vB Easy Archive - Which Pearl do you recommend, Cingular's or T-Mobile's?

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Which Pearl do you recommend, Cingular's or T-Mobile's?
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Posted by: jericho2550

hello everyone, I'm planning on getting a BlackBerry Pearl, I don't want to be stuck with a 2 year contract, so I'll gladly pay the retail for it as long as I'm not held by a contract.

At the moment, I have Cingular, and will use the Pearl on this network. I can buy the Pearl from Cingular or T-Mobile for around $450, the T-Mobile Pearl looks SLIGHTLY better, I'm leaning more towards the T-Mobile one, but I wanted to know, will it work on my network just as good as a Cingular Pearl? I want it to work with no issues, cause the only reason I'd get a T-Mobile Pearl is cosmetic.

and if anyone recommends a place where I can get an unlocked T-Mobile Pearl online, and without the T-Mobile logo, it would be great, please let me know, thanks...

Posted by: Scud

When you say the T-Mobile one looks better, what do you mean by that? Do you mean the white BlackBerry Pearl?

I'd just go ahead and buy it from Cingular. It'll likely have the latest OS available for the Pearl (T-Mobile loads their BBs with a slightly older one) so that's one less thing you'll have to do to it.

Posted by: jericho2550

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scud

When you say the T-Mobile one looks better, what do you mean by that? Do you mean the white BlackBerry Pearl?

I'd just go ahead and buy it from Cingular. It'll likely have the latest OS available for the Pearl (T-Mobile loads their BBs with a slightly older one) so that's one less thing you'll have to do to it.

sorry, forgot to point out, yes, I want the White Pearl, but I would prefer a perfectly working phone with no maintenance, I owned the Cingular one for about 20 days before the contract kicked in, and I loved it, flawless phone, but, if I'm paying retail, I would like the special white one.

Posted by: dasupaman23

Just buy the white one then. Go to your local T-mo dealer. And there are plenty of website that can unlock it for you. You can always load the newest OS from any carrier so it doesn't really make a difference.

Posted by: FarSeide

But just remember that if you have any issues with your Pearl, Cingular wont be able to provide you with any warranty exchanges and I'm not sure if TMobile will either since you dont have service through TMbile...

Posted by: briareus

Quote:

Originally Posted by jericho2550

I wanted to know, will it work on my network just as good as a Cingular Pearl?

Yup. It doesn't matter as long as the Pearl in question is unlocked. Configuration of the device is handled by service books which are automatically pushed to the BB when it registers on the carrier's wireless network.

The branding is pretty much cosmetic. You can load one's OS on the other (though the splash screen will always be the same).

AFAIK the prototypes are the only unbranded devices and you don't want them as they're not the final production models with all the kinks worked out.

Posted by: jericho2550

EXCELLENT! thanks everyone! ok, I'll go to my T Mobile place tomorrow, then how do I go about getting it unlocked? can I get that info as well?

Posted by: Synncere

Please review the forum rules in regards to unlocking. Thx.

Posted by: jericho2550

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synncere

Please review the forum rules in regards to unlocking. Thx.

sorry about that, in that case can somebody send me a Private Message that maybe guides me to a trusted person/site etc.

Posted by: DubDub

You need to look at the coverage where you will use the phone. If your cool choice has no service, is it still a cool phone or an expensive paperweight?

Unlocking changes the rules however.

Posted by: fwtong

Actually, I'd go with the Cingular Pearl because I think it has an extra button on the side which can be assigned to a function.