I want to know if you have to purchase a data plan in order to use the phone to:
Make and recieve phone calls
send and recieve text messages
recieve Voicemail
can i simply just put an active SIM card in, and have all the services above?
I want to know if you have to purchase a data plan in order to use the phone to:
Make and recieve phone calls
send and recieve text messages
recieve Voicemail
can i simply just put an active SIM card in, and have all the services above?
no you don't have to have it to make/rec calls and have vm however u do need bb internet in order to receive picture messages or to do bb messenger,why would u want a phone like that if ur not going to use it, basically it's about a dollar a day for unlimited internet. put down a cheeseburger and get internet.
Some carriers require a data plan, some do not. Vzw, for instance, does require a data plan for all their blackberry devices. As stated above, a blackberry is essentially like any other non-smart phone without data. Data provides access to email, internet, and blackberry messenger. It is well worth the cost, in my opinion, and the opinion of many others.
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Thanks for the feedback! I was just wondering, this is for my 17 yr old son who wants my wifes old 8100 pearl. I own a new 9000 bold and love it, and yes have an unlimited data plan which i use every bit of. Our entire family has BB's, but i am the "CRAZY" one with the BB addiction! I have used 8310 curve and used 8100 pearl sitting around, so i gave the pearl to my son (cant seem to part with my curve yet). Thanks again fellow Crackbarians!!!!!!!!
Ahhh. That's a whole different story. If you're paying your son's bill or have other reasons to not want him to have data access, by all means - just let him use the device as a simple phone and nothing more. :)
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haha yours is the almost opposite story of mine. I bought a Pearl for my dad and am not getting it with a data plan because (apart from Canadian data plans being nuts) he probably won't see any benefits from it. Its pretty much an organizer and texting phone for him.
Ok cool. So there is a way. How do you discontinue the data plan and just use the Pearl as a phone, calendar and phone book? Thanks
My sis bought one from craigslist back in Sept. She swore needed email and the internet. She still does not have a dataplan. She uses the calendar, text messaging and mp3 player and is satisfied ---for now.
The alternative is to get an 8120 or 8220 that has WiFi. You don't need the carrier's data plan if you can pick up free WiFi at work or at home.
I'm doing exactly that up here in Ontario...I had a crap phone from Rogers and my buddy had a hardly used 8100 sitting around and gave it to me...I've updated the OS and it makes a great MP3 player, organizer, etc...and I've even got some games I've been able to get through the web and put on with the DM.
Just make sure you go to Settings/Mobile Network and turn Data Services to OFF. My plan is through work so they don't pay for surfing anyway so it's no loss to me - though I do get jealous sometimes :( and wish I had it setup but I really don't need it with what I do...
If you have a carrier with a sim card, and the BB works on their network (i.e. native to theirs or is unlocked) all you have to do is shut off the data services on the phone and then pop in the sim card!
That's all I did. I can use every feature...even text message. I even called Rogers to make sure I wasn't getting nailed with any charges or they could see it was a BB and wouldn't allow it and they said it was fine, just as long as the data was turned off. My work also blocks data with the plan (the boss called and requested that it be turned off on the plan since he kept accidentally hitting the wap browser on his samsung phone). So there is no way I can access the web.
Hope this helps.