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Casper TFG · 11-16-2007, 06:34 AM

BlackBerry - BlackBerry | Wireless Handheld Devices, Software & Services from Research In Motion (RIM)

I didn't realize there was a wifi and GPS model available in the UK.

Is this new going to change the deep love I found for my curve?

Should I have gotten an 8820?

Anyone else in the same position?

jeremyckitching · 11-16-2007, 07:00 AM

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 8700g: BlackBerry8320/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

If you have the 8320 model then you can always get a Bluetooth GPS receiver. If you have the 8310 (with GPS) then there isn't a way to get WiFi. I was thinking about the 8820 but I personally like the smaller size of the Curve.

Casper TFG · 11-16-2007, 07:21 AM

Yep it is a nifty size, I don't use a holster, just jacket & jeans pockets.. So there I suppose the size wins..

You have cheered me up!

Thanks

luc-mobile · 11-16-2007, 09:02 AM

Wifi is overrated.

In this hopeless city where I live, there are only two semi (payment required) public wifi spots that I know of. Sometimes I go to São Paulo, a BIG city, and finding hot spots there is not easy either. I had a Palm with wifi for over a year and all I got in that department was endless frustration. I felt like an idiot stopping often in "likely" places like malls and restaurants, hanging my head down and poking into the Palm trying to find a spot - which I never found or was never open. In the end, I just really used it at home, reading news and a couple of favorite blogs in bed before getting up.

What about connecting with the Palm? First, activate the wifi radio. It's always off to save battery. Wait until it is on and connects to the router. Then launch the browser. Never activate the radio with Blazer running, or it is guaranteed to soft reset. Launching the browser after wifi is on helps sometimes, but not always. So it often crashes and soft resets anyway. If it doesn't crash, it takes about 10 seconds for the browser to come up. Then I can use it. WHAT A CHORE!!!

Then I got the Blackberry. And now I have true 24/7 Internet access wherever I go.

Just yesterday, I saw a few people getting around a thread in a Brazilian gadget forum to discuss where to find hot spots in major Brazilian cities. It just felt like some distant past to me although I've had the Berry for three months. I kind of felt sorry for them. I remember what it was like. I don't miss it at all.

Casper TFG · 11-16-2007, 09:25 AM

So what is it that makes the BB wifi experience better?

Does it "auto" connect to whatever it can find?

Does it "learn" your regular places like home and work and auto detect and lof into those?

Many thanks,

So Palm in brasil was bad but Blackberry great?

luc-mobile · 11-16-2007, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casper TFG

So what is it that makes the BB wifi experience better? Does it "auto" connect to whatever it can find?

Don't you have it? Isn't it working? Here where I am, it uses the phone carrier's EDGE network, so it's connected permanently. I bought it with an unlimited data plan. Maybe you don't have an unlimited data plan, but you still should be able to access the Internet wherever you go, except that you will be on a meter and charged by the kilobyte if your plan is not unlimited. But you don't need any hot spots, you just rely on the phone's regular coverage, which should be just about anywhere unless you live away from urban areas. I mean just take it out of your pocket and send an e-mail or launch a browser. That's it.

EDIT: oh, you said "BB wifi experience". My bad. I don't use wifi anymore. That was my point all the time. Once you get an EDGE or 3G permanent connection, who cares about wifi? Yes, some people still do, but in very specific contexts. For most Blackberry users, wifi is redundant.

Casper TFG · 11-16-2007, 10:49 AM

Oh that's cool then, thanks..!

I get an EDGE connection about 70 percent of the time where I live.

I do quite a lot of browsing on web forums and with images diabled EDGE is fairly quick.I use Opera mostly but to post this the BB browser launched automatically from the email alert and I am on plain old GPRS right now...

Many thanks for your insights much appreciated!!!

Casper TFG · 11-16-2007, 12:37 PM

I think I will stop crying about no wifi and dive back into discovering my BB..

Having fun!

Its like a poodle, I bought it a blue winter skin, I have invisible shield on order for it and I am looking at another rubber case too..

By the time I am done with it I will be able to throw it down these steps and have it survive...

I am ALWAYS dropping mine on concrete!

(Well... thats not really like a poodle.. but you get the idea..)

dirtypirate · 11-16-2007, 09:09 PM

I agree the wifi is over rated and its been said to be problematic.
Stay with the curve, its got a new OS (you can upgrade it to 4.3 now too).
Its got a better keyboard layout to.

TeritaM · 11-17-2007, 09:24 PM

the wifi on my curve proved to be no faster than edge...
yet another reason it went back

kurrupt_1 · 11-18-2007, 07:55 PM

you made the right choice in my mind!

chadmd23 · 11-19-2007, 08:38 AM

I think its so funny that everyone can do without wifi.

WiFi and UMA have been a savior to my dropped call and no signal problems. I have about 20 free wifi sites stored in my curve and they automatically connect and switch networks as needed, no thought goes into it.

I'm sorry that your palm was a piece of crap, and that you must not work in any large buildings with limited reception, but for me there isn't a better cell phone technology out there right now then UMA.

Casper TFG · 11-19-2007, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadmd23

I have about 20 free wifi sites stored in my curve and they automatically connect and switch networks as needed, no thought goes into it.

Thats great news as soon as a wifi Curve hits the shores of the UK (and on my network) I am onto it!

But how does wifi help dropped calls? Are you using internet telephony? Skype?

br0nx finest · 11-19-2007, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casper TFG

Thats great news as soon as a wifi Curve hits the shores of the UK (and on my network) I am onto it!

But how does wifi help dropped calls? Are you using internet telephony? Skype?

On Tmobile the 8320 uses technology called UMA, where it basically does a VoIP thing through your wifi connection, minutes are unlimited and reception is as good as your connection signal.

Casper TFG · 11-19-2007, 11:13 AM

Ah.... Right, thanks for the info. Its a different scene here in Europe, I don't think wifi telephony has caught on yet.
(Although one network just released a cel phone that let's you make you skype to skype call for free...

We have 3G

But that's not WiFi

But here is hoping,

(Course I may have all the wrong.. )

Thanks again

build_it · 11-28-2007, 10:47 AM

Greetings, yes in the same boat. I have the 8300, no Wi-Fi or GPS. Wife purchased it a couple of days ago, sales clerk told her it had GPS. I intend to get the most out of it though. The EDGE connectivity is ok for my needs however I'd like to have WiFi for home and office.

Maximus_Prime · 11-28-2007, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casper TFG

BlackBerry - BlackBerry | Wireless Handheld Devices, Software & Services from Research In Motion (RIM)

I didn't realize there was a wifi and GPS model available in the UK.

Is this new going to change the deep love I found for my curve?

Should I have gotten an 8820?

Anyone else in the same position?

If you could, get the 8310 or 8320, they are better than 8300 ( since they are basically 8300 + extra ( 8310 get GPS, 8320 get Wifi)

but in term of between 8300 and 8820, you made the right choice

monkeypaw · 11-28-2007, 01:31 PM

Wifi without UMA is probably overrated. But comparing an 8300 to an 8820, I'd rather have the camera over GPS. The lack of a camera disqualified the 8820 for me. Plus the Curve size is small enough to occasionally pocket carry.

Your really dilemma seems to be, do you wait for the 9000 series or upgrade to the 8310 or 8320?

bigberry · 11-28-2007, 05:47 PM

I have just switched from an 8820 to an 8300, and i am 100% happy, i didn't use wifi, at first it seems like a fantastic idea, but pretty soon it loses its appeal, and GPS well i thought that was great fun but again it soon faded it is great to see that little arrow or blue ball but not really that useful to me.
However by getting hooked up with a carrier that has an EDGE network that works where i live and work is far more useful.

Casper i think you made a great choice.

daveislander · 11-29-2007, 10:42 AM

YES you made the right decision.. I have wanted a BB for years and my wife and family saved up and presented me with a brand new unlocked 8300 curve last week and I am STILL over the moon with it. I use it with an Orange PAYG sim, so no email, no maps and obviously no wifi etc.. but it is the finest and sexiest phone I have ever owned... Maybe we will catch up with the USA in time,, but I doubt that we will ever get away from gprs, 3g etc here in the UK.
Dave
A convert!!!

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