Device software for BlackBerry®

[cre8nkhaos]

I hope that someone can help me.  I'm an American living in Guangzhou, China.  I currently have an iPhone 3GS but the horrible battery life is making me regret getting the phone in the first place.  I've only had it for exactly 4 months and  while it's features are many, the battery life negates almost any of the features that made me buy it in the first place.

I was in an electronics mall the other day, here in China, and I was looking at Blackberry.  I played with the BB 9000 and liked what I saw - the biggest factor being the user replaceable battery.  After being in the store for what amounted to be an hour, (my Chinese girlfriend having to interpret everything for me) I was all set to purchase the handset, but then was told that I needed to purchase a separate service that amounted to 58 rmb per month in order to get my Yahoo mail to work on the device.  I simply want the device for email.  I can use my iPhone for all the other silly stuff that I want to do if I need to.  I ONLY need access to my Yahoo email, both send and receive - that's it.  

The email setup for my iPhone was easy as pie.  I had choices for external mail options and I only had to insert my China Mobile SIM card into the device.  I don't pay any other charge except for the usage of the card.  I just configured my pop3 information into the iPhone and I was off and running.  I love the iPhone, but the battery drain is ridiculous.  And I purchased an external battery adapter that makes the entire package too large to use. 

I'd really appreciate any help you could provide.

[JSanders Resident Expert · Accepted solution]

I might have missed your question, but if it pertains to the additional BlackBerry Data Plan cost, yes that is true.

Without the BlackBerry Data Plan, you will not get any email functions.

Good luck.