Cingular Data Plans - What do you really need?

[nb_mitch]

I just built a spreadsheet of my last 6 months usage based on my bills and I averaged less than 2M, but last month was 7.22M (maybe a peak because I went through setting up 3 BB and with the new 8700 I played more).

Would I really loose anything by going to a 5M $19 plan ($25 savings)(plus .008/kb over) as long as my usage stays low. At $8/M, I would have to hit 8M total usage to get back to the $44 Unlimited price.

Is what I see on the bill the true usage or does the unlimited and 5M plans include/exclude "different data"?

Price.........Limit............Overage
$19.99......5 MB............$8/M
$29.99......10 MB..........$6/M
$39.99......20 MB..........$4/M
$44.99......Unlimited......Free

TIA,

[nb_mitch]

Is anyone out there just using the 5M or 10M plan and not having overage issues?

[wuberry]

I, too, would appreciate hearing some discussion about this. I just assumed I was a heavy user, since I receive about 100 e-mails a day, and I signed up for the unlimited plan. (I don't do much Web surfing.)

I never bothered to check how much I actually used. I did after reading this post and realized that I used less than 3MB last month. Are people with the unlimited data plan on Cingular really using over 20MB/month?

Can we save some money here?

Many thanks for any advice.

[Dooleyuga]

Just got added to the 44.95 plan. Need to see what the usage is. I use the BES server and get 100 or so emails a day with attachments and Verichat for IM so I will post some numbers once I know a bit better ok!

[nb_mitch]

My thoughts exactly, why buy the whole cow if I just want Chocolate Milk :) Now, I figure the 20M plan isn't worth saving $5 if you ever go over, but the 5M would save me $25 and 10M would save me $15 a month and make switching to T-Mobile for cheaper plans not so enticing if I don't need the "Unlimited".

[wuberry]

Just got added to the 44.95 plan. Need to see what the usage is. I use the BES server and get 100 or so emails a day with attachments and Verichat for IM so I will post some numbers once I know a bit better ok!

Thanks! About the only thing I do is e-mails (100/day, some with attachments) and a little Web surfing -- no IM, etc.

I'm also on a BES (BB7290).

[nb_mitch]

I get about 80 emails a day, surf about 10 minutes, IM about 10 minutes, have yak-on, helloworld, bbweather, pocketday & bblocal, I assume the weather and pocketday poll occassionally, but everything else is on a as-use basis. I get great battery usage, about 4 days, so I don't talk much either.

I really think I would stay under 2M a month if it wasn't for downloading various software to try it out. Now if I was limited, I would just download the software to my PC and use the USB to copy it to the handheld. But I think I am pretty stable on software anyway.

[rlibson]

what no time allocated for blackberry pr0n....you never surf to this site of Hofo for news or to check latest info? How about downloading free ringtones? This unlimited t-mobile plan makes me a glutton...sh*t sometimes I even check out real Pr0n.

[andrebsd]

Well I guess I spend way to much time browsing while taking dumps, lol.

I do about 1MB (yeah, thats MByte) in a day if just use the Blackberry
and about 10MB or so if I thether to my laptop for a while.

I do tend to leave IRC running, but I never figured a room with around 20 users would take that much bandwidth.

[wuberry]

Too bad this thread sort of "died." I thought we might be able to learn some useful information about how much people really ARE using and how much we are really paying for.

[nb_mitch]

I am still struggling with Cingular, yesterday I called to get data charges removed and lost all BB access in the process. Even with the unlimited plan, I have got extra charges for any 3rd party app access I have. They are kind enough to remove the charges, but I am frustrated with their inability to get it right. I am about ready to reduce my plan just for the hell of it, but I have to keep the unlimited until I get my rebate :(