[quik4life]

Hey everyone.

I'm going to Europe for about 3 weeks in the summer. I have an unlocked 9900 as well as a Q10. I use the Q10 as my daily driver, but I'm trying to decide which phone to bring with me on vacation.

I'll only need the phone for 3 or 4 phone calls, bbm, and the odd email.

My main concerns are:

1) Since BBOS uses BIS, when I arrive in Europe I'll need to buy a specific SIM card for a BlackBerry. Are these easy to find, and roughly the same price as the regular SIMs?

2) If I bring my 9900, I'll have to sign into the phone with my BBID, which will then transfer over all of my BBM contacts. And then, after the trip, I'll have to sign back into my Q10. Is the transition of BBIDs between BBOS and BB10 flawless and simple? I don't want to lose any contacts or acquire any bugs.

Any help would be appreciated.

Posted via CB10

[web99]

With points (1) and (2) cleary being disadvantages related to bringing your BBOS 9900 device, why don't you bring your Q10 instead and buy a local SIM card?
You will then not need a specific BB plan since it does not use BIS. And you wouldnot have to transfer your BBID, which adds the complication of transfering your contacts back and forth between both devices.

The other thing is that you can get a prepaid plan, which should be able to cover your phone needs as well.

If it was me, I'd bring my Q10.

Posted from my Samsung Galaxy Note Tablet

[1REDRUM]

I took my Z10 last year. Bought a package from Telus rather than sim card and unlocked it. Wifi was everywhere and the odd time I turned on Data for short periods I used the data from the package I bought. Texts were included as we're a reasonable amount of calls.

If you need to use it like you do at home then I would buy a sim card and cheaper option would be the legacy device ad it will use a lot less data.



Posted via CB10

[Playbook007]

I have a z30 now, but traveled with my previous z10. When I arrived, Rogers noticed I was in a different country. Paid 25.00 bucks for data to Rogers, used Wifi, BBM was awesome. Video and voice met all my needs. At the time cross platform was not available. However, now family, coworkers and friends can all get on board. Take your Q10 and don't look back.

Posted via CB10

[quik4life]

Awesome!

Thanks for all your advice.

Now the decision of buying an expensive international data/voice package with Rogers, or unlocking the phone and then buying a SIM. Looks like buying a travel pack might actually be cheaper...

Posted via CB10

[spoonman9696]

Personally, I'd unlock and buy a sim card and long distance card. Rogers rape you on travel plans.

Posted via CB10 on my Zee-Tree Zero!

[lnichols]

Hey everyone.

I'm going to Europe for about 3 weeks in the summer. I have an unlocked 9900 as well as a Q10. I use the Q10 as my daily driver, but I'm trying to decide which phone to bring with me on vacation.

I'll only need the phone for 3 or 4 phone calls, bbm, and the odd email.

My main concerns are:

1) Since BBOS uses BIS, when I arrive in Europe I'll need to buy a specific SIM card for a BlackBerry. Are these easy to find, and roughly the same price as the regular SIMs?

2) If I bring my 9900, I'll have to sign into the phone with my BBID, which will then transfer over all of my BBM contacts. And then, after the trip, I'll have to sign back into my Q10. Is the transition of BBIDs between BBOS and BB10 flawless and simple? I don't want to lose any contacts or acquire any bugs.

Any help would be appreciated.

Posted via CB10

Who is your carrier? If T-Mobile then they have new international plans with unlimited data. If not and your phone is unlocked, then just buy local Sims with the Q10 and work. Only drawback is lack of people calling you with your phone number.

Posted via CB10

Updated. Read the rest. I traveled to Europe with unlocked Z10 and it worked great. If your carrier has a package though then that may be the way to go

[bigbadben10]

BB10 device for sure, no question about that. You will be so limited with a BBOS7 mobile

Buying Sim cards in the countries you travel to in Europe is so easy and quite cheap. I go every year and it was a nightmare with my 9700. No more with the Z10 or Z30 I travel with.

Posted with my gorgeous Z30

[badiyee]

Why not borrow a MiFi device (a device that houses a SIM card, and acts like a miniature wifi router) and then buy a local data only SIM card? (and slot it in the device) Then you can always check the mails and what not, but you won't get the nasty "oops I can't be reached because I am overseas and I'm using a different number" situation. Connect data via the MiFi device, but still use your own number. For everything else, there's BlackBerry Messenger and myriad of other voice and video call options.

That way you don't even need to bring a new phone and you can just continue to use your q10 as it is .

Posted via CB10

[currentodysseys]

I live in Europe and travel around for work a lot. In most countries, you can get a prepaid sim card with about 1gb data and some call time for about 20euro + a top up of about 10Euro. I tend to use vodaphone when abroad for that. It works great on my Q10 and I can still use my phone as if I were at home.

I think that your BB10 device would be more versatile and useful + easy to use with a local sim. One of the things that brought added value to bbry with bb10 for me.

Plus, that way you get internet use for browsing etc at better speeds as well, even when you have no wifi, so, much more "freedom" for you and added functionality.

I stick with the Q10 and never used my torch since I got my bb10 phones (a Q10 and a Z10) when I travel and I would propose the same for you.



"Hey that is my Q... 10... via CB10

[barbarianthemadserb]

Wow, a great thread with lots of good info here. Thanks OP for starting this thread and all the contributors for very useful information.
I am with TMo and go to Serbia every year for about a month and did take my BB07 devices. Wifi calling back to USA was quick n easy. But now that TMO has the international plan, I will bring my Q10 and Z10 and take advantage of the international plan for data.

[quik4life]

Thanks to everyone who has responded to this thread!

I looked into getting a MiFi device, and a decent Huawei unlocked device is about $70 on amazon.com. But then if I need to buy a SIM in Europe, it will be another $20 to $40, which doesn't seem worth it. If you travel a lot, then it might be a good buy, but I don't see myself going back to Europe for a few years.

In the end, I think I just decided to get a travel pack from Rogers. For $60, I can get 40 minutes of voice, 150 texts and 40 MB of data. The only data I plan to use is via BBM chats so I don't see myself going over. And if I do, I'll just turn data off and then use up my texts.

In order to use a European SIM, I would need to unlocked my phone. Between that cost, and the cost of a SIM, I can just get the travel pack.

Posted via CB10

[loyalIND]

Thanks to everyone who has responded to this thread!

I looked into getting a MiFi device, and a decent Huawei unlocked device is about $70 on amazon.com. But then if I need to buy a SIM in Europe, it will be another $20 to $40, which doesn't seem worth it. If you travel a lot, then it might be a good buy, but I don't see myself going back to Europe for a few years.

In the end, I think I just decided to get a travel pack from Rogers. For $60, I can get 40 minutes of voice, 150 texts and 40 MB of data. The only data I plan to use is via BBM chats so I don't see myself going over. And if I do, I'll just turn data off and then use up my texts.

In order to use a European SIM, I would need to unlocked my phone. Between that cost, and the cost of a SIM, I can just get the travel pack.

Posted via CB10

Sound logic. Have fun!


Channel for BlackBerry users in India

[currentodysseys]

Thanks to everyone who has responded to this thread!

I looked into getting a MiFi device, and a decent Huawei unlocked device is about $70 on amazon.com. But then if I need to buy a SIM in Europe, it will be another $20 to $40, which doesn't seem worth it. If you travel a lot, then it might be a good buy, but I don't see myself going back to Europe for a few years.

In the end, I think I just decided to get a travel pack from Rogers. For $60, I can get 40 minutes of voice, 150 texts and 40 MB of data. The only data I plan to use is via BBM chats so I don't see myself going over. And if I do, I'll just turn data off and then use up my texts.

In order to use a European SIM, I would need to unlocked my phone. Between that cost, and the cost of a SIM, I can just get the travel pack.

Posted via CB10

Totally makes sense. Enjoy your trip!

"Hey that is my Q... 10... via CB10