[skydiver1]

Hello...

I just joined the forum and I am thinking of switching to a BB.
In the past month or so a few people asked for my BB pin and I was curious to know what exactly Blackberry messenger was. And when I read about it I thought that this was a genius idea and started giving more interest into BB.
I recently read that BB Bold 2 (the onyx) will be launched soon so this might be the perfect time for me to dive in.

I currently have an iPhone on AT&T (in US), I have extensively used Windows mobile and Symbian S60 but do not have much experience with the Blackberry OS and hence have a few questions/concerns:

I have an (hosted) exchange account for my work stuff and a Gmail/IMAP for personal use. As I understand i need BES -- which is provided for my hosted exchange provider -- to use my work account on my BB and I need to use BIS for my gmail/imap/personal account.

Can I configure my BB to use both my work account and my personal account (in essence both BES and BIS)?
For BIS (and maybe also for BES?) one needs to provide their credentials to AT&T/RIM -- isn't this a security/privacy issue?
Also with BES -- doesn't the admin have access to your sent/received emails? How worrysome is this?

AT&T offers two data plans for Blackberry.. $30 for personal use and $45 for business use.
Can I use the $30 data plan and still use/configure my hosted exchange account with BES?

Also I have read my reviews online for BB; but I am more interested in reviews of the BB OS, does anyone have good links for that specifically unbiased reviews of the OS which contain pics/videos .

One more thing: Since I haven't used a BB, can someone comment on how the browser in (specifically on Bold) compared to an iPhone.

Thanks so much!

[rambo47]

If you're using a hosted exchange account, you need the BES solution. The good news is that BES includes BIS and you can use up to 10 regular email accounts plus your hosted exchange account. Unfortunately, the $30 solution will not allow you to use your hosted exchange account. No worries about security - it's one of BlackBerry's key selling points. Everything is encrypted between your device and RIM's servers. You can choose to enable content protection on your device as well for an added layer of encryption, and you can password protect your device. That will lock it down so even the NSA will have to spend some time to get in to your BlackBerry. For mere mortals, the BlackBerry is un-hackable.

For unbiased reviews of the BlackBerry OS, best thing is to dig through some mobile blog sites. RIM gets good coverage at:
Boy Genius Report
Engadget Mobile
BlackBerry News
None of these sites are afraid to call out RIM when they lay an egg, either in a particular application or with an update to an OS that just plain sucks. Doesn't happen often, but when it does they call it like it is.

Coming from the iPhone, you're not going to find a better browser experience anywhere. Safari is the admitted king of the mobile browsers. The BlackBerry browser is rudimentary but usable. Certainly not anything you will marvel at. As alternatives, you can download Opera Mini (good for some online banking sites that don't like the BB browser) and Bolt (just out of beta, and speedy). If the iPhone's Safari browser were a 100, I'd call the BlackBerry browser a solid 80.

[djm2]

Rambo47,

Would he HAVE TO use BES on hosted exchange? Certainly it might be best, but if they allow OWA he could get his mail that way and sync contacts/appointments, etc. via the USB connection. I don't know, since we run our own Exchange and BES here.

With this possible exception, however, I would say to the OP that his comments were spot on.

[rambo47]

He could access his hosted exchange account via OWA and a web browser, but that's only if the hosting company allows it. And it eliminates the entire push advantage of BlackBerrys. Otherwise RIM requires BES plans for BES email accounts.

[takeshi]

BIS is still push (and can integrate an Exchange account using OWA if it meets the requirements) -- just not necessarily as fast as BES in many cases. There are other major advantages to using BES but I'm not sure that the OP really needs them.

Skydiver1, check with your Exchange admin and see what access methods are available to you (OWA, IMAP, POP, etc). If the company hosting your Exchange server doesn't have a BES server then BES is a moot point anyway.

Originally Posted by skydiver1

For BIS (and maybe also for BES?) one needs to provide their credentials to AT&T/RIM -- isn't this a security/privacy issue?
Also with BES -- doesn't the admin have access to your sent/received emails? How worrysome is this?

Depends on how comfortable you are with RIM, at&t and whoever manages your BES. The BIS servers don't store email -- they just relay it, basically.

Originally Posted by skydiver1

AT&T offers two data plans for Blackberry.. $30 for personal use and $45 for business use.
Can I use the $30 data plan and still use/configure my hosted exchange account with BES?

Nope. The $45 data plan isn't a "business" plan (servers can't distinguish business and personal data packets). It's a BES data plan and is required for BES.

[WPizzi]

As stated if your work exchange account is running OWA you can use the BIS service to connect to your work account. I have set this up on a few devices via the BlackBerry website.

[dj22l]

I have just bought a new BB Curve 8900 and am having problems getting my work email on my BB. I use outlook at work and access it remotely by mail.domain/exchange.

This thread appears to suggest that I need additional software. Is that the case? When I try to register my work email it says the setting are wrong though they appear to be correct. No message has appeared to suggest I need further software.

So I wonder if I've missed something.

Thanks.

[rambo47]

Does your work allow OWA access to the email system? If you set up your account via the O2 BIS page you should be good to go with just the email address and account password. Everything else should be handled automatically.

[dj22l]

Thanks for that. Yes I can access via exchange and I have tried the O2 BIS website. However despite inputing all the info it will not connect me. I wonder if there's a setting either on the BB or on the curve which I must change. O2 won't help as they say the do not provide support for Exchange on consumer constracts, which is what I have. They did however say I should be able to connect.

[rambo47]

Maybe the TCP/IP settings are necessary.

O2 (UK):
Gateway IP: 192.113.200.195
Port: 9201
APN: wap.o2.co.uk
username: o2wap
password: password

(From the BBFAQ)

[dj22l]

So that I have no doubt. Do I need to install additional software on my server in order to access Exchange or can I do it by entering the information on the phone or the Blackberry Internet Server website provided by O2?

Many thanks.