The cure for Palm Envy.
Written: Sep 28 '00 (Updated Sep 29 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Email everywhere, comfortable keyboard despite its size, deceptively useful, easy to get addicted.
Cons: Pricey per month ($50)
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| kweckstrom's Full Review: RIM Blackberry Two Way Pager |
I'm a real-life dilbert.
I'm a technical engineer for a large IT department. I have 3 devices strapped to my belt (well, almost. I put 2 of them in my pockets. I don't find it 'chic' to show you're a geek). I do my best to "miniaturize" my technological wardrobe by finding the most usefulness in the smallest unit.
I think i've finally found the most useful gadget yet. It's the RIM Blackberry internet edition. There seem to be 3 distinct type of Blackberries out there, all based on the same form-factor.
First, they have the "base" RIM 950 "interactive pager", which is pretty much a stripped down blackberry. It does Email and addresses, and yes, you can install software on it. But It won't synchronize with your PIM (Personal Info Manager for those not versed in three letter acronyms, or 'TLA'). You CAN back up your data using an optional cradle/serial cable, and also enter data on your PC and send it to the 950 unit itself. I'll be reviewing that in a separate epinion, because I also feel it's a worthy product worth mentioning. It also has a much more wallet/purse-friendly price point.
Next, they have the Blackberry Exchange Edition, which is their most functional blackberry from an end-user standpoint. It syncs with your PIM and also resolves read/unread email between your Blackberry unit and your computer-based inbox. All this requires an exchange server, however. You'll find this kind of blackberry deployed at IT shops (we use 'em here, but I don't have one myself). I'm PRETTY sure all the blackberry Exchange edition units are all 4 meg units (4 megabytes of usable storage).
Finally, they have the 2 and 4 Meg Blackberry Internet Edition. I'll be reviewing the 4 meg unit. This is nearly identical to the Blackberry Exchange Edition function, 100% identical in form to the other blackberry units. The Blackberry Internet Edition has the ability to sync with your PIM (several types are supported, I use Outlook 2000), but it won't resolve email between your email client and your blackberry device, since email is handled a little differently on the internet edition. I'll do my best to explain it best I can.
Ordering
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I ordered my 4 meg blackberry unit from onemain.com (http://blackberry.onemain.com). They sell two units, the 950 (reviewed here), and the 957 (a palm-style unit). I opted for the 950 because I am NOT compatible with palm-type units. And believe me, i've had them all. Palm VII, Palm Vx, Palm Vx with Omnisky, Notebooks, CE machines (both PPC and HPC), you name it. All had a certain degree of functionality, but none were useful enough to justify their weight or their size.
I chose onemain because:
1) They offer a 4MB version of the blackberry, and I have over 700 contacts/email addresses and get roughly 60 emails per day.
2) They don't require a long-term contract for service (month-to-month) with no penalties
3) They actually had them *in stock* and ready to ship that same day
4) An actual person answered the phone
5) A 30 day money back guarantee on the unit itself.
Setting up
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My blackberry arrived the day after I ordered it (I opted for the $29 next-day shipping, hey, what can I say, I wanted it badly). Getting it registered on the network was a breeze. You basically log into blackberry.onemain.com using a browser, and click the "Activate" link. You're asked for your contact information, and are prompted to accept a terms of service agreement. Relatively standard stuff here.
Your email address is pre-assigned, and is quite long, so I would recommend setting up a forwarding rule from your outlook application, or a .forward file if you're used to Unix-based mail. I have both, and i'll explain in more detail later. Once your device is activated, you'll be greeted by an email on your device saying your account is activated. Now you're ready to install the software.
Installation of the software was a snap. It basically involved the following: plugging in the cradle into an open serial port, installing the blackberry software off the CD, configuring the software to tell it what kind of PIM software you used, and doing your first sync. I had this done in about 3 minutes total.
The included software also includes an installer that allows you to install software/3rd party apps to your blackberry. There's a few out there that are actually useful.
Usability
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With a device as small as the blackberry, you have to wonder if that tiny keyboard would be good for hands as big as mine. I have pretty chubby fingers, and that was my primary concern. I'm pleased to report that the little keyboard is *remarkable*. It's a standard qwerty keyboard in layout, with numbers and some special characters being accessed via the "Alt" orange key in the bottom left hand corner. Some punctuation is automated, such as 2 spaces ending a sentence with a period. New sentences are auto-capitalized, and quite frankly, entering text on this thing is a BREEZE.
LCD readability is also remarkable. Bright sunlight, subdued lighting, doesn't matter. This thing is *readable*. There's also two sizes of fonts to choose from (small and large), offering 6 lines or 8 lines of text. I like as much info as possible on a single screen, so I opted for 8 lines. Even with the smaller text, it's very readable. If the blackberry folks really wanted to, they could probably squeeze another line or 2 in there if they wanted to with a screen as high quality as this one. The LCD is also backlit blue by hitting the orange ALT key 3 times. The LCD lighting is a TAD dim, but still very readable.
I'm sure they keep the LCD lighting subdued to enhance battery life, which is rated at 3 weeks of average use with a single AA battery. I'd say that's an accurate figure, with mine lasting roughly 2 weeks with my heavy usage.
Scrolling, menu selection and editing is handled with the scroll wheel on the right of the unit. The scroll wheel allows you to scroll through menu items, and also select them by depressing the wheel itself. This makes reviewing new inbound emails a breeze with just one hand. You can configure the unit to automatically bring up a new inbound email by removing the unit from the holster (provided it's within the time you specify). So, if an email comes in, you can grab the unit out of the belt holster with one hand, and with that same hand, scroll through the email and read it. Nice. Very nice.
Configuration options are plentiful. You can configure the unit to turn off and on at certain times during the week (yay!) and also separately for the weekends. You can configure an alarm. You can configure an auto signature. you can configure auto text (for words you commonly misspell or phrases you commonly type), you can configure how you're notified while in or out of the supplied belt holster (Useful!). You can configure a password to come up after a certain interval of inactivity. They thought of just about everything.
Functionality/Flexibility
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Man, this device is FUNCTIONAL!
First, and foremost: Email anywhere. You never realize how nice this is until you have it. I had it with Omnisky on the palm (which I even reviewed here at epinions), and I loved it. The ability to read email from anywhere is nice (Wireless web-enabled phone). The ability to reply to it is excellent (Omnisky/Palm V). The ability to reply to an email IN DETAIL COMFORTABLY is going to spoil you (Blackberry).
The blackberry's email system is pretty well thought out. It separates everything by the day you receive it in your inbox. You have the ability to save messages in a completely separate area if they're important (so you know they're safe). Navigating the the email is done with the scroll wheel, and is easy as pie.
Configuring some of your email options happens on onemain's blackberry.onemain.com site. There, you have the ability to configure whether you want all sent emails to be CC:d to your normal inbox (I don't use it myself, but some want to know every little detail about when they sent an email). You can also set up filters (Useful!) there as well, so you can be in control of which emails actually MAKE it to your device. One thing they could add is the ability to have only high priority messages sent to your unit, but that's very minor (and quite frankly, a function i'd never use. I want all my email to go to this thing).
Another useful thing on their configuration website is the ability to re-activate your service in the event of a software reload. See, if you manage to blow up your blackberry by installing some beta software (yes! you can install software to your blackberry!), you can re-activate your messaging service with a simple click. I've already had to do this once. :)
And yes, there's also a very detailed search tool for email, allowing you to search on just about every field.
What's missing in email are 2 things: Tallied totals of emails on certain days (minor) and the ability to separate mail into folders (moderately important).
Contacts (known as Addresses on the Blackberry) are also handled well. There isn't much to say about it, except that you have tons of fields to choose from. You can also have multiple email addresses for any given contact. You can scroll through your contact list, or if you have a LARGE contact list like I do, start spelling out the person's name to limit what's being displayed. From that point, you can push down the ole scroll wheel on his/her name, and choose to compose an email right then and there. Nearly effortless.
Scheduling isn't something I really care about, since I don't go to many meetings (i'm more the engineer type), but it does sync with outlook. I don't know much more about that however.
You also have a task list that operates much the same as outlook's own. You have priorities and due dates, and the ability to set the status on each.
Notes can also be synchronized, though I don't take many. I usually just send myself an email :)
You can also set an alarm, though you're limited to one. Also included is a calculator for quick arithmetic. For airline travelers, or if you just want to be left alone, you can turn off the wireless networking ability by simply turning it off from the main menu.
Coverage
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Coverage in my area is excellent indoors and out. The mobitex network is very strong in NYC as you might imagine. It even works from the back stall in the men's room (sorry, had to go there), a place where humans and cellphones alike fear to tread. At home, the story is much the same, and I live in an area that has tons of radio interference thanks to being near Teterboro airport. Even with all that, coverage is excellent.
Of course, your mileage may vary depending on where you will use this device. For NYC and norther New Jersey though, it's all good.
TIPS
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I have 2 inboxes. My work inbox which is on exchange, and my home inbox which is standard pop3 on a unix box. I'm sure you'll want to have ALL your email go to your blackberry. Here's how I did it:
On my exchange account, I have a server-based forwarding rule which forwards all my messages to my blackberry unit. NOTE: Use the "Inbox Assistant" to set this up. If you're using the standard "Rules Wizard" that's included with outlook, you can convert back to Inbox Assistant by starting up the bare exchange client, and entering your rule there. The next time you start Outlook, you'll be asked if you want to switch to the inbox assistant. The reason you want to do this is that the inbox assistant allows you to "forward" all incoming emails to your blackberry without having it show up as if it were coming from you. It keeps everything in the email intact, including From: fields, so you don't have to scroll into the email to see who it ACTUALLY came from. It arrives as it would locally on your outlook inbox.
On my POP3 server, I just put a .forward file in my home directory configured to both send a copy of all inbound emails to my blackberry and also to my local account (so I can retrieve them from home as well).
I also use FusionOne (www.fusionone.com) to keep all my email sync'd between home and work. This combination of a blackberry, outlook, a pop server and fusion one basically means if I get an email in one place, I'll get it everywhere else, perfectly synchronized.
Summary and Pricing info
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Ok, if you have to have wireless email, this is the device to own. There is no equal for the amount of functionality you get with the Blackberry. You get Email send and receive, contacts, task lists, calendars/scheduling in a package SLIGHTLY larger than a standard alphanumeric pager.
What you DON'T get is a cheap solution. The blackberry costs some bucks. The unit itself is $299 through onemain for the 4MB model, which includes the unit itself, a docking cradle, software, a hefty manual, and of course a battery.
The service will cost you $49.95 a month as well, but it *is* unlimited. My take? Hell, for the kind of stuff I do, this is FAR more useful than a cellphone, which has been only lightly used since I got my blackberry. I may even be able to cut down on my cell phone to the next lower plan. While $50 a month is steep, it's well worth it for the functionality you get out of this little unit.
Pros: Wireless email anywhere, a comfortable and USABLE qwerty keyboard, contact management, scheduling and task management plus the ability to install 3rd party apps on a compact, slightly-bigger-than-a-pager unit.
Cons: $50/month means it's not priced for everyone.
My final review: 4.5 out of 5. To make this a perfect 5, they would have to lower the price by $20 a month.
MY FINAL WORD: When it comes to handheld information devices, a keyboard is far more useful than a stylus.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
kweckstrom
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Karl Weckstrom
Location: Emerson, NJ
Reviews written: 100
Trusted by: 99 members
About Me:
Voted "Most Likely to be Photographed as a Bigfoot Sighting" by his senior class.
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