Syncing my blackberry - help!

Hi All,

Firstly, great site. As a new blackberry user (and big fan!) i'll certainly be using it a lot more. I scouted the forums for the best place to post this but it applies to quite a few different forums so ive put it here... ok so my phone details:

Blackberry Bold 9000
v4.6.0.216 (platform 4.0.0.183)
Carrier: T Mobile UK

What I am trying to do is as follows:

Sync my blackberry OVER THE AIR with my hosted outlook exchange set up so that I can wirelessly sync:

1) Calendar
2) Contacts
3) Todo Notes
4) Emails (including my SUB FOLDERS)

Now Ive been told that to achieve the above you require BES.

I have BIS set up through my carrier which seems to be working OK, however the good guys at network EQ who provide my server for me have blackberry enterprise server (BES) and for a small reasonable fee have set this up for me. They'd provided me with the activation codes to do this.

My problem started when I noticed there was no "Enterprise Activation" button under the advanced options tab. I've read in forums this is a common problem so phones T mobile UK and the chap on the phone sent a service update over and it appeared briefly whilst I was talking to him on the phone. He then dropped the bombshell that T mobile charge 35 pounds a month to use BES. I explained I DONT NEED a server as my hosts are already providing this, I dont think he fully understood, but either way kept quoting me this insane price per month (on top of my existing hefty contract!). So i declined.

Since then, the enterprise activation link has vanished. I have been advised by my hosts that (put politely) the guy at t mobile was "talking rubbish" and I should be able to activate simply by putting in the BES activation code, however I cant now do this because the damn menu item has vanished. No doubt calling T Mobile will result in another muppet telling me its going to cost 35 pounds a month again to do this....

A lot of other people seem to have experienced this sort of disspearing icon (couldnt post links unfortunately as Im a new poster).

So ive looked into alternatives, eg using applications so that i can use BIS to get this sort of functionality - there seems to be stuff out there but they all seem to have problems:

NotifySync (american only I think so no good for me)

BBerrysync (has had bad reviews of the company not responding to emails, and lots of error reports of duplicate meeting problems in calendars)
BlackBerry Unite (blackberrys version, but doesnt tie in with outlook!)

So all have their down sides...

What annoys me is my host HAS BES and I simply want to active it but cant find a way to do so!

Thanks in advance for any help you can give!.....

I was curious why NotifySync would not work as a solution for you? We do work world wide not just in the US.

Dear Dale:
I have recently purchased a Bold (on its way) and have been reviewing the various data options.
Jawal (KSA) offers the following:
1- BIS for about USD 25/Month with 20MB Free
2- BES for about USD 50/Month with 20MB Free

As for emails, I have 2:
1- .ae email; which I retrieve using POP3 and send (with BCC to myself) using SMTP
2- .com email; which is based on Exchange Server and syncs perfectly with my windows handheld (Incoming & Outgoing Email, Calendar, and Contacts).

I currently have a regular 3G pay as you go plan, so when at office, I used wifi to so this, and otherwise sync as required.

How can I use my new Bold in combination with your S/W to achieve the following?
1- Full sync of calendar and contacts
2- Send /Receive of .ae email via BIS (to reduce data cost since BIS is free). How can I ensure that my sent emails appear in outlook, do I have to BCC myself?
3- Full sync of my sent and received email, along with read/unread status, flags, etc. on my outlook exchange and outlook 2007; again via BIS (to reduce data cost since BIS is free)

I have the following reservations regarding Astrasync, which I have read in other posts. Please let me know how your is with regards to this:
1- Problem syncing recurring meetings in Outlook
2- No HTML support
3- No Meeting requests support
4- Cannot open attachments unless downloaded
5- Infolder for exchange accoutn not BB default; hence light alert not activated
6- Since email sync on exchange is not BB, file size (KB utilization) is high
7- Battery consumption is high.

Thanks

Hassan