3G Curve
 

Hi...I currently use a Pearl with Verizon. My mother in law is a Realtor and currently uses a Moto Q with Verizon, formerly with a corporate exchange account, now simply with a Comcast account. She is in need of a new phone. I am advising her to get a Curve as her next phone. My qestion is this: She is thinking of switching to ATT. Is the Curve 8310 a 3g device? If not, if she decides to switch to ATT I will tell her to wait for the BOLD. If she stays with Verizon, then the current VZW Curve will suffice.

I wouldn't want to see her switch and be on a slower network.

Thanks.

Wirelessly posted (positive thoughts!!!)

8310 is not 3G

AT&T 3G is not a slower NETWORK. AT&T uses HSPA which is a lot faster than EVDO. The DEVICE (8310) works on EDGE though. IT is not a 3G network, so the device is slower. It does not mean the network is slower ... BIG difference. If you switch to the Bold, you will get a device a lot better than the curve, plus be on a data network that is faster than what Verizon can provide until they go 4G.

Thanks for the quick responses. That clears it up for me. I will recommen that if she decides to switch to ATT to wait for the BOLD. If she decides to stick with VZW I will suggest the curve.

RIM has so many devices coming out before the end of 2008 that there is surely some devices that will meet your mother in law's needs. There's the bold, javelin (T Mobile's version of the bold w/o 3G and possibly a better keyboard) Kick start (BB flip phone, TMO), Storm (touch screen on verizon) and one other phone thats still undetermined.

If it were up to me, I would advise to stay with vzw and wait for the storm. But there are so many options coming out that its really up to her, and what suits her needs the best.

I once had a Moto Q ... Wow I am glad that I discovered the Blackberry. I say that she go with the curve if she decides to stay with Verizon. Fantastic Device! .. I know there are some great devices coming out in the future for Verizon, however the curve is a great current generation phone.

Wirelessly posted

No matter what, I would stay with Verizon because it is a better service provider compared to AT&T.

FYI - device specs for all models are always available at Blackberry.com. No need to wait for a reply here.

Statements like that are completely meaningless. You need to qualify "better". Better pricing? Better coverage? Better customer service?

Not to mention that each person needs to determine if a potential carrier has sufficient real world coverage to meet their needs.

Personally, I won't even consider Verizon as long as they continue to cripple devices and then charge their customers to use features that are built into the device. YMMV. There's no blanket "best" carrier.

I wouldn't quite say that. T Mobile has had the "best" customer service something like 3 years in a row according to JD Power survey. I can vouch for T MO's service. I can call anytime day or night and get a blackberry rep in the first 30 seconds of the call. And they almost always just do what I ask (unlock, send service books, activate sim, pay for a new sim, etc.) within the first minute of talking to a BB rep. All I do is explain that I've done steps A, B, C and they usually just agree and do what I want. Step A is always call back from a phone other than the BB that is in question, Step B is always pull the battery and do a hard reset, Step C is always some sort of network registration.

He is right there is no blanket best carrier. I was with Tmobile for my entire contract then quit. They did have excellent customer service, but my problem with them was really my smartphone habbit. I buy just about every smartphone (I hate dumbphones with a passion) out there, and every Tmobile smartphone is a way underpowered version of every smartphone carried by other carriers. I had the MDA, which is half the mhz speed as the same type of smartphone carrier on every other carrier. I had the dash, which is a 200mhz version of the same device as on other carriers. Even the new shadow has a 200mhz processor!!! What the hell carrier (besides tmobile) still releases smartphones with crappy 200mhz processors??? For power user gadget freaks like me Tmobile sucks balls. The only smartphones they have that are good enough to compete with the big boys are blackberry units. I think they spend cheaply on half speed smartphones and sell them for the same price as the big boys pay for devices with specs that are 2x greater.

Other than underpowered devices, Tmobile was a great service. For me, it is NOT a blanket best service. The blanket best service would carry the best phones out there that will not skimp on specs and also provice the best coverage and world class tech support. Tmobile has weak phones. Verizon has crap phones and gets their BB late ... to be fair that is not the fault of Verizon, its because manufacturers do not produce CDMA phones for the most part. That is why most of their phones are purely LG because they seem to love making CDMA phones. Verizon does have the best service ... better than Tmobile and AT&T. AT&T has the best phones of all of the carriers (smartphone wise), but the service is not as good as Verizons. But, it is good enough for me. So, for ME, AT&T is the best choice even though it is not PERFECT. Sprint I have no experience with, but their phones are like Verizon because ... well, CDMA.

There is no blanket best service, just the service that works best for YOU.

Verizon has crap phones. But if you are not the type to buy up every phone that comes out, that may not matter. AT&T has a faster data speed. EVDO technologically has an upper limit that is pathetic compared to the upper limit of HSPA, and AT&T just increased the bandwidth. I am all about my phones and my laptop connect data speeds ... so for me, AT&T is a no brainer. Again ... FOR ME! Not for you ... this is not a blanket statement. Make your own decisions.

If you don't care about having the latest phones or the fastest data, but want the best voice service, then go Verizon. If you are going to choose a carrier, choose one that meets YOUR REQUIREMENTS. Don't choose one because some hard headed fanboy simply says ... "AT&T sucks go verizon! Because I said so!"

T Mo has the best coverage for my local area. Its funny to see other people bring their phone inside of any building and hear them ***** and complain about how they have no bars. But T Mo is still strong inside of most buildings in my area. Pretty much all around town I have 5 bars.

But honestly there is no "best" Carrier. Different areas all have different strengths and weaknesses. One carrier might have the best coverage but the worst customer service *ahem* sprint, others may lack in coverage and have great service, TMO, Some may get every new phone there is on the market, AT&T, and still others may have great CMDA/EVDO coverage, vzw/altell.

Bottom line, pick the carrier that has the best coverage in your area and hope they have decent phones to pick from. No sense in having the latest and greatest phone but no bars of coverage.

That depends on your area. Here, AT&T and Tmobile both get very similar coverage, and both slightly behind Verizon. So in my area its ... A) Go with something slightly cheaper with underpowered phones or B) Go with something slightly more expensive and get the best and fastest phones AND have high speed 3G for both my phone AND laptop. Since signal is not a factor here, it was a no brainer for me to get rid of Tmobile like a bad habbit.

I love my Curve, but man, no 3G support nor any on the horizon really has me thinking this over. I might have to jump ship to the new 3G iPhone or something like that. For me, I need to swap phones often (for various outdoor activities) and do not want to take my nice phone around. This is why I like SIM carded phones, which limits me to AT&T and T-Mo. I like T-Mo (esp. with the UMA service), but the power of 3G is really luring me away.....

If AT&T's HSDPA is faster than Verizon's EVDO Rev 0 and Rev A, show me proof from AT&T's website and verizon's website. From what I've read, the speeds are the same. The only difference is that Verizon offers more 3G coverage. I've used both, and haven't seen any significant differences in speeds, and the carriers themselves show basically the same speed claims on their sites.

Verizon currently does not offer any BBs that run on Rev A

very true, but he was comparing 3G speeds, and AT&t doesn't offer any blackberries that run HSDPA, but at least Verizon offers the 3G EVDO Rev 0, which is recognized as 400-700kbps just as hsdpa is claimed on AT&T's website.

Before you really recommend a switch in carriers, just make sure it provides the coverage she needs, when and where she needs it. Just because ATT works for you, doesn't mean it will work for her. And if she is happy with Verizon, why switch?

Of course, this is only true until the Bold comes out

Yes, and when the Bold finally comes out, AT&T will be playing catch up, and finally have a blackberry with speeds comparable to Verizon and Sprint's blackberries. Granted, the Bold has more features, but the data speeds will finally be as fast as what we've already experienced with CDMA blackberries.