Blackberry mobiles..

How are Blackberrys when browsing the internet? Are they fast?

Would you recommend one?

Thx

I just inherited a second hand BlackBerry Pearl from my sister in law. And I freakin LOVE it. They don't call it CrackBerry for nothing!

It's not lightning fast on the internet, but is certainly very usable. Forum browsing/posting is a cinch... as is Goggling. Mine doesn't have WiFi, though.. perhaps the connection is faster this way?

You can download tons of useful internet applications as well.  I've been using Google Maps (even tells you where you are!) and Facebook like crazy. Facebook is perhaps a little too easy on BlackBerry - I find myself a little too addicted to it.

Email and texting is very easy due to the qwerty keyboard. And having instant access to email and attachments is brilliant.

I looove me my BlackBerry even though it's an old model. Some of the newer models look brilliant.

I want the Blackberry Bold.  It has 3G (whatever that is!) and wifi.  I've been dying for one for a year and I think it'll be my Hanukkah pressie to myself!

Hi Yael,

It depends on which carrier you use and the 'connection' speed/bandwidth provided by the radio signal at the time. In a strong signal area using 3G (3rd Generation - with current theoretical bandwidths of up to 7.2MB/sec) you'll find the 'responsiveness' of the browsing experience quite good. The weaker the signal the 'slower' the response will seem, also many other factors will factor, type of websites, internet traffic, server response times, website design and coding etc etc.

Probably the single most 'factor' would be browsing the web on such a small screen - it basically becomes bit of a pain in the but to haveto keep scrolling and resizing etc, newer handsets will have higher resoloution screens and nowadays some form of finger touch control (ie Iphone and HTC handsets) which make zooming into a section of page quicker.

You probably won't do 'all' of your surfing on a small PDA sized device but for frequently visited sites or important work related stuff you can excuse the small screen in order for it to become a useful tool. Away from work etc, you can use it to watch TV and pre-recorded shows and video's etc etc - and the latest devices will and have the ability to stream bbc I player directly ! (some save the content first I think)

Streaming TV will be made into a mass hyped function over the next few months and next year..

don't ditch yer laptop/desktop just yet!

Also, have a look around for reviews on particular handsets and blackberry alternatives - I've just picked up a HTC Touch HD and all I can say is 'wow' ! take a look at the blackberry Bold and Storm as well..  theres some good reviews around!

Hope this helps!

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

I have a Curve, and I love it.  Of course, I don't do all of my surfing on it, but I can't complain about the speed.  I use the regular browser, but for a while, I used the Opera mobile browser.  The difference is that it downloads regular websites faster, and you can just zoom into the page.  I ended up scraping it because I wasn't using it as much as the other, and with Blackberries, memory is an issue.

You will probably find your habits are different on a Blackberry than a regular computer.  I use things like Viigo or sites configured specifically for mobiles/PDAs. 

I recommend checking out the Crackberry forums for information and how-tos.  If you get it, I promise you will become a fellow addict. :-D

ETA: I am so glad my model has WiFi.  I save a lot of data usage by using that whenever possible so I can happily use Google maps when I am out and not worry that I am eating up all my fair use MBs.

if you don't need to have a Blackberry specifically, check out the Nokia E71, which is the phone I have (typing this post on it, actually!)  It's a direct competitor to the Blackberry Bold and I love it.  It's got all the bells and whistles- 3G, HSPDA, wifi, GPS, Exchange suppot, and browsing the internet is very usable (and fast over wifi/3G!). QWERTY keyboard.  And it's thinner than almost all the comparable phones, incl. iPhone and BB Bold. It's got a good music player and FM radio, and there's loads of official and third party apps for it.  I heart my phone.

The Storm looks nice... wish i could afford one!

I have a BB Pearl and have had one in the US and the UK on T-Mobile and O2 and they are pretty slow in my opinion as far as the internet goes.  The iphone is the fastest I've seen for internet surfing.  I love the BB for everything else though!  I just wouldn't recommend it if fast browsing is what you're after.

BTW, I strongly recomend you see BBs in person before making your decision.  I was going to go for a more traditional mobile because I couldn't get the Bold (this was before the Storm came out).  When I actually saw and held a Curve, I was shocked how pictures do not do these devices justice. 

After having a Curve for a while, I may get a Bold, but I would have to do a lot of thinking before I went touchscreen and half-qwerty for a Storm.  I really like the ease that I can type (believe it or not) on the rounded, raised keys.

Go to a store and feel the devices in your hands, and find out how easy it is to actually use them.

One thing I've found is a lot easier on a BB is email.  My husband doesn't like using Outlook on our machines, so it's nice to have all my email delivered to one place.  I only need to sign into my multitude of webmail accounts once in a while.

I want to cancel my home service and go to browsing on a cell phone so as to save. Does anyone think this is possible? Does it make sense? I think, and I'm guessing, I only pay about $8 a month for pay-as-you-go on my Nokia with T Mobile.

I think I'm paying about $40 a month for my home service with BAHA which I think is owned by Orange.

After reading these posts (thank you) I may check out Nokia E71. Thank you Springhaze! I don't need all the bells and whistles though.
iphone. Is that the fastest to surf the web? (Lisa)
Yael started this thread with asking was the Blackberry fast?

If you're in the States, Jim, be careful with the Nokia E71 because it may or may not be compatible with T-Mobile's 3G network (which mean you'll get much slower download speeds.)  It's not an issue over here in the UK, though.

As far as replacing home internet service with mobile phone browsing, if you go that route I would probably go for an iPhone or similar because of the large screen (unless you do a *lot* of emailing/typing, in which case something with a keyboard would be better.)  Maybe an Android phone?

Whats an Andriod phone?

http://www.t-mobileg1.com/