I'm a high school student, going to be a junior to be exact, and I'm planning on getting either the 8900 or the 9000 in November. I'm leaning towards the Bold, and I will not be getting a data plan. I love the wifi feature on both of them, but what is it limited to compared having the data plan? Other than wifi, I'll probably only be talking and texting. One concern is that the 8900 does not have 3G. But will that really affect me if I'm only talking and texting?

Other questions:
Does either of them have any neat features that the other doesn't?
Is there anything between now and November that could affect my decision? Like a new BlackBerry?

Also, put aside the price tag as I will determine if the benefits of the Bold are worth the extra hundred.

If you need any other details, I will post it or edit them in shortly after reading your reply.

Without a data plan, you don't need to be concerned about 3G.

The 8900 has a better camera (3.2mp vs 2.0 on the Bold)
The 8900 has double the application memory of the Bold.

Without the Data Plan you will will have a nice PIM device and phone for texting, and decent fast WiFi browser. Many apps will not work with out the Data (BIS) plan, such as Facebook (you can use the mobile site though) and some twitter apps.

Those are some very good points, but what about things that the Bold is superior at?
Is there a list of any core features that require the data plan on this forum, or anywhere?

EDIT: About the application memory, that includes memory used for music, video, pictures, and that stuff, right?

The Bold is wider and the keyboard is a little easier to type on then the 8900.

I consider core features to be: calendar, address book, tasks, notes, phone, text (SMS). These obviously do not require a data plan. But things like email, using map applications, etc. will require a data plan. And as mentioned before, the majority of apps are designed to work with a data plan and not so much with wifi.

Application memory is memory allocated for programs only. Music, video, pictures, ringtones go on the microSD card. The memory card might come with your phone or it might not, but is generally pretty cheap as they are always on sale somewhere. Generally you cannot install applications on the memory card.

There's got to be more to the Bold for it to be another 100.
Is it faster or something? Like with loading and whatnot.

It's slower when it comes to start up