Hello everyone,

I'm in Uni now, and got lots of free time on my hands, yay! Anyways, I've been seriously thinking about a Blackberry.. I was thinking the 7290 simply because it's the best for the price on eBay (I'm buying this outright.. not getting ripped off again by my Provider.)

Anyways, to all those who use a BB and are a student, is it useful, and what model do you have (even why you have that model.)

The one thing I'm skepical about is using a Blackberry as a mobile phone, since that would be the case a lot.

Cheers,

lieb39

What type of things, as a "student" are you looking to do with a handheld device?

I'm loving the idea of instant email (I know the deal about forwarding, etc.) and such, which I would love but thinking to myself if I can justify that I need it.
Otherwise - integration with iCal on my mac, which I always use but is rather annoying as I need to wait until I'm at my mac to add. Also, todo list obviously, which is entirely lacking in my life at the moment. Also, having ALL my contact information with me would be helpful.

That, and all the other various cool BB things would be nice , such as IM'ing and whatnot.

Well, still deciding.. what do you guys think?

Thanks

And make sure that the BB bought off of eBay is unlocked - otherwise you may have difficulty getting it to work with your provider.

Oh ya, making sure that's the case for sure. I've already asked how to check on this board, so I'm good to go in that sense

Now, I'm trying to figure out if getting a Blackberry isn't just one of those things that I get and get bored of after a week - or if it's something I really use and don't regret getting it at all - like my Powerbook G4.

Thanks!

From what you've described it seems to me you don't really want the device as a benefit to your life as a student but more for your life in general. If that's the case than a Blackberry would be great for you.

In all honestly a Windows Mobile powered device would probably benefit someone who wanted to use it in his/her school life. It has more of the tools someone in school would most likely need.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the Blackberry isn't awesome. It definetly is. I just don't think it's the best handheld choice for a self described student.

More than one device for me never worked out, I tried it for a while. And I figure that if I'm going to carry around a large mobile, it may as well be the best. But again - do I really need to do all that?

Well, I just really wish that I could test one for a week or two and see if I stick to it. Getting the a BB to play with for 2 weeks is easy enough - but the downside is that I have to upgrade my phone plan for the BB, something which is quite expensive if I decide to get rid of the BB and go down to my orginal plan.

In terms of organising myself in classes - my Powerbook does that. I don't attend a single lecture without my Powerbook, so that's my main tool. I'd just love to have something which all my mail goes to so I don't need to check constantly, have something in my hand that I can grab to check my schedule & things to do and and just see what's ahead in general.

Another thing that's annoying me about mobiles - I've been texting like crazy since the day I've moved to Australia, roughly three years ago, and even though I'm extremely fast with the T9 dictionary, it annoys me when I need to type out something that isn't in the dictionary. And sure, I could add it, but it'd push out another word (limited storage space for words.)

Again, the BB is much larger then my mobile phone (Samsung Z500) and I'm not sure how I'd go with it's odd shape.

I had a SK65 (With BB built in, although BB services were not enabled because I didn't want to upgrade my plan) and I found it generally very slow and too big.

With that in mind, still sticking to your orginal opinon? I'm not trying to start an argument - just trying to justify a BB for myself.

Cheers!

my bb 7290 is very helpful for me. i can check/recieve my school email straight to my bb(i cant do this on desktop software or web base email eg outlook,gmail pop etc) the IT from my school wont give me the smtp or pop3 settings. they want me to log-on from the school's website and check it from there. but tmobile's bb desktop manager made it possible for me. all i have to do is type the email add and password. i use the calendar,task, and memo pad(writing essays while in the nyc subway and email it to myself then edit it with ms word). i have a laptop too but i dont like pulling it out in the subway in nyc. atleast if they rob my bb, i dont have problem getting new one ;) lol

Hehe, awesome. Ya, after playing around with my School's account I figured out that I can't access via IMAP/POP3 but I can forward all my mail to a email address - even better.

So, in terms of the size, is that an issue? And do you use that as your primary mobile device? (E.g. Mobile Phone) I know someone who actually carries around a mobile phone seperately - but for issues with thier car (can't hook up the BB to the car audio system.)

Cheers!

in my case i have a seperate phone. one for talking only and the bb for heavy emailing and sms. oh bb7290 doesnt have speaker phone but it comes with bluetooth, you can use wireless headset. i never tried charging my bb in my car coz i dont have a bb car charger for one lol.

oh my school email sucks. we cant forward our emails at all. thats why i love my BB.

I was thinking of two seperate devices - it may be easier but the plans are crazy. Either I upgrade my phone plan to $99 a month, which is the same phone deal for me plus BB services and 50MB (One Device, One SIM Card), or I stay on my current $79 and get another plan/SIM Card which is either $25 for something like 1MB or $50 for 50MB BB Plan.

So I'm kinda forced onto one device..

-lieb39

i'm lucky i'm a tmobile customer since 2001. back then they have this feature called BUDDYTIME for additional $10 for unlimited mobile to mobile(tmobile customers only) and unlimited sms. my bbery BIS plan is $29 gives me unlimited data(no voice mins w/ 300sms) plus $10 for BuddyTime unlimited sms and mobile to mobile(which i dont use on my bb).but still saves me money, coz now the unlimited txt for tmo is $14.99, i figure i save almost 5bucks if i keep my Buddytime feature, so thats $39/month for bb. then for my other phone its $29/month comes with 300mins and unlimited weekends i just added $6 feature for unlimited mobile to mobile. most people i know use tmobile in my area. For both phones i'm paying almost $80 after taxes and everything.

Wow. Well, I sure do miss North America, much more open markets and better deal. Here in Australia everything is owned by Telstra, and other companies get their lines and such off it, so basically, no competition. A text message costs $0.25 and there is no plan whatsoever for text messages. I guess I can't complain though, I'm paying $79.00 for my current phone plan, and I get $500 worth of services, whatever I select.

Cheers.

I am a college student and I have the 8700c. Before that, I had the 7280, which I got from a friend who got it off eBay, and not even after a month of total use by both of us, it went ka-put. Around that time the 8700 came out so I decided to go ahead and upgrade to the newest BlackBerry. My main reason for getting a BlackBerry was for the qwerty keypad because I text a lot and the BlackBerries are the greatest phones ever. But since, I have taken advantage of the full BlackBerry experience, i.e. e-mail, internet, etc. I bought my 8700c, as well as 3 of my friends, and none of us have had any problems with them.

By reading your posts, if you were to get a BlackBerry, the 7290 would probably be the best fit for you.

i went three years of college without a blackberry and i dont know how i did it. i use it for note takin during class which ofcourse i ahd to explain to the professor the first day so they wouldnt think i was chattin all day (which i do anyway). heres a list of what i use it for...

-notetaking im much faster on my bb keyboard then ont he bluetooth keyboard
-like the previous poster its fantastic starting my papers and presentations while on the train text book on my lap and bb in my hands
- the berry411 is great when u come across a word in class that you dont know or the professor is asking the class to define
- since they know im taking notes on it anyway im able to get away with chattin on verichat also
- using the filters in the memo pad all my notes are very easy to access and go back to with a few clicks on the trackwheel for easy reference
- my BIS access my schools email so i never miss an announcement
- my bb and a copy of the the reading for that days class is all i take to school no bookbag or anything
- the cool factor of reading a presentation straight off your b is unmatched ;)

overall i canhonestly say my grades have gone up ALOT thanks to my bb i dont forget about tests and i cant say i dont have time to write a paper cuz honestly i can do it from anywhere or if i suddenly get a good idea for my paper i can jot it down. the only thing is remember to back it up atleast twice a week in case u lose it so that you dont lose your notes. a search for college student will bring up a few threads on this topic good luck to you aussie

Thanks for the ideas on using the BB as a notetaker. How do you keep up with your teacher when taking notes on the BB? I found the easier thing for me was a tape recorder or just writing down what I heard. Could I do this and just make a hard copy of what's on the tape recorder on the BB later and study from that?

well i been a very heavy user for a year now so my typing is very quick to the point where 80 percent of the time i dont need to look at the keyboard except to make sure im not makin mistakes. i dont know of any software that would allow u to play an mp3 on the 8700 for longer then 30 seconds though that would be pretty convenient

A little off topic, but was the bluetooth keyboard loud when you type? Does it sound more like you're typing on a desktop computer or laptop or is it even quieter than that?

i used marks review of the shasta keyboard to make my descion. the typing wasnt loud at all in fact a student a couple of rows ahead of me got more complaints for typing on his vaio so go figure. the problem i had was the fact that im using the 7520 and mark mentions in is review that there is a slight lag from when u type on the keyboard to when it shows on the screen. this just got annoying so thumbtyping was faster anyway. anyhow a slight click not as loud as a desktop keyboard but still audbile

Well thanks everyone! I'm going to get ahold of the 7290 for about 2 weeks, without the BB services on my plan. Just see how I handle the size of the phone, and how calling and such is.

Also, to use the PIM functions and 2 weeks should be enough time for me to get the 'newness' out of my system & see if it's really the device for me, and to see the limits of a Blackberry & Mac relationship, hehe.

I'll let you guys know how I go, just for future/searching reasons.

Thanks again,

lieb39.