most sites ? any comments ? and are these phones 3G ? i understand verizon uses a EVDO network but the storm claims to be 3G? I also hear opera mini is what i should be using ?
5. I read news sites also on the road, CNN and RSS feads...i guess i could use googles mobile reader for RSS ?
6. my WM6 device tethered free of charge to my laptop via bluetooth or usb, this also isnt a deal breaker but would be great if it worked on the blackberry.
7. youtube has been a great feature i discovered on the iphone and bold, do these older devices has any type of support ?
I have purchased a iphone and a bold to play with and the iphone is just a toy, the bold is a very sexy phone and if it was available on verizon my life would be simple. I am bringing both back today as i said ATT just doesnt have service where i live in north san diego. Any and all input would be great, im basically trying to decide between the devices verizon has they seem to be pretty similar and it really seems to be between the 8330 and the 8830... PLEASE HELP
thanks in advance
12-02-08 12:21 PM - Ok in reading I think you need a more in-depth response:
1. Google maps is available for the curve but you'll have to input your beginning and ending addresses and what not. It doesn't do turn-by-turn gps though just navigation so you'll have to go step by step yourself when navigating with it.
1.5 I can chat on jivetalk for about 30-45 minutes a day, send/receive about 50-75 e-mails/text messages, browse Viigo, and all that stuff and make about 30-40 minutes in phone calls and still have about 30% battery by the end of the day. Mind you I charge over night and unplug the phone from about 4am and charge it at about 10pm.
2. There is AIM mobile available for free using Data not text messages but there is also a program JiveTalk/BeeJiveIM that you have to pay for and can link all of your chat accounts all into one. Up to you. The BB MySpace mobile app is pretty good. Much better compared to the Facebook app by far.
3. Yes you can get 8gb microSD cards for the phone. I personally have a 16gb card and i'm going to be adding in a lot of songs onto that myself. Yes you can use MP3 ringtones. Just place them into the ringtones folder of the microSD card you'll be using.
4. Yes, there is Wapedia. These phones run on the CDMA 3G technologie and trust me it is worlds faster then EDGE. Blackberry Browser is fine IMO. Opera is more for rendering pages in HTML and zooming in which I never liked.
5. They have CNN Mobile and RSS feeds can be accessed through Viigo (which is an excellent program!)
6. Tethering cost an extra $15 or $45 I believe...I don't remember because I don't use that feature myself.
7. The curve is able to use m.youtube.com but only if you upgrade to 4.5 OS...I think don't kill me if I'm wrong haha
After all this I'd say you'd need to get yourself a Curve
12-02-08 01:26 PM - I used to have an 8830 and now have an 8330. I say definitely go with the 8330.
1. As far as web browsing goes, the Blackberry browser is very capable and will load just about any website. (IMO).
2. As far as Wikipedia goes; They have a mobile website and its mobile.wikipedia.org but it will also load just fine if you don't like the mobile site and use wikipedia.org. On the other hand, there are dedicated applications for wikipedia you can load onto your BB.
3. The Blackberry is very efficient on power consumption. It will last me about 3 days with low usage and 2-5 bars of signal , and 2 days with heavier usage and 2-5 bars of signal.
Good Luck!!12-02-08 03:30 PM
