I am considing getting a new Blackberry.

Back when I owned a Blackberry some years ago, they did not have built in phones.

My question is this: now that phones are built in, do the devices use GPRS for e-mail connectivity, or do the still use Mobitex?

If they use GPRS....I'll pass. It takes to long to connect, and in my experience is just too unreliable...

bueller......anyone.....

The new (Java) BlackBerrys with phones do NOT use the Mobitex network at all.

For T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless and Cingular, they use the GSM network for voice and SMS, and GPRS for e-mail and web browsing.

Verizon (model 6750) uses their 1xRTT network (CDMA) for voice and data.

Nextel (6510 and 7510) uses their iDen network for voice and data.

Not sure what you mean by "takes too long to connect". The Java devices are always on, so there is no delay in "connecting".

Reliability does not seem to be a problem.

Thank you for responding.

Related to my comments on how long it takes to connect...on my PPC, it takes anywhere between 5 and 45 seconds to establish a grps connection.

I am curious, how does Blackberry manage to execute true push on gprs, and are you saying that you are literally connected to gprs at all times? Doesn't that suck the battery down quickly? If I left my ppc connected to gprs, the battery would die in a few hours.


Thanks.

If I stared at my PPC for too long it drove the battery down

I don't know how they do it, but you do stay connected to GPRS, and e mail is received very quickly after it hits my Exchange Inbox (we have a BES, so redirection is not a problem). On occasion a message will hit my BB a few seconds before it hits my Inbox!

Battery life is good (and superb when compared to a iPaq or Treo 600 - I have one of those also). Depending on how much you use the phone, you are usually good for 3-5 days between charges.

I agree with you that connecting to GPRS (like via my Treo) does take too long - way too long, but that's not a problem on the BlackBerry.

CDMA does drain the battery a little more, but I use GSM/GPRS.

Regards...