View Full Version : which is the best blackberry to get?
Canuck_2k
02-24-2005, 06:22 PM
I found out bell just released a 7250 and Im aware that's the right unit for me to get.
However, I'd like to explore all of my options and get the best black berry as much as possible. So which one is the best blackberry for me to get?
I intend on using the blackberry for emails, pda, msn, and web use only.
Thanks!!
Mark Rejhon
02-24-2005, 07:37 PM
The four best BlackBerries:
(The only ones with 32MB and Bluetooth, and these have good screens too.)
7250 (CDMA - Available on Bell Mobility)
7520 (iDEN - Will become available on Telus MiKE)
7290 (GSM/GPRS - Available on Rogers)
7100 (GSM/GPRS - Available on Rogers)
If you need the fastest keyboard and data is more important than voice, you may want to avoid the 7100. (But if you try the 7100, you should give it a try inside the store first to see if you will like it). Now, the 7250, 7520, and 7290 all have similiar features. So it will boil down to price, reception, etc.
If you are a heavy data user (lots of HTML, lots of Verichat), I would recommend the Bell Mobility 7250.
But... Rogers is DEFINITELY the best carrier to go with in Ontario, they have the best reception. But there is ONE BIG PROBLEM: They have a 25 megabyte cap, and I exceed that, so I pay $300 per month to Rogers. Bell Mobility is better if you're a data pig.
I predict Rogers will fix their BlackBerry plans within a few months, once too many start complaining (plan change should be sometime this year....the question is when. But I'm not willing to wait past around April since I can easily pay for a no-contract 7250 with the amount of just two Rogers bills!). The question is whether you want to wait or not... and see if Rogers fixes their plans.
Telus and Bell Mobility aside (grumble),
I have to say the Rogers network has amazing reception on my BlackBerry. I remember having an old Mobitex 950 and I didn't get rural reception. But now with the BlackBerry 7280 (which has GSM850), I do get reception just about everywhere in Ontario. Nonstop between Ottawa-Montreal, Ottawa-Toronto, Ottawa-Quebec City, the 401, the two-level-underground garages, etc. You can't say that with any BlackBerry on another carrier in Ontario. Ontario is just like one gigantic WiFi hotspot now with a Rogers BlackBerry.
Rogers has the best BlackBerry models, and the best selection among them. Most RIM employees in Waterloo use Rogers too, so that benefits BlackBerries on Rogers. The 7290 and the 7100 are the two cream-of-the-crop models. If you do more data than phone, the 7290 is the best (easier keyboard). If you do more phone than data, the 7100 is the best (more comfortable phone). And for those who want to save money, there's some great prices on the various older BlackBerry models. Unlike the other carriers, Rogers also lets you bring your own BlackBerry, if you have an existing unlocked one from a GSM/GPRS network.
And you can travel all over the world with a Rogers BlackBerry. Your quadband Rogers BlackBerry even works in China too, with emails working! (the major metro areas at least) And Moscow works as well. Mexico? No problem. France? No problem. More and more GSM networks are GPRS enabled.
There's also the fact that the GSM/GPRS BlackBerries last much longer (especially standby mode) than the CDMA and iDEN BlackBerries. In fact, it was reported in another forum that BlackBerry 7100 series has a longer battery life than the the BlackBerry 7250! (The 7250 is the CDMA equivalent of the BlackBerry 7290 for GSM/GPRS)
One thing -- if you are a power user that tend to download lots of data (other than email) -- whatever BlackBerry you get, just use WAP browsing more often than heavy full-images HTML browsing (ie. don't get into habit of loading 20 HTML pages with full size images per day). And avoid Verichat. Don't tether with a Rogers BlackBerry either (BlackBerry as modem for laptop), even though it works with the 7100r and the 7290. The biggest Rogers BlackBerry plan has a 25 megabyte cap. Then it costs $7 per megabyte -- nearly as expensive as roaming in USA ($10 per megabyte). I say this since increasingly more and more Treo-audience people are now considering BlackBerries instead and using them for much more than just email/texting, and a few people have gotten bitten by data overages.
Thanks,
Mark Rejhon
Homepage: www.marky.com (http://www.marky.com)
Rogers..........$60 "Unlimited*" BlackBerry Plan, 25meg cap
Bell Mobility..$60 "Unlimited*" BlackBerry Plan, 100meg cap
Guess which carrier Mark is switching to in April? ;-)
Click to see the story about Mark's $600 Rogers bill because of this little "technicality". (http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=4580067#post4580067)
There is NO such thing as a 100 megabyte BlackBerry plan on Rogers at ANY price - not even at $200!
Canuck_2k
02-24-2005, 08:06 PM
Im not going to bother waiting around. My contract with bell was already up back in december and I have been patiencly been shopping around for the best phone/data. Im sick and tired of my cell phone and i know blackberry is the way to go.
Mark, I trust your judgement and your expertise on the blackberry. I will go w/ the bell 7250 plan. I want to know one thing tho - how many mb do you average a month?!?!?!?!?
Golly! I just hope 100mb cap is good enough for me because i use msn, and email and forums fairly often!
Mark Rejhon
02-24-2005, 08:11 PM
Just remember the Rogers 7290 has a much better battery life (you can go about 2-4 days without plugging in) than the Bell Mobility 7250.
You can instead get a Rogers BlackBerry 7290 right now and just BE CAREFUL about using too much data until Rogers fixes their data. Besides, you get 3 months of truly unlimited data (no cap), so you can watch your data usage for the first 3 months. Now, you don't know exactly how much data you will use, but the good thing is that the first 3 months of Rogers is truly unlimited so you can easily monitor your data usage, and adjust your level of use accordingly.
I really loathe having to switch to Bell Mobility because Rogers is much better for BlackBerry, but the 7250 is a really good model and does certainly ease the pain of switching to Bell Mobility. I'd rather pay Rogers $120 for 50meg than Bell Mobility $60 for 100meg.
It's all about tradeoffs.
However, either way, you really cannot go wrong with either the 7250 (Bell Mobility) or 7290 (Rogers).
(Just don't get the older 7280 though, which is not the same as 7290)
The 7250 and 7290 are still two of the best Canadian BlackBerries!
clyde_turkey
02-27-2005, 06:34 PM
as always Mark, great info.
I'm about to go the other way as far as carriers go. Having been a hell customer for 5 years (personally) and having my client provide me with a Rogers Blackberry, I have to say I'm going over to Rogers. I don't like the way bell has treated the Blackberry, namely as an afterthought. Don't get me started about their billing practices/problems... The GPRS units seem to always be that little touch better. More free memory, faster, etc. By far my biggest complaint though is the Bell network drops signals all over the place. Maybe it's only eastern Ontario, but I can be just standing in town and be stuck in analogue or worse with no signal. There's not a whole lot of excuse for being in urban areas and being stuck in analogue mode. I should also note that this has occured with more than one manufacturer of phone with bell. With tri-mode phones I suppose it's liveable (obviously I haven't changed carriers), but with a digital only device I can only imagine the headache.
Now to deal with changing phone numbers..... I wish we had number portability.... :cry:
stonent
02-27-2005, 07:17 PM
Go for the 7520. Bluetooth, speakerphone, walkie-talkie, available big battery.
T-Roy
02-27-2005, 08:05 PM
7520 Not yet available in Canada :D
oscqc
02-27-2005, 09:35 PM
Mark: My law firm is in the process of equipping the lawyers with BB7780 and Rogers service. The primary use will be e-mail, with some telephone usuage.
Do you have any comments on the 7780? Thanks
Mark Rejhon
02-27-2005, 11:59 PM
The Rogers 7780 aren't bad, but the Rogers 7290 hardware is superior to the Rogers 7780 because of: Faster CPU (twice as fast)
Quad band (true world phone/data unlike 7780)
Double memory at 32megs
Bluetooth
Easy two-step backlight
New thumb keyboard with bigger, easier keycaps(The bright-screen 7290 is not to be confused with the dim-screen 7280)
That's why if you want the best BlackBerry models, you want either the 7250, 7520, 7290, or 7100. They are the only models with 32megs and Bluetooth.
oscqc
02-28-2005, 12:26 AM
Many thanks, Mark, for your comments on the 7780. I appreciate your advice
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