Blackberry

[WLeg]

Anyone use one, but not on a corporate system ?

Looking for mobile email, but better than mobile phone options.....(and not a laptop)

Will possibly be this or the Ipaq 6515....

Are they any good, what are the running costs, battery, etc ?

 

[jimti]

bit of a thumbs down according to THIS site

 

[frog1520]

I've had a 7230 on T-mobile for a couple of years since it first came out.

I havent read the above website, but I think they're absolutely superb!! 15 quid a month and for that you can roam anywhere in the *world* and get send/receive your email!!! I dont use the unit as a phone, so the 15 is for data only.

You can easily get a week out of a fully charged battery in an area with decent
reception. The web browser isnt bad for basic things either - like checking news etc.

Cant recommend it highly enough - but dont know what the newer models are like!

 

[Sp!ke]

I just so happen to be a bit of a Blackberry guru.... travelling the world going to Blackberry seminars and responsible for designing and implementing Blackberry Infrastructures.

A Blackberry may or may not be for you as it is a completely different animal than a pocket PC. Basically its Outlook in your pocket, always on and always connected. Emails, contacts calander tasks etc everything in Outlook. Unlike a pocket PC, it doesnt have pocket office or many of the other nice add-ons although there are many applications now available. It does have a web browser but it has a limited capability.

The beauty of the Blackberry is its a push email application in that there's no need to send and receive. As soon as someone sends you an email, it arrives both on the Blackberry and your PC. Its also very secure and due to the way it compresses data, it can be very cheap to run. (T-mobile were offering them @ £10 per month recently) Having said all that, to get the full benefit from a Blackberry, you either need your own Blackberry Enterprise server or you need to sign up for 3rd party services to get the extra features like attachment viewing capabilities etc.

I could go on and on about this but the decision is all down to what your expectations/requirements are. Personally I think they are the bees knees but thats not to say that I dont think there is much need for improvement.

Something you may wish to consider is the other options like the Siemans SK65 which also works as a Blackberry. Most pocket PC's will soon be able to run Blackberry software but currently none of the providers know anything about how to set them up yet so you will probably struggle to get a Blackberry contract working on a pocket PC right now. In any event, a pocket PC just hasnt the battery life to cut the mustard .(A Blackberry will last 7 days permanently switched on and receiving mail between charges)

Times are changing fast though. Microsoft is about to release its own push email server app bundled free with Exchange 2003 SP2. This may turn the market on its head and spawn lots of new devices but its too early to tell. One thing's for sure though, whatever you do, make it only a 12 month contract so you can re-evaluate in 12 months time as currently many of the providers are trying to sign people up to 18 or 24 month contracts.

 

[WLeg]

Does the £15 cover data usage - or is this included ( is data billed in a similar manner to GPRS traffic on a mobile) ?

 

[frog1520]

Does the £15 cover data usage - or is this included ( is data billed in a similar manner to GPRS traffic on a mobile) ?

Hi mate,

The 15 quid covers data usage. I think there is a limit on it (100Mb or so - not sure?) but I've never hit it and my bill always says I have used 0Mb

However, the attachments are chopped off the mails before they go to the pager, so I guess that cuts them down a lot. Just as a guide, I get about 20 - 30 non spam mails a day..

Hope this helps!

 

[Sp!ke]

You need to be a little bit careful on data when roaming but other than that its included. T-Mobile is limited to 50Mb you'll never go over that per month in fact you probably wont go over 5Mb since each email is only a couple of k. Even furious web browsing you should be way under. If you sign up to one of the attachment services your data rates might get close but I still dont think you'll hit 50Mb.

When roaming, the charges jump somewhat but due to the compression rates, it is still surprisingly cheap when compared to using a pocket PC over GPRS. You can opt dor a fully inclusive rate of £20 per month on top of the normal £10 which gives unlimited worldwide GPRS data. It just depends how often you roam.

 

[WLeg]

Thanks all - going to talk to voda on Monday....

 

[frog1520]

You need to be a little bit careful on data when roaming but other than that its included. T-Mobile is limited to 50Mb you'll never go over that per month in fact you probably wont go over 5Mb since each email is only a couple of k. Even furious web browsing you should be way under. If you sign up to one of the attachment services your data rates might get close but I still dont think you'll hit 50Mb.

When roaming, the charges jump somewhat but due to the compression rates, it is still surprisingly cheap when compared to using a pocket PC over GPRS. You can opt dor a fully inclusive rate of £20 per month on top of the normal £10 which gives unlimited worldwide GPRS data. It just depends how often you roam.

Interesting - I've never been charged anything extra for roaming and I dont pay 20 extra a month for it! I've used the thing extensively in US, Canada, ROI etc. Maybe Im just lucky?!

 

[Madferrit]

I'm looking for a replacement to the XDA2 ...

is the Blackberry upgradeable with software etc from 3rd party companies.. like the PPC etc?

 

[WLeg]

Vodafone option doesn't sound good to me.... £15.00 per month, 6MB, POP3 email\ only (so it's not a push system).

They can offer Enterprise Server from £400.00, which will plug into the Exchange server, and give push, but also want £1000.00 per day to install it.

Might wait for Exchange SP2 and see what it brings (and if it works)

 

[peterchurch]

Hi,
I use a moblie phone with gprs and bluethooth. I can then use my ipaq or my laptop to pull my mail down from my pop3 server.
I agree that you don't get the wap push to recieve mail immediately but its good enough and as a result of using the gprs I get web browing at 115kbs so thats a big bonus over blackberry.

My friend has the treo offering on orange and I have to say that its very good, But it requires its own server to interface to exchange and about £250 per user licence plus the data costs

Regards,

Peter

 

[Sp!ke]

Vodafone option doesn't sound good to me.... £15.00 per month, 6MB, POP3 email\ only (so it's not a push system).

They can offer Enterprise Server from £400.00, which will plug into the Exchange server, and give push, but also want £1000.00 per day to install it.

Might wait for Exchange SP2 and see what it brings (and if it works)

I think you can buy a Mini BES server license (15 user max) for about £250. I can set it up for you for a great deal less than that. If you build a vanilla Win2k or 2003 server, I can get the rest set up for you in under an hour.

Having said that, assuming you have Broadband/permanent connection, you could just run the Blackberry Desktop Redirector on a PC that will push email to your handset. Cost = NIL

 

[Aswall]

Will Blackberry work with webmail, such as Hotmail, or does it have to be POP?

 

[Sp!ke]

Will Blackberry work with webmail, such as Hotmail, or does it have to be POP?

I believe there are some 3rd party apps that will allow you to use hotmail but why bother...

 

[Aswall]

I believe there are some 3rd party apps that will allow you to use hotmail but why bother...

An awful lot of people have my address, it's easily memorable and I can retrieve it from any computer, anywhere in the world without having to input settings

Suits me fine, why bother changing?

 

[Sp!ke]

What I meant is why read mail with such an awkward front end when you can get your hotmail via POP anyway.

 

[Aswall]

Ah sorry, just thought it would be handy for retrieval on the move without having to be at a pc. Don't think it'll last long though, it's going to get overtaken very quickly now that MS are about to launch their mobile push email system for PPCs and Smartphones

 

[Sp!ke]

Ah sorry, just thought it would be handy for retrieval on the move without having to be at a pc. Don't think it'll last long though, it's going to get overtaken very quickly now that MS are about to launch their mobile push email system for PPCs and Smartphones

MS's problem will be convincing people their platform is secure. Meanwhile RIM have their Blackberry's in use throughout security service departments in countries all over the world, safe in the knowledge that the Blackberry system is (to date) secure.

I'm not convinced that the MS solution will win hands down. It makes for interesting competition and will help lower prices but RIM have a 5 year march on them and have gained a major foothold in the market.

Plus...

The Blackberry System uses a direct connection from the providers to the the RIM private network. The Microsoft solution will use the internet... A serious security disadvantage. The Microsoft solution at present rates will cost at least 5 times more in monthly data rates. The RIM platform already offers seamless access to data behind corporate firewalls. The Pocket PC platforms can only achieve this with expensive, slow and laborious VPN solutions.

 

[Tony Martin]

Treo 650 bluetooth problem

I own a brand new E280CDI and brand new Treo 650. My E-class is NOT wired for Bluetooth, nor does it have the COMMAND interface, but it is pre-wired for a Nokia handset.

Is there any way at all that I can get my Treo to interface with the car's phone system (i.e. to be able to use the numeric keypad on the dash, answer the phone with the steering wheel, use the built in mic and car's speaker system and above all, silence the CD-player when the phone rings)???

Better yet, can I do it with the Treo's Bluetooth capability, even if that means installing a third-party bluetooth radio in the Merc?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Tony Martin, Gibraltar