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Old 2nd October 2008, 13:00   #61
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Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi View Post
I have been using Blackberry since it was introduced in India. I am now using my 5th different model.

I can tell you that these half QWERTY keyboards take a little getting used to, but they are quite good and pretty intuitive. But still there is nothing quite like a full QWERTY. Nothing.

Recently I started looking at my BB bills after some members PMed me to check. I use the 899/- plan and while in India it is cool, my average bill comes to between 7000/- and 8000/- (Take away the international calls and it's about 1600/- to 1800/-)
I got screwed this time in Germany. (I may have been getting screwed all the time I travel, I just never saw my bill)

This time in Germany I hardly used my phone. I was using a Nokia 1110 with a German pre-paid SIM card (thanks to TheOne®) and was using my BB mostly for emails.
I was charged a hefty 4800/- for Blackberry usage in Germany. Add to that 16 bucks per sms and some calls, my roaming was about 15000/- (!!) WITHOUT using my phone!

One tip: I am an airtel subscriber. While in Germany my phone switches between E-Plus and T-mobile. The BB usage charges on T-mobile were half as much as E-Plus which often charged my Rs.34/- per session (2 or 3 emails answered and recd) and there were many sessions in a day.

Now I am feeling bad about my bill. lol.
Hi Sam,

In view of the BB costs, is it feasible to get a WLAN enabled phone and will BB work off the WLAN or necessarily only on the GSM platform.

Question to be very precise, i want to use BB while roaming, and I want to use only the Wifi connection on the phone, not the GSM connection to access my mails or reply to them, will BB allow me to use Wifi only ?

Do advice,

regards
M M
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Old 2nd October 2008, 13:06   #62
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mmmjgm View Post
Hi Sam,

In view of the BB costs, is it feasible to get a WLAN enabled phone and will BB work off the WLAN or necessarily only on the GSM platform.

Question to be very precise, i want to use BB while roaming, and I want to use only the Wifi connection on the phone, not the GSM connection to access my mails or reply to them, will BB allow me to use Wifi only ?

Do advice,

regards
M M
Hey,

There are 2 BB models with wi-fi connectivity. But in both cases, the wi-fi is used fot the native browser of the phone. This means you can access your gmail through the browser using wi-fi.

However your Blackberry (whether you use it for POP access or Enterprise server) is EDGE/GPRS network dependent only.
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Old 2nd October 2008, 13:27   #63
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Originally Posted by Jaggu View Post
I used more than 95 MB in 30 days
If I keep viewing all the attachments that come with each mail, I think I might cross 100 MB easily.

Quote:
: I checked its 100 MB free usage with Rs 399 Mobile office. Had a bill here at home
I dont think I can shift back to Mobile Office with a BB handset even if I want to (as informed by the great 7070 support). When did this Rs.399 plan come to effect ? I remember it as Rs.20/- per day (140 weekly, around Rs.560/- monthly) plan that I used till my BB upgrade.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi View Post
I have been using Blackberry since it was introduced in India. I am now using my 5th different model.
You could find some precious time to educate these support guys (7070) about few practical doubts and concerns a BB customer could have !

Quote:
I was charged a hefty 4800/- for Blackberry usage in Germany. Add to that 16 bucks per sms and some calls, my roaming was about 15000/- (!!) WITHOUT using my phone!
Thats a huge tip to any roaming customer ! You call up the support or billing for some detailed explanation of your billing method (before bill generation), they would say "system down". If you ask them about charges while roaming, I bet, they might resign from the support job I have tried my luck getting some info on billing and roaming with different sweet voices, but with no result, except increasing your patience level to another grade !

I am curious to visit the support room one day to see the information materials available to them on the services they provide. I can compare it to a small tea shop where each item and price is displayed in the centre. Eg. Idli set (4 idlis) Rs.20/-, ask them "I want only 2 idlis". An inexperienced waiter will say "sorry sir, its only in set, you cant eat only 2". I hardly find any difference between this tea shop and the 7070 support
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Old 2nd October 2008, 14:25   #64
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That 4800 I was charged for BB usage was over a period of 14 days in germany.
Had I locked my phone to T-Mobile using manual network selection, the bill would have been about 3000/-

I receive about 50 emails a day and I usually don't open attachments on my BB, unless it is madly urgent.
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Old 2nd October 2008, 16:30   #65
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Thanks

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi View Post
Hey,

There are 2 BB models with wi-fi connectivity. But in both cases, the wi-fi is used fot the native browser of the phone. This means you can access your gmail through the browser using wi-fi.

However your Blackberry (whether you use it for POP access or Enterprise server) is EDGE/GPRS network dependent only.
Thanks Sam,

will keep in mind when roaming next.

cheers

M M
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Old 2nd October 2008, 16:58   #66
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Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi View Post
However your Blackberry (whether you use it for POP access or Enterprise server) is EDGE/GPRS network dependent only.
awwhh, thats bad. I get more than 200 emails a day and some with nice attachment files and if am stuck to EDGE am dead!

Is there any hacks to overcome this? Should be since its a pretty straight forward thing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by shajufx View Post
If I keep viewing all the attachments that come with each mail, I think I might cross 100 MB easily.
My 95 MBish was with minimal attachment viewing. When i usually pull email in the morning at office (12 hours break), its atleast 3 to 5 MB depending on a good or bad day, another 10 MB min through the day. So even on iPhone i use imap to minimize my data usage/dependency.


Quote:
Originally Posted by shajufx View Post
I dont think I can shift back to Mobile Office with a BB handset even if I want to (as informed by the great 7070 support). When did this Rs.399 plan come to effect ? I remember it as Rs.20/- per day (140 weekly, around Rs.560/- monthly) plan that I used till my BB upgrade.
These are standard monthly package with AirTel 399, 499 and 599 OR opt for the package you mentioned, which will allows one to subscribe and unsubscribe and charge pro rated. IIRC These are still available and i had subscribed first more than 1.5 years back.

Only last month i dropped the plan and instead using 100 MB free/month that came with the iPhone. 30ps for 50 Kb after this limit.
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Old 2nd October 2008, 17:26   #67
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Originally Posted by Jaggu View Post
These are standard monthly package with AirTel 399, 499 and 599 OR opt for the package you mentioned, which will allows one to subscribe and unsubscribe and charge pro rated.
Yes, I remember these options with data limitations ! I meant the unlimited weekly plan of Rs.140/-, best value for money for regular users. If you travel out of country, do you get the Mobile Office ? I have no clue about the charges if it is possible. BB service cost an arm and leg when you travel overseas as Sam mentioned !! Question is, what are the choices a travelling Indian can think of ?
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Old 2nd October 2008, 17:35   #68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaggu View Post
awwhh, thats bad. I get more than 200 emails a day and some with nice attachment files and if am stuck to EDGE am dead!

Is there any hacks to overcome this? Should be since its a pretty straight forward thing.
No jaggu, let me explain how it works with a BB though I am not literate in these matters.

First of all I could send you a 10MB attachment with the email and it would make no difference - not until you tried to open the attachment. All emails are the same data size, it merely shows the attachment, but does not download the attachment onto your BB.

Example: I receive a 3MB JPG as an attachment. My BB shows me an email, informs me that there is an attachment with this email.
If I choose to open the attachment, I have to go to the attachment menu and click on view. It then downloads a low-res copy of that jpeg - something to the tune of 100kb. A small blurry image. I can then zoom into a particular portion of that jpg and click "Enhance" it then downloads more information and enhances the zoomed area only.
I can also choose the option of "Download entire image" and then there will be a 3MB transfer. otherwise not.

Secondly, BB logging in with wi-fi.

BB does not operate like other push email phones.
Let me assume that you are not using a BB with your companies enterprise server, but using it as a POP email access device.

The device does not actually log into your POP/IMAP account. When you buy a BB, you have to open a BB email account.

This email account is then yourname@airtel.blackberry.com. You can send and recieve emails simply by using this email account. Then you go into options and choose for this BB email account to log into your other email accounts (must be POP or IMAP only) by adding accounts and giving the access details including password. You can program upto 10 email accounts.

Then you choose a primary account through which you will send all your mails from your handheld BB. You can also choose to Auto-BCC yourself, in case you wish to have a copy of the emails you send out using your BB, in the inbox of your outlook/mail/entourage.

Now the emails that are collected on the airtel.blackberry.com site are sent to your handheld using the EDGE network. There is no POP access to yourname@airtel.blackberry.com. So the question of using wi-fi to recieve BB mail does not arise.

You can however use the wi-fi on the browser and access your web-based email accounts if you choose.
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Old 4th October 2008, 11:14   #69
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Need Advice

I got my 9300i from repairs & using Airtel Mobile Office (GPRS) unlimited Rs. 200 monthly as its a corporate scheme, its a very old connection so i dont want to mess with the negligible data plan charges & continue to use it as it is (dirt cheap). Now i want to get Blackberry as i get very important 20-25 mails daily which i have to reply immediately as i'm getting into a new venture. I also have a Prepaid Reliance Mobile which i use for back-up & network issues while travelling. Then i chanced upon an advert from Reliance for Prepaid Blackberry Services (CDMA). They have 3 schemes:

BBP1099 - 30 days validity incl. of Service Tax
BBP1299 - BBP1099 + Unlimited Local SMS
BBP1599 - BBP1299 + Unlimited RIM-RIM STD

Now i have the following queries:
1. Is anyone using Reliance Blackberry (Postpaid or Prepaid)
2. How do you find the connectivity?
3. Can you source the instrument from the grey market as they're charging 32k's for the 8830 World Edition? Can the Curve 8330, which is slightly cheaper at 25k's view Word, Excel & PDF's?
4. What is the Max Data Speed that you get, is it the same 144kbps that you get with GPRS?
5. Do you think i should forget Reliance altogether and just activate it on my Airtel itself & go for Bold?

Thanx in advance,
Anil
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Old 4th October 2008, 23:47   #70
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Originally Posted by anilkalvani View Post
Now i want to get Blackberry as i get very important 20-25 mails daily which i have to reply immediately as i'm getting into a new venture. I also have a Prepaid Reliance Mobile which i use for back-up & network issues while travelling. What is the Max Data Speed that you get, is it the same 144kbps that you get with GPRS?
Blackberry is the best option if you want regular mail delivery to the handset and immediate reply facility. All other services (eg.Mobile office etc.) needs logging in whenever you want to check your mail. Airtel BB service is decent enough and hardly any complaints apart from the activation proces (not an issue if you approach the right customer care). Unless you know someone using reliance blackberry and has a good opinion about it, dont go for it. Just my 2 cents.
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Old 5th October 2008, 15:14   #71
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Thanks Sam for the explanation now its more clear In short BB is an exclusive EDGE/GPRS/3G service.

As you rightly said we rarely open big attachments while on EDGE/GPRS, but allowing wifi to be the internet carrier will definitely help in some situations (avoid huge data bills), unfortunately not possible right now.

Major advantage as i understand, BB is secure (encryption) and the instant Push facility it provides. But am still not very clear how it connects to other accounts (POP/IMPA), to provide instant push OR is it that BB account will connect to other accounts at specified intervals and then Push it to BB based on the activity?

@anilkalvani: if you are using a microsoft exchange, any mobile with exchange support will work well OR phones with Fetch facility will work well, and you can set interval for fetch as frequent as 5 mts, as per your requirement. Fetch = auto check, pull email.

Though i have read that, sometimes there are delays of few minutes in the Push facility of exchange server.

In short any decent phone with email client and a EDGE/GPRS connection can help you, if you are looking for cheaper options.
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Old 5th October 2008, 15:50   #72
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Quote:
@anilkalvani: if you are using a microsoft exchange, any mobile with exchange support will work well OR phones with Fetch facility will work well, and you can set interval for fetch as frequent as 5 mts, as per your requirement. Fetch = auto check, pull email.

Though i have read that, sometimes there are delays of few minutes in the Push facility of exchange server.

In short any decent phone with email client and a EDGE/GPRS connection can help you, if you are looking for cheaper options.
Hey Jaggu,
Thanx. I remember i had this 'fetch' on E61i (Majorly Hanged; had it for 1 month; was lying with Nokia for 20 days) & E90 (sold it in a week; S60 limited features compared to S80; would have to use too many 3rd party apps) which i had for a short time which i used to set autocheck for. I think i'll hold on to my 9300i & wait for a new improved Communicator. The thing is this, once you use a 9300i with S80, you just can't use a S60 with its limited functionalities & features. Also once a communicator user, always a communicator user. I have heard a lot of good things about the Bold as it has document editors, plus with the prospect the best e-mail functionality, i was thinking about upgrading to a Bold with Blackberry Connect. Lets wait & see.

Still i hope to know if any one on t-bhp has used Blackberry for Reliance so that i can have best of both worlds.

Anil
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Old 5th October 2008, 20:26   #73
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Reliance is aggressively marketing BB handsets, as far as their networks go they were lightning fast when launched, but slowed down when users increased.

As far as communicator goes, its matter of time that you will get used to a new OS. I for one moved from communicator to Win Mob and then to iPhone apart from the additional advantage of a full fledged hardware keypad, i dont miss much.

An easy upgrade would be to use your phone as a GPRS/EDGE modem and use laptop for your emails this will give you absolute access to work. Carrying a laptop is a small price to pay for this.
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Old 6th October 2008, 00:46   #74
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Just got my E90 and setting up blackberry on it. Airtel is majorly confused on what it needs to tell its customers, I have a non blackberry manufactured handset.

This is a pain to endure. The numerous paid calls to the 7070 numbers etc.

BTW the E90 is a neat device.

cheers

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Old 6th October 2008, 10:38   #75
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I have now officially upgraded to the Blackberry 9000 (bold) after having a hands on experience with the Thunder. I personally cannot type on the thunder (similar problem with iphone. I have massive thumbs) The keyboard on the 9000 is ergonomically designed for best results. Loving the handset, and I recommend it for anybody looking for an upgrade.

I am currently using BB services from Airtel. No issues regarding signal strength and quality of network service, but like everybody in this thread has stated, if something does go wrong you're SOL, and have to spend countless hours with the inefficient customer service personal at 7070.
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