Blackberry

[Paul Wylie]

So, the inevitable has happened at work. Our corporate attorney got tired
of all his attorney friends being able to get their emails via Blackberry,
so he bought one. Currently, he's running it via the Outlook plug-in that
requires him to be logged into his PC and keep Outlook running while he's
out of the office, but that doesn't let him view attachments.

He's got two alternatives. The first is to pressure me to setup a rule on
our Exchange server to forward all his emails to a Blackberry account at
his wireless provider[1], which allows him to connect to a website where
the attachments are viewable (using a login name and password, natch).
The other alternative is to pressure me to roll out a Blackberry
Enterprise Server.

And actually, it's looking like a Blackberry might be a good solution for
myself and my employees. The company just signed a nationwide agreement
with Nextel (a Blackberry reseller) and we can supposedly use Nextel
Blackberries as more general-purpose remote IT administration tools.

So, the question is: Who here has used a Blackberry? Have you had any
experience with their Enterprise Server? How about using it with Nextel?
Any experiences with them?

--Paul
** Note "removemunged" in email address and remove to reply. **
[1] The soon-to-be-formerly-AT&T Wireless.

[Wotan]

Paul Wylie demonstrated that booze and posting

Post by Paul Wylie
So, the inevitable has happened at work. Our corporate attorney got tired
of all his attorney friends being able to get their emails via Blackberry,
so he bought one. Currently, he's running it via the Outlook plug-in that
requires him to be logged into his PC and keep Outlook running while he's
out of the office, but that doesn't let him view attachments.
He's got two alternatives. The first is to pressure me to setup a rule on
our Exchange server to forward all his emails to a Blackberry account at
his wireless provider[1], which allows him to connect to a website where
the attachments are viewable (using a login name and password, natch).
The other alternative is to pressure me to roll out a Blackberry
Enterprise Server.
And actually, it's looking like a Blackberry might be a good solution for
myself and my employees. The company just signed a nationwide agreement
with Nextel (a Blackberry reseller) and we can supposedly use Nextel
Blackberries as more general-purpose remote IT administration tools.
So, the question is: Who here has used a Blackberry? Have you had any
experience with their Enterprise Server? How about using it with Nextel?
Any experiences with them?

Someone convinced my employer that the blackberry was a good idea.

Pluses:

email
access to nice support tools tha formerly required booting a laptop

Minuses:

Poor coverage. I lose signal all over the metro area. There are parts
of my apartment that have no signal. And it is the Blackberry, as if I am
with someone using a regular nextel phone in the metro area, they still
get coverage.
Direct connect isn't the best on these things. Hard to hear, and if its
getting poor signal, impossible to maintain a connection.
Battery drains real fast if you do much with email or applications.


All in all, I preffered the old pager/cell phone combo I used to have.
Better coverage for both devices.

[Paul Wylie]

Wotan <***@not.netcom> wrote:
[...]

Post by Wotan
Poor coverage. I lose signal all over the metro area. There are parts
of my apartment that have no signal. And it is the Blackberry, as if I
am with someone using a regular nextel phone in the metro area, they
still get coverage.

Hmm... That's definitely not point in its favor.

Post by Wotan
Direct connect isn't the best on these things. Hard to hear, and if
its getting poor signal, impossible to maintain a connection.
Battery drains real fast if you do much with email or applications.

In spite of their ability to be both phone and PDA, we may use them just
as remote email devices, which doesn't bode well for battery life.

Post by Wotan
All in all, I preffered the old pager/cell phone combo I used to have.
Better coverage for both devices.

Have you had any experience with other wireless devices? The part that
appeals to me isn't so much remote access to email (although that is a
feature I wouldn't mind), but the ability to possibly tunnel in and run
other apps, such as perhaps a Java VNC console.

--Paul
** Note "removemunged" in email address and remove to reply. **

[Wotan]

Paul Wylie demonstrated that booze and posting

Post by Paul Wylie
[...]

Post by Wotan
Poor coverage. I lose signal all over the metro area. There are parts
of my apartment that have no signal. And it is the Blackberry, as if I
am with someone using a regular nextel phone in the metro area, they
still get coverage.

Hmm... That's definitely not point in its favor.

Post by Wotan
Direct connect isn't the best on these things. Hard to hear, and if
its getting poor signal, impossible to maintain a connection.
Battery drains real fast if you do much with email or applications.

In spite of their ability to be both phone and PDA, we may use them just
as remote email devices, which doesn't bode well for battery life.

After 10-15 messages, I find I need to stick it in the charger for a
while.

Post by Paul Wylie

Post by Wotan
All in all, I preffered the old pager/cell phone combo I used to have.
Better coverage for both devices.

Have you had any experience with other wireless devices? The part that
appeals to me isn't so much remote access to email (although that is a
feature I wouldn't mind), but the ability to possibly tunnel in and run
other apps, such as perhaps a Java VNC console.

Nothing long enough to offer an opinion. Until a few months ago, security
wouldn't let us use anything that could do things like email or run
applications that effect the business if it wasn't on a PC.

Although people in other departments with their wireless toys say the same
thing about email and battery. I think that may be unaviodale. :(

[Paul Wylie]

Post by Wotan
After 10-15 messages, I find I need to stick it in the charger for a
while.

I just had a discussion with my Nextel rep (and his entourage). He
claimed that older Nextel Blackberries were terrible for battery life but
the current generation (the 7510) is good for a whole day on a charge
(more if you don't use it as a phone).

Do you know what model you have/had?

--Paul
** Note "removemunged" in email address and remove to reply. **

[Wotan]

Paul Wylie demonstrated that booze and posting

Post by Paul Wylie

Post by Wotan
After 10-15 messages, I find I need to stick it in the charger for a
while.

I just had a discussion with my Nextel rep (and his entourage). He
claimed that older Nextel Blackberries were terrible for battery life but
the current generation (the 7510) is good for a whole day on a charge
(more if you don't use it as a phone).
Do you know what model you have/had?

6510

[Paul Wylie]

6510

Okay. Apparently, according to the Nextel guys, the 6510 was notorious
for lousy battery life. The 7510 has much better battery life and has an
option for an even larger battery. They claim that with the standard
battery, though, you can treat it as you would a cellphone (i.e., charge
it when you get home for the day).

Are you using any MDS applications with it? Do you know of any good sites
for Blackberry apps?

So far, all I've found reference to are Blackberry "Enterprise" MDS
applications (which I'm interested in--I'm just looking for options).

--Paul
** Note "removemunged" in email address and remove to reply. **

[Wotan]

Paul Wylie demonstrated that booze and posting

Post by Paul Wylie

6510

Okay. Apparently, according to the Nextel guys, the 6510 was notorious
for lousy battery life. The 7510 has much better battery life and has an
option for an even larger battery. They claim that with the standard
battery, though, you can treat it as you would a cellphone (i.e., charge
it when you get home for the day).
Are you using any MDS applications with it? Do you know of any good sites
for Blackberry apps?

Yes. Haven't looked, as my laptop won't talk to it. And hopefully never
will be able to.

Post by Paul Wylie
So far, all I've found reference to are Blackberry "Enterprise" MDS
applications (which I'm interested in--I'm just looking for options).

[h***@oddkarma.com]

Isn't there an injunction preventing RIM from selling blackberries?

[Blair P. Houghton]

Post by Paul Wylie
[...]

Post by Wotan
Poor coverage. I lose signal all over the metro area. There are parts
of my apartment that have no signal. And it is the Blackberry, as if I
am with someone using a regular nextel phone in the metro area, they
still get coverage.

Hmm... That's definitely not point in its favor.

I got a Treo with T-Mobile service because the Samsung
with Sprint service I had was just as bad as my old Sprint
service was circa 2000.

A few weeks ago I tired of dropouts inside our offices
in West Tempe, and I called T-Mobile. They didn't detect
anything when running diags on the tower from the support
desk, but this week, it's been crystal clear, so I presume
they cleaned the dove-shit out of the antenna shrouds.

The Treos have everything a Blackberry has, plus PalmOS.

--Blair
"Surfing the Internet at 70 mph is cool
if you're not the guy in the next car."