Which Blackberry to get? first timer here..

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feo

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I'm in the market to get a Blackberry and there's quite a few options so I need help.

Lots of people I know have the 8520 and that's like the entry level model. At R150pm including BIS, seems like a great deal. What are my other options?

I BRIEFLY looked at the 9700 and it looks very nice but I take it I'll never be able to get that cheap.

I'm looking at spending R250pm at most, willing to pay in if I have to.

Advice?
 
What phone did you have before? The 8520 is perfect if you've never been on a "smartphone" before but it has one or two disadvantages. The biggest one (in my book) is the lack of 3G - while this doesn't really affect IM and email too much (as its either little data or already downloaded by the time you open it), it does affect web browsing. This is partly due to the fact that Vodacom's 2G / EDGE network is very slow!

The other thing that the 8520 lack is GPS, but most people aren't too concerned with that. I use my Bold 9000's GPS for Geotagging while taking photo's, and GoogleMaps works a bit better with it, but that's it.

The advantage of the 8520 is that battery life is much better (at least, it is over the Bold 9000) but it seems as if the Bold 9700 has fixed this difference.

So - bottom line: If you're used to doing a log of mobile surfing on your phone, get a Blackberry with 3G. Else - you can't go wrong with the 8520 - its cheap, looks great and does most things its bigger brother does as well!
 
ebendl said:
What phone did you have before? The 8520 is perfect if you've never been on a "smartphone" before but it has one or two disadvantages. The biggest one (in my book) is the lack of 3G - while this doesn't really affect IM and email too much (as its either little data or already downloaded by the time you open it), it does affect web browsing. This is partly due to the fact that Vodacom's 2G / EDGE network is very slow!

The other thing that the 8520 lack is GPS, but most people aren't too concerned with that. I use my Bold 9000's GPS for Geotagging while taking photo's, and GoogleMaps works a bit better with it, but that's it.

The advantage of the 8520 is that battery life is much better (at least, it is over the Bold 9000) but it seems as if the Bold 9700 has fixed this difference.

So - bottom line: If you're used to doing a log of mobile surfing on your phone, get a Blackberry with 3G. Else - you can't go wrong with the 8520 - its cheap, looks great and does most things its bigger brother does as well!
Click to expand...

Very good advice.

I was suprised when I made the move over to BB and fiddled around with Edge (MTN) first on my Bold 9000 and was actually pleasantly suprised at the speeds with which web pages opened.
Not really too much difference in browsing speeds between Edge and 3G.

Where the 3G comes into it's own is downloading.
A few days ago I was driving around for 15 mins trying to download a 7mb file on Edge.
Stopped it at 4mb and then switched the 3G on and downloaded the file from scratch and it came down in under a minute. ;)
 
Shake&Bake said:
Very good advice.

I was suprised when I made the move over to BB and fiddled around with Edge (MTN) first on my Bold 9000 and was actually pleasantly suprised at with the speeds that web pages opened.
Not really too much difference in browsing speeds.

Where the 3G comes into it's own is downloading.
A few days ago I was driving around for 15 mins trying to download a 7mb file on Edge.
Stopped it at 4mb and then switched the 3G on and downloaded the file from scratch and it came down in under a minute. ;)
Click to expand...

I actually think EDGE / GPRS on MTN is quite decent - it's Vodacom's general GPRS / EDGE network that has problems. 3G on Blackberry on Vodacom flies - really enjoyable ATM - so it can't be the link between Vodacom and Blackberry giving the problems. But thanks - good to know that even on a network that provides decent EDGE one can actually download stuff! :)
 
I hate waiting for sites to load so I think I'd have to go for a 3G BB. Thanks for the replies so far..

What's the best deal on a Bold 9700 right now? Google isn't helping me..
 
MTN have it for R360 on MTN 200 that's the cheapest. You can get it at R200 with a pay-in (just make sure the offer you take has BIS included). You are corrent in assuming the only two Blackberry options are 8520 and the 9700. Don't consider any of the others.
 
oronte said:
MTN have it for R360 on MTN 200 that's the cheapest. You can get it at R200 with a pay-in (just make sure the offer you take has BIS included). You are corrent in assuming the only two Blackberry options are 8520 and the 9700. Don't consider any of the others.
Click to expand...

Is that R200 with MTN or can I get that offer with Vodacom as well? I'm currently on Voda and don't wanna port to another network.

How much is the pay-in for the R200 deal?
 
I know for me the Bold is a R6,531 pay-in with vodacom on a Top up R200 which excludes the BIS from AutoPage :/ Seriously thinking about canceling my contract earlier and going to MTN for the 9700 deal.
 
alternate said:
I know for me the Bold is a R6,531 pay-in with vodacom on a Top up R200 which excludes the BIS from AutoPage :/ Seriously thinking about canceling my contract earlier and going to MTN for the 9700 deal.
Click to expand...

R6.5k pay-in?! :eek:

What's different about the MTN deal on the 9700?
 
I have the Bold and I must be honest and say that the 8520 is far better value. My wife's got the 8520 and she can do everything I can (I'm not using GPS). The 3G's not worth the much larger cost.
 
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