Was in the market for a cheap prepaid handset as a work phone. Found this one- Decent BB for a great price, specially for qwerty admirers like myself!
Features-
$99 - Price Drop from $149… Probably cheapest on web?
Valid points. Blackberry market themselves as a business phone, yet all the businesses I know have moved away from them because of these reasons, and more.
For the cheap data plans & emails. CJ has $25/6mth unlimited BB data
My missus had one of these, dropped it whilst crossing the road, two cars ran over it & scattered it.
after putting it back together they only thing wrong was the ringer didn't work. pretty solid devices.
BB are quite reliable (as someone whose supported several thousand of them), they're just not sexy any more. They're not for me, but if you're just after basic phone, email, calendar & long battery life on the cheap, they're terrific. Oh some people choose it purely for BB messenger, especially if you're planning to do some rioting in London.
BB are quite reliable
Perhaps they're durable, but I certainly haven't found them to be reliable. I've experienced all the above mentioned issues with my Curve & I still can't get it to boot up.
They are quite reliable, certainly a lot less returns then iphones.
Most of the returns have been due to water incidents.
There are some issues with hardware like all devices, and also firmware fixes.
Anyway if you're after a BB then this is a bargain. Personally I've moved onto Android.
As someone who used to support them to, I am glad that no one uses them anymore. I always hated BES.
It got to the stage where we just paid for the syncing software so that the Blackberrys could sync with an Exchange server.
The annoying people who always wanted the latest Blackberry are now annoying people with iphones, but thats fine, iphones can at least interact with exchange.
dropped my curve many times, still going strong, love the qwerty keypad - awesome for emails and bbm, absolutely hate the app world.
CJ is dead. They are not selling Blackberry prepaid anymore :(
As for Telstra the cheapest plan for BIS is $40 per month. Vodafone $35. I just need the BIS so this is too expensive.
Virgin and Optus are no longer offering SIM card with BIS add-on.
I've had to do the odd battery pull, but out of the six or seven blackberry devices I've owned, I can't say I've ever had those other issues you talk of.
I've never had a Blackberry break or have any major issues, ever. Every previous phone I got was basically completely stuffed by the time my contract was up for renewal, until I switched to BB. The torch's and bold's I have had have been tough as nails and still working fine after 2 years. I've also dropped them a few times, if I had an ios my screen would be in pieces :p
I am using BB mainly for BBM Groups. You can post pic and other group members can discuss/comment on the pic.
The most beautiul thing is… all of those comments are stored and saved under each photo neatly.
So far there is NO APP on Android and iOS that can be more powerful (or t least can mimic this app) and better than this BBM Group app!
I honestly also cannot understand why people always answer me "Why don't you use Whatsapp?" :)
Whatsapp are soooo different and won't beat BBM Group in anyway :) Can you post pic in Whatsapp? of course YES. you can also comment it? YES. But how could you see and comment of past pictures after long chats had been made below that pics? YOU LOST IT!
BBM Group enables you to view and comment on past photos, and comment on it neatly as it is stored under each pic. No apps so far can beat this functionality :)
I love Blackberry but don't judge me I hate iOS and Android phone. I also bring BB, iPhone and Android wherever I go.
For me, each device has their own strengths and weaknesses. It's not for substituting or replacing each other, but letting you buy all of them :)
Dealhunter999 - you beat us to it again! Thanks for posting. Enjoy OzBargainers… FYI this is an online exclusive offer (not available in store or over the phone).
how much is it to unlock?
Hi Zelda707, the fee is between $50 and $150 (dependent on the handset) if you want to unlock within the first six months. After six months, the fee is $27.50.
Not a very clear answer. So how much is it to unlock THIS handset?
Sorry Jase H - I just spoke with our unlocking team and this phone would be $150 to unlock in the first 6 months.
Free unlocking for ozbargainers? :)
lmao screw that!
isn't there a cheaper alternative on ebay or something
If you google around you should be able to find free options to get it unlocked (speaking from experience ;) ).
That's a really good price for a OS7 device, it's basically a cut down version of the Bold 9900, it has everything you need and decent specs for the price and the latest OS (for now, OS10 devices out next month). A very good buy for those looking for a decent prepaid device, $149 was already a pretty good price. The rest of us are eagerly waiting BB10 release next month with the Z10, come on Telstra tell us something soon :)
Hi hamza23, you can register to find out about Blackberry releases on the Telstra network here: https://www.telstra.com.au/eoi/keep-informed/index.cfm?formI…
Hmm, too expensive for a dog toy. :)
still can't move away from BB qwerty keypad, too good for email and bbm
edit: for browsing, games, stream tv series and movies I have my nexus 7 to do those
Jump on the Blackberry Z10 when it's released next month, you won't be disappointed :) Fastest browser out period, a good amount of games and more coming from EA and Gameloft soon and all the media options you need.
i am leaning toward the Q10 with qwerty keypad, but i am also willing to give z10 a go as well, so excited with their new phones, been watching their videos in youtube.
a big plus is the time shift camera
Yeah I am going to take the plunge and get the Z10 next month. I love my bold 9900 and the keyboard, but have read so many stories of people like me who were sceptical but found the z10 touchscreen as fast as the bold 9900 and absolutely loved it. Reviews claim it's 40% quicker than any other touch screen typing device because of it's amazing predictive text and a lot of people say it's even quicker than their old bold keyboard because of how well it learns, nothing like any other touchscreen device. Saw this the other day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyt1jBDlsMc
bb also claimed that it has a world first international predictive text (not just english), if it is actually working than that would be a big plus for me since english is not my first language and i have lots of friends who bbm-ing without english.
agree, I'm in transition between my old 8520 and a Htc android and the qwerty keyboard can't be beaten, but you just have to move on with touch screen. the phone is quite tough as well, it's been through rain water twice and survived.
The annoying thing about Blackberry is their BIS/BES ecosystem which they have emphasised for years about its superiority toward business customer, but now they have realised they lost the battle and have to change. Who would want to pay $$ to have access to internet, email, etc. when any other phone can do that and can utilise your extra data that come with just any plan.
tried xperia arc and nexus 7 (i am using both devices and a bb curve) and absolutely hate typing on touch screen. i know i will have to move on, however i am still waiting for that device that would convince me, maybe z10 would sway me over… we'll see :D
Agreed. At the very least they should have given the customer the choice of using BES or just hooking their device up to Exchange or whatever.
The devices didnt become popular in the first place because of BES, it was because the handsets themselves were so good for sending emails compared to the Windows smartphones and other rubbish handsets of their day.
At the end of the day its all about selling handsets. If your customers don't want to use your server software (which they largely give away for free now anyway) then don't try and force them.
BTW, how come the rioters during the London riots used Blackberry Messenger? All the chavs and dole moles that I know use iphones. Even if I used BBM I doubt I'd have any more than one or two people to talk to.
I honestly cannot understand why anyone would spend a hundred bucks on a BlackBerry — what with the white screens of death, red lights of death, required weekly "battery pulls"…
I'd buy any cheapy Android phone over that – or even better, a Windows Phone.
(And this coming from a guy who's been given a BlackBerry Curve & Torch)