I know it'd be useless for calls and texts, just to get that out of the way.
I've been thinking about buying a Bold 9900. They're cheap ($40 USD), compact, nice-looking, and they have a lot of useful hardware features (removable battery, headphone jack, microSD slot). Mainly interested in using it as an MP3 player, but there's other stuff like the alarm clock and note-taking program (latter being really neat with the physical keyboard). I could get a cheap Android phone instead, but those simply aren't as polished.
My only major concern is how the phone will work for the stuff I've mentioned without BlackBerry's services. I've done some research and most people only seem to experience issues when trying to use it for actual phone stuff like calls and registering on a network. I won't even really be using the browser (not that it would work). If I'm missing something, please correct me.
I'm really set on a BlackBerry because I thought they were cool, and this Bold has a fairly premium construction compared to most old phones (aluminum frame for example)
Just tell me if I'm overlooking anything, I guess.