Comments on: Blackberry 8700g: The Dreaded Sidegrade

By: Simon Limon

Simon Limon — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I am having problems receiving email on my bb8700g from aol. At times, it shows up instantly, but most of the time, it takes 3o minutes or longer. Any ideas?

By: Mike D.

Mike D. — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Yeah, the ringer seemed fine to me.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I need a recommendation:

I want the best windows XP (Outlook) compatible product that is a ‘Blackberry’ with a ‘Palm’ write on screen. This is for my wife who loves her Palm and handles the write-on-screen very well.
Is there such an animal, I am sure you pros can save this smart phone newbie a lot of foot work.

Thanks in advance.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Delete your phone book

If you have a blackberry sync it to the pc. Go into Desktop Manager>Backup/Restore>Advanced>then Clear the address book. Also if you were dumping your address book why not wipe it, then just not sync the address book.

If you are mobile and driving, the one-handed operation of the scroll wheel will save you from wrecking with a stylus in head.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

“in hand”

By: majorghn

majorghn — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m looking into buying a PDA, I want the Treo 700p but don’t like either Verizon and definately not Sprint (horrible customer service) plus it’s a little rich for my blood right now so I guess it’s the BlackBerry 8700g, although not if it can’t edit Microsoft Word??? Can I download my Word programs from my current Windows PC into the 8700g? I heard that Blackberries can’t show e-mail attchments if their in HTML format…is this true…what if someone send me a short video joke or a photo…can I view that? Thanks.

By: Vince

Vince — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mike, i don’t know if anyone has already mentioned this on this blog, if they have i apologize, and if they haven’t, this will be a little insight.
Back in the mid to late 90’s Apple B.J. (Before Jobs), had the nifty yet very bulky Newton. For those of you still in diapers at the time, this was pretty much the first PDA. Almost the size of a piece of paper; these devices were top of the line (still are)! They had the best (and still do) text recognition software on the market. Engineered by Apple’s finest! After Jobs took over, (and this is coming from the person who sold me my Newton 2000), Jobs was asked after a convention if he was to continue the production of the Newton… The answer was a clear no, which prompted for the termination of the Newton. While all of this is happening, Palm (founded by an ex-apple employee), apparently (the word from others) Apple sold parts of Newton OS were sold to Palm.

By: crobbins

crobbins — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I, too, switched from Treo 600 to BB 8700g and agree with almost everything you said, Mike. Except you overlooked one very important step! That is the very reason, in the beginning, why I was hesitant to switch — I must have my data in the computer as well. When I was advised that BB interfaced with Outlook, I couldn’t be more relieved. The interface is the factor you may have overlooked.

I set the Intellisync and Outlook to receive and share data from the BB. On Outlook itself I created a separate Contacts list for my BB and maintained my regular Contacts list. Calendar, Tasks, and Notes are shared with BB. Then after the Intellisync automatic updating function, I was able to manipulate the BB Contact list with incredible ease!!!!! Same true for the other files.

Also, every time something hits my itchy brain cells, I tuck it either my BB or Outlook. And then click Intellisync and nothing is lost or forgotten!

Hope that helps, Mike! BB is too nice to dread over but indeed, I do miss some of the Treo functionalities.

Curt

By: Mike D.

Mike D. — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

crobbins: I didn’t overlook it. I don’t use Outlook. The interface for getting contacts, calendar, etc onto my Mac from the Treo is just fine. On the Blackberry, it was awful.

By: George H. Nairn

George H. Nairn — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Update: I got restricted by T-Mobile when I applied for service with them, I found a brand new BlackBerry 8700g at http://www.wirebuy.com for $50.00 upfront ($50.00 T-Mobile rebate which eventually makes it free) w/2 year agreement, sweet deal…except my application to T-Mobile got restricted to $150.0 which according to them meant no Data plan for me…that makes no sense to me. The voice plan I chose was only #9.99 per month and the data plan was $19.99 per month well under the $150.00 max monthly limit. Anyone care to explain that one? I had already been approved by Cingular but rather would have preferred T-Mobile, so it looks like it’s going to be Cingular and either their refurb Palm Treo 650 or their new one for $199.99 w/2 year agreement…any advice on this guys?

By: George H. Nairn

George H. Nairn — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Typo on last entry…it should read “voice plan was only $39.99 per month” not #9.99. Sorry.

By: Renee Wood

Renee Wood — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hey folks, I need a device that will allow me to send and receive email away from my office. That’s really all I need. I currently receive email through Outlook Express. I have almost bought the BB, but after reading all of your posts, I’m thoroughly confused. In a nutshell, can someone recommend the best option for email only?

By: DR

DR — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mike,

There is a very easy way to delete the entire address book. Open your desktop manager and select Backup and Restore. Then select “Advanced” which is described as “selective backup”, etc. You’ll see on the right a list of databases installed on your blackberry, highlight the address book and then select “Clear” from the buttons below the list. Voila, all the entries are deleted.

By: asad

asad — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

can u please let me know how to delet my address book from my blackberry

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synching to a Mac is easy with PocketMac. Free from Blackberry.com http://www.discoverblackberry.com/discover/mac_solutions.jsp