blackberry

[rich 36]

Bought a secondhand one off flea-bay

plug in SIM with o2 calls sort of work OK
although it seems to search about for network a fair bit

but there was no software with it, and its not immediately obvious

just how to set up e mail access

Am i likely to be offered software for it

or is it specific to each unit.

7280 quad band colour BTW

(no not very PC litterate)
so s p e a k slowly

TA

Edited by rich 36 on Tuesday 29th August 23:09

[thepassenger]

www.blackberry.com/support/downloads/index.shtml

Give that a try, it seems to have the desktop software so it might enable you to set up e-mail synching.

[rich 36]

Got a new one on trial from o2 (8700)
but they seem utterly in the dark,
when it comes to sorting both a voice & data package out to enable a handful of mails a day
and same voice calls,

I queried Orange over their sale on them, and was told they have not pushed sales on them either, since they've encountered after sales problems on billing agreements.

is it essentially a business tool do you reckon, or can I have its great looks
on a personal level

[thepassenger]

Personally I'd say that yes it's a pure business tool and other than being something largish you can lob at someone can't really see the need for e-mail on the move when it comes to SOHO or personal use. After all if it's that important someone will call you won't they?

[_dobbo_]

^^^
what she said. Blackberry for personal use is not something I see the point of. Not least because most modern phones can do IMAP email and so provide all the access you need. If your server supports it phones like the sony ericcson k800i can even do push email, which is the blackberrys only killer feature as far as I'm aware.

Plus the sony is a miles better phone in every other respect.

[spitfire-ian]

_dobbo_ said:

^^^
what she said. Blackberry for personal use is not something I see the point of. Not least because most modern phones can do IMAP email and so provide all the access you need. If your server supports it phones like the sony ericcson k800i can even do push email, which is the blackberrys only killer feature as far as I'm aware.

Plus the sony is a miles better phone in every other respect.

I've not seen any advantages with a blackberry over my SE P910i, infact the qwerty keyboard on the blackberry is a pain when you're used to a standard phone one.

[rich 36]

Just testing the water I suppose really,

I happen to like the keyboard and in fact perversly,
the whole look of the thing.
The mail is a handy benefit

I'll get over it

[CatherineJ]

Changing the subject slightly does anyone know if the Blackberry Pearl is going to be available on Vodafone?

[rich 36]

What is that anyway,
the forums on BB often mention them,

will they do more in some way?

[CatherineJ]

A BB Pearl is a Blacberry in a Smartphone size and shape and it has a camera. It isn't 3G and I think it launches on the 2nd October.

www.blackberrypearl.com

Edited by CatherineJ on Friday 15th September 20:28

[_deejay_]

_dobbo_ said:

^^^
what she said. Blackberry for personal use is not something I see the point of. Not least because most modern phones can do IMAP email and so provide all the access you need. If your server supports it phones like the sony ericcson k800i can even do push email, which is the blackberrys only killer feature as far as I'm aware.

Plus the sony is a miles better phone in every other respect.

The point is that it's a secure connection back to a corporate LAN. Instant delivery of emails is only one of the advantages of that. You can build all kinds of applications without the worry of having to cater for various devices, VPN clients etc etc.

Also, a Windows smart phone doesn't really do push email (I assume that's what the k800i is?) it simply maintains a connection to the server using HTTPS and sends periodic keep alives so incurs data charges even when you don't get any mail.

D

[hut49]

CatherineJ said:

A BB Pearl is a Blacberry in a Smartphone size and shape and it has a camera. It isn't 3G and I think it launches on the 2nd October.

www.blackberrypearl.com

Edited by CatherineJ on Friday 15th September 20:28

It's about 2 years behind the general features/performance curve - check out the Samsung SGH-T719. This will be the one to get - it has BB connect push email on a smart phone. OK the camera's a bit underspec at 1.5 megapix but the lens is OK and makes a reasonable point and snap. I handled one at the Samsung store in New York recently and it felt and fingered really good

[_dobbo_]

_deejay_ said:

The point is that it's a secure connection back to a corporate LAN.

Is it secure though? I'll confess to not knowing how blackberry server works. assuming it is secure, I'd guess only if your company has forked out the substantial cost of an on site blackberry system. but then any email system is only as secure as it's weakest link.

_deejay_ said:

Also, a Windows smart phone doesn't really do push email (I assume that's what the k800i is?) it simply maintains a connection to the server using HTTPS and sends periodic keep alives so incurs data charges even when you don't get any mail.

actually, it uses the IMAP IDLE command to drop into what is effectively a sleep state. This wont cause any data charge until an email arrives, which will trigger the client to download the email, or otherwise unless you drop out of IDLE which sends a "DONE" command, which will cost next to nothing.

[thepassenger]

_dobbo_ said:

_deejay_ said:

The point is that it's a secure connection back to a corporate LAN.

Is it secure though? I'll confess to not knowing how blackberry server works. assuming it is secure, I'd guess only if your company has forked out the substantial cost of an on site blackberry system. but then any email system is only as secure as it's weakest link.

Looking through the Blackberry site it seems that "Java enabled portable wireless propritery VPN client" sums the little device up nicely. It's main function is to establish a data connection with the mobile operator and then it starts talking to the enterprise software on your site over an encrypted VPN. I guess once that's done it provides a universal outbound socket for anything running to talk to an app server.

The tricky thing from my point of view would be pausing the data transfer when a voice call comes in. I guess mobile operators who support blackberry have some form of callwaiting service and the unit gets pinged just before the call connects, whilst the app server pauses/buffers output. Still a nifty trick either way you look at it (wish my Nokia 6680 could do that).

I'm going to give it a 4/10 on the gadget scale (1 being a WinXP laptop, 10 being a bipedal robot with a beer tray).

[griffgrog]

For your Blackberry to work it needs to talk to a Blackberry Enterprise Server. Speak to O2 and they should be able to set you up. Then you simply forward your email to your O2 Blackberry account. If your company has an email server they can add a Blackberry Enterprise Server to their network inexpensively. That way you will get the full functionality. This includes full email synch i.e. when you delete an email on your blackberry it deletes on your Outlook / Notes client, when you move an email to a folder on your blackberry it does the same on your Outlook / Notes client. Only Blackberry has true push technology. Your calendar and contacts are synchronised as well. They aren't that feature rich, but no other phone / pda works any nearly as well. The BB is robust, always works and is ideal for the non-techno person. But I would say that as I work with (not for) them.