I have still been dithering about whether to get a new mobile when my contract with Vodafone expires.  I’ll definitely be dropping Vodafone unless they pay a load of tax and install picocells in my workplace so I can get a signal before June, but I was torn between not having a mobile at all and going for a smartphone.

The decision has just got a lot easier because I see that BlackBerry have a new phone, the Curve 9300, which is essentially the same as the Curve 8520 but with 3G and GPS and I think that has pushed me over the edge.  I quite like the 8520 and I know the kids like theirs, but the nerd in me thought that going back to GPRS was a bit of a regression.

£15 a month for 100 minutes (about an hour more than I need), 500 texts (nearly 500 more than I need), 1GB of mobile web and ‘unlimited’ email and BlackBerry Messaging with Virgin.   The only thing stopping me is that I don’t really want to throw more money at Virgin Media until they sort out the upload speeds on my broadband.  Maybe I will dip a toe into call centre hell again this week.

Also, I notice that the phone has the ability to work as a tethered modem.  I’m not sure Iwould bother doing that except in exceptional circumstances but would that come under the 1GB limit?   Might be a handy capability to have if I knew it wasn’t going to cost an arm and a leg.