Can a blackberry do all this?

Is blackberry the right smartphone for me? Here is what all I want to do,

* Check email over imap using data-plan without any other BB service plan/payment.
* Tether phone to my windows laptop over bluetooth, as a modem. To be able to use my mobile data-plan for internet surfing on laptop when on the move.
* Sync with Google calender.
* Internet browsing for news and other updates, occasional google/bing search when on road.
* GSM Voice and wifi Skype calls, very occasional SMS.
* Google Maps.
* Charge over USB sync cable

My question ends here. Is blackberry the right smartphone for me?


Details if you are more curious,

I am considering buying my first blackberry (moving from Nokia) and am concerned if I will *have* to pay for Blackberry service to check my email on the device? My concern is that I don't want to pay my carrier or blackberry for any blackberry service. I only want to check my email every 30-mins using IMAP over a data plan. Is this possible using email client in blackberry phones?

And will it sync with my Google Apps Calendar? Again without any BB service?

I already have a cheap unlimited gprs data plan ($3/month in India) and will be buying the device unlocked and without any contract. I don't want any additional monthly payments.

All my email IDs have IMAP (1 gmail, 2 google apps and 3 corporate email ids) and I would like my next phone to be able to just check email over IMAP once every half hour. I *don't* need instant email, half hour delay is OK.

I want a nice smartphone with easy to use email client and ability to open/edit attachments. And I want it to sync with my google apps calender. My only other planned use of my phone is voice calls (over GSM or SKype) and google maps, and tethering it to my windows laptop to use my mobile data-plan for internet on laptop when on the move.

And I want it to charge over USB sync cable, I hate carrying an extra charger.

My current Nokia can do all this but its software just sucks when it comes to usability and smoothness, but its hardware is solid and its software *works*, but it still sucks. And they stop upgrading software/OS for old handsets sometimes after just 6 months and that sucks too.

I know iphone can do all this just fine but its too expensive for me ($700). We don't have carrier subsidies here in India. Subsidies are ofcourse more expensive in the long run, but now device costs too much up-front.

I have my eyes on 8520 which is ~$330 unlocked.

Is blackberry the right smartphone for me? Any suggestions either way will be helpful?

There is no way around it that I know of but you will have to pay for a blackberry internet service.
There is a program that I use daily called Tetherberry to tether my Tour to my netbook. I am not sure about Skype calls using blackberry as my Tour does not have wifi.
You can sync contacts with google only....I believe.
Google maps works great on my tour. Yes you can charge with the USB cable.


Billbobaggins.

Looking at your questions, using Wi-Fi, you should be able to do all of that you are asking for. I have little experience with that method right now, but I know from talking to people that have it, they use the Wi-Fi in place of BIS for things like Internet.

However, I'm gonna point you toward our Wi-Fi forums to guide you into better answers to your questions rather than misinform you.

http://forums.crackberry.com/f65/

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Billbo, your Tour doesn't have Wi-Fi, the 8520 does, and many of those services are accessible through Wi-Fi.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Well I think all the answerd to your questions is yes except skype calling because I have a google mail app which let's me check mail without blackberry subscrition althought I do have bis so it could well work over this but I'm sure if you google for a bit u will find an app for every thing such as the iphone ad says "there's an app for almost anything" just not pointless games that u only play once

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

And this is a rundown on apps that you can access via Wi-Fi.

http://forums.crackberry.com/f65/bla...se-wifi-29376/

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

You can't set up your email if you don't have the plan. You could only check by navigating through the browser.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Data is going to depend on your carrier. Most require BIS for anything but very basic data access. On Sprint for example if you don't have BIS you can download Opera Mini through your desktop and use it to browse the web but you get no other data access, no google maps for example. To use the included email application you have to have BIS. If you use gmail you can use their program without BIS. Basically you need to check with your carrier and see if the require it.

Your old phone uses WAP browsing. There are a couple of threads about people getting their phones set up to do some WAP browsing (instead of using the data plan). You'll probably want to search for that. It's not going to be ableo to do all the things you want, but can get you around a little of it. You definitely want to have a BB with WiFi to do more without a data plan.

Blackberrys were made with the data plan as part of the backbone to it. You will really get a lot more out of your BB with a data plan. Some apps only use the data plan - others have options.

Thanks a lot for your answers. Does help a lot.

From the replies so far, my feels-like-crap Nokia E71 suddenly starts feeling more capable than BBs out there. Damn, never expected that. Maybe I should wait for a slightly cheaper Android phone to come out in next few months.

Anyway, giving BB another try,

I have a data plan with my carrier and my carrier Airtel (just like all other carriers in India) does not restrict anything. I can connect over gprs and transfer any data I want with any app or after tethering. They are just a dumb pipe like any other ISP, just like they should be.

On my Nokia having a gprs connection or a wifi connection makes absolutely no difference to any app or OS. Its just a data connection that they use based on what I prefer at that point in time.

Now the questions,

As I already have a data plan, do I still need BIS? Is BIS different from usual gprs/3g data plans or just a different marketing name for blackberry users?

Is it just that some apps dont support wifi on BB as wifi only recently started showing up on BB phones or is it that they are restricted to work on wifi (due to carrier's profiteering plans)?

How good is Google's mail application for BB. If its java I would expect it to behave similar to what it does on my Nokia, drain battery by keeping an always-on data connection, and not provide audio/led any alerts on new mail. Is GMail's BB app better?

Thanks again for your time.

Originally Posted by schngrg

* Check email over imap using data-plan without any other BB service plan/payment.
* Tether phone to my windows laptop over bluetooth, as a modem. To be able to use my mobile data-plan for internet surfing on laptop when on the move.
* Sync with Google calender.
* Internet browsing for news and other updates, occasional google/bing search when on road.
* GSM Voice and wifi Skype calls, very occasional SMS.
* Google Maps.
* Charge over USB sync cable

Blackberry's do everyone of those and very well on top of that. Blackberry's defentily have skype calling i saw that people that said it does not it defently does