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  • BlackBerry Handset - Any ideas/help ?

Please bear with me with this post.

Im appealing to any with BB experience and generally with phones and networks.

So i've realized something lately with my phone line, i charge my MTC magic line every 30 days or so, and now i have 95$ in a phone line that i only use for txt messages and urgent phone calls, i really can't remember the last time i was every out of credit or nearly out of it

More or less all my colleagues at work, and my friends at university have a BlackBerry, and i was thinking i could take advantage of this

So i popped down to some cell phone shops, explaining what's the cheapest i can get for my need (just BBM and email notifications) and all would throw numbers above 200$ which is something i do NOT have in mind

The question: what is the cheapest BlackBerry i can get for under 200$ (if that is possible) even if used and what is this Alfa "tufeer" line (something about 7$ a week for BBM service) - and is the Alfa coverage any good, since i hear so many complaints from MTC BB users.

For i still wish to keep my MTC line and Nokia for daily use, and the cheap Blackberry for BBM and emails and what not

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
The Blackberry Curve 8520 can be gotten for 175$-200$ from many stores.
the blackberry curve 8520 for 170$ new and alfa really sucks compared to mtc i wasn't able to send anything for 2 weeks only over wifi
Thanks guys ; i knew all those shops were ripping me off :l - Damn Lebanese and their stereotypes towards people that just happen to look foreign .

they were trying to sell me all those new ones, yet i can be sure that the Curve 8520 will satisfy my needs.

Now the main question, should i go cheap and go Alfa at the risk of downgraded service or is it the same either way with MTC

I mean i've heard stories of MTC users also having problems with their service and also with alfa, and i took the logic of : heik heik 5arbaneh so just get the cheapest one

Anyway thanks for the replies

Anyone else with more experience with networks and Blackberry ? Im reading around, specifically on mtc and alfa's websites, and i don't see anything about 7$ per week for blackberyy service, just the standard 10$ - am i misinformed here ? is there something im missing. All in all, i really don't care about service coverage, as long as i have the subscription i could always use a Wifi connection for 70% on my day im always in range of one.

Also is there a way to renew the service weekly rather than for the whole month - as in if i don't want to pay / or can't pay the full 40$ but can pay 10$ a time per week that's still possible right ?

I checked the alfa FAQ, its seems to be broken for some questions (particulary the ones i want to know) - anyway here it is http://www.alfa.com.lb/bb/FAQ.aspx - alfa have already proved themselves unreliable; irony.
alfa for pre-paid it's only weekly either 9.5$ or 7.13$ and both are the same(24mb) for the 7.13$ you have to be in wafeer cards and buy the big on with is 27$ and a SOS card
thanks for clearing that up man !
right the curve 8520 can be found for $170,but be careful if you switched to the alfa "Waffer" plans you will lose all your credits.
m.sabra wroteright the curve 8520 can be found for $170,but be careful if you switched to the alfa "Waffer" plans you will lose all your credits.
im buying a wafeer line, and keeping my MTC line; so i can keep both phones

Im willing to pay the extra buck for something with at least 3G in it ... any ideas ? (although a new 170$ phone sounds pretty sweet)