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Written by Brian Olsen
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Monday, 08 September 2008 13:48 |
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Location: Jericho, VT Location: Portillo, CHL
I’m not one for pushing products on people, but this is a product I’m actually paying for myself! After four years of owning a cell phone whose top feature was the fact that it had an LED flashlight, I ditched Verizon (and its horrible coverage in Vermont) for a Blackberry from T-Mobile.
The best thing about the Pearl 8120 is that, particularly with T-Mobile, you can make and receive calls using any Wi-Fi network you have access to. So in Chile, I went up to Hotel Portillo, hopped on their Wi-Fi network, and started receiving my SMS text messages, e-mails, Facebook messages, and voicemails. I was even able to make and receive calls back to the U.S., with the minutes deducted from my regular monthly allowance. Awesome! The reception was excellent, depending on my proximity to the Wi-Fi router, of course.
In Vermont, there are places where my friends live and have Wi-Fi networks of their own, but there is no cell coverage. I can use those networks, too. And at a local coffee shop, the cell coverage ends at the door, but the Wi-Fi picks up in the parking lot. If I start a call on one network, it will automatically transfer across from one to the next, without dropping the call (most of the time).
Check it out if you hate not having access to the world when you’re traveling!
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