Blackberries

[Spectre]

Hi

I'm in the process of getting a new phone soon. My three guy is pushing a Nokia N95 but I've been surfing a few websites looking at blackberries - they all seem to have different functions... some have wifi, some dont, some have bluetooth, some have cameras... etc etc

Questions are
Best all around blackberry is...
What loops are there in getting one - i.e. data allowances with emails/pdf's etc

Had a big play with an iPhone - nice but I dont think it will work for what I want

Thanks

 

[Perp]

Here's a good resource for figuring out which Blackberries have the features you're looking for.

And when you've figured out which handset you want, this is a great site for figuring out which plan is best to go with it.

 

[Angelo]

Have you looked at HTC. I purchased a HTC Cruise about 6 months ago and I'm really happy with it. It seems to do everything, however, it only has a touch screen keyboard. I opted not to go with the blackberry because the keys on them are too small for my thumbs anyway.

 

[santaslayer]

Hi

I'm in the process of getting a new phone soon. My three guy is pushing a Nokia N95 but I've been surfing a few websites looking at blackberries - they all seem to have different functions... some have wifi, some dont, some have bluetooth, some have cameras... etc etc

Questions are
Best all around blackberry is...
What loops are there in getting one - i.e. data allowances with emails/pdf's etc

Had a big play with an iPhone - nice but I dont think it will work for what I want

Thanks

Luke.

Best BB ever is the Bold (9000).

Data allowances are cheaper is you are a high end user. ie. For a set amount each week, you get unlimited emails and internet browsing. Cheapest I know of is $29.95 (Blackberry individual solution). Locked in for 24months. Casual plans come more expensive.

N95 is also a great phone.

Really comes down to what you need the phone for? predominately emails?

Hope this helps

 

[Alabex]

Have you looked at HTC. I purchased a HTC Cruise about 6 months ago and I'm really happy with it. It seems to do everything, however, it only has a touch screen keyboard. I opted not to go with the blackberry because the keys on them are too small for my thumbs anyway.

I have a htc touch dual.. Its funtions are good.. but battery life is shocking and it seems to hit the stupid camera shortcut key everytime i am doing something.. really frigging annoying!

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

HTC TyTn II is quite good. It's a little bulky due to it's sliding keyboard, but I love that feature for text email and web browsing.

Built in GPS and works well as a laptop modem to boot.

 

[James Allen]

The email features of BB's are also dependent on what service you a running, you can either have Blackberry internet service or Blackberry enterprise service.

 

[Spectre]

James..
whats the difference between internet and enterprise (service)?

 

[James Allen]

There are a lot of info on it if you do a google search, here's one,

http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/sear...Type=kc&externalId=KB03652&sliceId=SAL_Public

Chances are unless it's a work phone you will just be looking at Blackberry Internet Service (BIS)

Also don't even look at the pearl, I hate it, went from having a full QWERTY keyboard on my last work blackberry to now using this at my new work. No point point having email on your phone when it takes you a whole day to type out a quick response.

 

[santaslayer]

Blackberry INDIVIDUAL Service (BIS) is what normal consumers and small businesses would have.

Blackberry Enterprise Solution is what someone like Macquarie Bank has.

Technical difference? BES allows the IT department to control what can go in or out of the blackberry. It's much more secure and you can sync your tasks, appointments, contacts and email WIRELESSLY.
You also need to buy a BES server. The BES server costs around $5000-$6000. Then you need to purchase individual licenses as well...

BIS syncs your email but you need the Blackberry Desktop Manager to sync your outlook or Entourage appointments/tasks etc.

You'll need BIS as well if you use Microsoft Exchange Server....but that sort of defeats the purpose.

 

[James Allen]

Sorry mate, BIS stands for Blackberry Internet Service.

You may want to check the blackberry site for confirmation

 

[geoffw]

I have an iPhone and I think it's brilliant. One of the best things is applications you can download- many of them free an very cheap.

The learning curve is big but once I has it it was great.

I'm responding from my iPhone now.

I can understand that there are a lot of things missing but the inclusions mow up for the exclusions with lots extra.

I would be I interested to know what was missing or deficient.

I wasn't very impressed at first. But I am so impressed with it now.

I went with it initially because I'd been with Optus and they offered a new handset for free when I was renewing a two year plan. And the renewal plan included a generous Internet download at no extra cost.

 

[Spectre]

all
Thanks. I am thinking the BB bold is the way to go, and with Tracey's help the plan sorter outer thing also assists.

Geoff, the diff with the iphone vs. blackberry is (for me) not just an email and surfing thing but also having a virtual office or as near as I can get - i.e. to have stuff like excel and word, be able to open PDFs etc etc.. Then the ability to be o'seas and have a global email system is attractive as well.

Optus was pushing me on an Iphone as well but I didnt take them up on it. Seems everyone is pushing Iphones right now. Also I'm not a big fan of touch screens. I've got one with my satnav and my old ericcson was one - they work great initially then the screen calibrations melt down. Dont know how the iphones going to turn out.

 

[Y33]

Get yourself familiar with Blackberry. They will release something in the near future that will be just as popular as ipods and a must have for those in business who use computers or take photos.

 

[Rolf Latham]

I like something with an active screen, and a flip out qwerty board

HTC Imate Jas jam has been ok, but the browser is very slow compared to say an Iphone.

ta
rolf

 

[Perp]

Get yourself familiar with Blackberry. They will release something in the near future that will be just as popular as ipods and a must have for those in business who use computers or take photos.

Tease! Can you give us any more hints?

 

[Red Car]

Don't know much about this from a personal user point of view but my company was previously using Blackberry but moved to Nokia E61i with Nokia Mail for Exchange. The Boss didn't like the E61i so he got an N95. This solution works just as well as Blackberry but runs off the existing Exchange server so no separate server or licencing and the software is a free download from Nokia. Running the whole thing over GPRS and it works really well.

 

[gerd.]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/t-mobiles-blackberry-curve-8900-seemingly-pegged-for-february-1/

Gerd

 

[geoffw]

have stuff like excel and word, be able to open PDFs etc etc.. Then the ability to be o'seas and have a global email system is attractive as well.

Ensure that your device can handle larger Excel and Word files, if you have them. I have Excel files of about 700K, with 12 sheets- the iPhone opens them for viewing, but it's very very slow. It may be the internet transfer which slows it down so much.

There's only one page in those files I need to have available for viewing, so I publish that page into a pdf, and I can access it quickly and easily from my phone.

There are free or cheap apps available for iPhone which enable you to log onto your computer apparently- but you have to have Win XP Pro or Vista. I have XP Home, and upgrades are no longer available, so I can't go that way at this stage. There are also spreadsheets, but I don't know how good they are. They're probably not very advanced.

I don't know if you've looked at Google docs. At my wife's office they've ditched Word and Excel and use gdocs exclusively. For me, gdocs has a long way to go before it's a serious competitor to the MS products- but for the price, it rocks. Collaboration is excellent, and you have access to your documents through the web, regardless of the platform. So you have a wider choice of phone handsets. You can choose whoever you want to share any documents with- they can get notified by email.

I've uploaded spreadsheets with a lot of formatting- and although it's good enough to see the information I want it's not quite good enough to print and use.

 

[Perp]

I don't know if you've looked at Google docs. At my wife's office they've ditched Word and Excel and use gdocs exclusively. For me, gdocs has a long way to go before it's a serious competitor to the MS products- but for the price, it rocks.

I love googledocs, too. I'm loving this whole Web 2.0 thing, actually (or whatever they call it).