[pgrokkos]

I've been a long time devotee and now use a Verizon 7750. Thankfully, its time to get rid of that piece of junk. I'm struggling right now whether to replace it with the 7100 series from Cingular (unless Verizon gets their version in the next month), or go for a non-Blackberry device. Seems like if I go that route, I can choose one that incorporates BB Connect or a Palm or Microsoft based device.

My office is not very BB friendly but they do have the enterprise server software running allowing me to not have to use the desktop redirector. They also support something called GoodLink but don't know much about it.

My questions are:

1. Does anyone know how Palm and Microsoft devices work for email? I'd really love to get soemthing like the Samsung 730 or even a Treo 650, but am very nervous that they wont offer the ease on email. I'm ok with simply having to deal with the devices only pulling email every 15 minutes. Is that really the only down side? Do you have to use a desktop redirector? I'm assuming that my work doesn't offer anything beyond BES and the GoodLink I mentioned. Not sure if they are on Exchange 03.

2. Does anyone know if this GoodLink thing is an equivalent to BB email service?

3. If I go with a BB Connect device, is it as good and as simple as having a traditional Blackberry? In replacine the ones I've had to date, it seems that its very simple for our work system to realize the new model replaced the old one, just by synching. Doe a BB Connect device work the same way?

Appreciate your help.

[bbmember]

Originally Posted by pgrokkos

I've been a long time devotee and now use a Verizon 7750. Thankfully, its time to get rid of that piece of junk. I'm struggling right now whether to replace it with the 7100 series from Cingular (unless Verizon gets their version in the next month), or go for a non-Blackberry device. Seems like if I go that route, I can choose one that incorporates BB Connect or a Palm or Microsoft based device.

My office is not very BB friendly but they do have the enterprise server software running allowing me to not have to use the desktop redirector. They also support something called GoodLink but don't know much about it.

My questions are:

1. Does anyone know how Palm and Microsoft devices work for email? I'd really love to get soemthing like the Samsung 730 or even a Treo 650, but am very nervous that they wont offer the ease on email. I'm ok with simply having to deal with the devices only pulling email every 15 minutes. Is that really the only down side? Do you have to use a desktop redirector? I'm assuming that my work doesn't offer anything beyond BES and the GoodLink I mentioned. Not sure if they are on Exchange 03.

2. Does anyone know if this GoodLink thing is an equivalent to BB email service?

3. If I go with a BB Connect device, is it as good and as simple as having a traditional Blackberry? In replacine the ones I've had to date, it seems that its very simple for our work system to realize the new model replaced the old one, just by synching. Doe a BB Connect device work the same way?

Appreciate your help.

Why did you leave BB7250 from verizon out? Its the fastest one out there and has many improvements over the 7750. I think its something you might want to try.

You might want to check out the SK65. See the link below for a complete list of BB supported devices,

http://www.blackberry.com/products/l...ct/index.shtml

[pgrokkos]

I left out the 7250 because it doesn't really do that much more for me than the 7750. I understand it is faster than the 7750 and has bluetooth, but I'm really interested in getting something more than I think either model offers such as wifi, a 'cooler' form factor, more PDA functionality. I'll check your link on other models. My real concern is how much of a trade off am I looking at in dropping blackberry with respect to email. If it doesnt' seamlessly integrate into my company's system for email forwarding, then the new things I listed above probably aren't worth it.

[Mark Rejhon]

I feel the 7250 has a cooler form factor with a better keyboard (it has bigger keys than the 7750), has twice the memory, and the PDA functionality runs much faster and better on it when you run software such as PocketDay. Much less lag when pressing buttons. It makes the 7250 feel like a much better PDA than a 7750. The web browser on the 7250 downloads five to seven times faster than the 7750, making WiFi a little less important. Most wireless devices on the market aren't fast enough to keep up with WiFi anyway, although newer PocketPC's are getting pretty good in speed, although they haven't caught up in email usability (yet... Let's see what the new Moto RAZR-style BlackBerry clone brings...)

For tips, check "BlackBerry Calendar Tips and Tricks" as well as "BlackBerry Keypress Shortcuts, Tips, and Tricks" in the FAQ link.

[jibi]

the Treo 650 would possibly be the only replacement for a BlackBerry, but i believe it *still* suffers from extreme stability issues. Microsoft-based products are really coming out in the boatloads not to mention that they would be compatible with a lot of applications out of the box. i may end up trying out a MS-based handheld when the Motorola "RAZRberry" comes out in the future (which will have BlackBerry Connect).

i agree with you about leaving out the 7250 if you are not exactly happy with the 7750. you won't be gaining anything from the 7100 aside from the form-factor (which has its drawbacks).

GoodLink offers some similarities of BES but for the other OS handhelds. from an end-user perspective, i'm not really sure on the trade-off between the latest Good server product versus BES 3.6 (i believe there is a big degradation compared to BES 4.0).

[deezmfnutz]

I have used many other "smart-phone" operating systems, IMHO the only other platform that offers any type of usable stability is the Symbian UIQ OS. Even, then the RIM OS is very stable and so well integrated with their network. No other device will work as well. RIM is kind of like Apple by closing their market the develop very nice stable products with stable integrated hardware, software, and network. That being said the new GoodLink service and other push mail services offer a compleling alternative IF you perfer a non-RIM device. I am not sure what kind of "up-time" you will get, they may be similar to RIM in that the handheld is always logged onto the GPRS network, if so they will probably work very well.

I am not a big Treo fan. I had a 600 for a VERY short period of time but it was a garbage product, I vastly prefered my SE P900. IMO - The p910a or p910i are probably the best non-RIM alternatives because they are powerful feature rich phones that have blackberry software if you can get the BBconnect software to work. I currently have a 7100t and will probably ditch it with the new P series comes out, as long as they retain BBconnect support. My 2 cents.