[JBahr]

I am a long time Palm user. I have had a palm pilot for almost 5 years now. Currently I use a Tungsten|T.

I just saw the news about the 7100t and I am very interested in it. I like the size and look of it, not to mention the price. Not to mention the Blackberry e-mail system would be good to have.

I haven't gotten a Blackberry yet because of serveral factors: 1-the price is more than I could afford, 2-the coverage in Kansas is very spotty but getting better each year as Blackberries start to use GPRS instead of the old MobiText systems, and 3-I really didn't feel I needed one. I haven't really been in a job where I felt I needed the always on e-mail. Though that might change here in the near future. I do know it would be nice to have the capability, though.

If I were to get a Blackberry, I would more than likely make it my sole PDA. If nothing else it would lighten up what I carry in my pockets.

I have a few questions to ask about Blackberries in general:

1.) Is it possible to import my Palm's address book, calendar, and other PIM info into the Blackberry?

2.) The two programs I use the most on my Palm is AutoLog-a simple but detailed milage and service tracking program for my car (it does not calculate milage for reimbursement but instead mpg) and PocketQuicken which syncs directly with Quicken on my computer. Do equivlent programs exist for the Blackberry OS?

3.) I use Eudora as my e-mail client, is it possible for me to still use this program with a Blackberry or do I need to use Lookout, woops sorry, I mean Outlook for my desktop e-mail?

I would appreciate it if anyone can answer any of my questions. Also it would be great to hear about other people's experiences in going from a Palm to a Blackberry.

Thanks,

Joey

[Badgermac]

I'm not a huge fan of bloated PDAs. no offense intended to anyone, but for me simplier is better - there is a point of diminishing returns for me the more "stuff" you put in a PDA.

I still use a Franklin Covey planner, so some basic calendaring/scheduling and tasking is fine. the addressbook is nice. I don't need phone (i carry a separate phone). the email and notes were important to me.

Palms are nice, Blackberries have stripped some of the Palm PDA PIM-stuff and put more emphasis on email. What I have found in my short time with my BB is that there is more software out there then I thought. I imagine there is something out there for you for mileage.

[Mark Rejhon]

(1) Yes, you can sync your Palm PIM into BlackBerry. Just sync your Palm to your Microsoft Outlook (use Chapura PocketMirror for that). Then you sync your Microsoft Outlook to Blackberry. In fact, you can even keep your Palm, and keep both Palm and Blackberry synchronized to the same Outlook at the same time until you're used to Blackberry.

(2b) I heard of a similiar software program that can do mileage. At the least, you can use Dynoplex eCell (eOffice) spreadsheet to do the mileage tracking, since it's pretty easy to turn any spreadsheet into a mileage tracker. An added advantage is that your desktop Excel can be compatible with it.

(2b) I have not heard of any software for Quicken-style tracking yet on the Blackberry, but it won't be too long before one exists. If you don't mind barebones stuff, you can use eCell to import an exported spreadsheet from Quicken. So that you can at least view your Quicken data in some form. However, if you need true synchronization and this is a critical application, you will want to keep your Palm for now.

(3) You do not need to use Outlook for your desktop email. You can use any email software. You still need to use Outlook for PIM though. I don't even use Outlook for email. But I use it for addressbook/calendar/tasks/notes. My opinion is that I dont like Outlook as an email program but makes an excellent platform independent 'master' PIM capable of synchronizing simultaneously to multiple devices (I had a PocketPC, PalmPilot AND a BlackBerry simultaneously synchronized. And you can even sync to Yahoo Calendar and other online calendars too)

(3b) More info: For email on Blackberry, you have many options. The most common option is a special @blackberry.net email address that has instant reception without needing to "Check Email" (you receive emails 4 seconds after somebody clicks SEND) This is called the BWC - Blackberry Web Client. You can even configure it to download a copy of all your POP emails by giving POP username/passwords to the BWC, so that it will automatically copy your emails to your Blackberry every 15 minutes. Or you can use email forwarding to send a copy of all emails to the BlackBerry. (And these are not the only options, there's the BES/MDS hosting option for power users)

[cyberhh]

Check www.rimroad.com , www.tucows.com and www.handango.com for more software - I did see an expense tracker that had mileage somewhere...., no quicken pocket edition though.

The main advantage to the BB is always on internet - and it works. That is the core of the BB, everything else is secondary. My best advice is to descide if that is worth it to you - give up your palm and all that it has for always on email and internet.

Also - the blackberry is MIDIlet compatible so a lot of the java based software for mobile phones will work on the BB - and more is coming every day.

[sanjaygala]

Hi

I am Treo600 user and thinking of switching to Blackberry but I have several questions. As I am small business without "Black Berry Enterprise Server" or "Microsoft Exchange Server" I wanted to know

A) Can I use Blackberry Internet service to access my corporate email or SBC(Pacbell) email using POP3 ?
B) Can I use any third party Contact Management applications like Chapura for address book organization ?

Is Blackberry desktop synchronization software capable of synchronizing multiple outlook folders and multiple categories ?

I will really appreciate prompt response.

Thanks

Sanjay

[Dawg]

Originally Posted by sanjaygala

Hi

I am Treo600 user and thinking of switching to Blackberry but I have several questions. As I am small business without "Black Berry Enterprise Server" or "Microsoft Exchange Server" I wanted to know

A) Can I use Blackberry Internet service to access my corporate email or SBC(Pacbell) email using POP3 ? Yes
B) Can I use any third party Contact Management applications like Chapura for address book organization ? Outlook or one of the other PIM

Is Blackberry desktop synchronization software capable of synchronizing multiple outlook folders and multiple categories ? Not sure on this one havent tried it

I will really appreciate prompt response.

Thanks

Sanjay

[sanjaygala]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Does T-Mobile 7100t or 7290 Blackberry devices have any limitation on number of contacts that can be stored ?

Prompt response will be appreciated.

[Zro]

Contacts stored on the BlackBerry are memory dependant. If you have the memory for it, you can store it. As for how many can you store, that depends on the contacts. If you have full information in every single contact with a bunch of notes on each, you won't be able to store as many. But if each of your contacts are just name and email address, you'll be able to store a lot more.

Zro