Hey folks,

I'm considering a 2nd hand Blackberry, but I have several questions.

Will I have problems registering for Blackberry Messenger (e.g. if the PIN has been registered before).
Will I be able to send e-mail using my data plan, or will I need a special "blackberry e-mail" package?
Shall I just wait and get a new one instead?

Oh, and I was thinking blackberry pie.

To use BB features you need an access to BB servers, that service is called BIS (BB Internet service).

You will need to ask your mobile phone provider to add it to your price plan and my guess is it costs about £5 p.m. I bought my BB with a new contract and the price of BIS is not mentioned, it is included there already, so I don't know.

BIS will give you push email, web browsing (browsing goes through BB servers too) and BB messenger. Without BIS your BB is like a car without an engine. You can push the car around but what is the point of having a car then?

Regarding a pin, I believe you can use the one on that is the second hand one. BB messenger won't be a problem as all you would need to do it delete old contacts and add yours. Once the contact is deleted on your device, it is also deleted automatically on contact's device so no issues with privacy using second hand. Best is to ask your mobile provider about the pin when you ask them for BIS to be added to your price plan, just to be 100% sure.

Regarding a new vs old device, I would advice you to go for something that has 3g. There are two phone on the market with 3g, BB Bold 9700 and BB Storm 2. You might think that you won't need 3g but believe me, BBs are very addictive and you will use it all the time for everything. Also don't go for anything with less than 128mb of memory so you can have enough space for some apps and won't slow the device down.
Another thing to consider is that RIM will be releasing new OS 6.0 sometimes this year and it seems you will need a new device with enough memory (256mb min?) to upgrade to 6.0. So again, I would go for one of those that I mentioned.

Good place to start and learn about the BB is this website:
http://crackberry.com/blackberry-101-how-lecture-series

Cheers Koli, that's very useful!

I found out the answer to pin question: PIN is permanently tied to one specific device, it can never be changed. So you will have to use the pin that with comes with your BB. No way around...

Thanks Koli, I've picked up a Bold 9000 2nd hand to try, it has 3G and 128MB memory so I'll see how it goes, if I like it I'll look to upgrade to a new one when my contract is up for renewal (perhaps the then new Bold, or the Storm 3 if it comes).

The PIN on this BB has been de-registered so I should be able to use it again, and my network provider (T-Mobile) said I can get BIS for £5pm by texting BB1 to 879.

Bloomin' Blackberry users comin' in 'ere, givin' it all that, as if the rest of us care.


Seriously, I've found the people I've met who use Crackberries fall into two camps - love it or hate it.
May you find it the former.

That's what I intend to find out, it'll take a lot to take me away from Android though.

Excellent, looks like a decent phone. Make sure you upgrade to the latest OS update and to BBM 5.0 if it doesn't have it already.
Good luck and get in touch if you need help.

i have one for work and its fantastic no use for a personal phone though, IMHO.

Our users never got on with them (Bold 8300s), they complain about the keyboard and the user interface. The directors switched to iPhones last year and the rest all want them now. It will also save us a server, if we can drop stop using BES.

I've got a BB for work.
Godawful thing. Nowhere near as good as my iphone or my old HD2 for email (& I thought the HD2 was a bit ropey, I take it all back)

See, now that's what I thought, yet they (friends et al) rave on about them. There's a bit of peer pressure going on here (and economics) in that because some of them are going abroad for summer, the "free" BBM is the only way they'll be keeping in touch.

Still, I shall give it a go, though I'd have to fall head-over-heels in love with it if I'm going to even consider giving up my Android phone.

I have a work one which is used with a Blackberry Enterprise Server. Nothing wrong with it at all, though I would not have one as a personal phone.

So the Storm2 won't get the OS6. So I am still hoping for a webkit browser coming to Storm 2 and make up for it.

RIM introduced a new slider and OS6. It looks pretty good:
http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/blackberrytorch/
http://crackberry.com/blackberry-torch- ... mpressions

That OS6 better be awesome cause it is not looking to good for RIM if this is to be believed:
21% of BlackBerry owners not-so-secretly want Android

Mind you, RIM sales in Q2 were very good.

http://channel.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=25789