I currently have a sony T637 which i want to toss in the lake. I was looking around and everyone and their mother swore by the 7290 but i am really concerned with my carrier Cingular. I have been hearing woes about their service with this phone. Seeing how i have a media works package on my current phone would i only be able to have SMS/Text messaging if i added a voice and Media works package to a BB 7290? I don't want to switch carriers Cingular has been nice to me over the time i have been a customer but i would really like to be able to access my Gmail account using this device but with paying them the 50.00 per month. Am I the only person who is finding this a little unreasonable? And how come T-mobile has a plan for 69.99 (1000 minutes w/unlimited blackberry enterprise) Why can't cingular have the same thing?

With all that said would i be really better off with the BB 7290 or should just use something like the samsung D307 or maybe the LG F9200 when it comes out?

If you do not subscribe to the BlackBerry Data Plan, you will only have voice and SMS. That's it.

If you don't want to pay Cingular's fees, then switch to another carrier. T-Mobile happens to be cheaper, but most of them are around the same.

Many of us Cingular customers have complained about C's customer service. I include myself in the mix because I have done my share of complaining. However, I don't think Cingular is the only company on the face of the earth that is having customer service problems these days. I am not sure what happened, but I think customer service has been on a downward spiral in just about every industry for a long time.

Now that I'm over that, I will say that I have been a Cingular customer for many years. I chose Cingular because (IMHO) they provide the best coverage in my area. Most of us who complain about their customer service have trouble because we ask them to do things that are not part of their normal process - things like tethering and access to non-standard APNs. For the most part, if I leave things like that alone, my Blackberry (and every Cingular device I have ever had) works.

Why can't they have a less expensive plan like T-Mobile? Well, they can. But, why should they? They are one of the largest carriers in the US. Obviously, there are enough people willing to pay their rates to make them want to keep the plans they have. The only thing that is going to change their rate structure is if they see a significant portion of their customer base turn to cheaper and comparable providers.

T-Mo is also an excellent company (and probably has the same crappy customer service that everyone else has). But, the last time I tried T-Mo in my rural home area it just didn't work.

Bottom line: Look for the features you need and go with the provider that offers them at the lowest price. If T-Mobile's plans and coverage are a good fit for you, switch to T-Mobile. I certainly would.

I've been a Cingular customer both personally and professionally for about 4 years now. I haven't had any issues, with coverage and/or customer service.

I don't know about other areas, but the Wash. DC service is good.


Tom de

If you are not going to use the device allot, Cingular does offer data plans for $20/5M and up. Only the unlimited plan is $44.99 ($5 off for voice and data plans). That said, I have been thinking about downgrading, as I have been averaging about 3M/month. I just wanted to see what it was once I got all the apps I want loaded and running for a month or so, as we all know, overage charges can be a killing.

Also, with a BB, you might not need the text message plan you currently have, if you switch to emails or IM instead.