Travel Technology - Blackberry Just Died...Need Replacement. Which one/which carrier?

I live in Boston.

I take it no one can activate one by Friday morning....?

What are the best deals?

I think I am stuck with 4 more months of Aether service. :(

I'd really need more information before I can answer this.

T-mobile, ATT and other will be able to activate a Blackbery in a matter of minutes, but that's a GSM device and requires you to own a BES or or to use the Web Client (or optionally order BES/MDS service though a third party like Mailstreet.com).

I assume you are currently on a Blackberry 957 or 950? In that case Aether was also the provider of your BES service, and they would be the easiest way to get a new one.

These older Blackberries are harder to buy and you are pretty much stuck with Aether.

So, to cut a log story short; You can either buy a new Blackberry off one of the operators or you can wait for Aether.

The advantage of a newer Blackberry like the 7230 though T-mobile is that it works pretty much worldwide.

I'd really need more information before I can answer this.

T-mobile, ATT and other will be able to activate a Blackbery in a matter of minutes, but that's a GSM device and requires you to own a BES or or to use the Web Client (or optionally order BES/MDS service though a third party like Mailstreet.com).

I assume you are currently on a Blackberry 957 or 950? In that case Aether was also the provider of your BES service, and they would be the easiest way to get a new one.

These older Blackberries are harder to buy and you are pretty much stuck with Aether.

So, to cut a log story short; You can either buy a new Blackberry off one of the operators or you can wait for Aether.

The advantage of a newer Blackberry like the 7230 though T-mobile is that it works pretty much worldwide.

I think I'll get one of the newer Blackberries: is one of the 3 (ATT, T-Mobile, or Cingular) better than the others for service/functionality?

There isn't really much difference there, T-mobile does seem to have the best data support group and with the upcoming merger of ATT and Cingular I think it's best to stay away from them for a bit. You'll need to find a T-mobile business dealer as the "normal" T-mobile stores won't always have the 7230 in stock.

Keep in mind that to use the T-mobile one you will either be using the web client (which uses POP to pick up your email), the Blackberry Redirector (which requires your desktop with Outlook to be on 24/7) or a Blackberry Enterprise Server (your own server, which requires an Exchange server, or a hosted one like mailstreet.com).

Feel free to PM or email me for any specific questions.

There isn't really much difference there, T-mobile does seem to have the best data support group and with the upcoming merger of ATT and Cingular I think it's best to stay away from them for a bit. You'll need to find a T-mobile business dealer as the "normal" T-mobile stores won't always have the 7230 in stock.

Also, AT&T will not, under any circumstances, until the end of time, etc. etc. unlock your device so you can temporarily use other SIMs, carry with you to another carrier, etc.

Done. I just walked into a T-Mobile store and walked out with an actiavted new 7230 for $200. ^

The good news is that it should work for me this weekend in Hong Kong and China. :)

The bad news is that I didn't realize there was a charge for downloading emails of 1.5 cents per KB, ^_ so I guess the key, given the steady stream of daily emails that come in (and go out), is to be selective with the ones that I actually open up and/or send -- because my undertsanding is that I don't pay to see the email sender/subject, just to open up the email.

I did get a phone with this and spent the extra $10/month to activate it with minimal minutes (60 anytime/500 weekend), and they have good international rates, except within China, where they are $5.00 per minute and Sprint is $1.50.

So, it looks like I'll sell my new Sprint PCS V60 international phone, which I just purchased last December -- any takers? :confused:

Thanks for your input which made for a quick decision. And now I have a better mousetrap (although I am $200 poorer, and stuck with 3-4 months of unusable aether contract).

Done. I just walked into a T-Mobile store and walked out with an actiavted new 7230 for $200. ^

The good news is that it should work for me this weekend in Hong Kong and China. :)

The bad news is that I didn't realize there was a charge for downloading emails of 1.5 cents per KB, ^_ so I guess the key, given the steady stream of daily emails that come in (and go out), is to be selective with the ones that I actually open up and/or send -- because my undertsanding is that I don't pay to see the email sender/subject, just to open up the email.

I did get a phone with this and spent the extra $10/month to activate it with minimal minutes (60 anytime/500 weekend), and they have good international rates, except within China, where they are $5.00 per minute and Sprint is $1.50.

So, it looks like I'll sell my new Sprint PCS V60 international phone, which I just purchased last December -- any takers? :confused:

Thanks for your input which made for a quick decision. And now I have a better mousetrap (although I am $200 poorer, and stuck with 3-4 months of unusable aether contract).

The charge for downloading email is only when roaming, it's not for domestic use as the T-mobile blackberry plans are flat-rate with unlimited data.

DO make sure that "worldclass roaming" is activated, they often forget this and you'll be without working roaming this weekend.

The charge for downloading email is only when roaming, it's not for domestic use as the T-mobile blackberry plans are flat-rate with unlimited data.

DO make sure that "worldclass roaming" is activated, they often forget this and you'll be without working roaming this weekend.

Right...they supposedly said it takes up to 48 hours ton activate international. I also realize that US internet use is unlimited; it's the international usage cost that I was describing...

You can activate T-Mobile service without the phone plan (I have a T-Mobile Blackberry and a Verizon phone). The service is $39.99/month for unlimited data and there is no tax.

Right...they supposedly said it takes up to 48 hours ton activate international. I also realize that US internet use is unlimited; it's the international usage cost that I was describing...

That international data roaming is actually pretty cheap, I remember paying 15 euros per 100Kb on KPN in the Netherlands for data roaming...

Coverage on the ATTWS, Cingular or T-Mobile GPRS networks is now FAR FAR superior to Mobitex or other similar packet networks EVER were... Rural coverage is coming in via many roaming partners as well now...

For a rough view of Mobitex see: http://www.cingular.com/business/mobitex_map

For the Cingular GPRS view, see:
http://www.cingular.com/download/GPRS_coverage_410.pdf

(BTW The Cingular "Future GPRS" coverage is actually mostly up today on all the US GSM networks via roaming agreements with rural network partners)

Roaming is no issue in Hong Kong, however the roaming agreement with China Unicom and/or China Mobile is still pending, so China is one of the FEW T-Mobile no go zones for GPRS roaming right now;

For the latest view of roaming countries, check this link anytime:

http://www.t-mobile.com/international/coverageInternet.asp

Roaming is no issue in Hong Kong, however the roaming agreement with China Unicom and/or China Mobile is still pending, so China is one of the FEW T-Mobile no go zones for GPRS roaming right now;

For the latest view of roaming countries, check this link anytime:

http://www.t-mobile.com/international/coverageInternet.asp

I had thought China was active because you can make calls from China, but alas looks like just Hong Kong...