I've read the previous discussions about email retrieval but I have a question: if I buy an unlocked Blackberry on Ebay, would I be able to get my emails by switching the SIM card? The hotels we will be staying at advertise WiFi connectivity. I would rather not take my laptop with us so I'm looking for a solution!
Originally posted by rrlocal: I've read the previous discussions about email retrieval but I have a question: if I buy an unlocked Blackberry on Ebay, would I be able to get my emails by switching the SIM card? The hotels we will be staying at advertise WiFi connectivity. I would rather not take my laptop with us so I'm looking for a solution!
The places you are staying sound like they have internet access. Just check on your emails at the hotel once every couple of days and enjoy your time in Italy in between. Otherwise there isn't much point in going IMO.
Posts: 221 | Location: Birmingham,Alabama | Registered: 27 February 2005
Except for the very newest Blackberries, I don't believe they have WiFi capabilities. Note that this is very different from general data/email connectivity. In the past, most Blackberries and Smartphones used the cell system to connect to the Internet and retrieve email and surf the Interwebs. To do this you would need to get a prepaid SIM card in Italy that includes a data plan. Oh, and the phone or device you want to use should be tri or quad band to work in Italy.
But I will tell you of my solution. I purchased off eBay an unlocked T-Mobile Dash. It has quad bands, so it will function quite happily as a phone in Europe with addition of an appropriate SIM. But it, like several other newer phones, has an additional feature....It has WiFi capability.
If there's an open WiFi access point around, it will sniff it out and connect via WiFi. It will also connect to secured access points if you know the password. Once you connect via WiFi, the internet access becomes quite fast. Also, you don't use phone minutes because you're not connecting via the cell system. The Dash runs Windows Mobile 5 or 6, and has a pretty decent web browser and nice email. You can use it as a very small laptop, and BONUS!...a phone.
There are a few other very capable smartphones out there (the Wing is one with a slide-out keyboard), but I'm familiar with the Dash.
Posts: 17 | Location: SoCal | Registered: 13 May 2006
Just check on your emails at the hotel once every couple of days and enjoy your time in Italy in between. Otherwise there isn't much point in going IMO.
We have an elderly relative in a home whose health is precarious. We need to have access to email during the day in case of a problem!
Just check on your emails at the hotel once every couple of days and enjoy your time in Italy in between. Otherwise there isn't much point in going IMO.
We have an elderly relative in a home whose health is precarious. We need to have access to email during the day in case of a problem!
Sorry to hear - but I have been there before. I have an Italian cellphone that I use in Europe and the UK, just for such emergencies - but mainly to make restaurant reservations, etc. It cost me $100 several years ago, and I can top it off online from the states when I need to. Much more reliable than email IMO.
BTW - No one at work knows I have the phone.
Posts: 221 | Location: Birmingham,Alabama | Registered: 27 February 2005
If your phone can get e-mail (which a BlackBerry can), then you should be able to do it via a TIM card. This web page describes the TIM data plan we used in Italy. We were able to get e-mail on our Treo and use the Treo as a modem to connect to the computer. You might want to print out that web page and take it to the TIM store to help describe what you are looking for. That plan is best for non-business-hour use, but I think you can use it on a limited basis, or maybe for more money, during the work day as well.
Also, we found Callback World to be a good service for staying in touch with an elderly relative at home. I wrote a little about it on the Slow Trav cell phone roaming page (scroll to the bottom of that page).
I wrote a post about using a BlackBerry for email on my blog. I took the BlackBerry to Europe this summer and it was great - I have a T-Mobile data plan in the US and set it to work internationally for $20 more per month for the time we were away.
Mine does not connect thru WiFi, but throught the EDGE system which seemed to be everywhere (it works thru the cell phone system).
But, as people recommended above, it might be easier to just have a cell phone you can use there and have people call you if there is an emergency.
Unless you want to re program your Blackberry for the Italian system then you get Roam on your Sim card which is already set up. Ensure you can access the GSM phone system in Italy as well .This way all you need to do is forward your emails to your Blackberry. If you dont understand all this then give the Blackberry a miss. Use a phone.
An old traveler
Posts: 156 | Location: Wodonga Australia | Registered: 15 April 2006
Unless you want to re program your Blackberry for the Italian system ...
Pauline would know more about the BlackBerry, but when we used our Treo, there was no re-programming necessary. We just put in the Italian SIM card, purchased the data plan, and were able to connect with the regular email application on the phone. However, as others have said, this is not via Wi-fi but through the cell network.
By the way, I see that the new iPod Touch announced today will do wi-fi without the phone. That may be a new option for email on the go.
I am not sure how it would work with the BlackBerry - if it stores your email information for the phone or for the SIM card? But it only took a few minutes to set it up originally.
When I don't want to schlep my laptop, I bring my Palm TX. It's small and light and has wifi built in, so as long as I can find an open signal, I can get online.
A word of warning: Before using any public wi-fi hotspot, or Internet cafe, please read this security alert. I will post more about this in the Technology On the Go forum.
There is supposed to be a new BlackBerry 8800g with WiFi. I think it is available in Germany - but not at T-Mobile yet (the Cingular one does not have WiFi). I have been waiting for it to be announced for T-Mobile in the US.
Okay, it was the BlackBerry 8830 I think and I just checked the T-Mobile site and they finally have the BlackBerry 8800 - but it is not the model with WiFi. I had been reading some of the BlackBerry forums and they thought it was coming to T-Mobile.
I'm waiting until the last moment to buy a Palm TX. i don't want to spend more than $200 +/-, so I'm hoping for a sale or coupon! This trip is costing me a bunch as it is!!! BUT......worth it!!
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