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On 2/28/09 11:14 AM, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Cvsolar2@aol.com">Cvsolar2@aol.com</a> wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:be5.4cfafdc5.36dae732@aol.com" type="cite"><font
face="arial,helvetica"><font ptsize="10" size="2">What can I
reasonably expect to get out of this thing for the $$? (that I can't do
with a phone).</font></font></blockquote>
<br>
Having fairly extensive experience with both Treo and BlackBerry phones
over the past decade, here are a few thoughts:<br>
<br>
BB is overrated in most respects. The email is just OK - I actually
prefer the IMAP client I had on my Treo (but I have run my own
mailserver for 15+ years and know far too much about protocols and
networks to put up with most of what passes for email.) The contact
sync is probably the coolest thing on the BB for me, and there are
other phones (some just barely smart) which offer that. If you do use
email on the phone, either setup a separate account for the purpose or
(better yet) check a special IMAP box on your main account. Then use
filter rules on the mailserver to control who and what you have to look
at when you're on the road. One big thing to remember is that (unless
you have a separate cellphone for voice use) most of these smart phones
actually make pretty poor telephones. The buttons are too small to
dial when you're using the other hand for something or with gloves.
The voice quality and RF sensitivity is better on most of the newer
models, but a number of them in the past were really atrocious.<br>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:be5.4cfafdc5.36dae732@aol.com" type="cite"><font
face="arial,helvetica"><font ptsize="10" size="2"> Is there a "killer
app"? The GPS stuff looks cool.</font></font></blockquote>
<br>
The killer app for me has become Google Maps. It's my yellow pages and
map combined when I'm in a city, especially one that I don't know
well. Unless you need turn-by-turn directions, it doesn't even need a
GPS, since it finds your location within a half mile or so by using IP
lookup tables to identify the cell site you are using. Verizon was
nice enough to disable the built-in GPS on my $589 phone (BB8830 when
they first came out) but I don't actually miss it at this point.
Google Maps is less useful when you are looking for longhaul routes, as
the perspective you get from a large paper map really helps. It rocks
when you are trying to find the nearest Home Depot or Trader Joe's in
unfamiliar territory, or find your way to a house. It turns useless
when you are in the sticks or otherwise out of data netowork range.<br>
<br>
The killer app for the Treo (which I have yet to find a BB eauivalent
for) is Electrist from Red Binary
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.redbinary.com/electrist_index.php">http://www.redbinary.com/electrist_index.php</a> and they also make a few
others that are handy. I actually keep my old Treo in the truck just
to run it.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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