Eric Stewart: Running Off At The Mouth

I recently went to Australia and did a lot of diving with a buddy who works for Research in Motion (they make BlackBerries). I finally bit the bullet and ditched my Treo. The Treo’s email management software (Business Connect) had a push feature that worked, then didn’t, then worked, then didn’t again, depending on the most recent upgrade of the desktop software and client. I figured the BlackBerry client would work, since that’s what the darn things are made for.

It does.

I can’t do a full sync of my mailbox(es). That would be nice, but might only be a feature of the Enterprise Server. I also can’t wirelessly sync my calendar (which I could with Bus. Con.); again, I think I need a BES for that. But in the grand scheme of things, the calendar was secondary – I want my device to give me a notice when I get new mail. And it works.

The downsides: the BlackBerry specific data plans (for most cell providers) run more per month than the “regular”, “unlimited” data plans for other devices. This is probably because a BlackBerry is definitely connected to the data network all the time. This also leads to drawback #2 – if you fiddle with your BlackBerry too much (like I do, playing games when I’m waiting for something), battery life goes down fast.

The upsides: I can use the thing as a modem. Now, I could use the Treo as a Bluetooth modem with my Mac, and I think the BlackBerry isn’t compatible in that method, but I’m sure someone will get it working somehow soon. In the meantime, I’ll be getting an upgraded Mac laptop from work, and I’ll just have to reboot it into Windows (using Bootcamp) and connect that way, if I have to.

Anyways, I’m waiting for a phone call from a buddy from work – we’re supposed to go riding in Flatwoods this morning …