Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Now You Know Why They Call It Wackberry!

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 07 Dec 2002 04:14:12 -0500

Wait until the user finds out the battery life is VERY limited on the $500 Wackberry unit.

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Nextel Blackberry - my first 24 hours....
I received my Blackberry yesterday.

ACTIVATING:
I had to call CS for a swap as the Blackberry SIM and Motorola SIMs (from my i95cl LE) are
NOT interchangeable. At this point, the CSR's are not up to speed at all on this product
and most don't know what it is. 2 1/2 hours of CSR call later, and we determined that your
cannot have 2-way messaging enabled on the blackberry. Essentially, the trick to getting
the Blackberry to work was having them remove all of the add-on features I had for my i95
to the point of where they started with just my calling plan. They then had to add the
Blackberry email service (49.99) on top of that. This also gives you the unlimited
internet.

SET-UP
The Blackberry does not use a traditional Motorola phonebook but rather uses its own
phonebook which in my case I synchronized with Outlook 2000. The Blackberry direct connect
radio ID is mapped to Outlooks "radio" field flawlessly using intellisync (provided with
the Blackberry). Doing this forced me to update my Outlook with all of my DC ID's,
probably something I should have done long ago. Keep in mind that all of the other Contact
info from your Outlook will also sync to the Blackberry as well so this could make your
Blackberry phonebook pretty cumbersome when making a phone call or DC. I am using the
desktop redirect software which forwards email from my office to the Blackberry and vice
versa. I set it up so people can't tell I'm emailing remotely as it uses my regular email
address. I also set up a couple POP3 email account using the Blackberry WEB client.

THE GOOD
1) Eliminates carrying a PDA along with my phone.
2) Would you believe the reception using phone is flawless compared to my i95? NO delays
or "overtalking" when phoning other digital phone users!
3) It comes with 2 USB cords. The unit charges via USB. It also comes with a USB AC
adapter in case you don't have a computer available.
4) It comes with a plastic holster clip which keeps the unit face in. It gives the phone a
surprisinly low profile on your belt since it is so slim.
5) Well designed for working with a earset (included).
6) Very good backlighting of display and keypad.
7) Much easier to thumb type using the little keypad than trying to use a numeric keypad
or stylus on a screen.
8) You can turn the RF on or off so you can use the Blackberry on a plane.
9) ALWAYS on email - no need to request email to be downloaded.
10) Designed for one handed operation for most features.
11) Strong vibrate alert option - better than my i95 LE.

THE BAD
1) VOLUME - the earset and earpiece audio output is lacking - especially using DC. I had
lunch in a restaurant today and literally could not use DC due to background noise. This
is a huge problem as I am in the contruction business.
2) AIM and two-way messaging/SMS not yet available.
3) I really wanted to be able to wirelessly sync with my Outlook calendar and task list.
Unfortunately you have to buy the Blackberry enterprise software to do this ($1000 for a 5
user license minimum).
4) It's very early in my testing, but so far making a phone call or DC is a little bit
cumbersome. More on this later as I put more hours in on the phone.
5) NOL service is modified for the Blackberry. It works faster and is really easy to read,
however, their are some site problems that need to be addressed. There is even a NOL web
page that identifies these.
6) Color would have been way cool.
7) No java apps preloaded to play with.
8) The two books that come with the unit are pretty worthless. You need to read the 262
page PDF file from the included CD to figure out this thing.
9) The CSR's need TRAINING on this product. The average Nextel user had better stay away
from this one and leave if for the "techies" until they get the glitches out.

I'll upload some pics. Hope this helps anyone interested!

BTW: I tested a Blackberry 957 last year. The Mobitex coverage was terrible. From what I
can tell, Nextel appears to have the BEST footprint for this product. Keep in mind that a
lot of the other providers who are offering Blackberry do not have FULL DATA coverage in
their normal "phone" areas. This could be a real niche market for Nextel.

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=73737

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