Just bought a blackberry from Argos but want to take it back cos it has no 3G BUT...

[bWize]

The Blackberry Curve 8520 doesn't have 3G

 

[hopkins]

Can you make phone calls in these places? Because if you can then you have signal and that's probably not why you can't play podcasts. Probably more likely, the podcasts that you're trying to play don't work on the web browser on the Blackberry. Probably they use flash or something like that.
Ultimately, you can't return it now because there's nothing wrong with it so all you can do is put it down to experience and learn from it. Next time you're buying a phone, go into one of the proper phone shops and get a proper demo of the phones you're interested in then you can try the stuff you want to do on it and make sure it does what you want it to do.

Thanks for a sensible answer. Just checked and they do use flash on these podcasts, which i cant get on the blackberry. I will now put the hammer i was going to use on it and just download the podcasts at home and load them on to my phone from there.

Thanks.

 

[gullshark]

Just to confirm the 8520 is NOT a 3G phone.

 

[Lewes Seagull]

You either have an iphone......................................................................

 

[Zebedee]

I'm not having much joy with my phone either. Just got a Samsung Galaxy Ace Black from O2 but no matter how many tweaks I make to the settings I can't seem to connect to the internet. It's going back tomorrow.

 

[blackprince]

i have a blackberry 8520 and can confirm i have no idea whether it receives 3g or not. the 2 signal types i always seem to get is GPRS and GSM (dont know what it means either) but its a decent phone

Whilst GSM (2G) networks are excellent for voice calls, they are limited when it comes to sending and receiving data. GSM phones use a technology called CSD (Circuit Switched Data) to transfer data. CSD requires the phone to make a special connection to the network before it can transfer data (like making a voice call) which can take up to 30 seconds. Once connected, the data is sent or received and the user is billed for the time spent online. Data transfer is relatively slow: 14.4 kbps (kilobits per second) for GSM 1800 networks (Orange and T-Mobile) and 9.6 kbps for GSM 900 networks (Vodafone and O2).

GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is a method of enhancing 2G phones to enable them to send and receive data more rapidly. With a GPRS connection, the phone is "always on" and can transfer data immediately, and at higher speeds: typically 32 - 48 kbps. An additional benefit is that data can be transferred at the same time as making a voice call. GPRS is now available on most new phones.

GPRS is part of a series of technologies that are designed to move 2G networks closer to the performance of 3G networks. The key characteristic of a 3G network is its ability to transfer large amounts of data at high speed (up to 2 Mbps), enabling applications like video calling, video downloads, web browsing, email, etc. By increasing the speed of a 2G network, some of these applications become possible, e.g. web browsing and sending or receiving emails with large attachments.

 

[willyfantastic]

Whilst GSM (2G) networks are excellent for voice calls, they are limited when it comes to sending and receiving data. GSM phones use a technology called CSD (Circuit Switched Data) to transfer data. CSD requires the phone to make a special connection to the network before it can transfer data (like making a voice call) which can take up to 30 seconds. Once connected, the data is sent or received and the user is billed for the time spent online. Data transfer is relatively slow: 14.4 kbps (kilobits per second) for GSM 1800 networks (Orange and T-Mobile) and 9.6 kbps for GSM 900 networks (Vodafone and O2).

GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is a method of enhancing 2G phones to enable them to send and receive data more rapidly. With a GPRS connection, the phone is "always on" and can transfer data immediately, and at higher speeds: typically 32 - 48 kbps. An additional benefit is that data can be transferred at the same time as making a voice call. GPRS is now available on most new phones.

GPRS is part of a series of technologies that are designed to move 2G networks closer to the performance of 3G networks. The key characteristic of a 3G network is its ability to transfer large amounts of data at high speed (up to 2 Mbps), enabling applications like video calling, video downloads, web browsing, email, etc. By increasing the speed of a 2G network, some of these applications become possible, e.g. web browsing and sending or receiving emails with large attachments.

thanks that has cleared that up nicely

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

No wonder RIM, the Blackberry makers, are struggling. I'm shocked that any of their recent phones aren't 3G, considering the high end market they are aimed at. Akin to releasing a tablet without a native email program!