Blackberry 8700c
Posted Mon May 1, 2006 in
Computing
It began innocently as a simple search for a Bluetooth phone that would synchronize phonebooks with my PowerBook and my PDA. That’s really all I wanted. A few weeks ago, Wife and I drove over to the Sprint outlet and looked around at their offerings. They had a couple of Samsung phones, an LG, and a Treo. We talked to one of the customer service representatives and he showed us around. I didn’t think too much about them because I had other work to occupy my mind.
About ten days ago, the bug bit me and I decided I really want a Bluetooth phone. My research intensified as I tried to tie down what was available and what features each unit had. I realized I really want to replace my PDA and phone with a single unit. So, I started looking at “smart-phones” too.
The more I read and studied, the more confusing the situation became. Then I decided to consider switching carriers too. The possibilities expanded geometrically. By the beginning of last week, I was pretty frustrated.
In an email, a friend told me:
You’re just a techno-freak that wants a hypothetical perfect device for pennys. ... No matter what you get, there will be features on other devices that you will lust after and don’t have.
I, um, resemble that remark… Actually, I don’t mind paying for what I get, I just want to be sure I get the best device I can for the money I pay. I really want something that will allow me to eliminate my notebook computer too, but that’s not happening for a long time I suspect.
We went back to the Sprint outlet a couple of times. Frustrated with the information, or lack thereof, that we received, I called customer service. That was worse. The CSR’s I spoke to had no idea of what they were talking about. At least I learned that none of Sprint’s Bluetooth offerings were analog-capable, which is required out here in west Texas once one wanders from the major highways. Digital-tower coverage becomes spotty quickly when away from the major highways.
In frustration, I turned my attention to Cingular’s offerings. The CSR at the local outlet, Crissi, was very helpful and spent the time with us required to help ferret out what we really want. When she didn’t know the answer to a question, she referred to one of their more technically-oriented CSR’s who would answer the question.
I decided the Treo 650 is not for me. The keyboard is too small to be very useful, the screen is small, and Graffiti is only available as an add-on software. Sprint’s offering is CDMA only too.
I looked at the Cingular 8125 as a possibility, but it’s Windows Mobile 5 and there is not current support (beta-only for Mark Space Missing Sync) for Macintosh computers. Besides, my experience with Windows Mobile and Mac’s is not so good. While I love WM hardware and software (they do a lot even if they crash often), I wanted a working machine and not a toy. So I dropped the 8125 from further consideration.
I had a good long look at the Nokia 6682. For a smart-phone, it offers much functionality and I like the looks a lot. But, it’s expensive, doesn’t have a keyboard, and has limited memory. It does take the smaller secure digital cards, though, and has a nice camera built into the phone.
While talking to a friend on the phone (our conversations are often wide-ranging), he asked “Why don’t you get a Blackberry?”
“They’re big.”
“Some of the folks here have them and they really love them,” he replied.
I hadn’t considered a Blackberry and Wife mentioned she heard something about them and a major litigation in the news. Because I was free-ranging, I decided to have a look at a Blackberry too. I might as well, it costs nothing to look.
So, I did my research and learned they can do a lot. No, they aren’t WM or PalmOS devices. But, for an always-connected device that offers a decent mobile phone, plus email-connectivity and a decent personal-information-management system, in a reasonable form-factor and with a nice display.
I decided to put my hands on one in the Cingular store. So, Wife and I drove back over there and visited with Crissi once again. She showed us what they had and gave us a price. Once again, she was very helpful. I was impressed with the capabilities of the little device. The reviews were pretty good as well.
That left me with a laundry list:
- Do nothing
- Wait until Sprint gets its act together and releases a decent Bluetooth phone with analog capabilities
- Buy a Sprint Bluetooth phone and live with the network limitations
- Abandon Sprint and change provider to Cingular, which opens some new possibilities
- Buy a Cingular basic Bluetooth phone
- Buy a Nokia 6682
- Buy a Cingular 8125 PDA/phone
- Buy a Blackberry 8700c
The least-expensive course of action is to stay with what I have. I’ve muddled along this long and can continue using a basic mobile phone until something really nice comes along. I’m still thinking about this possibility, even after the deed is “done.”
But, after my poor service experience with Sprint, I was sufficiently pissed to strongly consider leaving Sprint for Cingular. I can’t believe the customer service could be worse.
I eliminated the 8125 because of the headaches I’ve already experienced with WM devices and Mac OS X. While the 8125 is a very cool device and has a tremendous amount of capability, the hassle of working with WM and OS X is not worth the effort.
The Nokia 6682 is nearly as expensive as the 8125 and the Blackberry 8700c. While the phonebook would interface with the Mac, it didn’t offer the PIM and other functions of the 8700c.
In the end, I decided to try a Blackberry 8700c. It has nearly everything I want in a PDA, plus it’s a decent phone, has Bluetooth, will talk to my PowerBook (sort-of, more on that later in another article), and offers an interface to my personal and office email remotely.
Wife and I went to lunch to talk about what we wanted to do. Given the Cingular 30-day trial period, we decided to give the Blackberries a try. Yes, I said Blackberries. I bought Wife one too, a 7290, to try out. I’ve been encouraging her to use a PDA to track her address book, to-do list, and calendar, in place of her myriad small notes scattered all over the place. The remote email will simply be a boon for her.
We called Crissi and told her to get things started. We wanted to get the 30-day trial period with two devices and a shared minute-plan. As a bonus we get unlimited talk-time to Daughter, who is also on Cingular.
After lunch we returned to the store and dropped a chunk of change. We left with new phones, actually Blackberries, Bluetooth headsets, and an opportunity to experiment with the service. It only took me a little while to configure our email accounts with the Cingular Blackberry Information Service server to poll and forward our email to our devices.
I downloaded and installed the RIMM free version of PocketMac for Blackberry on my PowerBook. I had my address book, calendars, and task list downloaded to my Blackberry in nearly no time.
I’ve downloaded a couple of software packages for my Blackberry this weekend. I’ll put together an article on my experience with them and post it later. I’ll also have a review of PocketMac for Blackberry later too.
I will use my device for the 30-day trial period, then make up my mind if I think the service is worth the price. It’s not cheap, but it’s not that expensive either. I would spend a decent fraction of the cost of the device on a new phone. I will be using both the phone and email capabilities in my business.
While Sprint’s service plans are less expensive than Cingular’s, Sprint service is not good. I’m strongly considering abandoning Sprint regardless of whether I keep the Blackberry or not. Cingular’s digital network is larger and their customer service has proven superior to date.
Update: I’ve been spending quite a bit of my on-line time at Pinstack.com reading, learning, and commenting on the Blackberry devices. They have a mobile-friendly website too, wap.pinstack.com, for those of us reading using small screens. It’s a good place to hang out and they are good folks.
Did you know as a Tech employee you can get a 10% discount with Cingular?
— TreyJ 1 May 2006, 06:58 #Don’t know if you want to go that route, but here’s the info:
www.depts.ttu.edu/commsvc/Cingular/personal
— TreyJ 1 May 2006, 07:02 #I’ll check it out. We got a discount from Cingular on service and equipment but if we can do better I’m all for that!
— ruminator 1 May 2006, 07:24 #I’ve learned that customer service with any wireless provider is awful, but Sprint does happen to be the worst. I’m not happy with Cingular’s network coverage, though. I experience many, many drop calls and signal issues. In my experience, at least in the east, Verizon has the best network coverage and customer service around.
Blackberry’s are nice devices. My wife’s parents are living in China on business for several years and he receives email on his Blackberry there almost instantly.
I have to say, though…bluetooth headsets look absurd.
— Josh 1 May 2006, 22:36 #