Hi guys and gals

I'm confused, I was about 10 seconds away from buying a bold, then I started to have a look around and now i'm stuck as to what phone to get obviously as the phone has been around for a while now, so I looked at the curve.

I like both had a play with them, have never owned a blackberry before but my bro has one.

My choices were between htc and blackberry, I might have considered an iphone if i didnt have an ipod touch, it just doesn't function as a phone to me, just a fun device that makes calls. I was also tempted by the palm pre but that quickly went down the drain, now i'm sure I want a blackberry and sure I will use most if not all the features on the phone, it had everything I need in a phone.

Anyway it comes down to this, Rim rep has mentioned that bold 2 will be out early next year feb/march. So that took the bold out of the question for me, so I looked at the curve, it seems to be more popular but both phones are between £200 and £300 from ebay. I was thinking maybe I should go for a Tour as I understand that is in the lower end of the spectrum until the new bold comes out.

My current contract has finished so I'm currently getting 1/2 price line rental, plus £10 blackberry addon will take me to £25 unlimited everything so that i can get started.

So I guess my real question is what are the downsides for the tour compared to the curve and from the curve and bold. Personally I like the keyboard on the bold, but the size of the curve, but size doesn't really matter and I can live without 3G.

Whatever happens i'll end up with bold 2/onyx/dakota or whatever it will be called but want a blackberry in the mean time before I renew my contract.
So putting that in mind please help me choose a phone. I need help.

BTW i'm new to bbs but not smartphones. I started on the SE P800 and worked my way up with them to the P1i which failed me miserably.

Blackberry is not an IPhone. The Bold is newer than the Curve. I have a curve 8310 and it works well. I suppose i would get the Bold if I did not already have the Curve.

Wirelessly posted (Its All About the U!)

I would definitely look at that 9700 if i were you. To me, there's no debate

First of all, there are two different devices that are called the Curve - the older 83xx and the recently released 8900. IMHO. the 83xx devices are at the end of life cycle... the 8900 is very similar to the Bold and the Tour, but without 3G.

As akosnitzky stated, the new 9700 "Bold 2" will be nice, and more than likely, worth the wait...

Here's a side-by-side comparison of the 83xx Curve, 8900 Curve, 9000 Bold and 9630 Tour:

http://bit.ly/Msfed

Wirelessly posted (Tour)

Also the Tour is not a lower end BB.

Tour is prob the best as far as i'm concerned

You mention your paying in £ on O2?
The Tour isnt available on O2.
Its available in america only so far.

Also, if the Bold 2 is due out Feb/Mar, its not necessairly gonna be FEb/Mar in the UK.

If you dont want the Bold, go for the curve (8900) available from O2.

ok so i'm waiting for the new bold but do want a blackberry in the meantime, any suggestions on what one to get in the mean time. Maybe a lower end spec, but I would like wi-fi and if not 3g. I would like Wi-fi as I have a 20mb connection at home. I hate the fact that you have to choose a phone on features that you need most and not all in one.

I would love the bold but don't want to buy an old phone that will be replaced soon and shops have started to stop selling it now. Another reason to suggest the bold 2 is coming soon.

As long as I can get the phone for more or less £150 i'll be happy, maybe even pay the extra premium for a better phone.

The tour is still not out in the uk as far as i'm aware but i'm sure it will arrive soon.

Basically I want a lower end spec for now but wish to upgrade to bold 2 so don't want to spend too much.

Unless I get a HTC in the mean time. I dont know i'm confused.com

Yes but I can always get the tour unlocked to any network. i'll be buying my phone without contract and use my existing contract with blackberry bolt on for around 10 - 15 cheaper a month than getting a new contract.

True, though the tour is CDMA AND GSM, as opposed to GSM only.
Also its gonna cost you alot more for a Tour on ebay for example than an 8900 would.

But long as you know the options.

I heard the tour would be £150 on payg... hmmm the phone shop guy didn't knowwhat he was talking about I guess. I looked on ebay and it was lot more than the bold and curve 8900

Tour hasnt been released in the UK.
For reasons that it is mainly a CDMA device that can be used worldwide.
AS the UK is GSM only networks, networks aren't going to be releasing a device that is mainly CDMA.

Yup the Tour has been out relatively a short time compared to both the Bold and the 8900, and therefore will cost more.

Ok thanks for your help guys, I just bought a win mob smartphone to use in the meantime until bold 9700 is released. It will do for now, has all basic functions i need, email, games (snes and nes built in) web and gps. not bad for £150 from china, on par with htc pro touch 2 but obviously not as good... Its just a get me by before i become a crackberry addict

I was on the fence between the Bold and the New Curve 8900 (ATT). I chose the Curve due to the much better camera. 3.2 mega pixels compared to 2.0 on the Bold. I was having a little buyers remorse but if the Bold 2 is coming out early next year I will just wait for that.

well you better start praying they release it in the UK!

I just heard the bold 2 will be a cheaper version of the bold with less features and will retail for around £200, The rep told me that rim are releasing lower end phones now. He said the best phones will be the curve 8900 and storm 2.

I'm annoyed now I could of saved a few bob by not buying that win mob phone

Thought i'd keep everyone posted with the latest news I heard. I'm still going to wait as I dont trust sales people, my opinion is they would just rather a sale now than have you wait and get a better phone later.

hi,

had the same dilemma between iPhone & bb b4. Eventually took up bb which i thought suits my working demand more than iPhone. (anyway, it's those colourful boxy lil' icons on the iPhone that i think is what most ppl like me, felt kinda attached to in some ways ). I got my bb... and never regret it one bit. What's more..i am now getting the best of both world...downloaded the that iPhone theme from 'Elecite'... now i have both.. iPhone in my bb...lolxx. okay so that's superficial. I think the bb's pushmail and the other many other professional features are something that impressed me and I find nice comfort in it's stability. User-friendly and all. Oh... can live w/o 3G huh?... think again.... using a smartphone but not stretching it's function to the fullest is like paying so much for just an ordinary phone!.So we take it you want to surf, browse, emails and so on with it...hence the speed 3G.... cheers!

Just a quick point about the Bold vs. the 8900 and the Tour. Both the 8900 and the Tour have double the application space. The Bold has the older memory space, more in common with 8300. That is to say you will be left with about 22 MBs for apps. On the Tour, you will be left with about 104 MBs of app space.

What the Bold truly has over the Tour and 8900 is a faster processor and a larger keyboard because the device is slightly larger than the Curve and Tour.

At this very moment, the Tour is pretty much the top dog. It has a higher res screen. 480 x 360 vs. the Bold's 480 x 320. The left over app space for you to use is maybe 5 x the size. The Bold has WiFi, and here in the United States, the Tour does not. On Verizon it's just a CDMA EVDO Rev A and 3G, (world phone), where as the Bold in the United States is 3G with WiFi. I'd rather be on Verizon's network, so the Tour was my choice. The Bold is a great phone, but it's not truly part of the new wave of RIM phones. In my humble opinion, it's the last of the older models, even though the OS itself is so advanced and the processor is very fast. What makes it older is the application space. You'll enjoy having 104 MBs of free space for your apps vs. just 22 give or take.

Quick question, can I use a mem card for apps?

Nope. That's why they're called media cards.