To Blackberry or not?

[Paul Carmel]

I am on the verge of buying one of these things. The main reason for having one is that in the summer I have to rely on internet cafes or my mobile plugged into the laptop, neither of which is really convenient ( last year we racked up a 40 euro bill on one email with the phone laptop option because we were in Italian waters and the mobile is French)

So my question is do you use one? and are they reliable? do they cost a packet to run when you are abroad?

[kteee]

I have had one for a couple of months now Paul, I find it very useful - even when I'm just out for the day - I haven't used it on roaming yet but pay 20 euros per month for Portugal and I think it is about 60 euros per month roaming.

[Sue Dyer]

I would really really love one but they are only on monthly contracts in the UK and at least £30 a month. I have a "pay as you go" phone which I only top up with well less than £100 per year so don't really want that outlay. As soon as they are within my reach one has my name on it!!

[Alan Knighting]

Paul,

....in the summer I have to rely on internet cafes or my mobile plugged into the laptop....

Is that because you are cruising? The following links might have an answer for you.

http://www.infosat.com
http://www.waypoints.com/communication.html

Alan

[Paul Carmel]

Hi Alan,

You're right, it's because we are sailing/in port and have no phone line, even wifi is pretty damn useless because all the masts tend to bugger up the signal.

I will look at these links in detail a little later. I have tended to reject sat phone technology because of running costs and initial outlay, but I have to admit I have not looked at it lately to see if things have changed.

[Alan Knighting]

Paul,

I use wifi at home and it's great but the range is very limited. I guess that sat phone is pretty expensive but don't really know.

It all comes down to what you really need as opposed to what you would like to have.

Alan

[Paul Carmel]

Alan,

You're right, and what I need is to know asap when we've received new emails, and to be able to access and reply to our emails/booking enquiries with speed and as cheaply as possible wherever I might be.

So is Blackberry the way forward for us?

[Paul Carmel]

Alan,

On the Info sat site I just found this

"The satellite IP modem costs under $1000.00 US, with costs for transmissions at $7.50 US per MB." This is scary

[Alan Knighting]

Paul,

Look's like a cup of internet coffee or a slice of portable fruit pie for you.

Alan

[paolo]

Paul,

There was some Blackberry talk here:

viewtopic.php?t=119

It does seem a pretty good match for your needs, but not cheap.

[Paul Carmel]

Paolo,

Thank you for the link! I think I am sold.

kteee,

When you receive an email how much of the message do you see before you deicide look at the message in full, ie just the subject box? or more?

[Alan Knighting]

Paul,

Here's a site for you to look at.

http://www.blackberry.net/na/index.shtml

Alan

[kteee]

Yes, you see the subject - a bit like in Outlook Express, then click on it to see the whole message. It's usually fairly easy to see any spam that can be deleted straight away.

Check that your e-mail account is compatible though, I had a fairly fraught first day with it when it wouldn't receive any of my e-mails. When I called the helpline I was told that it wasn't compatible with my yahoo and sapo (Portuguese isp) accounts, even though I use pop forwarding to access my yahoo e-mails in outlook express.

I spent several hours on the phone to the tech support and finally it started receiving messages, but I still don't know how!

Never had a problem since though!

[Paul Carmel]

Thanks kteee,

I use Gmail and its compatible through wanapoo.....so fingers crossed.

[debk]

Hi, Paul -

I was off on my favorite nearly-deserted island all weekend: no cars, no internet cafes... but my Blackberry let me respond to three inquiries. My advice if you go this route: get the Blackberry with a real (tho miniature) keyboard. You will soon learn to type pretty well with your thumbs.

As for Blackberry and Google:

Gmail/Blackberry combo works great for me. Whenever an email hits my Gmail inbox, it is automatically forwarded to my Blackberry which I've set to make a low "buzz" for such events. (Even when I'm near a PC, I never "check email" because I know whenever I've got one by the Blackberry buzz... and if I miss the buzz there's an inbox counter on the Blackberry desktop.)

When I reply to an email from my Blackberry, a copy of what I send from the wireless also goes into my Gmail "sent folder" so that everything resides in gmail. (eg, Gmail is the master)

To make things easier, I saved a copy of my standard replies on the Blackberry so that I just tweak/forward as necessary. That way, I don't have to go into gmail to respond. I just reply from the Blackberry without logging onto the internet. Much easier.

However, this weekend someone asked for a map... which I've never stored on the Blackberry. I need to look into how to store attachments on the Blackberry.

I also occasionally use the internet option though the screen is so tiny you have to be quite motivated to do so.

Because I am often on this non-internet island, the Blackberry works well... but a week is the longest I would want to go without getting to a real PC. I miss the keyboard and monitor!

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
debk