kajpkgeng, your concerns are definitely understandable! I am not anti-Treo, I'm just pro-BlackBerry
.... I have friends who use Treo's and appreciate their multimedia (MP3 and video) capabilties, but I make sure they also appreciate my improved BlackBerry capabilites back too ;) ... There are clearly tradeoffs between Treo and BlackBerry, but surprisingly the BlackBerry is less of a compromise nowadays than many former Treo users expected... (Okay, not all -- but mainly Treo users who wanted MP3, Nintendo emulators, and stuff like that. Even an emulator is being tinkered with now, as the 7250 with a 250Mhz ARM9 is finally fast enough for emulation type endeavours.) .... But keeping that in mind, corporate priorities generally prevail and the BlackBerry is finally starting to get pretty good in many categories
other than email...
Now in answer to the following:
(1) I'm comparing builtin PIM versus builtin PIM. They are finally more in par with each other now. It is true that third party PIM on Palm can be amazing (DateBk5) but third party PIM software such as PocketDay also provides similiar enhancements to DateBk5 too as well. Not quite as good as DateBk5 yet. But even I prefer to use PocketDay on BlackBerry than DateBk5 on Palm, just because I navigate so much better on a good BlackBerry keyboard, and prefer a thumbwheel paradigm over a touchscreen paradigm (Although I formerly preferred touchscreen, but not anymore). One thing to keep in mind that once you're used to the thumbwheel/shortcut keys paradigm, it's frequently faster to lookup information on a BlackBerry than on a Palm. (However, for firsttimers, it's frustratingly slow to use a BlackBerry, I can understand -- but you just have to go through the learning curve -- then it's much more of a pleasure. Although some people still prefer Treo's, the newer BlackBerries are much more capable of doing similiar things formerly limited to Treo territory)
(2) Yes, you can now edit office documents on a BlackBerry now. The software is called Dynoplex eOffice at
http://www.dynoplex.com
Microsoft Word compatible word processor for BlackBerry (The
ONLY BlackBerry app I wish I had a touchscreen for, but it's not that bad with a trackwheel once you get familiar with it). Also, there's another brand of excel editor called "miniexcel" if you want something cheaper than Dynoplex. I also heard there are more programs coming too as well.
(3) BlackBerries by default now include attachment viewing capabilities including XLS, DOC, PDF, TXT, GIF, JPG, TIFF, PNG, and ZIP (for viewing files inside ZIP containing the above extensions). Older BlackBerries can be upgraded to include this, using the free OS4.0 download which can be found in "RIM Software" area. For editing, you still need third party software such as Dynoplex, though. Storage is often done server-side, although there's third party filesystem addons. A useful filesystem for BlackBerries is Dynoplex eFile, and it can do a server-side virtual network-based filesystem, allowing you to access more than the BlackBerry flash memory can hold.
(4) Yes, it is true that BlackBerries have slower CPU's. The fastest BlackBerry, the 7250, only has a 250 Mhz ARM9, but even the slower CPU's are fast enough to handle most stuff. Just make sure you get good 2005-era BlackBerries and you will be fine. (Model 7290, 7250, 7520 and maybe the 7100 are the ones I recommend. The 7100 is the slowest of the 2005-era models though, I should warn, because of the higher resolution despite the smaller form factor. But even the 7100 is more than 2 times faster than the old 7750). Yes, it's true Java adds a layer of performance impact, but it's not bad on the 2005-era models.
So the rule of thumb to Treo users trying the "BlackBerry conversion", is get the good 2005-era BlackBerries. The conversion will be initially painful, with some tradeoffs, but most non-multimedia-oriented users have been pretty happy to live with the tradeoffs, for the BlackBerry benefits if you really needed good wireless productivity... The 2003/2004 era BlackBerries are very boring though with dull screens, so your users may protest... another reason to pay attention to the 2005-era BlackBerry models.
A case in point is I recently witnessed a BlackBerry user do a full Linux installing using a SSH session using his BlackBerry as a console. While SSH was running multitasking in the background on his BlackBerry, he was able to send/receive emails at the same time (BlackBerry uses a true multitasking OS which Palm does not), and even be on the phone at the same time. Even though voice and data are not simultaneously possible on 2.5G networks (even on Treo's) BlackBerry does a good job of queueing data temporarily while on the phone, and resuming queued data after hangup. That's a far better job than Treo's currently do, for example. This 6 hour Linux install using a Blackberry as a SSH console, was done completely untethered without a battery charge, and on Nextel which gobbles a lot more battery life than a GPRS BlackBerry (which can keep a continuous Internet connection for 75-100 hours nonstop untethered...). I have never yet seen a Treo user successfully make a telephone call of this nature in the middle of a SSH session, and while having a partially composed email idling in another BlackBerry "window". PalmSource is kind of late with getting thir new "Cobalt" PalmOS release out, and BlackBerry multitasks so much better than Treo, despite slowness, and lack of some multimedia capabilities...
On my BlackBerry, I recently ran a SSH application simultaneously with the web browser, simultaneously with a live running chat application (3 networking applications running at the same time with fully active, live true-Internet TCP/IP connections!). I haven't been able to do this multiasking on a Treo yet, surprisingly -- they seem to be more capable devices in many other respects considering there's more software on Treo, but I still can usually run most of them only one at a time... I should warn, I recommend a 2005-era BlackBerry for efficient multitasking, because multitasking is VERY SLOW on older BlackBerries even though it works all the way back to 1990's era BlackBerries - the famous 95X series! I switch between the simultaneous applications by holding ALT and hitting the side Esc key. That acts the same as Alt+Tab on Windows. Background apps are not paused, they keep running and processing. Which means you can download big OTA applications (you can install BlackBerry software wirelessly too) in the background while you compose an email in the foreground...
Another point of good news is you can keep both a Treo and a BlackBerry synchronized simultaneously to the same Microsoft Outlook, so you can use this to your advantage to make a transition less painful...