Got it; so there are workarounds for not having a BB plan (and you know why I wouldn't want one).

What are the top replacements for a non-BIS BB?

1) Opera mini for Web browsing
2) Gmail client for IMAP (gmail only?)
3) AIM from Blackberry: works for non-BIS/BES plans?
...?

Actually I have a friend with BIS at work (though he won't use BES here; too much politicking just to get it to work)... could you go over the steps of using his SIM without activating again?

Thanks again.