[jgrif]

I currently own a Treo and am thinking about getting the Curve. I use Outlook at work and we do not have the Blackberry Enterprise software installed. My question is how is this going to limit me?

Can I sync my contacts and calendar from my desktop (either by bluetooth or usb cable)?

What limitations do I have remotely? Can I use Outlook Web Access to send/receive? Can I sync my mail or only do send/receive?

My blackberrry would probably not be able to talk to the Desktop Manager remotely because of our firewall. And I can't redirect any mail to the third party site (against company policy).


I would just like to get a better handle on the limitations I have without the Enterprise software available to me.

Thanks!

[Alienwhere]

DO it.

It'll be the greatest decision you ever make. Which means bigger than getting married to the person you love, having a child, saving people from a burning building, etc.

Surely your IT dept can handle a BB.

And I'm saying this as a former Treo user and lover. You won't be looking back. I couldn't speak to your specific needs, but you can pretty much do everything with your Curve that you can do with your Treo, just a different way.

[mofomikemunoz]

Agreed.......after giving my Pearl to my Daughter........and buying my Son a Pearl for his last birthday........I strayed and bought an IPhone.........what a joke.........texting is pathetic......the apps in general suck.........so a GAVE the IPhone away and went BB Curve.........although I do not use the device to calculate reentry paths for the space shuttle.......I do know that as a business tool and recreational tool......the BB's are hard to beat......my only advice is to make an HONEST assessment of your needs and get the BB that best fits them...for me I dislike T9........so the curve best fits my needs........I will NEVER stray in my BB marriage again........I have sought forgiveness and STILL am repenting for straying to the IGarbage for a year......

[baseballkyle]

I currently own a Treo and am thinking about getting the Curve. I use Outlook at work and we do not have the Blackberry Enterprise software installed. My question is how is this going to limit me?

Can I sync my contacts and calendar from my desktop (either by bluetooth or usb cable)?

What limitations do I have remotely? Can I use Outlook Web Access to send/receive? Can I sync my mail or only do send/receive?

My blackberrry would probably not be able to talk to the Desktop Manager remotely because of our firewall. And I can't redirect any mail to the third party site (against company policy).


I would just like to get a better handle on the limitations I have without the Enterprise software available to me.

Thanks!

for the love of BB, do-it!!!!!!

i access Outlook Web Access for my work email via Opera Mini. it works much faster and everything appears correctly (vs the BB Browser). but the BB Browser is fantastic for everything else.

[jbrown39]

It will be the best decision you have ever made. I had the Treo 750 for two years. I bought a Curve on Monday and will never look back. The Curve is so easy to use. Do it!!

[pmiguel]

my sister has a Treo and I have the Curve. I LOVE mine she hates hers and we got them the same week.

She's considering getting a curve too....

[Username5300]

Ditch It!!!!!!

[Xicano]

I've been happy with my curve migration but there some limitations between a BB and a Treo. Aside from the connection issues post what your other needs in a phone/PDA/E-mail device are so that you can get that input too.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[SonnyBerry]

I think the greatest decision anyone can make is the decision to devote their lives to helping others... but ditching a Treo for a Curve is a close 2nd! I had a Treo 700p, which I hated, and Verizon gave me a free 700wx as a replacement. The 700wx was okay -- it actually worked, as opposed to the crappy 700p -- but the Curve blows it out of the water in terms what it's good at.

HOWEVER, the Blackberry OS seems somewhat neanderthal compared to Windows Mobile. Keep that in mind. If you are looking for a high level OS experience, you should skip the Curve and get an iPhone. I got the Curve because it is terrific at email.

[thebigt]

this is my first smartphone (i have played with a old palm a treo and a few wm phones) and now i dont know how i could stand not having it. now i am trying to convence my buddy that treos suck compared to my bb (it been a work in progress)

[stringbeanie]

I hope your desktop is not a Mac because it is not the best phone for mac users IMHO. Rim still hasn't made their desktop program work with the mac and it is very difficult to do anything other than a OTA installation of anything. MissingSync and other such programs haven't worked optimally either.

[Pilgrim]

I have an opinion to the contrary. I have used Palms for 8 years, and I recently changed from a Treo 755p to a BB Curve 8330. I am a business user - professional staff at a university.

Full disclosure: for unknown reasons caused by our university's Outlook server, the Treo became unable to communicate with Outlook. I had no way to sync calendar, email or contacts - so I HAD to change. I'm happy with the BB, but it's not a great deal better than the Treo. Our IT manager had installed the BB Enterprise software on my division's server, so I had the option of using a BB and having full functionality.

My thoughts:

- IMO the BB has very few advantages over the Treo other than smaller size. Reasons follow.
- Sync with email, contacts and calendar is almost flawless (I have problems with it not syncing all my memos) IF you have the Enterprise software installed. I can't speak to what will happen if it is not installed.
- If your business will not install the Enterprise Server, you will have some limits to the functionality. Unfortunately I can't define them for you. Perhaps research on the BB site would help with information. But if your business will not install it, I'd think twice about leaving the Treo.
- There is almost NO free software for a BB. Anything you want to do with it other than use the OEM functions will require you to spend money on software.
- If you want to receive both personal and business email on your BB (edit: and receive them in separate inboxes) you need to buy an aftermarket program to separate the two. For some stupid reason the BB system forwards all your email from all accounts into one email inbox. There is NO free workaround for this. In contrast, the Treo sorts the email transparently.
- The BB does forward email a bit more quickly - but usually only by a minute or two. Big, hairy, deal.
- The current OS for BB does not allow you to view HTML emails in their native format. All you see is the code, and many HTML emails don't work correctly if you want to click on a link in them. Again, to fix this you currently have to spend $30 for an aftermarket software program. This is supposed to be fixed in the new 4.5 BB OS, but when that will officially be released is open to question.
- The BB responds to commands more quickly than the Treo. The single biggest frustration I had with the Treo (before it stopped communicating with outlook) was the frequent 5+ second delay in responding to commands. It seemed like any time the Treo was carrying out a background operation, it came to a halt for a few seconds.

Let me be clear: I'm not bad-mouthing the BB, but I really thought the Treo did everything well, and aside from the smaller size and lighter weight of the BB, I don't think it has many advantages. It definitely IS more expensive when you start adding software for specific needs you have - or to fix inadequacies of the the BB software like email inboxes and HTML emails.

[cap10mark]

Going to a BB will be the best choice you could make!
Welcome to CB!!

[LoveTheBerry]

I have an opinion to the contrary. I have used Palms for 8 years, and I recently changed from a Treo 755p to a BB Curve 8330. I am a business user - professional staff at a university.

Full disclosure: for unknown reasons caused by our university's Outlook server, the Treo became unable to communicate with Outlook. I had no way to sync calendar, email or contacts - so I HAD to change. I'm happy with the BB, but it's not a great deal better than the Treo. Our IT manager had installed the BB Enterprise software on my division's server, so I had the option of using a BB and having full functionality.

My thoughts:

- IMO the BB has very few advantages over the Treo other than smaller size. Reasons follow.
- Sync with email, contacts and calendar is almost flawless (I have problems with it not syncing all my memos) IF you have the Enterprise software installed. I can't speak to what will happen if it is not installed.
- If your business will not install the Enterprise Server, you will have some limits to the functionality. Unfortunately I can't define them for you. Perhaps research on the BB site would help with information. But if your business will not install it, I'd think twice about leaving the Treo.
- There is almost NO free software for a BB. Anything you want to do with it other than use the OEM functions will require you to spend money on software.
- If you want to receive both personal and business email on your BB, you need to buy an aftermarket program to separate the two. For some stupid reason the BB system forwards all your email from all accounts into one email inbox. There is NO free workaround for this. In contrast, the Treo sorts the email transparently.
- The BB does forward email a bit more quickly - but usually only by a minute or two. Big, hairy, deal.
- The current OS for BB does not allow you to view HTML emails in their native format. All you see is the code, and many HTML emails don't work correctly if you want to click on a link in them. Again, to fix this you currently have to spend $30 for an aftermarket software program. This is supposed to be fixed in the new 4.5 BB OS, but when that will officially be released is open to question.
- The BB responds to commands more quickly than the Treo. The single biggest frustration I had with the Treo (before it stopped communicating with outlook) was the frequent 5+ second delay in responding to commands. It seemed like any time the Treo was carrying out a background operation, it came to a halt for a few seconds.

Let me be clear: I'm not bad-mouthing the BB, but I really thought the Treo did everything well, and aside from the smaller size and lighter weight of the BB, I don't think it has many advantages. It definitely IS more expensive when you start adding software for specific needs you have - or to fix inadequacies of the the BB software like email inboxes and HTML emails.

BB DOES have advantages ove Treo:
1. BB does NOT constantly reboot like Treo
2. Both sync perfectly with Outlook, if your Treo stopped, its bacause there was a "bug" and you need to reload and reboot (Been there, done that)
3. Free software!! Tell me what's for free anymore. All the Treo "free" software (3rd party) disrupts or kills the operating system!!!
4. BB DOES allow personal and business emails without BES. I have "poped" my work email and my bellsouth emails with ZERO problems.
5.HTML, you are correct,....for now. Future OS's will fix that sooner than later

As a "working" proffesional on the road,..dropping the Treo WAS the best move I had made this year.

Sorry Prof,....I'm sure your a real nice guy though.

[Pilgrim]

BB DOES have advantages ove Treo:
1. BB does NOT constantly reboot like Treo
2. Both sync perfectly with Outlook, if your Treo stopped, its bacause there was a "bug" and you need to reload and reboot (Been there, done that)
3. Free software!! Tell me what's for free anymore. All the Treo "free" software (3rd party) disrupts or kills the operating system!!!
4. BB DOES allow personal and business emails without BES. I have "poped" my work email and my bellsouth emails with ZERO problems.
5.HTML, you are correct,....for now. Future OS's will fix that sooner than later

As a "working" proffesional on the road,..dropping the Treo WAS the best move I had made this year.

Sorry Prof,....I'm sure your a real nice guy though.

I feel like responding by quoting Mark Twain, who, when he received critical emails, responded thusly: "Dear sir or Madam, you may be right. Sincerely..."

But I'm glad the BB works well for you, and that it was a big improvement. It also works well for me, it just doesn't have any major advantages to the Treo I was using. If I hadn't run into a show-stopper problem with sync to Outlook, there's no way I could have justified making a change from the Treo to the BB. Most of my colleagues here use Treos (750 or 755 models) and are very happy with them.

My responses:

1) My Treo didn't reboot constantly. No advantage to BB in my case.
2) The Outlook problem was much more significant than you think, and we spent much, much more time on it then you would guess. I and my IT manager spent more than 30 hours on it over a period of one month, including multiple complete wipes and reboots, eliminating my MS Exchange account from the server and rebuilding it, trying forums, working with Palm and Sprint - and NONE of this resulted in a functioning connection. Danged if I or anyone else knows what happened, but that Treo clearly was never going to talk with our Outlook Exchange server again. Go figure.
3) I had very good luck with the minimal amount of free Treo software that I installed. About all I recall using was a Solitaire program, but I know I had a few other things on it. I agree that downloading piles of software of unknown quality tends to give any handheld fits. I learned that lesson with earlier Palm units where I loaded up too much stuff - too much aftermarket software is A Bad Thing.
4) BB does allow more than one email account, but it dumps all of it into one inbox. That's not acceptable. To separate the personal and business emails into separate inboxes so they are not mixed together requires aftermarket software. $. Treo does this natively - no charge.

And I can't claim to be a "proffesional"....just a professional. (Hey, you knew I couldn't let that one -among other misspellings - go!)

I realize that this is a BB forum and that its users like it very much. All I'm doing is offering a response to the OP from another business user. I don't claim the BB isn't a great tool, I simply assert that there isn't a great deal of functional difference between it and a Treo that's working well. There are, however, differences in the software cost. For my specific uses, there isn't any real advantage in the BB other than a smaller, lighter unit. I still miss the touch-screen on my Treo, but the trackball on the BB is growing on me as I use it.

[jgrif]

Thanks for the BB love. Now .. can anyone out there answer my questions?

[Savage Paw]

I hope your desktop is not a Mac because it is not the best phone for mac users IMHO. Rim still hasn't made their desktop program work with the mac and it is very difficult to do anything other than a OTA installation of anything. MissingSync and other such programs haven't worked optimally either.

I think you have your water a bit muddled. I have a Mac and downloaded the desktop sync utility (from Blackberry's website) and the usb driver update and have been syncing and dragging and dropping files all day long.

[Savage Paw]

BTW I'm selling my Treo 755p on eBay if anyone knows a interested party or co-worker. Its got lots of extras...........

Palm Treo 755p Alltel lots of extras!! - eBay (item 190234058150 end time Jul-12-08 11:15:53 PDT)

[baseballkyle]

4) BB does allow more than one email account, but it dumps all of it into one inbox. That's not acceptable. To separate the personal and business emails into separate inboxes so they are not mixed together requires aftermarket software. $. Treo does this natively - no charge.

it does not require any additional software. there is an individual icon for every single email account you have on your BB, OR you can choose to just view all messages in the Messages section.... your icons may be hidden, if so just unhide.

[mofomikemunoz]

it does not require any additional software. there is an individual icon for every single email account you have on your BB, OR you can choose to just view all messages in the Messages section.... your icons may be hidden, if so just unhide.

Truth......I am currently running 3 on my curve....no problems......

[ksjmh13]

I cant make the decision for you but i was a treo user 700wx and was waiting for the 800wx however it was taking too long so i took the leap and got a Curve 8330. So far i can say that i am happy with the move. The BB is just so much easier to work with. You dont have to close out apps every time you dont want to use them. Battery life is great, syncing is a ease, GPS is awsome and email is great. However there are some cons too. The BB does not ring and vib at the same time. it vibs and then rings making you to miss calls if you are not close to your phone. you cant personalize you home page like a WM treo you can only pick themes and the calendar and web browser are very subpar compared to the treo. Overall i think the BB is a lot better than the treo for my needs but you would have to test one out for yourself.

[john45acp]

i dont know about ur company IT as i work for my self but switchin from treo to BB was the best thing .. a couple days ago my trackball quit workin i called for replacement & had to use my old treo while waiting forthe replacement i forgot how much a pain the windows mobile is......get a blackberry

[raw810]

dont fight dont fight... GO BB WHOOOHOOO!!! ITS SEXY THATS ALL YOU NEED! no jk.. but yeah BB's OS is sleeker and it performs better. aftermarket programs tend to be merely 20$ which is not a great deal to make a phone a PERFECTION.

[Pilgrim]

Re: email being mixed in one inbox....

it does not require any additional software. there is an individual icon for every single email account you have on your BB, OR you can choose to just view all messages in the Messages section.... your icons may be hidden, if so just unhide.

That's correct, but I didn't express myself well. What I wanted was to see ONLY my biz email in the inbox for biz email. IIRC, the personal email went into its own inbox with its own icon, but ALL the email (personal and biz) showed up in the biz inbox. Made a terrible mess in the biz inbox. If I didn't manage it well, that's my fault. HOWEVER - the Treo made dealing with this transparent - the BB does not.

I'll let this drop - I think everyone knows what I'm trying to express and is picking on details. What I wanted/needed was completely separate inboxes for each email account - with NO emails from accounts mixed together. The Treo did this natively.

[darjay]

I've used Treos for the past 8 years and I currently have a Treo650. It has taken me a while to get use to the BB trackball vs the Treo touch screen, but that is just an adjustment I have to make. The only problem I have is that the Treo was just a personal device for me. It reminded me about appointments, kept my address book, etc. I only used the desktop manager to enter this stuff and it worked fine for me. The only things I am missing are a few programs I've had on my Treos for years. One is Happy days (keeps people's birthday and anniversary on their contact record) Holidates2 (major holidays for the US and religious) but mostly Koolalarms. I love the way Koolalarms would randomly play a WAV file as an alert to for my appointment reminders. If I could get those couple of things I would be a VERY Happy Camper and would finally be able to stop carrying around 2 devices!