Im sure most of you with T-mo' use their unlimited data service for $20.00 per month. As a college student, those costs really add up. I will have my wi-fi laptop with me most of the time, which will have wi-fi access. Do you think having the data service on my BB will be worth it?

I assume googlemaps requires data service... it alone may lead me to buying it.

How much faster will my 8700g be than GPRS on my old Samsung phone be? Similar to dial-up at least, I hope?

Thanks!

It's very simple: Without a BlackBerry Data Plan, you can use your BB as a PIM and you can do voice and SMS. No Internet at all. No E-Mail at all.

The 8700g with EDGE is much faster than GPRS.

Yes Google maps requires the data plan, and I think you will be happy with it.

you always have the option of trying it for a few months, and if you don't use it, call up t-mobile and have it removed.

Exactly - that's what I did. Unfornately we don't have a large market down here, so it's all mainly controlled by Telstra.

I tried out a month-to-month contract (so I could end at any time) for BB services.. 2 months later, I'm locked in

Extra $20 (USD) a month? I'm paying a total of ($99AUD) for my bill >.<.. BB services and $500 worth of calls..

Australia sucks in this sense..

-lieb39

$20 unlimted data??? You lucky americans. I am with Rogers and I pay $60 for 25mb of data....frickin lammmee

If you going to get rid of your data plan, it will be almost useless to have a Blackberry than.

Anyway some of the new thinner, slimmer and smaller Motorola phones are catching on now. I see more and more people have it.

If I wasn't using a data plan, I will get myself one of those phones.

Just in case it was missed, I think the unlimited data plan from t-mo is $29.99 not $20....well, at leasts thats what I am paying for my unlimited....just a headsup for the college student....

As for whether it'll be worth it for you, I'd suggest looking at how much email and other tasks you do will be as or more convenient without your laptop. If you have your laptop mostly with you all the time, especially if you use it to go to class, etc, I'd suggest not getting the bb (even more so if you are strapped for cash) since you'll have something that is already doing most if not all of what you need...especially since you'll have wifi most likely everywhere on campus. If you are getting it just for google maps, and you'll have your laptop with you in a wifi area, why not stick with just the laptop?

my two cents.

Whats weird is that in your other post bbdevil, you state that you are making 40k a year and juggling a lot of other things...in that respect, I can see how a bb would be a lot more useful and convenient than having just a laptop....I have been in your shoes and have juggled tons of different projects, etc, and was glad to have my bb and my laptop.

Sorry if that was confusing, I had read just this thread, and from the looks of it, it looked like you just wanted a bb for google maps and some email when you already had a laptop and you were going to be on campus the entire time.

It's $29.99 for a data only plan. If you have a voice plan, the BB ad-on is only $19.99 for BIS.

BBDevil, I have a laptop too but I don't carry it with me everywhere I go. Frankly, with the BB I don't need to (if I am just concerned about getting email). Just think you can be anywhere (where there's appropriate coverage) and receive/send email. If you like that feature, then get the BB data plan.

Not cool, thread hijacking.

Also, $29.99 is if you want to have BES service on your blackberry.

BBDevil - I had asked about this in a different thread but when I try to access ANY google site / service from my laptop through my BB it will NOT work.

I can get to the same sites on my BB though.

Sorry if I confused anyone. I am *currently* making 40k a year, in my summer job. I can *currently* easilly afford my BB, laptop, service, ect. My concern is several months into school when I will be strapped for cash.

Really, I can afford it, and I am just too frugal for my own good. I have a voice plan with T-mo, and Im going to pick up the data plan for $20. If I find im not using it, I'll just cancel the plan and use my BB purely as a PDA until I return home from school next summer.

Thanks for your help guys!