A few questions for the Blackberry people.

[Ted]

Claire (eldest) and in Uni, is coming to the end of her current contract. The new one has to be a Blackberry, honestly, it has to be, or I'm in deep trouble, Uni-cred is a powerful force  , so I'm looking at the Bold 9700, seems like a good phone and the reviews seem to be favourable, any comments on the phone would be helpful.

With regard to the "push email" side of things, can "any" email address be forwarded to the device, (with BB contract, of course ) would her .ac.uk address be ok, being web based? I know very little about BB email, never had anything to do with it.

There are some reasonable (not as reasonable as I'd like  ) contracts available these days, I'm looking at this http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_contract_details.asp?ItemKey=371022&MPItemKey=388168&NetKey=4 and some others, seems to include just about everything. If you have any recommendations on contracts, I'm all ears. I don't know if the photo messaging it that important, just trying to cover my backside 

[Rik]

Simon's probably your best bet here, Ted.

[Simon]

I have the Storm, which is the touchscreen model, Ted, and I've never used a Bold, but they all run virtually the same operating system, which seems solid enough, and is upgraded regularly. 

She will be able to use any POP3 email account, but whether her uni email supports POP3, I don't know.  U think IMAP email also works with the BB.

As far as contracts goes, I am with O2, on a BlackBerry tarrif, which includes calls, texts and all data.

[Rik]

U think IMAP email also works with the BB.

But they have great trouble spelling. 

[Glenn]

You've proved it's not the phone, it happens on them all, with Simon in charge  

[Rik]

I didn't like to say that.

[Ted]

I have the Storm, which is the touchscreen model, Ted, and I've never used a Bold, but they all run virtually the same operating system, which seems solid enough, and is upgraded regularly.  

She will be able to use any POP3 email account, but whether her uni email supports POP3, I don't know.  U think IMAP email also works with the BB.

As far as contracts goes, I am with O2, on a BlackBerry tarrif, which includes calls, texts and all data.

She hates touchscreens, that's why its the bold I'm interested in, probably will go for that model.

Yeah, that email, I don't have a clue. I think I'll have to contact BB\Network provider to clarify the situation, that's the address that is most important to her at the moment. Perhaps the admin at Loughborough would know? Time for an email  

O2 are good, I have two contracts running concurrently at the moment, for both of the girls, both redemption deals and very good value   . With this particular combination of phone and contract, its not as easy to find a cheap deal  

[Rik]

Simon manages to, at least every few months...

[Steve]

I have no problems with push email on the iphone via 02 I have a variety of IMAP servers in use (not ac.uk) which all work.

[Simon]

Re the email, Ted, I believe it also supports Exchange, but I don't know how the uni accounts work.  If other people have BlackBerrys, though, I would think emails would work, as it's a key selling point for the brand.  Of course, she could possibly access via the phone browser. 

[Ted]

I have no problems with push email on the iphone via 02 I have a variety of IMAP servers in use (not ac.uk) which all work.

Thanks Steve, that's encouraging. I can't really see that there would be a problem, lots of people use Imap these days. I'll check it out with the Network.

[Steve]

A quick google and I've found 2 sets of instructions for setting up ac.uk email with a blackberry.


Edit; Vodafone are picky about the smtp server (use theirs) according to a colleague with an iPhone.