[luneluxe]

I currently have a Palm m130 and a regular old cellphone (Kyocera w/Cellular One). I want to merge the phone/PDA thing and am exploring Blackberry, as well as Treo smartphones, etc.

I currently sync my Palm with Outlook on my PC at work and Palm Desktop on my iMac at home. I need to continue to do that, although I could use a different program on the Mac (Entourage, maybe? iCal?). I'm also looking at upgrading the iMac to a iBook or Powerbook at some point.

Any advice? Why should I consider Blackberry over Palm? Can I keep my current cellphone number and provider if I switch to Blackberry? Will the Blackberry sync across both the PC and Mac platforms? Does Blackberry offer programs such as Pocket Quicken, Splash Shopper and Word via Documents to Go?

Thanks!
Luna

[rcrivera03]

I currently have a Palm m130 and a regular old cellphone (Kyocera w/Cellular One). I want to merge the phone/PDA thing and am exploring Blackberry, as well as Treo smartphones, etc.

I had a Pal, gave it up for a BB, have not looked back since, mainly because I now carry only one device

I currently sync my Palm with Outlook on my PC at work and Palm Desktop on my iMac at home. I need to continue to do that, although I could use a different program on the Mac (Entourage, maybe? iCal?). I'm also looking at upgrading the iMac to a iBook or Powerbook at some point.

I sync My MS Outlook, Calendar, Memo and address book from my pc. For iMac, I'm not sure if there is way.

Any advice? Why should I consider Blackberry over Palm? Can I keep my current cellphone number and provider if I switch to Blackberry? Will the Blackberry sync across both the PC and Mac platforms? Does Blackberry offer programs such as Pocket Quicken, Splash Shopper and Word via Documents to Go?

Who's your current carrier? You should be able to keep your current number. When I changed from a regular phone to a BB I kept my number. My wife has a 7520 and she uses a program called eOffice to via MS Office documents including Power Point. And there are programs, I believe like Quicken, not the same, but like it.

I hope this helps you some what. Tell us who your carrier is and others may be able to help.

[XDS]

Wirelessly posted (7290: Mozilla/2.0 (compatible; MSIE 3.02; Windows CE; PPC; 240x320) BlackBerry7290/4.0.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1)

Have you ever used any other PalmOS devices other than the SmartPhone and the M130 ?



Regards,
~

BTW The 7290 might be an option for you.

[luneluxe]

Thanks for responding. I currently have Cellular One. I've only used the Palm m130, never a smartphone or any other Palm devices. I like my Palm, and I have an ultralight keyboard for data entry. But I hear so many people raving about Blackberry I thought I better check it out.

My dream is to find a system -- PDA, phone, computer -- that works easily and efficiently.

[TayeDrummer]

I was about a decade long Palm user that naturally went to the Treo 600 (the 650) wasn't offered by my carrier. The Treo is a seamless progression from the Palm/phone combo you're currently carrying but I found the device ridiculously fragile. In the space of a month I had cracked the screen three times, each time rendering the phone almost useless and costing $200 CDN to replace. I'm now with a BB 7250 and haven't looked back.

I did have to move from Palm Desktop to Outlook using my Treo phone as in intermediary since Outlook/BB couldn't import my Palm Desktop database.

[NJBlackBerry]

You can also sync a BlackBerry with a Mac using "PocketMac". You can NOT load software from a Max to a Blackberry (yet). There are usually over the air downloads, but not for OS upgrades.

I also had a Treo 600 and gave up on it. Interestingly enough, my wife - a life long Palm user - came back from the mall with a 7100t because she had given up on the fragile Palm and shaky software.

[sschweg]

I am a self-employed manufacturer's rep travelling the Southern US. I have had Verizon cell service and been an avid PDA user since the late 80s. I buy 3500 minutes a month and use most or all of them.

I got a bb7250 about 2 months ago to replace a dying Palm unit and an older cell phone. I left my cell plan at 3500 minutes and added the $45/mo. unlimited data plan.

Remember the days before WiFi and Cable modems? The days when you had to try 22 times to get hooked up to the dial up connection only to find that you didn't have any messages. To me, that is where you are with a typical cell phone set up. The bb is like broadband; not the speed, the access. It's always on.

Next time you are in an airport, notice how many heads are burried in BlackBerries vs. Cell Phones or even PDAs. They don't call it crackberry for nothing.

The BlackBerry has transformed the way that I do what I've been doing for the past 25 years. I used to come out of a sales call and have 2 to 5 phone calls to make on the way to the next call to get this thing expedited and that thing quoted. I would get voice mail and hold and use minutes and waste time. Now, I sit still for 5 minutes, dash off emails to the folks that I need to do my bidding, and I'm on my way. Since most of them are sitting in an office in front of a computer, they get the message quicker than the phone. Better still, the answer comes back in a written form that can be simply forwarded to the customer, who is also sitting directly in front of a PC that delivers the mail.

In addition, I spend a lot of time trying to find places I have never been in cities with which I am unfamiliar. A few taps of the thumbs brings driving directions and a map from where I am to where I'm going. I type "Sushi 37210" into Berry411 and I know where in Nashville I'm going to eat, how to get there, and if I highlight the Phone number and press enter, I can make a reservation.

My customers are slowing beginning to email me instead of call because they know that when the two little buzzes go off, I am going to look at the message even if I am in a meeting. When visiting a customer, I compose an email to myself, making notes as I go. At the end of the visit, I send it off to me. I leave it marked "unread" until I act on the things that I need to do. Once done, I can recall the message the next time I visit that customer by doing a simple search of the message box.

The bb will keep a phone log for you to the limit of it's memory, which for me, must be about 3 months. You can go back to the second Tuesday of last month and find the number of the guy that called you about the broken widget.

I have taken it a step further in last couple of weeks. I have now signed up for BES service thru MailStreet.com for ANOTHER $20/mo. But, now, when I delete a message or add a contact, it is instantly added to my Outlook, which is avaialable for any internet enabled computer in the world.

I have signed up for EFax service for ANOTHER $12/mo., which not only sends my faxes directly to my bb, but also allows me to use any fax machine in the world (or the one at the front desk) to print them. I can even forward them to the factory with notes of what to do with them.

I can envision being able to reduce my voice minutes enough to all but pay for these additional services. But even if I can't, I consider the bb to be one of the best values that I have found in my 25 years in business. It gives me what I have found no other way to buy... MORE TIME.

Now, can somebody help an old guy down off this soap box...


Steve

[jojo6]

I do tech support for a large physician practice inside a very large pediatric hospital. all of our doctors were using palm pilots until a couple of months ago one doctor came in my office and requested that i get him a bb. i was happy that the day had come when i could start to convert the office over to bb. i just needed one doctor to try one.

we have two doctors with treo 650's and now have 3 with bb (the rest of our doctors have assorted palm pilots). i never have any complaints from the bb docs (other than when we first got them one doctor wouldn't leave his on and the web client couldn't push the email to him, and then he would turn it on and get a flood of it / user error). on the other hand i have had to hard reset the palms more times than i wish to count and wipe out all the palm desktop and intellisync software and reinstall it several times. they (like most palm pilots) seem to go in a cycle where they will be ok for a while and then all of a sudden they flake out and you can't sync them. we have never had any syncing issues with bb. i guess all the problems with palm over the last few years has made me a little bias towards a device that seems to work flawlessly.

the hospital i work in doesn't run a BES, but once i have our whole staff converted from the dark ages i am going to start a push for one.

my bottom line is that blackberry just plain works. we use verizon service and bb 7250s.

[kitmoni]

Originally Posted by luneluxe

My dream is to find a system -- PDA, phone, computer -- that works easily and efficiently.

Luneluxe - good luck with your dream! Here is my take on the differences...

First, I'm a former Treo 650 user who LOVED his "smartphone". The best way to characterize the difference between the two is that the Bb is an industrial strength device, where the Treo was cute. Certain things work better on each device, so I'll give you my quick hit list on both. I moved from my Treo to a 7250 with Sprint (carrier was not an option in our company). I use our corporate BES along with 8 or 9 private email boxes. I'm heavily using email, calendar and contacts with a minor usage of tasks and other stuff (YM w/VeriChat, Berry411, etc.). Here's my comparison:

Treo wins with:

• SCREEN - Much nicer on the Treo, brilliant.
• PROGRAMS - Yes, a lot more programs on the Treo, but I found I wasn't using most of the programs I purchased.
• FORM FACTOR - Slight edge to the Treo in that it has a narrower form factor. I could easily type with one hand on the Treo, not so much with my 7250 (only 3 keys are out of reach). Although, I'm told I shouldn't be typing and driving anyway...
• RING TONES - Kind of a silly advantage, but there are many more ring tones available for the Treo.
• BROWSER - Very SLIGHT advantage on this one, but the Treo browser seemed a little faster than the Bb. Perhaps that is more of a BES connection issue for me, but it was a little noticeable.

Blackberry wins with:

• CASE - Again, industrial strength. The Bb case doesn't chip, flake or crack like the Treo DOES.
• BLUETOOTH - Both devices have BT, but it works DRAMATICALLY better on the Bb. Treo = snap, crackle and stay within 5 feet of the device. Bb = Clear and roam up to 50 feet (YES, I've gone that far in my office). Other little things stood out, like with the Treo I constantly had to "re-establish" my connection to make or take a call, which is never necessary with the Bb. Plus, the BT headset on the Bb is completely integrated, meaning when I change the volume on my Bb trackwheel, it controls the volume of my headset. This was my most MAJOR advantage due to my activity level.
• BES - Might not be a big one for everybody, but my company is on BES and I needed to stay integrated with my calendar and contacts. Treo promised to have Bb Connect, but this was another in a long line of empty promises. Now, I add a meeting to my calendar and it wirelessly syncs with my Outlook and shows in my Free/Busy data for the rest of the company. Sweet.
• ONE TOUCH DIALING - I understand the latest Treo release fixed this, but for nearly a year I had a Treo that used one touch dialing, but when you did the one touch it took 5 - 8 seconds to dial. Annoying. Plus, you had to be in the phone application to dial. NOT SO with the Bb. I can one touch dial from almost any screen, and it is immediate.

I hope that helps you some. If you need the standard PIM functions (calendar, contacts, tasks, email) and want a device that won't chip away in 3 months, then welcome to Blackberry. If you place a high importance on a pretty screen and lots of extra programs (I liked them but wasn't using them), then a Treo is a good bet. Good luck with your process...

[Kriz]

I was a long time Palm user starting with the palm 100 upto the Tungsten C. Had also used the Treo 600 for a year. Yeah it was nice to look at, the screen and the louder ringer. HOWEVER...I had to reset it many times a month. Sometimes it would reset itself. To use the keyboard you need "needle" fingers. I had Verizon as a carrier and that in itself was a nightmare...My 7520 BB has been a blessing..yeah it takes a little getting used to...i still try to touch the screen to do something instead of using the thumb wheel..but I have not had any reset problems, my email syncs, my appointments sync from groupwise without a hitch. My personal email connections were seamless.

For me it is simple choice..what do you use more? Your phone or email/PIM? Remember that this is not a ringtone savvy, lights flashing phone...its a power tool !

[XDS]

Wirelessly posted (7290: Mozilla/2.0 (compatible; MSIE 3.02; Windows CE; PPC; 240x320) BlackBerry7290/4.0.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1)

What A long a** post.

Regards,
~

[luneluxe]

Wow, thanks, everyone! I really appreciate all your posts (especially the long ones!).

What's BES? Blackberry Exchange Server? I'm totally guessing. I work at a university and we have Outlook Exchange Server. That's why I have to stick with Outlook. However, at home I'm a Mac person and I don't think Outlook exists for Mac. I currently use Palm Desktop but would happily switch to Entourage or iCal or anything else that played well with Outlook and my handheld.

Some of my campus colleagues use Blackberry; maybe I should ask them how they're set up.

More than anything, what I want with a combination phone/PDA is to integrate my address book with the phone. Currently I sit there with the Palm in one hand and the cell phone in the other -- what a pain!

But I also am a big user of my Palm's calendar, to-do lists, memos, SplashShopper lists and SplashID password program. I occasionally use Word, PocketQuicken and the Dictionary. The Dictionary card is slow, though, and I'm thinking if I had web browing capabilities I could just google definitions?

I don't care about ringtones. I use email and web a lot on my desktops, but don't really care much about being always connected. I do care a lot about reliability and it sounds like you guys all agree BB is less fussy than Palm/Treo.

[ace_2005]

Goodlink solves everything for your PALM. These are all pro BB folks and of course they will give you a biased answer. .

I used to manage 2000 Blackberries you should hear my story.

[luneluxe]

OK, I just went on my university's website and discovered we have a Blackberry Enterprise Server and three different plans. Now I just have to figure out what it all means ...

http://www.umt.edu/it/pts/Blackberry/default.htm

[corey@12mile]

Originally Posted by ace_2005

Goodlink solves everything for your PALM. These are all pro BB folks and of course they will give you a biased answer. .

I used to manage 2000 Blackberries you should hear my story.

blah blah friggin blah... I manage 7 BES servers and 1 GoodLink server. I am a RIM partner and a Good Partner. Goodlink is good, but the pricing was aweful. That is slowly changing, there are a few things that Good excels in, there are a few things that BES excels in. Either way, Good vs BES is a stalemate as far as I am concerned.

Why do I carry a Blackberry? Because I dropped a Treo once, and I promise I will never drop one again, because I will never own one of those POS's again. I can't say enough good about Goodlink, but when it comes to handheld selection to go along with it, there is no choice in the matter but to stick with a Blackberry.

I suppose that in the future, if a manufacturer ever make a device with the ruggedness of a Blackberry, and it's supported by Goodlink, I may be inclined to try it for a while, but until then, I don't want to be replcing a flimsy $600 piece of junk every few months.

cd.

[luneluxe]

Well, one problem I'm seeing is that PocketMac is only for OS 10.3 and up; I'm still on 10.2.8 and will stay that way till I buy a new Mac, which will probably be a laptop next spring.

Is there a way to use Word on Blackberry? Is there a good lists program? I'm going to go check out Handango ...

[luneluxe]

Am I correct in assuming that anything I could use on the web, I could also use on a Blackberry? For example, web-based lists like Ta-Da, Bloglines, Google, Flickr, Furl?

Is there any reason I wouldn't want to do this ...?

[stevenyc]

Is it still possible to install the Goodlink software on a RIM device? I had a handfull of 957's that I used with my Goodlink server, and everybody loved them because they had a longer battery life than the G100's. They were a great combination of hardware and software.

[deej]

I had the Palm M130 for about a year and a half, then about a year and a half ago I ordered a Dell Axim X30, it was great with syncing with outlook, and was alot better unit, with wireless and blue tooth (although I never used the blue tooth) Anyway about 3 weeks ago the University that I work for bought me a 7250 Blackberry through Verizon Wireless, and I am hooked up through a Blackberry Enterprise Server at the University. My 4 IT guys keep me with all of the latest and greatest software and support, so for me to even think about the palm, which sits behind the dell which sits behind the Blackberry on my desk at home, would be a huge step backwards. I absolutely love this thing. I can get my home e-mails as well as my work e-mails sent to this thing, and now instead of carrying a pager, phone and a PDA around I now have one device. When I add an appointment or a task or really anything in outlook, it instantly sincronizes with the Blackberry. No more plugging it in or forgetting and later realizing that you went home for the weekend and didn't sync. As far as the wait for the Blackberry I ordered it on a tuesday, and it was on my desk on Thursday morning, (through Verizon) Oh I will recomend two programs to any and all, one free and one not free. The free program called berry 411 is awesome. It has search capabilities that are better than any on the net. you can put in any town and any business or person and it will find them, and not only that, but it gives you instant links for phone numbers, maps and driving directions. Awesome!! The second program that I would recomend to everyone is Pocket day professional. It links all of your e-mail, phone messages calendar, task, plus weather and a whole lot more on one page. No more switching back and forth trying to find all of that information, Yippie!! sorry I get carried away sometimes. Happy users are the Blackberry's greatest advertisers.

deej

[luneluxe]

I've been reading and re-reading your posts and you guys are winning me over! I still have a lot to learn before I take the plunge, though ....

I'm still hoping to hear whether I can access all my Web-based tools on the BB (Yahoo mail, Blogger, Furl, etc.). I checked out Handango's BB software and there seems to be programs that would meet my needs for lists, Word and Quicken.

Another question: What is the difference between Bluetooth and wireless? I thought Bluetooth WAS wireless? I'm confused ....