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Blackberry Curve advice please
handyandy - 6/2/11 at 04:03 PM

I keep being offered a Blackberry Curve by Virgin Media ( my cable supplier ).

I currently use a PAYG phone & spend approx £20 per month on texts/calls, not a big user really.

They have offered me a contract phone at £10.21 per month which includes

50 mins free
250 texts free
unlimited email
1 GB of web use

So, may ask your opinion if this sounds like a good deal?, is the phone decent ?

I,m not into the latest gizmo,s but quite fancy being able to log onto the forums etc when I can,t use my home desk top or my laptop

Your thoughts please

cheers
andy

dlatch - 6/2/11 at 04:26 PM

i have one they are a great phone
its handy being able to email from the phone too if your on virgin all ready and you get a good signal then its win win

handyandy - 6/2/11 at 04:39 PM

quote:
Originally posted by dlatch
i have one they are a great phone
its handy being able to email from the phone too if your on virgin all ready and you get a good signal then its win win


Thats good to hear, cheers.

As I said I,m not into all the latest technology ( maybe this is a chance to upgrade ),

Yes, it would be handy to check my emails too when not using the lappy

Thanks for your input, sorry to ask 1 more question/query.....

I just didn,t wanted to go onto a contract with a phone thats " old hat / superceded the moment I get it....my concerns due to me not knowing whats out there etc.

thanks, appreciate your help.

Yes, we get a good signal here & it appears that i,d be saving a bit of money & getting a better phone, as you say ..win win situation.

cheers
andy

jonno - 6/2/11 at 04:46 PM

I got that virgin media deal for my 12 year old daughter and she loves it (facebook, blackberry messages etc) but I got the HTC desire for £20 a month and that's been spot on (just sent this on it )

[Edited on 6/2/11 by jonno]

austin man - 6/2/11 at 04:47 PM

if you currently spend £20 per month why not look to see wat the package is for a £20 per month contract. one of te downsides of contracts is when you use more than contracted for.

big-vee-twin - 6/2/11 at 05:28 PM

I love my Blackberry curve, I have emails and internet and its very easy to use

britishtrident - 6/2/11 at 05:47 PM

I am an even lighter user than you and was shopping for a phone last week. Most phones these days will do browsing and Email though not Blackberry email.


Orange do a much better deal on the curve 2 year contract 100 anytime minutes + unlimited text £20.70 or for £2.50 more with an extra 300 antiyme minute or £129 PAYG

However the Curve is the entry model Blackberry and looks a bit tame compared to Android phone like the the Orange San Francisco for the same monthly deal or £99 PAYG it give you email, browsing, touchphone, wifi GPS

In the end I bought an Orange Rio £29 PAYG - £6 Orange phone fund discount --- email, browsing, touchphone QWERTY keypad I am over the moon with it.


[Edited on 6/2/11 by britishtrident]

handyandy - 6/2/11 at 07:00 PM

Thanks guys

Austin man....thats a very good point, I,ve just looked at what I,d get if I went to their £20 tariff, basically that would give me 200 mins & unlimited texts.....and with what you say that the down fall of contracts is the costs rise alot when you go over the allocated tariff..... I don,t think I,d ever go over that useage.

Britishtrident..... thanks for that info, worth considering too, I suppose I just fancy something new ( had current PAYG phone for ages, very basic phone),

I suppose the marketing power of being offered something has caught me but if being honest, it is about time I "got with the times"

Thanks everyone .

cheers
andy

MK9R - 6/2/11 at 07:31 PM

The built in browser on bb operating system 5 is pretty crap, you will need to instal opera which is ok. If you ccan get the latest blackberry with os 6 its far better. Also makesurre you have a 3g version aswell. I had a curve with 2g only and it was painful. Had a bold 9700 after which was g and so much better, no got a torch and its swesome! Also if you get one with wifi built in its great when you are at hoem, I hardy bother with the pc now if I'm just going on my usual forums.

britishtrident - 6/2/11 at 07:33 PM

I find a QWERTY keypad makes a big difference Blackberries are nice.

handyandy - 6/2/11 at 09:41 PM

This is becoming a bit of task for a non techno that I am ....

I,ve been doing a little research, & I think it comes down to the following phones

Blackberry Curve on £20 ish per month =200mins, unlimited texts & 1GB of web

HTC Desire on same tariff

Blackberry Pearl on same tariff

which should I go for?

I do quite like the idea of the qwerty keyboard,

I just want a phone that doesn,t need to be all singing all dancing all the time, just for occasions when I haven,t got the laptop with me, as that is quite a good one & does everything I need, so the phone is just a "Back-up" etc.

Thanks for putting up with my simple & possibly annoying queries ,

cheers
Andy

britishtrident - 6/2/11 at 10:02 PM

There are different version of the HTC Desire not sure what the differences are but is a very high spec Android phone and Android is so versatile,

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/htc-desire-679515/review

The Pearl is 3G gets good but not rave reviews and has not got Blackberries usual QWERTY keypad

[Edited on 6/2/11 by britishtrident]

[Edited on 6/2/11 by britishtrident]

handyandy - 8/2/11 at 11:39 PM

After much "umming & aghrrring" I ordered the Blackberry Curve, received it today.............

The phone itself seems ok but the web speed is so slow, maybe I was expecting too much & so its my own fault but TBH I,m quite disapointed with it , which is a shame cos I was really looking forward to using it.

So, as I have a 14 day period where I can change the phone ( as long as I stay on the current or go to a higher tariff), I,m gonna go to a Virgin store( should have done this before ) tomorrow & have a look at the Bold, Desire & possibly the BB Torch.

I suppose due to me not being into all the latest gizmo,s & not knowing what various phones can do, having now tried the Curve (admittedly only for a few hours) I don,t think its the phone for me to spend the next 2 yrs with

I,d rather spend a little more & be happy with the equipment.....until something better comes out

Thanks to all for your input, its much appreciated.

cheers
andy

dlatch - 9/2/11 at 12:33 AM

the fastest mobile internet i have seen was the iphone
but they cost a fortune, the curve is a bit slow on internet when using mobile connection
you will need a 3G equipped phone to get half decent browsing speed

MK9R - 9/2/11 at 07:34 AM

quote:
Originally posted by handyandy
After much "umming & aghrrring" I ordered the Blackberry Curve, received it today.............

The phone itself seems ok but the web speed is so slow, maybe I was expecting too much & so its my own fault but TBH I,m quite disapointed with it , which is a shame cos I was really looking forward to using it.

So, as I have a 14 day period where I can change the phone ( as long as I stay on the current or go to a higher tariff), I,m gonna go to a Virgin store( should have done this before ) tomorrow & have a look at the Bold, Desire & possibly the BB Torch.

I suppose due to me not being into all the latest gizmo,s & not knowing what various phones can do, having now tried the Curve (admittedly only for a few hours) I don,t think its the phone for me to spend the next 2 yrs with

I,d rather spend a little more & be happy with the equipment.....until something better comes out

Thanks to all for your input, its much appreciated.

cheers
andy


Like i said in my earlier post, the OS5 web browser is rubbish on the BB's, you need to install Opera which speeds things up alot, but you will defo need a 3G enabled BB, not all of them are. The Torch is excellent, full qwerty and touch screen is brilliant, i use bits of both depending on what i am doing. It also runs OS6 which includes the new browser which is excellent. If you are interested in the Bolds, then the later one 9780 runs os6 where as the older 9700 runs the older OS5.

If you go for a desire or iphone or similar with touch screen. just makesure you are happy with touch only operation, i absolutely hate typing, even punching in a phone number, on a touch screen

britishtrident - 9/2/11 at 05:44 PM

Using Opera makes a big difference.

Strontium Dog - 9/2/11 at 06:28 PM

HTC desire HD beats iphone 4 in the reviews. The best Internet browser on mobiles out there. I have one and it's the mutts nutts! The only downside is it's big, but hey, thats the price you pay for that huge screen and the bat lasts a day. Thats par for the though course though!

[Edited on 9/2/11 by Strontium Dog]

McLannahan - 9/2/11 at 07:56 PM

I have OS6 running on my 9700 and it's brilliant - a massive improvement over OS5. As Austen said - OS6 browser is excellent, works really well.

I bought a Sony X10 a while ago and in the shop is was on 3G. Really fast it was...until I got home and realised my home county has as good as NO 3G anywhere! 2G was as slow as a dog on it.

I would go back and find something you can get on with - I'll definately investigate better myself next time so I don't make another Sony mistake!

Steve Hignett - 9/2/11 at 08:44 PM

Would definitely recommend the HTC!

handyandy - 16/2/11 at 12:43 PM

Thanks to all for your help/info...

I really didn,t get on with the Blackberry, so I,ve changed it & now have the Samsung Galaxy "S"

Its an amazing bit of kit, the android system is so fast, very happy with it indeed.

Now, I better go away & learn how to use it

cheers
andy

britishtrident - 16/2/11 at 01:58 PM

There has been an interesting development since this thread started that might be of interest to anyone on Orange.
Orange are about to to release the latest version of the Orange Rio the Rio II, its is a Blackberry qwerty phone with touch screen, fast 3G internet, push email imap/pop3, video messaging and a better camera than the earlier version. PAYG £70+ £10 top up --- less with Orange phone fund discount.

Only downside is battery charge life is reduced.


http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phones/rio-II-Orange

[Edited on 16/2/11 by britishtrident]

Mr Whippy - 16/2/11 at 03:20 PM

missy has one, slowest thing getting on the web just awful compared to the I-pod (dad has that)

britishtrident - 16/2/11 at 04:28 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
missy has one, slowest thing getting on the web just awful compared to the I-pod (dad has that)


New version is 3G ----- makes a BIG difference in wb access.