Blackberry vs Air Cards w/ Service Monster - Users

[tmdry]

We're looking to use our laptops in the vans and in client's homes. We need the laptop there so we can access Service Monster. Some people have said it can be accomplished without the laptop just on the blackberry.

I've noticed the cost for these air cards now are around $60 a month, some carriers charge that for unlimited while others are not unlimited. With Blackberries you can use the data connectivity card and plug it into your laptop and access the internet using your cell phone's service, being 2G or 3G depending on your service provider.

We don't have a blackberry not an air card, but we're trying to see what would be the most cost effective way of accomplishing this without spending a fortune. It looks to me that the blackberry route would be cheaper than the aircard my main concern is the speed if i were to use the 2G or 3G speed w/ my laptop with Service Monster to check on our daily routine. I sent SM an email as well.

Another concern and dilema is can we access the net on the blackberry to get onto SM, thought maybe the screen of the cell phone would be too small, i know it's possible to do this w/ email just not sure how effective it would be with SM. Our main "hub" computer will be in our regular office internet.

Service Monster cost is $30 plus $20 route, so $50/month.
Blackberry Curve w/ Sprint - $100 unlimited
Blackberry Curve w/ other service providers - $25 additional to your current plan for unlimited web.
Aircard - $60/month

It's pricier to go with SM w/ aircard, when doing more than one route/van. However as stated above how effective would the blackberry be with the laptop running on 2G or 3G network to access SM, email, etc.

 

[floorguy]

offically you cant do PAM (phone as modem) with sprint anymore..

with that being said, all you do is DL a program, plug your BB into the laptop and away you go...

just know if they choose to bill you for the "extra MB of PAM" then they can...

I used it and works friggen awesome...speeds about DSL speed..

anyother questions let me know.

 

[Jim Nazarian]

I cant help you with SM, maybe you can stop by a Verizon store & play with a Blackberry & see if SM's website would work for.

I am blown away with my Blackberry Storm, having the internet in your pocket anywhere & anytime is simply awesome, I access the web with my Storm all day long...its been an incredable tool.

 

[TimP]

From what I've read you have to be carefull about how much data you use though. They say "unlimited" but that means 5 Gb of data. There was an article about some person getting billed 62 grand for data use to download a movie or something.


We are actually thinking about getting blackberrys for the wife and I. Alltel has them for 19 bucks after rebate plus the 2nd one free, for a pearl. The curve is 80 bucks each....


I also read that next year Verizon/Alltel will be rolling out their next generation of wireless internet service. And something about apple in talks with verizon.

 

[Kevin. McCreary]

I have had a blackberry for almost 10 years, I prefer the operating system. Servicemonster has blackberry usage in the works. As it stands it only works with internet explorer. I have a mini notebook with a Verizon wireless card and an unlimited plan and it works flawlessly. Its a little slower than the T1 in the office but very sufficient for the road. I have booked jobs on the beach.

 

[joey895]

From what I've read you have to be carefull about how much data you use though. They say "unlimited" but that means 5 Gb of data. There was an article about some person getting billed 62 grand for data use to download a movie or something.


We are actually thinking about getting blackberrys for the wife and I. Alltel has them for 19 bucks after rebate plus the 2nd one free, for a pearl. The curve is 80 bucks each....


I also read that next year Verizon/Alltel will be rolling out their next generation of wireless internet service. And something about apple in talks with verizon.

Hey Tim, I just switched to an Alltel Blackberry Curve this week and I'm loving it. My only complaint is the keys are a little too close together for my comfort. If you decide to get one check out letstalk.com. I got mine for $0 out of pocket plus a $100 mail in rebate, of course the standard 2 year contract. The only downside is it took about a week to get.

As far as trying service monsters website in a store, it's a good thought but in reality it won't tell you anything because the standard blackberry browser is pretty much worthless except on mobile optimized sites. If you use your BB for internet check out the browsers "opera mini" and "bolt". I've got both on my phone, so far I'm leaning towards opera. It's very fast and does a great job of displaying the full version of websites.

 

[Sticky]

I just got the black berry storm from verizon. They called me and offered me to switch from my Palm Treo 700w(JUNK) to a Black Berry Storm. I only paid $99 for the phone. I pay $100 for unlimited talk and an extra $29 for unlimited internet usage. I can hook it up to my laptop and get the internet. I just havent done it that much. Not that fast IMO.

I think if your planning on using it all the time go with the Verizon Card. Make sure its really unlimited.
Time Warner is starting to charge for Bandwith soon here in, Rochester NY, which is one of 10 test markets. I don't know all the details but they said Road Runner will be from $29.99 to $79.99 depending on how much bandwith you use...I might have to switch to DSL cuz I'm not paying $60 or $80 a month for internet....

 

[MarkCermak]

Rob, last I heard Time Warner canceled that project due to bad reaction from customers / bad press (or at least their plans to implement it in our area).

Both Verizon and Sprint have 5 GB caps .... I've been victim of them.

I now use Millenicom for mobile broadband provider. No contract, no taxes, and most importantly, we havent been cut off for excessive usage yet (Sprint cut us off after just a few days).

 

[tmdry]

Tmobile is also up to 5GB limit for $60 a month.

 

[TimP]

Well I went and bought 2 blackberrys. They were buy one get one free for the curve. So far I think it's pretty cool to be able to check your e-mail and surf the net away from home. I'm trying to figure it all out and it will take some time.


So far it's cool. I'll be taking more pictures of jobs probably because of it too.

 

[Jim Nazarian]

For news, forums etc... head over to http://crackberry.com from your phone use http://m.crackberry.com/


For you Storm users, I would highly recommend updating your phones operating system to one of the leaked versions.

 

[tmdry]

Well I went and bought 2 blackberrys. They were buy one get one free for the curve. So far I think it's pretty cool to be able to check your e-mail and surf the net away from home. I'm trying to figure it all out and it will take some time.


So far it's cool. I'll be taking more pictures of jobs probably because of it too.

Was that the Sprint Curve you got?

 

[tmdry]

For news, forums etc... head over to http://crackberry.com from your phone use http://m.crackberry.com/


For you Storm users, I would highly recommend updating your phones operating system to one of the leaked versions.

What is the main difference between the storm vs the 8900 curve or the sprint 8300 series curve?

I went on the site above but there are a million threads, can be a bit confusing.

 

[Jim Nazarian]

http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/

 

[floorguy]

as far as i know, sprint doesnt do a buy 1 get 1

and the 8330 is the only sprint has...outstanding phone by the way...go to the crackberry site and scroll down to carriers and click sprint. Found everything there i have needed.

the storm is touch screen and has a few issues

the 8900 or bold, is bigger then the 8330 better buttons, a little faster bigger screen.

sprint is soon to get a version of the 8900, though there is wide speculation when and what it will have.. Maybe wi-fi.

if your with sprint, see if the palm pre would work, i have heard a few cool things about it..

and whoever has a BB needs to dl the world app...awesome

 

[TimP]

Well I went and bought 2 blackberrys. They were buy one get one free for the curve. So far I think it's pretty cool to be able to check your e-mail and surf the net away from home. I'm trying to figure it all out and it will take some time.


So far it's cool. I'll be taking more pictures of jobs probably because of it too.

Was that the Sprint Curve you got?

I got the 8330 on alltel.

 

[truckmount girl]

I have an aircard for my netbook and a Blackberry (Storm). I like it that way. Accessing the internet on the BB is difficult, especially if you are in the over 40 crowd and can't read anything without blowing it up huge and scrolling, hooking to my netbook is a PITA as well, but the phone is great by itself and the camera is awesome on it and text messaging is a breeze. The aircard is great too, I've never been anywhere I couldn't get service, I don't use it a lot, so I have the 30 dollar a month limited plan. I use Verizon for all my phones.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[floorguy]

I have an aircard for my netbook and a Blackberry (Storm). I like it that way. Accessing the internet on the BB is difficult, especially if you are in the over 40 crowd and can't read anything without blowing it up huge and scrolling, hooking to my netbook is a PITA as well, but the phone is great by itself and the camera is awesome on it and text messaging is a breeze. The aircard is great too, I've never been anywhere I couldn't get service, I don't use it a lot, so I have the 30 dollar a month limited plan. I use Verizon for all my phones.

Take care,
Lisa

oh man you mean you got rid of the star rex phazer looking thingy???

 

[Kevin. McCreary]

Sometime soon I'm told you can look for a servicemonster blackberry update.

 

[tmdry]

That crackberry site is pretty cool, after i asked my question that Jim answered(thx Jim), i took some time and man there's a ton of info on there, i forgot to scroll down to the newbie section.

I have tmobile right now, but apparently they told me i can't get the 8900 curve because i already upgraded to a phone, we have a family plan w/ them now 2 phones and the contract is a 2 year contract, it would probably be more expensive for i to get out of Tmobile and pay cancellation fees to use another network. I really just want to get internet on the laptop, but i'm scared of going over the 5gb limit on the aircard as some people have said they've gonne over it already. Some have said the internet w/ the blackberry usb to the laptop ain't bad, while others say it's slow, i guess i'll just have to figure it out on my own, gonna see if i can take my laptop to the local tmobile store and hook it up to the 8900 curve, or ask people that have tmobile to do it w/ their 8900 and tell me how it works for them. Switching carriers i think will be too costly, not trying to spend a fortune since if i stick to tmobile i might have to buy the phone on ebay, which is still around $300 bucks.

 

[tmdry]

Finally got not only 1 but 2 Blackberries 8900 Curves...pretty excited.

Went to a tmobile store and everything came out to $50 a piece after mailing in rebate.

Now i just gotta figure out how to use it!

Next step is newer laptop and service monster!

 

[Brian R]

Finally got not only 1 but 2 Blackberries 8900 Curves...pretty excited.

Went to a tmobile store and everything came out to $50 a piece after mailing in rebate.

Now i just gotta figure out how to use it!

Next step is newer laptop and service monster!

Service Monster just changed some things on their site. Pretty cool.
I am not sure there is anything new I can use but the video was cool.

 

[Jim Nazarian]

Congrats on the new phones, after a couple of days you will be addicted.

If for some reason your not happy with the phone you should have 30 days to return it, something you might want to consider because Blackberry has 2 new phones coming out, look at the 9630 Tour http://crackberry.com/warning-picture-m ... tour-9630s

or Storm2.

 

[tmdry]

Nice,

I'm having a tough time with tethering, been on crackberry's site the last few days trying to figure it out, gonna call tmobile and see whats up.

 

[Jim Nazarian]

I don't tether but from what I understand there is a 5 GB a month limit on usage, I believe you can go up to 10 GB a month for an extra charge, 5GB should be enough as long as your not downloading tons of media.

Do a search for a program called Tetherberry

 

[tmdry]

I don't tether but from what I understand there is a 5 GB a month limit on usage, I believe you can go up to 10 GB a month for an extra charge, 5GB should be enough as long as your not downloading tons of media.

Do a search for a program called Tetherberry

The limit is only for people running the air cards, that's one of the reasons i choose the phone over the aircard.

 

[Terry]

sm tells me the blackberry version will be here in the next 2 months. As somebody who's about to go the sm route but is unsure about a small mobile device like a blackberry because of ease of use has anyone a laptop or notebook to refer.


Terry

 

[Brian R]

Dell has those half size laptops for like $400.00 or something. Would be cool....and you can use your blackberry to get it on the internet......I think.

 

[Ron Lippold]

getverizons notebook it has the air card built in to it ihave been using it for 5 months fantastic