Blackberry Storm in Paris

I am planning on taking my blackberry with me. I know it is global ready, came with an adapter for charging, and I can prorate a global data plan for the weeks I%26#39;m there.

I%26#39;m just curious how this has worked out for other people. Did you have any problems with your global ready phones? Would you recommend any applications for Paris, or travel in general?

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I plan on using my Blackberry as well. Here are a few apps that I think will come in handy:

Google Maps (if you have GPS, probably a great tool):

http://www.google.com/mobile/

Metr0 (you can use this to determine journeys via Metro):

http://nanika.net/Metro/

ProTranslateLite:

www.mobihand.com/product.asp…

OANDA FXConverter (this will let you know current exchange rates);

fxlabs.oanda.com/cgi/fxlabs.pl…

I%26#39;m curious to see what others say about using their Blackberries in Paris, as well.

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I took my blackberry storm to China in May, and couldn%26#39;t get the data plan to work for the first few days at all. After I pulled the battery out to reset it (leaving the phone on), it worked perfectly for the rest of the trip-- so if you run into any problems, there%26#39;s something to try.

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I have taken my blackberry travelling for the last few years to France and Italy and it worked perfectly.

I agree with the other reply.....download google maps. It is simple to do and easy to use. Useful if you get lost or need directions. You can type in your location and where you want to go and get the directions. Practice before you go......similar to the GPS.

I emailed every day and read a friends blog everyday and after three weeks my total cost was about $5.00

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Blackberrians, do you not pay data roaming charges for mobile network connectivity outside your home country? I%26#39;m going to be so jealous if the answer is no.

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I specifically bought a Blackberry 8830 World Edition for my trip to Europe. I bought the sim card and asked if there was anything else I needed to do in order to use the phone. I was told %26quot;nope - just pop in the sim card and it will work.%26quot; Well, they left out one crucial bit of information: you have to ACTIVATE the sim card in the U.S. first. I didn%26#39;t and when I put it in, the signal couldn%26#39;t %26quot;find%26quot; my phone. I was without my phone for 34 days while it was LOCKED because of this.

Make sure you get all that sorted out before you leave the U.S.!

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metromole: We can purchase special international data roaming packages so that we can avoid data roaming. I plan on getting 20 MB for $24.99 from my carrier (AT%26amp;T) - that should be more than enough for the week I%26#39;ll be traveling.

Otherwise, data roaming charges do apply and they%26#39;re very expensive.

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Hi,

I also have a blackberry storm and I will be going to the Languedoc region in September. I have been trying to find out the most cost-effective method of using the phone.

Vodafone Ireland have an add-on - for € 12.15 per month you get 5MB of data and for each MB above €5 you pay €6.

5MB seems a very low usage to me and I am wondering if its worth it.

Does anyone here know what sort of usage you would have for google maps, basic email and typical holiday rowsing - ie checking restaurants, attractions, news back home etc.

I have queried this on blackberry forums and they seem to think google maps is quite heavy on data. It would be brilliant to have it.

Thanks

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«I have queried this on blackberry forums and they seem to think google maps is quite heavy on data. »

Maps IS VERY HEAVY on data, particularly if you are navigating on the move.

Also, 3G coverage outside of major cities in France is practically non-existent.

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Google Maps is one of those things I won%26#39;t be using unless absolutely necessary because of how much data it uses. Most of the other things won%26#39;t be so bad: Twitter, the occasional photo upload, email, etc. That%26#39;s mostly what I%26#39;ll use my BlackBerry for.

The Metr0 app is wonderful in that it uses no data at all. All the information is stored on the phone when you download it. You can update the information right before your trip and you should be good to go. I haven%26#39;t used it yet, but I can imagine it will come in very handy.

And I have this forum to thank for linking me to that particular app.