GPRS & EDGE II - This time it's a summary

[ferginitaly]

Hi there
Don't know if I should be posting this here, but please tell me if it's the wrong place. Do any of you know much about Blackberrys? I have just got one here in the UK and thought it would be very useful when in Italy - I could see all my emails straight away and wouldn't have to keep connecting (or trying!) to connect via the laptop. However I was told before buying it that I could transfer stuff from the phone onto the laptop without connecting to the internet. What I need to be able to do is somehow get an attachment to an email (in excel) onto the laptop where I can work on it, and print it out. Now it appears that this can't be done. Anyone know if that is correct?
I also have an Italian vodafone voice/data sim card which I use to connect to the internet, via a vodafone mobile connect card, and I wondered if I could use this sim card in the Blackberry when in Italy. The UK sim is also Vodafone, and the techie guy I spoke to here in the UK said I should be able to do it, but the Blackberry would have to "associate" the number. At present it "associates" with the UK sim number. He assured me that it wasn't "locked" to just that number, but I have no idea how I could go about changing it. Any ideas?
One final question - I have an internet cafe a few meters from my apartment in Italy, where I sometimes go if I can't get connected via the laptop. Do you think it would be possible to go to the cafe with my laptop and connect via wireless to the internet and work on the laptop instead of their computers? Do people do this sort of thing? I wouldn't mind paying more than the usual charge as it would be so convenient.

Thanks in advance to anyone who might help.

Linda

[tuscanhills]

Some good questions & I have to confess, I can only add little in answer to your questions....

Originally Posted by ferginitaly

...I was told before buying it that I could transfer stuff from the phone onto the laptop....

I've never heard of this, but instintively, I'd try using Bluetooth & link your BB to your PC, then the transfer of files is done 'free' rather than any other way. If your lappy doesn't have Bluetooth, you can buy a dongle that plugs into your USB.........look at eBay -> eBay.co.uk - bluetooth dongle, bluetooth dongle Laptop Accessories, Cases Bags items at low prices

Originally Posted by ferginitaly

...I also have an Italian vodafone voice/data sim card

Can't help; suggest you bung it in & give it a go!

Originally Posted by ferginitaly

...I have an internet cafe a few meters from my apartment in Italy...

This should be possible is the cafe is wi-fi'd. Each wi-fi provider has one of several contract (The Cloud, T-Mobile etc..) that you need to pay for but these vary from a simple PAYG arrangement to more formal, monthly charge contracts. I've done this regularly with work & it's great.

[geoffking39]

First of many thanks to Tuscanhills/others for putting this thread together , am using my laptop with unlocked Vodafone card with Tim sim for the first time no problems just having to get used to GPRS rather than 3G . I bought the sim at the TIM shop in Amandola showed the gentleman the paperwork with the Tim offer of 25€ weekend and evening but ended up being charged 45€ my Italian was no were good enough to understand the extra 20€ , thought it may have been because this was the first purchase and would be 25€ when topped up . On the following Monday in the Geometra`s office the Geometra asked about using a laptop with the data card , as i showed him it became obvious that the Internet connection was live when connected although i assumed that it would not be as i had paid only for weekend and evenings . Is it possible the extra 20€ was the daytime TIM tariff and both were added to my sim , thanks for any help , Geoff .

[NickZ]

The 25 Euro rate is unlimited off peak but you can use it during the other times. The thing is you get charged for it. How much depends on the transfers done. I don't remember if there was a time charge also.

[TuesdaySue]

I've also just signed up for Tim's EDGE GPRS to use with my laptop, because my area is not covered by Vodafone's faster (and better value) 3G service. It's faster than dial-up, but still leaves something to be desired...
I need it during the day, rather than just off-peak, so I pay E20 a month for unlimited time online, but a very stingey half gig of information transfer (yes, per month!). So no using Skype, or big downloads. I can activate the service on a second sim card if I use up the half gig, and pay another E20 for an overlapping month.
In total I paid... E100 for a phone, E15 for a cable to connect the phone to the laptop, E10 x 2 for sim cards plus E20 for the monthly fee. Oh and goodness knows how much in petrol visiting the shop umpteen times trying to get it to work!
My advice: don't get a Motorola phone! They expect you to pay for the software the make the internet work - even though you've already paid them for the phone, cable and internet! Nokia is much better.
It's good to be back in touch with the world...

[Niall]

Thanks to all who helped clarify the best option for a sim card. Armed with this new knowledge we got a phone unlocked before we went and bought a data cable.. found a friendly shop where the guy sorted everything out for us. Bought the 25€ and also the 20€ tariffs as we needed daytime also for work.. would be interested to know how the 25€ option works during the daytime.. does that come off any credit you have for voice usuage perhaps?

Only one problem.. would not work! Spent hours over the next few days running from phone shop to computer shop and back until the answer emerged.. the shop in Ireland had sold me the wrong data cable! oh my... once we bought a new one it worked in moments!! Oh well, it did mean I got to discover useful parts of Sulmona that I had no cause to venture in to before! haha

[English teacher]

Tuesday Sue -

We've been using the TIM service for just over a year, and the service is patchy at best. But there are potentially better options: not just Vodafone (which we can't get either) but also Tre and UMTS coverage. You can find out if your area is covered by UMTS on the Telecom Italia site - it gives you a search comune by comune.

[Sibillini]

3 in the UK have just introduced a new mobile broadband service using a dongle type modem a la Vodaphone. The cost is £10 / month for 1 Gb, £15 for 3 Gb and £25 for 7Gb and there is a charge of £49 for the modem if you go for the 1Gb option. Not very exciting.

The interesting part however is I that I checked with their CS people and it seems that if you can use your laptop in Italy on the tre network, the usage just comes out of your UK allowance with no additional charges. Thus, whilst perhaps not as cheap as some of the offers available from Tim and Co as it is a monthly contract, it does have the great advantage for those of us who are linguistically challenged, in that it is all in English.

Details at:

3 Products and Services - Mobile Broadband

[NickZ]

Seems like TIM is now selling laptops with the card installed. The price at the online store isn't horrible either. I doubt it's the best either but for those that don't want the hassle of setting something up themselves it might be an option.

I'm assuming the other companies are or will be offering the same option. Wouldn't suprise me if Dell,HP etc start offering the cards and laptops directly like they do in some countries.

[NickZ]

Just checked they HP seems to be offering at least one laptop with the card installed and setup for Vodaphone. At least I think it's set up.