Which cell plan for mostly just BB Messenger? Prepaid an option?

Hi. I'm trying to help m in-laws upgrade their service. They just have dumb phones now and mostly text. But that's a pain from the US to SA. In addition, Alltel in the states considered international texts the same as local text. But Verizon, who we grow to hate more and more, took all the legacy Alltel people and just cancelled their unlimited international texting plans. They now charge a ridiculous amount per text and I'm not giving them my money. We have Blackberries. Should I tell my in-laws to get Blackberries? It seems here people say that the data plan is why people are still using the BBs. Plus, with BB Messenger, we won't be texting anymore. I'm not sure if BB Messenger is a BIS feature or if it takes time off your data plan. But basically, I'm looking for a way to move them to a smart phone that they can make occasional calls on, but that mostly we can replace texting. They have pre-paid service now from Vodacom and CellC. We could also use "WhatsApp" if they don't get a Blackberry. I heard there was a new company called "8TA" or something that was boasting about cheap rates. Based on what I've been able to provide, what would you recommend at the best contract price and best pay as you go? What company should I use? And would it be the least expensive with a Blackberry? Thanks!

Hi, if you wanting to replace texting, then a BB might be your better option... Whether you go prepaid or contract, the most important thing is BIS, which only cost R60 per month, for unlimited internet. With that, you can use any chat platform: BBM, WhatsApp, Nimbuzz, Gtalk, Win Live.... I'm currently on prepaid, and subscribe to BIS using my normal prepaid airtime, and I have no issues. I've heard things about various service providers, but I think the main thing for you is which one you feel more comfortable using. If you think a contract is too binding to that particular provider, then prepaid is the way to go. If you don't want to worry with buying airtime all the time, the go with a contract.... My mom uses Vodacom, on the Top Up 135, and her BIS service is added to the cost, so about R200 for R135 airtime, with BIS, is not bad.... And which BB to consider... The 8520 is a good option, it has all the important bit, but if you want a little more oomph, then a 9300 3G is the way to go.... If you buy them cash, the 8520 is about R1800, and add R700 for a 9300 3G.

Again, if it's just texting that you looking for, then a BB is a very good option, just get BIS with it.... It's not a difficult phone to use, and the features are quite good... So look around, see what the different providers have to offer, in terms of contract, and if they don't have what you want, purchase the phone cash, and manually subscribe to BIS... As simple as that....

That BB keyboard puts me off.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using MyBroadband Android App

I think the BB keyboard is something to get used to.... I've only had my Bold for 2 weeks now, and I'm slowly getting the hang of it. My previous phone was a N97 Nokia, and that keyboard is bigger, and allows better typing, but I do say that a BB keyboard is quite nice to type on....

Look, if the BB way of being is maybe too much for some, which it is in certain cases, then there are many other handsets out there that will do quite well... Anything from Nokia to Samsung, to LG, all you need then is a data plan in which you get monthly data, and get yourself a cross platform chat application.... There's many ways around it...

Just my opinion of coarse, others might have different thoughts about it...

There are 2 things about the blackberry that I couldn't do without, the keyboard is one and the optical mouse button is another. I think touchscreens are terrible for typing and you can't navigate easily with one hand. I can zip through everything I need with one hand and then type like on a regular keyboard with my thumb. I can't stand touch screens with a popup window that is supposed to be a keyboard. Slows typing speed by half.

How does BIS save me money over using any other phone and a data plan to do what I need? Is the key that it is "unlimited" where all the other plans are by the MB? Is a BB with BIS the only plan that offers unlimited internet? People with another phone have to pay per MB no matter what plan?

What would the next plan down be of non Blackberry phones? For example, if I wanted to get a Nokia of some kind and have a voice/data plan that would allow a couple of hundred chats, some texting and some voice, what would that be? I guess you might quickly go past what the BB would cost with BIS if you used a lot of data. But with it being all unlimited here in the states, I have no idea how much usage just IMing would take. Of course with data, you would have the temptation to browse too, and that might add up. On my US Blackberry I use about 10mb or more per month I imagine, just checking my "account usage" widget.

fdecker said:

How does BIS save me money over using any other phone and a data plan to do what I need? Is the key that it is "unlimited" where all the other plans are by the MB? Is a BB with BIS the only plan that offers unlimited internet? People with another phone have to pay per MB no matter what plan?

What would the next plan down be of non Blackberry phones? For example, if I wanted to get a Nokia of some kind and have a voice/data plan that would allow a couple of hundred chats, some texting and some voice, what would that be? I guess you might quickly go past what the BB would cost with BIS if you used a lot of data. But with it being all unlimited here in the states, I have no idea how much usage just IMing would take. Of course with data, you would have the temptation to browse too, and that might add up. On my US Blackberry I use about 10mb or more per month I imagine, just checking my "account usage" widget.

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Well if you use whats app then 10mb would be far more than enough, i have sent over 1000 messages already and a number of pictures and just broken 1mb for this entire month so far. If you just wanna BBM then BIS is beyond a waste, my mother is now canceling BIS as all her contacts are on whatsapp already.