[sjo9001]

I am having trouble deciding what is the smarter choice.I live in New Brunswick,Canada. I have a 8700r from Rogers. I would really like to upgrade to a newer bb. My choices are an unlocked 8320 from t mobile or a 8310 from Rogers. Is there any difference in the two except one has wifi and one has gps? What is the smarter choice for overall satisfaction and useability? Thanks

[bigboy]

Wifi is basically useless unless your carrier supports UMA. Sure you can try browsing with it, but in that tiny screen?

[sjo9001]

So are the phones the same except for the two differences?

[ezrunner]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8700/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

A lot depends on what is most useable to you. Gps or wifi! I'm not sure what services are supported by your carriers certain gps would be useable don't know about gps.

[shivers316]

Pretty much, but remember, you can also get a bluetooth GPS puck for the 8320 and voila! Then you have GPS and WiFi.

[ezrunner]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8700/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Yes they are almost exactly the same other than those 2 feature and the color of them

[pinhead]

The way I see it, you can always add GPS via bluetooth, but you can't add Wifi.

[numetheus]

Originally Posted by shivers316

Pretty much, but remember, you can also get a bluetooth GPS puck for the 8320 and voila! Then you have GPS and WiFi.

Ugh thats not even the same thing. If nobody cared about having a separate puck device, nobody would be excited about an integrated device. I HATE HATE HATE carying a separate device on me. All I need is my phone, and I want to be able to pull that out, find a sushi place, and tell meeting members where it is so we can discuss things. All the while not having to think about if I have a charge on my puck, or if I remembered to bring it.

[ptmis350]

Originally Posted by numetheus

Ugh thats not even the same thing. If nobody cared about having a separate puck device, nobody would be excited about an integrated device. I HATE HATE HATE carying a separate device on me. All I need is my phone, and I want to be able to pull that out, find a sushi place, and tell meeting members where it is so we can discuss things. All the while not having to think about if I have a charge on my puck, or if I remembered to bring it.

I REALLY agree with that statement

[SmokinV10]

Pick the GPS. I always found wifi on a mobile phone to be useless. I had a BB before, and used the slow edge browser when I absolutely had to. I thought the world would be better when I had the iPhone with wifi. Even with the big screen, the better interface, I was always wishing I had a computer nearby. Its nice if you HAVE to get on the internet without a computer around. Thing is, when I have wifi, I have a computer around (most of the time). If Im at an airport with wifi, I have my PC. At home I have my PC, in the office I have my PC, why would I be on the damned phone surfing? Even though my car has GPS, I dont always have GPS. Rental cars, friends cars, etc. Its something nice to have. thats why I picked the 8310 over the 8820.

[JMO5631]

Originally Posted by SmokinV10

Pick the GPS. I always found wifi on a mobile phone to be useless. I had a BB before, and used the slow edge browser when I absolutely had to. I thought the world would be better when I had the iPhone with wifi. Even with the big screen, the better interface, I was always wishing I had a computer nearby. Its nice if you HAVE to get on the internet without a computer around. Thing is, when I have wifi, I have a computer around (most of the time). If Im at an airport with wifi, I have my PC. At home I have my PC, in the office I have my PC, why would I be on the damned phone surfing? Even though my car has GPS, I dont always have GPS. Rental cars, friends cars, etc. Its something nice to have. thats why I picked the 8310 over the 8820.

completely agree and for those exact reasons, i chose the 8310 as well.

[crossbones]

GPS.

By the time WIFI is really widely used, you will have upgraded your blackberry anyway, every time i'm in a wifi area is at work, at home, or a starbucks or the like. Starbucks charges you, so I may aswell use the included data on my plan, and at home and work, I would rather browse on my PC!

I had a windows mobile device with wifi on, and never really used the wifi, The GPS on my 8310 however, is incredibly useful, just for the fact it has walking directions included, not just driving. If I go to a city I don't know I can find my way round successfully now!

And the silver is nicer on the 8310.

[HaTaX]

Love my 8320, I use the UMA all the time on it so it was a no brainer for me. And my freedom mini puck is pretty darn small and quite accurate. I like the fact that the GPS can work without network coverage and some applications will allow you to record hiking treks and such. I think the 8310's GPS does not work where there is no cellular coverage.

[sjo9001]

Thanks for the info. The only other thing is warranty. If I have the 8310 I can get warranty at the local store, with the 8320 I have to send it to Blackberry direct. Hopefully neither one will be a dud. Thanks very much.

[CrownSeven]

Originally Posted by HaTaX

Love my 8320, I use the UMA all the time on it so it was a no brainer for me. And my freedom mini puck is pretty darn small and quite accurate. I like the fact that the GPS can work without network coverage and some applications will allow you to record hiking treks and such. I think the 8310's GPS does not work where there is no cellular coverage.

The GPS does not rely on the cell network to determine position - it has a real gps chip built in. The application that is being used with the GPS on the other may have a dependency on the network - some do some don't.

[jeb8300]

Originally Posted by sjo9001

Thanks for the info. The only other thing is warranty. If I have the 8310 I can get warranty at the local store, with the 8320 I have to send it to Blackberry direct. Hopefully neither one will be a dud. Thanks very much.

for this reason alone, I would go with the 8310... i picked up one locally from at&t and it had a problem holding a signal since the day i bought it. i simply returned it and got it replaced with a brand new one. if that had been the case with an unlocked purchased on the internet, i would have had to either sent it back and dealt with the seller or sent it to rim and dealth with them.

another thing about wifi i have noticed in my experiences... most places charge to use it - airports, cruise ships, some hotels, etc... why would i pay for the faster speed when i can already use the data service i already pay for?

imo the 8310 is much more the wiser choice...

[NJBlackBerry]

Love the UMA and Wifi. I seem to end up in places with lousy mobile coverage, but with Wifi. So it works for me. Our cards have GPS. Had the 8800 and rarely used the GPS. So for me, the Wifi is a killer application.

[epiguards]

I may be wrong about this but usually with a BB you have a data package and at the current prices an unlimited data package is relatively unexpensive. My point being why use wifi if you have unlimited usage. I believe edge is edge so it will not be any faster with wifi. I am a gps user and absolutely love the convenience. My vote is for the 8310 and like you mentioned it is covered by warranty. You never know with electronics. Good luck which ever way you go.

[sgtcasey]

edit

[Shaun]

GPS for me.

After a trip with a friend that has an 8320, I found the wifi and UMA had too many variables to make it a standard reliable service. He had to find an open wifi network that was non-pay, and then only when cell signal warranted it (too low), even then he had some issues with the network/router/gateway config.

On the flip side, I have had zero issue with my 8310 GPS. I refresh when I get in the car, after being indoors, then off I go. Its very simple. And I agree with the posts above, I have no need to add another piece of hardware, thats why I went to an 83XX to begin with. Fewer extras to carry with me.