First time blackberry user

miggiwoo

Am thinking of getting a Blackberry Curve 8520 and , having never had a BB before , just wanted to know if its a good phone.
Am interested in the Apps. part of the phone ( as I couldnt justify the monthly cost of an I-Phone !)
Does any body use lots of apps. ?
Think would use a travel app. and maybe a GPS app.
Understand the camera is not the best and the lack of 3G , but understand it is Wi-Fi enabled.

Thanks

swtchick87

Im thinking of getting one too, so would appreciate replies to op's thread.

desisaver

I own a 8520 since December and love it! Like the OP, I would not be able to justify the costs and tarrifs of an I-phone. I got mine as an pay-as-you-go from Orange, unlocked it and got the awesome O2 simplicity tarriff. I use a few apps on mine including the mobile office etc. Use Google Maps for GPS stuff although not turn-by-turn navigation. Also have the excellent freeware - Viigo - for all my news and rss feeds. The built-in BB Messenger is awesome. Have a look at this website - http://crackberry.com - it has been invaluable to me.

There is currently a deal through T-mobile for this - http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-phones/phones/pay-as-you-go/all/all/

HTH

swtchick87

thanks desisaver!

diable

I just use mine for email as they are not the best to use for net browsing. One of the best phones I have ever had and I am using an older 8310 Curve.

swtchick87

Iv just been on blackberry website and now im thinking about getting the storm 2! so have been comparing the two. Not much difference apart from being touch screen with the strom 2

swtchick87

I have seen the deal t mobile are doing on the curve 8520. with 6 months free internet and email. sounds appealing. But when that runs out, how much will it cost to have the same service i wonder..

born_blonde

I have a Blackberry 8320 on Orange, I do not use it for calls just e-mail and internet and Orange charge me £5 a month pay as you go. It is superb for e-mail.

desisaver

swtchick87 wrote: »

I have seen the deal t mobile are doing on the curve 8520. with 6 months free internet and email. sounds appealing. But when that runs out, how much will it cost to have the same service i wonder..

Hi, you can get a PAC code and move your number to any network who would have the best deal at that time. If you do that then you will also need to get the phone unlocked, easily done online or on the high-street for a tenner. I had a storm last year and gave it up after a week as I am a heavy email/text user and the virtual keyboard did not do it for me. I am not sure how much improvment has been made with regards to the Storm 2's keyboard. The Bold 9700 is an amazing phone and has 3G for fast internet browsing. It was a little beyond my budget when I bought the 8520 at £500+ sim-free!

BlueFox

I have an 8520 Curve, and agree with previous posts that it is excellent for email. Not as easy as a standard mobile for quick texting, but you soon get used to the qwerty keyboard.

The internet is pretty shocking though, it's very slow to load when you have a strong signal so if you find yourself in an area without a very good signal you can be waiting for some time for web pages to load.

Games-wise, there are some pretty good games & I would recommend searching through the Blackberry World app store, but beware as there are some dreadful games and most of the games are generally more expensive than for the iphone but you can find some gems.

Overall it is a decent phone, especially if your main use is email / instant messaging. It's main drawbacks are the lack of 3G and no GPS, but if you can live with that you will probably love it!

996ducati

I use a Storm (1) for work and its such a great all rounder.

Email, video camera with what can only be described as a blinding LED backlight, full (big) touchscreen and a good mp3 build in. You can throw away your I-pod now

There's been lots of talk about short battery life on the Smartphones. If you read the manual the trick is lots of frequent long charges. Dont fully discharge it like the old advice. Mine is much much better now Ive learnt this.

Enjoy!