searched but couldnt find a relevant thread.

im considering getting a suncom blackberry so i can read my email and surf the web while on the go, but i know very little about how the blackberry works. my main question is if it is possible to use the blackberry to read my webmail/gmail/aol/work accounts etc. ? Or, if only certain types of accounts can be accessed. Similarly, how hard is it to set up using these multiple accounts?

any other useful insight/comments on blackberry's and their pros/cons would be appreciated as well.

p.s. i have read all the threads about how much suncom teh sucks but this new 60 day return policy will give me plenty of time to decide for myself. cant hurt to try them.

5/25/2006 9:21:42 PM

Whatever happened to that lawsuit against Blackberry? It had something to do with patent violations and I remember hearing threats that Blackberry service would be shutdown. I don't know if that was resolved or if it still hangs over Blackberry.

5/25/2006 10:07:30 PM

in the enterprise world you'd set up your blackberry server and connect it to whatever your email/contacts/calendaring system is (i.e. Exchange/Domino/etc...)

Enterprise server converts from your system to something the blackberry can handle and then pushes it to your device thru their service. So you have to buy not only the blackberry, but the server software, the blackberry service, and a data plan with your provider.

The cost is really pretty disgusting.

However, for personal use you should be able to manually configure a blackberry to read your email from a normal pop3/imap account. Or if it has webmail access, you can go there thru the phones browser.

You'd want to buy a dataplan for this b/c other wise it would be $texas.

Also you dont need a blackberry device just to do pop3/smtp. Blackberry is more for the enterprise solution mentioned above.

Many many many phones allow you to connect to your normal mail servers. They have their own email clients that operate in the same way as the ones you'll find on your pc. This means you have a rather wide selection of phones you can choose from. Anything that runs windows mobile should have a pop3/imap client. Many other phone OS's have them as well.

So for your use it comes down to this:
Does the phone support POP3/IMAP?
Does the phone support a browser?
Does the phone support EDGE or any other "fast" cell network?

The blackberry meets all these requirements, but so do other phones. YOu may not even need EDGE service. That would probably cost quite a bit more.

I would personally look for a windows mobile 5 device because of the better software options with windows mobile, but you may find you like the blackberry os better.

Go into the store, try them out, look online at some of the mobile device sites that are out there for reviews.

5/25/2006 10:08:34 PM

blackberrys are very basic and the browser is not very good

id also recomend a windows mobile 5 device, there are a few with qwerty keyboards that would be great for email

5/25/2006 10:25:58 PM

Quote :

"A Tanzarian: Whatever happened to that lawsuit against Blackberry? It had something to do with patent violations and I remember hearing threats that Blackberry service would be shutdown. I don't know if that was resolved or if it still hangs over Blackberry."

Research-In-Motion (the makers of Blackberry) originally lost the lawsuit filed by NTP (an IP firm out of California) and could have been shut down if an agreement wasn't reached. NTP agreed to a settlement originally, but then changed its mind.

Since then, 7 of the 8 NTP patents were invalidated by the US Patent & Trademark Office late last year. So rather than lose *everything*, if I recall NTP accepted the previous agreement it struck with RIM where NTP gets $texas in perpetuity and Blackberry's get to continue operating.

5/25/2006 10:29:17 PM

Here's MY $.02 ...

Blackberries are ideal for enterprise use, ie. running a BES server for a corporation. This can push emails, calendaring items and contacts in real time to the device. There are many applications that allow you to use the device's always online capability to chat (via BB messenger, yahoo! msgner, and even Ramble AIM). As long as you have the data plan and a signal, you have all this at any time. This, paired with the ability to use the device as a regular mobile phone rocks.

Also, as an aside, Verizon is now selling their new device (BlackBerry 7130e) which utilizes bluetooth, and the ability to use the phone as a wireless broadband modem with bursts up to 2mbs (EVDO). Granted, this is through a mini USB cable to the PC, but the same rules apply. You have service, you have internet... The only thing is that when using it in this capacity you can't use the phone to talk (yet). Also, I've heard rumors that they are playing with utilizing EVDO on the device through the Bluetooth protocol, allowing you to use the phone simultaneously.

5/26/2006 12:17:46 AM

i love my 6700

5/26/2006 12:39:42 AM

Why do you guys think these are only ideal for enterprise use?

Yes its more convenient, but honestly doesnt really do a whole lot more than the wireless syncronization.

Without a Enter. Server, the emails are still pushed down, you still have html web page viewing, it can still sync with most programs.

And personally, I think the Windows mobile OS is shit. Hence Treo switching back to the Palm software after only one device being produced with Windows OS

And I love my

and


[Edited on May 26, 2006 at 10:50 AM. Reason : <3]

5/26/2006 10:41:15 AM

5/26/2006 12:57:02 PM

haha my boss is like i love palmOS - i can shell into our box here at work.

when the FUCK is he EVER going to do that on a screen that small

5/26/2006 1:05:35 PM

you can shell into files at work on a blackberry if you just make an rss feed to the file tree

5/26/2006 1:14:55 PM

lmao i'm going to pretend that made sense.

5/26/2006 2:24:18 PM

to oversimplify, you make a simple webpage with a bunch of links and the source you set for the links is the local path of the files, ala

Database
Employee Directory

or whatever

then you password protect the page, share the page online, and you can access the page from your BlackBerry's browser

5/26/2006 2:31:19 PM