[torifile]

I'm thinking about trying something new with my pda/phone stuff. The new 8700 looks pretty nice but I've used a blackberry and I don't know anyone who has. I know OOB, it doesn't sync with my Mac, so how is PM for blackberry? I've read good things about. Anyone with hands-on experience with one?

[Banana]

My friend considered it and if I understood him rightly, it's actually cheaper to use sidekick over blackberry cos bb would charge you for IMs, text msgs, and stuff like that, whereas with sidekick's unlimited after a $20 add on plan (minimum of $40... off my top head, for a 1000 minutes plan and unlimited data)

Edit= What the heck? I have a head on top of my head!

[torifile]

Originally Posted by Banana My friend considered it and if I understood him rightly, it's actually cheaper to use sidekick over blackberry cos bb would charge you for IMs, text msgs, and stuff like that, whereas with sidekick's unlimited after a $20 add on plan (minimum of $40... off my top head, for a 1000 minutes plan and unlimited data) Edit= What the heck? I have a head on top of my head!

How's the sidekick's calendaring and emailing? I'm not big into the text mes. thing so that wouldn't really be an added expense for me. I've never considered a sidekick, though. I'm intrigued...

[scratt]

I'd wait a while if I were you.... (Get a Treo!)

http://news.com.com/Bye+Bye+BlackBer...3-5981263.html

[torifile]

Originally Posted by scratt I'd wait a while if I were you.... (Get a Treo!) http://news.com.com/Bye+Bye+BlackBer...3-5981263.html

Yeah. I heard about that.

But I had a treo. Sold it. (I just don't like the Palm OS all that much, honestly). The one-handed operation was supremely cool, though. And I like having a keyboard - I think that's what I'm looking for in a device. Maybe that's why I'm looking at the bb. Hmm.

[scratt]

Rats! Safari just crashed and I had two 400MB downloads going on and had typed a very witty reply to you!

Anyway.. I am sure that legal problem will be solved with some cash somewhere so no worries there..

I have to admit I have been eyeing the new bb on the corner of web pages for a while now and thinking it looks quite treo-esque. If you take the plunge do let us know how it is for you. I would be very interested in youur views as an ex-treo user. I am unsure what's going to happen to treo / Palm in the coming months and may be changing phones again next year... So would like some feedback on the bb from someone who has used a treo...

Sorry I can't help with the original question on this thread.

[HOM]

As probably the only person at .org that has used a Sidekick, Treo, and BB. I think I'm qualified to talk about and compare them.



The BB will sync with a Mac by way of PocketMac BB Edition. Works just fine for me going on a year and that includes daily syncing with my PC and Mac.

The BB is by far the best email device of the three. It kinda sucks as a phone, but that is somewhat alleviated by having a BT headset, but still it's the little things that make it funky and unwieldily as a phone.

The Treo is by far the best phone of the three, but is unstable as hell (think Windows ME). The biggest advantage is the thousands of programs available for it, but that is what leads to the instability. It's the most 'full featured' out of the box of the three and the best phone form factor.

The Sidekick is the cheapest and 'teh cool' one. Comes with AIM preinstalled. The problem is that it's slow as hell, runs only on T-Mobile, and is fucking huge.

I have the BB 7290. I like it a lot, but be prepared to have your phone bill double in price unless you go with T-Mobile.

[scratt]

HOM, I am curious.. You found it unstable even with the stock software on it?

Mine crashes about once a day, but I have a whole load of haxies, and if I turn them off I have never experienced a crash. To be honest the crashing is not a big issue as it boots back up and connects to the network so quickly each time I just live with it. I have never lost any data either. Period. Where as with Pocket PCs and the like I have lost everything several times.. So I think the comparision to M$ is unfair!

To be honest unless you install things like the volume enhancer I would have to say the treo is pretty unwieldy and not the nicest phone to use. But then most of these big multi-funtional phones are pretty unwieldy unless you have "ape hands" and "great hearing" in my experience.. But then perhaps I'm getting old! Bluetooth headsets are the way to go.. And the treo headset is great. Never a problem connecting, very fast connect too, and great volume.... So much so it feels wierd to put the real phone near my head!

[HOM]

My 600 used to crash a few times a day and I uninstalled all of my non-essential programs.

The Treo was actually a marvelous phone compared to the BB. Here is an example.

You need to call UPS to track a package. The only number you can find for them is 800 PICK UPS. On the Treo you can go to the phone screen and type it in. The BB has no 'phone' screen so you need to find another number or figure it out manually.

Also the BB has 'smart' phone feature that is dumb as hell. If you are on the home screen and start typing a number, half the time it thinks it's an entry from your phone book and goes there, but the other half of the time it starts typing the number. It can get really really frustrating if you have to call people that are not in your phone book a lot.

However, the email is fucking top notch, the phone has not crashed on me once, and the battery life is twice that of the Treo.

[Banana]

I've owned sidekick myself, and it's a big thing among deafies and for a good reason.

It's convenient, and OS is good. No single-handling, though but one almost could navigagte the OS with only clickwheel.. It practically never crashes; why, some people practically live off them! I also used notes a lot, but seldomly to do lists (might be just me). Emailing is pretty functional; there's everything that you would see in outlook, mail, etc (POP forwarding comes to mind), so I usually feel that BB is more fluff than value compared to sk.
I've used Calendar and (I made a new word! Yay me). HOM is right about it being slow in web browsing; it uses GPR (?) network, which is the most crappiest protocols around. However, I've been content to browse the net during those small intervals of time where I have nothing to do (i.e. on a city bus, standing in a line), and it supports browsing AN (not perfectly, but it can handle icons, and pics; if you have the patience of saint. I usually ave it off and frequent other text only sites to kill time.

My major disappointment is that after a year, it gave up its ghost, which I personally feel is too soon; a well designed PDA/cellphone/small electronic thingy should be able to longer than that. There's sidekick 2, but I'm told there's some issues, and some of my friends and me included would prefer the older version over the 2.

Hope that's helpful.

[Mikester]

The Blackberry is excellent at what it is designed for - an email device. It's other smartphone functions are bearable but not great. I find it works best to use the BB in conjunction with another pda phone that is better for those functions, but you're doubling the gismos you have to carry round. The Treo is a good compromise and will have push email function from 2006.

The BB is primarily a business device and for good reason - running one yourself is very expensive. If you are getting one through work then go for it, but if you're running it privately beware! Look for other "bundle" options like the Sidekick. However, on the negative side, I've heard bad things about T-mobile.

[HOM]

Also about the Sidekick, the address book/calendar/notes/ect are all mirrored on T-Mobile's web site. There are apple scripts that will format the your address book so it can be uploaded, but syncing doesn't work.

[Grip]

I've owned a Sidekick I, Treo 600, and now use a Treo 650. I agree with most of what HOM said but should note that my 650 doesn't crash nearly as much as my 600. I've had it about 6 months and can't and had to reset it probably 3 times?

The 650 also has an improved keyboard over the 600, but it still doesn't come close to the Sidekick in terms of typing ergonomics.

The Sidekick II is a vastly improved device over the Sidekick I and I don't find it to be much larger (if at all) than the other devices discussed.

And I also agree that the Palm OS for the Mac is really bad, but it is pretty good on a PC.

I guess it boils down to the primary uses for which you will be using the device. Also consider if you get good reception for T-Mobile in your area. My Sidekick had no reception in my house.

[jcoley2]

As the you may be aware, there is a huge patent lawsuit outstanding which may result in an interuption of BB service. I have a Treo 600 which I LOVE, but I will be switching to the BB 8700 as soon as the lawsuit is settled.

If you need connectivity in corporate world to Outlook as we do, Treo is not a great option as you will need to rely on a redirector running on a desktop (as opposed to BB running on the server).

I agree BB is a much poorer phone which is the unfortunate downside to the BB.

[scratt]

I actually find that the keyboard on the 650 is great. I can text super fast on it. But I wouldn't do anything more than a short email, and certainly not write documents..

With regards to "Palm OS on the Mac". Well there is Missing Sync, which has just been updated again. I am still on the previous version and it's solid as a rock for me.

[AWR]

As for Palm OS for Macs - I find that it is a terrible non-effort by Palm to offer something to Mac users. The interface looks like something my great grandparants would have used. I have used iSync successfully syncing iCal with my Palm PDA, though.

I'm pretty tired of 3rd parties treating Mac users as second class citizens. (My other big gripe is with HP; their Toolbox features are not available limiting my print output to Standard. )

Sorry if this is off topic.

[scratt]

Originally Posted by AWR As for Palm OS for Macs - I find that it is a terrible non-effort by Palm to offer something to Mac users. The interface looks like something my great grandparants would have used. I have used iSync successfully syncing iCal with my Palm PDA, though. I'm pretty tired of 3rd parties treating Mac users as second class citizens. (My other big gripe is with HP; their Toolbox features are not available limiting my print output to Standard. ) Sorry if this is off topic.

I hear you man.. Particulalry when it comes to HP and their *shitty* drivers.

[jcoley2]

Originally Posted by AWR As for Palm OS for Macs - I find that it is a terrible non-effort by Palm to offer something to Mac users. The interface looks like something my great grandparants would have used.

The needs to offer a beter mapping option. Nothing is worse than syncing your Palm to iCal and the try to find a Home Address only to realize that it will only display Business Addresses. iCal offers so many more fields and you should have better control over the field mapping.

[thuh Freak]

i have a bb. from my a work perspective, its pretty great. emailing and such. i have AIM on there, but i never really use it. the battery works well. fucker can last a few days.

its horrible tho. boss emails me, i can't avoid it. it vibrates when my meetings are about to start, so i can't be like "o, i forgot". it makes me more responsible in all the wrong ways.

its a company berry though. some kind of enterprise plan.

[torifile]

I got one. 8700. Got ripped off because the cingular store was the only place I could buy it. Damn it's cool. Solidly constructed. Mostly intuitive and very well connected. It's got a pricey data plan with it, but I figure I can write it off...