Can you use BB as a Palm Pilot w/out data plan

Here are the facts:

1. We have Palm users with aging Palms (not smart phones, just desktop synch).

2. These users don't have company cell phones, and aren't likely to get them.

3. Can't really find a suitable replacement for the Palms.

4. What I'd like to do is be able to use a BB device in place of the desktop-tethered Palm devices....either (1) without any cell company activation or (2) with only cell phone activation, no data plan, as any synch would be from the desktop, just like the older Palms.

5. I've played with a Sprint Curve, and appears the PIM stuff synchs, but not the e-mail.

Has anyone done anything like this? I'm afraid it may be possible and I just am doing something wrong.

We do have a BES and our "normal" BB users have Nextel data plans and wireless synch. We just need to avoid additional monthly charges.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Yes.

I keep my Bold 9700 synced with my Palm TX and E2. I do have Docs to Go paid versions on the Palms and BB. I sync with Outlook including contacts, memos/notes. Email will sync however I have not done it in a long time as I didn't like cleaning both up.

Bottom line, my computer, phone and palms contain the same info. If I'm going somewhere I can't have a camera on the phone I take a Plam in and still have all info at hand.

Edit - additional. The first sync would be Palms to Outlook. Switch from Palm Desktop if thats what they are using. Then sync phones with Outlook from there on out.

John, you have a data plan on the BB and synch wireless, or via desktop?

Email does not sync on a BlackBerry. It pushes. You cannot get email sent to the device via the desktop.

Originally Posted by captnamo

John, you have a data plan on the BB and synch wireless, or via desktop?

I sync from Desktop.

Also, having a data plan I forward email sent to a certain desktop address to my BB BIS email address.

I do Sync to mIQ also just for a backup.

Originally Posted by captnamo

4. What I'd like to do is be able to use a BB device in place of the desktop-tethered Palm devices....either (1) without any cell company activation or (2) with only cell phone activation, no data plan, as any synch would be from the desktop, just like the older Palms.

It would be wierd, but a BB is usable without either a data plan nor any cellphone activation. My old Curve 8320 will boot up and run fine without a SIM. Even its wifi works. The one thing a data-less BB cannot do, as others have pointed out, is sync email. You could use it as a wifi Internet device, and something like Logicmail to check email over POP/IMAP.

When I moved from my old Palm IIIx to a BB, I found that the RIM Desktop Manager software had a migration wizard that would migrate all my Palm Desktop PIM data (memos, contacts, calendar) over to the BB. What is missing is a free desktop-based replacement for the Palm Desktop software going forward. You could sync to Outlook or to Yahoo PIM, or only sync some of the PIM data (like Windows Contacts for just the contact info). That's with the old Desktop Manager 4.6 software. I don't know what the current state of the latest DM is.