[bomax]

New to BB world... deciding between a Pearl and a Curve on AT&T (Cingular) and I'm having trouble discerning the cheapest way to get push email to my BB device. I called them but the rep was an idiot and gave me lots of wrong information.

I see they have the BlackBerry connect for $29.99, is that the cheapest? Do I need a blackberry data plan in order to get push email? Are there any hacks/tricks to get it free/cheaper?

[southwestcomm]

Yes you need a BB data plan.

There are a few BES hosting companies - typcially $20.00 a month.

[trevor1189]

Originally Posted by southwestcomm

Yes you need a BB data plan.

There are a few BES hosting companies - typcially $20.00 a month.

he isn't asking about BES, he is asking how to get push email. Push email is available on a BIS using GMAIL, Yahoo, or the BlackBerry email address.

To the original poster: Yes you need a blackberry data plan to get emails. There is no way around this. Email goes through RIM's servers and is pushed to the BlackBerry/ Without a data plan, there is no way to create an account on those servers to get your email. I don't know what the plan you need on cingular is, but I think their cheapest plan is about $30-$35/month.

[BeachBumSteve]

Originally Posted by bomax

New to BB world... deciding between a Pearl and a Curve on AT&T (Cingular) and I'm having trouble discerning the cheapest way to get push email to my BB device. I called them but the rep was an idiot and gave me lots of wrong information.

I see they have the BlackBerry connect for $29.99, is that the cheapest? Do I need a blackberry data plan in order to get push email? Are there any hacks/tricks to get it free/cheaper?

The $29.99 plan is the cheapest AT&T plan. It comes with a push account. Just auto forward your current email account to the new supplied account. You'll also want to configure the new account with a proper "reply to" so it appears your email hasn't changed. You can also consider setting up a GMail or Yahoo mail account, both of which are now push type accounts to the BB. Either way, you must have the BB connect at a minimum. If you have a corporate email account and Blackberry Enterprise Server installed, you can also have wireless synchronization on the BB.

[Dubdub]

Why auto forward? With the BB dataplan as someone else mentioned, you get a BIS account with ATT. Log into that and then you can add up to 10 email accounts and automatically get your email sent via RIM every 15 minutes or so.

Works great. Lasts a long time.

As for cost an ATT BB dataplan is $34.99 or $29.99 if you have a qualifying voice plan - at least 450 minutes I think it is.

[JGBerry]

Originally Posted by Dubdub

Why auto forward? With the BB dataplan as someone else mentioned, you get a BIS account with ATT. Log into that and then you can add up to 10 email accounts and automatically get your email sent via RIM every 15 minutes or so.

Works great. Lasts a long time.

As for cost an ATT BB dataplan is $34.99 or $29.99 if you have a qualifying voice plan - at least 450 minutes I think it is.

i agree, just create accounts in BIS, not need to forward everything.
yea, make sure to note that you get the data plan for $29.99 with a voice plan. Cingular/ATT lots of times will try and charge you $34.99 because most people don't know any better. i think people should have a "consumer education" so people won't get "F*&#'d" over as much

[BeachBumSteve]

Originally Posted by JGBerry

i agree, just create accounts in BIS, not need to forward everything.
yea, make sure to note that you get the data plan for $29.99 with a voice plan. Cingular/ATT lots of times will try and charge you $34.99 because most people don't know any better. i think people should have a "consumer education" so people won't get "F*&#'d" over as much

As Dubdub and JGBerry report, you can just depend on POP accounts. BUT...that is NOT true push mail as the OP asked. If you don't mind waiting up to 15 minutes for POP accounts to be checked, then no problem. If you want near instantaneous mail, then you need to use either the supplied account (with or without forwarding) or use GMail/Yahoo services. I personally never use the supplied account. I forward mail from seven other POP accounts to my GMail account because of the spam filtering capabilities, then it pushes to my BB. That also allows me to reply from any of the configured accounts if I choose not to reply via the GMail account.
Point is, there's lots of flexibility here if you feel you need it.

[ebruder]

Originally Posted by BeachBumSteve

... configured accounts if I choose not to reply via the GMail account.
Point is, there's lots of flexibility here if you feel you need it.

As BeachBumSteve states, there's a lot of flexibility. I have my POP3 set to redirect vs. forward, so that after spam filtering it is available to both my e-mail client from my hosting service and is also immediately pushed to my 8800

[bomax]

Thanks for the quick replies. Looks like if I want to get a BB I'll need to factor in the $29.99/mo no matter what. Luckily I get a 20% discount, but that's still $24/mo which seems high to me simply for getting email on my phone... Something to think about nonetheless.

[BeachBumSteve]

Originally Posted by bomax

Thanks for the quick replies. Looks like if I want to get a BB I'll need to factor in the $29.99/mo no matter what. Luckily I get a 20% discount, but that's still $24/mo which seems high to me simply for getting email on my phone... Something to think about nonetheless.

You're also getting the ability to read several types of email attachments and unlimited web surfing, although it's not the ideal surfing environment.

[ebruder]

Originally Posted by bomax

Thanks for the quick replies. Looks like if I want to get a BB I'll need to factor in the $29.99/mo no matter what. Luckily I get a 20% discount, but that's still $24/mo which seems high to me simply for getting email on my phone... Something to think about nonetheless.

I think you have it a bit backwards. BlackBerry began and still has as its main purpose to allow for e-mail and messages when away from your computer. It wasn't too long ago that they didn't even offer voice. Now there is voice and many other applications, like GPS navigation. If you do not need mobile e-mail, then maybe you are looking at the wrong class of devices.

Good luck with your choices.

[takeshi]

Originally Posted by BeachBumSteve

You'll also want to configure the new account with a proper "reply to" so it appears your email hasn't changed.

Reply to won't mask your *.blackberry.net account. It just sets the Reply To field. You email under such a setup will still come from your *.blackberry.net account which isn't really recommended. I'd suggest just integrating a gmail or Yahoo account with BIS as they're pretty much instantaneous.

Originally Posted by bomax

Luckily I get a 20% discount, but that's still $24/mo which seems high to me simply for getting email on my phone... Something to think about nonetheless.

You're getting a lot more than just email.