That is too bad there aren't cell phones out there with the same TTY abilities as the BB (yeah I know about the ones you hook up with a cable to a TTY).
BlackBerry do not have native TTY abilities.
BlackBerry just simply can accept third party software for U.S. services that turn the device into the equivalent of a TTY.
I've even turned an iPhone into a TTY and Captioned Telephone, by running special software on it. Same goes for TREO, Pocket PC, even Nokia etc. They all can turn into a TTY with special software especially in the United States. Unfortunately, it's not possible to do this in Canada.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to turn a BlackBerry into a TTY in CANADA without some tricks. You are out of luck... Canadian's must use a cable between a cellphone and a BlackBerry to call Bell Canada Relay service.
Very few people do things like jerryrig a homebrew ip-relay service like I did (BlackBerry->Telnet/SSH->Linux->TDD Modem->Dial 711->Bell Canada Relay) since that requires quite a bit of technical knowledge.
Now I like that $57.00, but that doesn't include the additional $15.00 a month to get the SpinVox voice-to-text messaging service, right?
Nope, it doesn't. I do have to pay that $15 per month extra charge.
The salesperson kept saying something about paying $30.00 a month to lease the BB.
It's best to buy outright. Personally, I prefer GSM devices because they use the SIM card method.
That way, it's easy to switch between different phones. I remove the SIM card from my BlackBerry and plug it into an iPhone. Presto! My phone number has been instantly transferred from BlackBerry to iPhone. I can own two phones and just have one phone plan. I can move the SIM card between phones. I can even get phones off eBay, or off my mom (if she's Rogers), or off a friend -- All I do is transfer the SIM card, which is like a digital camera's memory card. I don't even need to tell Rogers I'm using a different cellphone -- it takes less than 2 minutes to move my cellphone number from one cellphone to a different cellphone. As easy as moving a memory card between two gadgets.
Fido and Rogers (GSM) can only do that. Bell Mobility and Telus cannot. Too bad we Canadians are stuck with Fido and Rogers if we want cellphone flexibility.
Well, what exactly should I be asking for and where should I get a TTY-fuctioning BB? eBay sounds dodgy to me, how do I know it's not a rip-off or whatever?
eBay is hundreds of thousand of sellers, including people like you and me. Everybody sells from big reputable companies down to the criminals, so yes you must exercise some judgement. You can, yes, accidentally buy from a criminal off eBay. eBay is just one big classified ads website -- like the Classifieds section of the newspaper, but better. You can even hold a garage sale of your own items on eBay. But also big companies sell there, even including Dell Inc. (the big computer maker) at least at some time in the past, to get rid of used/refurbished computers that are perfectly working, etc. It is also more environmentally friendly, buy and sell used stuff instead of throwing them away....
I recommend the book "
eBay For Dummies" as a good introduction to safely making purchases on eBay. The book is also available at the local Chapters/Indigo, and I think it could be found at Smithbooks too. It is an excellent book. I have had 100% safety success on my last 74 purchases off eBay. But yes, eBay can be dangerous, just be "safe smart" on eBay; learn how to be safe on eBay!
(The "eBay for Dummies" books have generally good reviews. Such as "
Yes..I was afraid..I was very afraid..but there's no better feeling than going into something armed with knowledge, even if you are a newbie! And you don't need to read it cover to cover to get started. It's easy to look up and find answers to questions you have to get started, and it'll always be there as a refrence as you go along and become more comfortable.You'll be a biddin' and a buyin'(and maybe even a sellin')in no time at all. Be careful though..you may get hooked!")")
I've checked FutureShop and BestBuy but it looks like one has to buy the wireless plan from either Rogers or Telus, especially if I want that SpinVox.
You can add Spinvox later to ANY plan. Just get some cheap plan first, then get Spinvox added later by telephone to Rogers. That's what I did. Salespeople know nothing.
One can get a cheap $20/month voice plan in the store. Then call into Bell or Rogers to switch it into a better data plan, and then add SpinVox, and enhance their plan. You only need an activated month by month plan, preferably on no-contract to begin with, then you can make some informed decisions about "upgrading" the phone plan.
You may wish to skip resellers and go directly into a large Rogers or Telus or Bell Mobility store (when the people there are not busy) and do it there. If they are pushy, leave and go to a different store...
Anyway, I really liked that BB Curve 8310. The keyboard was large enough for my not-so-nimble thingers, plus I didn't need to change functions from numbers to letters like on the smaller phones.
The Curve is a great device, but BlackBerry Bold will be even better!
Any advice you can give on navigating the pushy Rogers (or Telus) people and get that price you just quoted would be much appreciated
Technique #1
1. Go into a brand name Rogers or Bell or Telus store (not Future Shop), pay FULL price for the phone handset, and get the cheapest month-by-month phone plan they have available ($20 for 200mins I think) - that can even be downgraded later or removed entirely.
2. Be firm. Say you want to pay for a non-subsidized phone (full price, no discount) and a no-contract voice plan. If they say otherwise, be firm. (Or you can get an unused Rogers phone and bring that phone into the Rogers store to begin with)
3. Add on any necessary upgrades (i.e. Spinvox). If they don't know what it is, don't worry -- just leave the store and get it added later.
4. Leave store.
5. Add any missing options (i.e. Spinvox) by phone. You can even go into a better contract voice plan by phone too, if desired.
6. You can even later buy a used BlackBerry and move the SIM card to that one.
Or for now, since you cannot easily TTY directly on any device in Canada (without tethering to an external TTY), you can easily add Spinvox to your existing cellphone right now, without switching phones. You just need to call in. Sometimes an existing voicemail plan conflicts (if they can't add it), so they need to remove that and replace that feature with Spinvox.
My current BlackBerry plan:
$20....VOICE 200 minutes (no contract, no cancellation fee)
$30....DATA 6 gigs (3-year contract, $100 early cancellation fee)
$6.95....System Access Fee
$0.50....911 fee
_____________________________
$57.45 plus PST and GST
Plus of course, $15.00 extra for Spinvox, which I added recently, and the $10.00 text messaging plan for 2500 text messages. (Yeah, the extra charges do add up!)
You will often get misleading information such as it's not possible to get the $30 data plan without going into a 3-year contract, so you really have to work hard at getting the right information from the right people, and applying it to the right people at the right store. Can get a little tricky and frustrating. To learn more about navigating the Labyrinth of Rogers, Telus, Bell, Fido, go to
www.HowardForums.com (For Canadian cellphone forum -- click the "Rogers" topic)
