Here’s one of the reasons I hate being on the low-end of the PR Press List (although I do generally get things after Engadget and Cnet gets done with them). While everyone else is out reviewing the new sexy Palm Pre (which I think is pretty ugly), I’m here reviewing the Blackberry Curve 8900 for T-Mobile. I Nothing against the folks at the big T but hey, what can you do. I’ve had the Curve now for about 3 weeks now and overall I like it but I think it’s now official I’m not a fan of the Blackberry, although I do think the Curve comes closest to what I would want in a Blackberry.
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Tags:
Blackberry,
Mobile Phone Review,
T-Mobile
The Blackberry is one of those devices that always perplexed me. It’s the most popular smart phone in the world (yes, even more than the iPhone) and I’ve never had one or really even touched one. Sure my bosses had them but I always took one look at the interface and said, “Ugh, that’s one fugly looking UI.” So I’ve never understood its popularity, ok I do. The idea that you can run your business from the phone is compelling. Every time I travel to a conference, I always wish I had a smart phone. Then I get home and realize I wouldn’t use it enough to justify the outrageous monthly costs. I wish I could get one without being locked into paying almost $2,000 (over the course of a standard 2 year contract) for that kind of money, I’d rather just get a $400 Netbook with wireless broadband and carry that around (or take my Macbook everywhere I go).
T-Mobile and Blackberry have teamed up to bring us the first Blackberry Pearl Flip phone. I’m a huge fan of the Flip; all of my personal cell phones for the last several years have been flips. This is one beautiful looking and feature rich phone that is hampered by one janky, frustrating keyboard that made me want to throw it off my hotel balcony.
Let’s start with the positives, again T-Mobile, I don’t know why the network doesn’t get the love it deserves, it’s a solid network that hasn’t dropped a call on me, is clear, and reasonably priced. More so now that they have the new $50 unlimited call plan. By comparison, Verizon drops calls almost every time I get on the phone – seemingly, regardless of where I am. I know a lot of people swear by VZ’s network, but in the two years I’ve had their service, I’ve almost never had a good experience. I tested T-Mobile’s service here in DC and in Orlando, Fla and it worked fine for me. The data speed is slow, but then I don’t expect blazing speed on a mobile device. T-Mobile will most likely be whom I switch to when my VZ contract is finally over.
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Tags:
Blackberry,
Mobile Phone Review,
T-Mobile
I’m one of those people who really hates paying for a cell-phone since I don’t like talking on the phone and rarely use it. I pay almost $100 a month for my current phone. That’s $2,400 for a two-year contract to use an average of 200 minutes a month (no music, ringtones, texting, internet, nothing) on a family share plan. That’s pretty disgusting. Most people are so hung up on the initial cost of a phone $200, egads! But don’t really think about the total cost of ownership and I think cell phone companies like it this way. So lately with all the iPhone hype, I’ve been thinking, “If I’m going to pay this ridiculous amount of money, I at least want to be able to check my email and get some smart phone goodness for my trouble.” I purchased an iPod Touch because I can’t stand AT&T (but Wi-Fi sucks and isn’t reliable), Sprint’s been on my hit list for 10 years and I probably won’t re-up with crummy Verizon when my contract expires in a few months, so I looked around and said, hmmm… T-Mobile has never screwed me and they have this brand new phone called the T-Mobile G1, the first phone in the US to feature Google’s brand new Android Open Source Operating System.
[flickrset id="72157613843021383" thumbnail="square"]
T-Mobile Service
I don’t understand why T-Mobile doesn’t get as much love as Verizon or AT&T. This has been my first experience with them and I loved it. For starters it actually works in my home. Neither AT&T nor Verizon works at my house. Everyone I talked to asked if I was using a land line, that’s how clear everything was. T-Mobile’s pricing plans are reasonable and straight forward they have pay as you go options, unlimited broadband Internet (although in the small print it says they’ll throttle your service if you go over 10Gigs), rollover minutes (which Verizon doesn’t have), and they don’t nickel and dime you over everything. I also like their 5 Family call thing, which lets you program up to five phone numbers that will be free regardless of what network they are on. There’s no visual voicemail on T-Mobile, which is disappointing.
If I purchased a Blackberry Storm from Verizon, I would have to pay my current minimum family plan amount, plus $30 for the Blackberry Data Plan, $30 to tether (with a measly 5 Gig cap), and $15 for Rhapsody (which isn’t connected to the Online Rhapsody service that I already pay $15 a month for). Plus, I don’t even get rollover minutes. So for all of these reasons and the most important one – T-Mobile actually works in my house, I will most likely switch to T-Mobile this summer. I’m just not convinced it’s going to be to the G1. [click to continue…]
Tags:
Android,
G1,
Mobile Review,
Smart Phones,
T-Mobile
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