[daryllh]

I'm on At&t right now. Have a Blackjack 1 with cooked version of Windows Mobile 6.

I was thinking about getting a Sprint 8130. I would save $20 a month for minutes and data.

From what I have been reading on this forum, the 8130 doesn't do some things my BJ does without effort (MMS). At least the Sprint version. That's pretty bunk but I could live with it. My BJ doesn't have GPS...only Google Maps.

I'm willing to step away from WM software for awhile. I always thought Blackberry were kinda lame but reading about the 8130 made me change my mind.

Any suggestions would help. I'm up for campaigning for Verizon OR Sprint. Hearing about the possible Curve coming doesn't mean a lot to me. I'm focused on the 8130 until somebody says I'd be making a mistake by not going to the Curve.

Thanks

D

[daryllh]

Oh, also note...

I don't want to stay with At&t. I've been pampered with 3G and would never return to an all Edge phone. Do let people fool you, there IS a decent difference between Edge speed and 3G. Just try watching video on Edge and you will get what I am saying.

So, please don't suggest At&t or T-mobile. lol

[wxboss]

I'm on At&t right now. Have a Blackjack 1 with cooked version of Windows Mobile 6.

I was thinking about getting a Sprint 8130. I would save $20 a month for minutes and data.

From what I have been reading on this forum, the 8130 doesn't do some things my BJ does without effort (MMS). At least the Sprint version. That's pretty bunk but I could live with it. My BJ doesn't have GPS...only Google Maps.

I'm willing to step away from WM software for awhile. I always thought Blackberry were kinda lame but reading about the 8130 made me change my mind.

Any suggestions would help. I'm up for campaigning for Verizon OR Sprint. Hearing about the possible Curve coming doesn't mean a lot to me. I'm focused on the 8130 until somebody says I'd be making a mistake by not going to the Curve.

Thanks

D

There is a new software update coming that is rumored to fix the MMS issue.

I have the Sprint 8130 and I love it! Of course, I'm no stranger to BB and I have used a WM phone running WM6 Pro. What I really like about the BB is its stability. It does what it is supposed to without lock-ups, freezes and constant reboots.

Sprints Power Vision BB Plan (or something like that) comes with unlimited navigation (using Sprint's version of Telenav) unlimited SMS, unlimited Sprint TV (free shows - some you have to pay for) as well as other goodies for just $30 bucks (this includes the BIS plan).

BB doesn't support a lot of 3rd party apps that you may depend upon with WM, but I've got to say that the BB is the best way to go, and I've used them all, WM - Palm - BB.

[daryllh]

Thanks for the reply.

As far as the 'fix' reported, I'm not too optimistic about any company saying they will patch something to make it work. I'm a little jaded with the whole Samsung/Windows 6 fiasco. However, if there is a slight light at the end of the tunnel, that is promising.

I don't use that many programs for my WM6 phone. Aside from google maps and Dashwire backup, I watch mobitv and send messages/email. Simplistic at best.

Am I able to use mp3s as ringtones with the 8130? All indications here say yes. I create my own tones from mp3s and it would be nice to assign my tones to my contacts.

Also, I have a 4GB microSD card. I'm assuming I can use this with the BB? Does anybody know if the BB supports the 8GB sd cards?

Lastly, any suggestions on Sprint or Verizon would be helpful. Part of the decison comes with my gf wanting to switch to a carrier when she moves out by me at the end of the month. She's a fan of the sliding keyboard phones (both carriers have one). Verizon is pricier when it comes to features I'm looking for but they seem to offer the same 8130 as sprint aside from a few 'feature' differences.

Thanks again for any suggestions and input.

[wxboss]

I can appreciate your optomism - the proof is in the pudding

As far as carriers are concerned, do some checking to see which works well in your area. While one may have a better plan, their coverage may not be so great.

I believe most carriers have "In" plans these days which allow unlimited minutes between those on the same network, so doing some homework here may save you a lot of grief down the road.

[Garz]

Oh, also note...

I don't want to stay with At&t. I've been pampered with 3G and would never return to an all Edge phone. Do let people fool you, there IS a decent difference between Edge speed and 3G. Just try watching video on Edge and you will get what I am saying.

So, please don't suggest At&t or T-mobile. lol

There is no 3G for BB's as of yet. My wife has 3G on here AT&T Tilt and I don't notice much of a difference. Last, I don't have any issues watching videos on EDGE.

[Garz]

Thanks for the reply.

As far as the 'fix' reported, I'm not too optimistic about any company saying they will patch something to make it work. I'm a little jaded with the whole Samsung/Windows 6 fiasco. However, if there is a slight light at the end of the tunnel, that is promising.

I don't use that many programs for my WM6 phone. Aside from google maps and Dashwire backup, I watch mobitv and send messages/email. Simplistic at best.

Am I able to use mp3s as ringtones with the 8130? All indications here say yes. I create my own tones from mp3s and it would be nice to assign my tones to my contacts.

Also, I have a 4GB microSD card. I'm assuming I can use this with the BB? Does anybody know if the BB supports the 8GB sd cards?

Lastly, any suggestions on Sprint or Verizon would be helpful. Part of the decison comes with my gf wanting to switch to a carrier when she moves out by me at the end of the month. She's a fan of the sliding keyboard phones (both carriers have one). Verizon is pricier when it comes to features I'm looking for but they seem to offer the same 8130 as sprint aside from a few 'feature' differences.

Thanks again for any suggestions and input.

4GB should work fine. A few have had luck with 8 GB cards but once the 4.5OS comes out, there will be no issues using 8GB or even higher when the bigger ones come out.

[daryllh]

I can appreciate your optomism - the proof is in the pudding

As far as carriers are concerned, do some checking to see which works well in your area. While one may have a better plan, their coverage may not be so great.

I believe most carriers have "In" plans these days which allow unlimited minutes between those on the same network, so doing some homework here may save you a lot of grief down the road.

Yeah, I have been checking into it. Sprint offers the best plan for what I want, in my region (minneapolis).

I honestly feel that for WM phones, At&t is by far, the best carrier for smart phone/pda devices. They do lack high speed for BBs which keeps me from staying with them.

The curve does look nice. The reason I'm looking at the pearl II is because of form factor coupled with features. My BJ is similar size to the curve and if I had to compare apples to apples, I'd probably stay with the BJ if I were keeping my At&t service.

Sprint has some good smart phones. Verizon has their share as well. Still, I'm intrigued by the size of the pearl II and what it can offer me in terms of reliability and features. I'm old enough and seasoned enough (in the phone using world) to know that I just need something to work and be cost effective.

I'll probably patronize my local sprint store this weekend and pick up a Pearl II. Try it for a few weeks and keep it OR, investigate other spint phones. I'm sure I'll be happy with the BB. I'm also sure I'll be on this site more often in the next few weeks.

[daryllh]

There is no 3G for BB's as of yet. My wife has 3G on here AT&T Tilt and I don't notice much of a difference. Last, I don't have any issues watching videos on EDGE.

I had a mobitv subscription with my Cingular, HTC 3125. Video was choppy at best. Google maps didn't load as fast as I wanted.

3G on BJ is a great thing. Also, my cooked version of WM6 allows me to bounce from 3G to Edge at the touch of 2 buttons. Great for saving battery life.

[daryllh]

4GB should work fine. A few have had luck with 8 GB cards but once the 4.5OS comes out, there will be no issues using 8GB or even higher when the bigger ones come out.

That's great to know. I still carry my ipod but want the ability to maintain a larger capacity card on my phone.

[caddyr2]

I have an 8 gig micro card and have not had a problem yet

[daryllh]

I'm actually pretty excited for switching to BB. I've scoffed at crackberry users for years. I then found myself becoming more and more attached to my smart phone and it's capabilities. BB seems to be the stable (pun= staple) for smart phones over the course of the last 5+ years.

I'll be interested to see how a WM user migrates. suretype will take some getting used to but I've tried it out and It appears to be fairly easy to grasp. Biggest hurdle is getting your fingers and head to sync with fewer buttons for letters if you catch my drift.

[crackvegas78]

I'm on At&t right now. Have a Blackjack 1 with cooked version of Windows Mobile 6.

I was thinking about getting a Sprint 8130. I would save $20 a month for minutes and data.

From what I have been reading on this forum, the 8130 doesn't do some things my BJ does without effort (MMS). At least the Sprint version. That's pretty bunk but I could live with it. My BJ doesn't have GPS...only Google Maps.

I'm willing to step away from WM software for awhile. I always thought Blackberry were kinda lame but reading about the 8130 made me change my mind.

Any suggestions would help. I'm up for campaigning for Verizon OR Sprint. Hearing about the possible Curve coming doesn't mean a lot to me. I'm focused on the 8130 until somebody says I'd be making a mistake by not going to the Curve.

Thanks

D

I would say to get the 8310 If you are used to the Black Jack then I think that you will like the keyboard on the curve much better.

[chaz_cb]

As far as which BB to get, go to any provider (or a mall with several providers' kiosks) and try out different models.

[kmc979]

the 8130 with verizon i believe is 3G, at least it says so on the back of my phone. lol . i've had it about a week and i love it. i went from a full qwerty keyboard on a regular cell phone and i actually like the suretype better. the biggest thing for me was size, i didn't want to feel like i was holding a pop tart to my ear to talk on the phone. the curve is still too big for me, i checked it out at at&t. i use verizon because for where i live they have the best coverage and just about everyone i know has verizon so the whole free "in" calling. i am a basic user: email, text, sms/mms, some internet and of course games. a thing to note, is that i believe that the verizon is the only BB on the market, or at least the only pearl that can record video. i don't need or use the GPS or any mapping because i have a GPS in my car. remember that verizon cripples most the bluetooth functions, but it doesn't bother me really, i pop the sd card into my computer to get the pics and vids off it to be able to email and i charge my phone through the usb cable with my computer so i just transfer data that way. the 8130 does everything i need and want it to do except for one thing, color code my calendar, and there is no way to make that happen.
i say go to the stores, check them out, play with them, learn their differences. i played with the 8130 for over and hour before i decided to buy.

[dacur]

verizon's very good. i don't think we have an mms issue, but i don't use it b/c i send all pics etc. via email. which is included in data and i don't do any sort of texting. using bb messenger is also a part of the data plan. coverage for me has always been excellent and we live in a rural area. get data at the barn = very nice.

i use the camera often and email pics, post them to blogs and photobucket right from the berry. very convenient. video, too, is decent for what it does. data speed is very good w/ verizon (supposedly the best) and so is their customer service, tho i would come HERE first for any non-billing issues.

i love the pearl. wouldn't have any other berry, i don't think even the curve. i really like the size of the pearl and i love suretype. it helps you type faster, as you'll learn. i am amazed at how much this berry can do. i learn more about it still 3 months + later. no matter which one you choose, you won't be disappointed. let us know what you decide and welcome to the forums!

[chaz_cb]

But how's the reception in that tree?

[donas2000]

I have the 8130 with Verizon, no complaints about internet speed at all. I would seriously recommend you stay far far away from Sprint. I actually paid 400 bucks for two lines to get away from them. Customer service is the worst I have ever heard of. I thought I was on MTVs "Boiling Points" everytime I called them. On the other hand, Verizon has gone above and beyond with every issue I've had. A great thing about Verizon is everything purchased in the store is guaranteed for a year ie. belt clips, chargers,...you name it.

[dacur]

But how's the reception in that tree?

good, actually! lol

[mcm180]

I had the T-Mobile 8100 Pearl - loved the size and power of the candybar size and the free tethering which gave my laptop internet access when i was away from home router. But when the video capabilities and better camera came out I had to switch providers to get my Video BB. I tried out the 8130 with Sprint, but quickly switched to Verizon because of the MMS messaging.... I thought .. what is the point of taking 2.0 MGP pics and having the only BB that records video, if you can't MMS to your friends phones??? Both companies want you pay extra for
native GPS functions (they cripple it, unless you subsrcibe to their svc) and both companies want you to pay for tethering. I found a way around that though. code word "shark modem" heheheh. I helped my friend when she got her black jack, its cool but it's windows mobile .. and the BB software and OS and it's security is just superior in my opinion.
Oh and both run on networks way faster than EDGE. CDMA is sprints fast ntwk.. and Verizon uses EVDO. i think my verizon 8130 is faster .. but then again i only had the sprint network for about a week.

[daryllh]

Well,

After an extended period of debating and waiting, I'm finally getting my 8130. It's en route to my house as I type.

I was going to wait for the Curve to come out but I said screw it. If the Curve is that great, and I don't like my Pearl, I can always buy outright. I was sick of checking the same thread in this forum all the time anyway. LOL

I'm sure the next few evenings will be spent with my new phone, getting to know it and all that good stuff that comes with a new toy. Case and SD card will be arriving at work today or tomorrow too.

[pgregory]

You'll like your 8130. I came from a line of qwerty keyboard phones and when I got the pearl I thought I'd hate it. But its a great phone, feels great, awesome size, and the suretype is perfectly fine.

Enjoy!

[daryllh]

ok, so about 2 hours with the phone so far.

Love it. Really, really, really love it. Was scared i'd mis my souped up Blackjack with the cardwheel ROM but not at all.

Some little questions I had to call CS with. Wouldn't you know it, I got great service each of the 3 times I called.

Figured out how to port number from ATT (I'm keeping the phone service and BB it appears...lol). Figured out how to get rid of the email signature (thanks to people here). Figuring out some other things (thanks to just going through the motions on the phone).

The learning curve is a bit steep compared to a WM phone. Guess it's because it doesn't have a Windows feel. Sorta like learning a new OS. I'm finding myself scratching my head about some things. (why won't it make noise when an email comes in, even when in normal sound mode or whatever). Stuff like that.

2 biggest head scratchers so far are:

people have said that BBs work with googletalk? Out of the box? I downloaded jivetalk or whatever it's called. That works but I thought there was a pre-installed program.

When I send an email, the sent version comes back into my box. I guess it's something to do with how i have the inbox set up? Just haven't figured it out yet.

I'm sure i can answer those questions on my own (reading the manual, etc). I turned on the phone last night and only played with it for about 90 mins . It's almost 10am and I'm about to head to work. Got another 20 mins into the phone this morning. Good thing I have a decent bus ride to work. lol

[matt.weum]

You can download googletalk from the mobile google website m.google.com and you can remove the gmail being sent to your BB easily in your BIS account. Take a look for the sticky thread in the How To Forum and its very easy. The CB team has provided great instructions.

[daryllh]

Thanks a bunch. I know that there are a lot of things I can learn from the how to forums and various posts here. Just too stubborn to look sometimes (like learning on my own if I can). lol