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Just got a Blackberry, really quick ATT question

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wnxgenral

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 14, 2008
286
16
So I just picked up a blackberry bold to try out against my iPhone 3GS... In theory I know I can just switch the sim cards but do i have to call ATT and change plans? Because I am on an iPhone plan do I have to switch to a Blackberry plan?

Thanks,
Jack

p.s. Sorry I didnt know where else to post this, everyone here is an ATT expert :)
 
Thanks for choosing the forums for support. If you need email service switching the sime card wont work. You "may" be able to browse on BB but thats it. For full data access you'll have to get BIS (blackberry Internet service).

On the other hand if you had a BB plan you can switch the SIM to iPhone for data.

You may already know this, if not, hope this helps. BTW, if BB push email isn't important to you then you don't need a BIS plan. You can access mail via web browers. (BB browser, Bolt browser or Opera mini browser)
 
Maybe due to the QOS of AT&T? Some/most times you can't even get someone on the phone who actually "knows" about smartphones/service issues. :p
 
So how is the Bold stacking up for you? Is it even comparable to the iPhone?

My biggest problem with the switch would be the loss of certain apps. Does BB provide an usable todo application? What kind of chat apps are available (other than BBM)?
 
wnxgenral said:
So I just picked up a blackberry bold to try out against my iPhone 3GS... In theory I know I can just switch the sim cards but do i have to call ATT and change plans? Because I am on an iPhone plan do I have to switch to a Blackberry plan?

Thanks,
Jack

p.s. Sorry I didnt know where else to post this, everyone here is an ATT expert :)
Click to expand...


You need to have the BlackBerry plan in order to get the Service Books in order for the browser to work.

The good news is when you switch back to the iPhone you can keep the BlackBerry data plan on there and your browser will still work.

If you plan on switching back to the iPhone relatively soon I would probably make sure they keep the Visual Voicemail active.
 
lostprophet894 said:
So how is the Bold stacking up for you? Is it even comparable to the iPhone?

My biggest problem with the switch would be the loss of certain apps. Does BB provide an usable todo application? What kind of chat apps are available (other than BBM)?
Click to expand...

Prophet... I've used the Bold and I personally liked it. As far as chat apps I was using BeeJive (also an iPhone app) and that seemed to work really well. Other than that you can get ICQ, Yahoo, AIM, MSN, etc.

You can do "To Do" on there, but I've never really found a use for it.

Before you all flame me for trying to hype up a Bold I would like to say that I'm very happily using a 16GB White 3G which I wouldn't trade for the world. The BlackBerry OS locks up way too much for my preference...
 
lostprophet894 said:
So how is the Bold stacking up for you? Is it even comparable to the iPhone?

My biggest problem with the switch would be the loss of certain apps. Does BB provide an usable todo application? What kind of chat apps are available (other than BBM)?
Click to expand...

BB apps are more expensive usually and there's not as many apps. Beejive has the best chat app on the BB. It was one of my favorite BB apps with my Bold.
 
Prospekt said:
BB apps are more expensive usually and there's not as many apps. Beejive has the best chat app on the BB. It was one of my favorite BB apps with my Bold.
Click to expand...

That's what I use on my iPhone.

Did you have the same "locking up" problems with your Bold?
 
An even bigger question still..... why is he asking a question about a bb when he is in the iPhone forum?
 
lostprophet894 said:
That's what I use on my iPhone.

Did you have the same "locking up" problems with your Bold?
Click to expand...

Trying to send an MMS would make my Bold angry. Some versions of the operating system were a bit better, but all never fully corrected the issue. The app "Quick Pull" was my best friend.

Not upgrading to the 3GS was a tough decision, but I think things are going to be very interesting next year.
 
lostprophet894 said:
That's what I use on my iPhone.

Did you have the same "locking up" problems with your Bold?
Click to expand...


At first I had some problems with locking up but that was with the stock AT&T firmware. With any newer version firmware my Bold ran flawless. Some data heavy websites may slow down the default browser but with any other browser like Bolt or Opera mini you should be fine.
 
iDeve1oper said:
Thanks for choosing the forums for support. If you need email service switching the sim card wont work. You "may" be able to browse on BB but thats it. For full data access you'll have to get BIS (blackberry Internet service).

On the other hand if you had a BB plan you can switch the SIM to iPhone for data.

You may already know this, if not, hope this helps. BTW, if BB push email isn't important to you then you don't need a BIS plan. You can access mail via web browers. (BB browser, Bolt browser or Opera mini browser)
Click to expand...

Yup its easier data wise to switch to iPhone than switching SIM to BB. I'm sure you'll be back to iPhone soon enough :)
 
staticliner said:
The app "Quick Pull" was my best friend.
Click to expand...

I find this app to be absolutely hilarious since so all of my blackberry owning friends have this app. "Hey, my phone is a piece of crap and locks up all the time. But now, it's so easy. All I have to do is open this app and it saves me the hassle of having to pull the battery cover off and removing the battery! Thanks Quick Pull!!"

Yeah, that new Blackberry OS is working out reeeeealll nice! :apple:
 
nehunte said:
I find this app to be absolutely hilarious since so all of my blackberry owning friends have this app. "Hey, my phone is a piece of crap and locks up all the time. But now, it's so easy. All I have to do is open this app and it saves me the hassle of having to pull the battery cover off and removing the battery! Thanks Quick Pull!!"

Yeah, that new Blackberry OS is working out reeeeealll nice! :apple:
Click to expand...

Dude I just laughed out loud. Nice 1 :D

On a serious notebattery pulling, even if its software induced... isn't a good practice at all. Maybe RIM should also enclose the battery. Because as per your post it is being abused and not just as a very very last resort.
 
Yes it was very annoying pulling the battery on my old curve. However with the new BBs (tour, curve 8900, all future BBs) there is more memory so you don't really need to pull the battery.
 
Prospekt said:
Yes it was very annoying pulling the battery on my old curve. However with the new BBs (tour, curve 8900, all future BBs) there is more memory so you don't really need to pull the battery.
Click to expand...

Blackberries can be extremely stable if you remember to close out your applications once you're done. A lot of people complain that the iPhone can't multitask, but I see why Apple doesn't allow it. Blackberries need a better task manager, like Windows Mobile and WebOS.
 
wnxgenral said:
So I just picked up a blackberry bold to try out against my iPhone 3GS... In theory I know I can just switch the sim cards but do i have to call ATT and change plans? Because I am on an iPhone plan do I have to switch to a Blackberry plan?

Thanks,
Jack

p.s. Sorry I didnt know where else to post this, everyone here is an ATT expert :)
Click to expand...

I am in a similar boat as you. I have had a 16Gb iPhone 3G for a little over a year, and recently picked up another Blackberry Bold. I had to switch my data plan over to the blackberry one so I could use BIS. I have tried swapping the sim back into my iPhone and it still works, however Visual Voicemail does not work as no other AT&T phone is provisioned for it. I figured that's a minor loss to be able to use both phones whenever I want.

Personally I had so many problems with my iPhone that it made me want to switch. I didn't sell it because I still use it like an iPod Touch due to some of the apps I have on there.

I've had zero problems with my Bold. It's a great communication device.
 
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