Why you should pick a BlackBerry to manage your e-mail

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Why you should pick a BlackBerry to manage your e-mail

David Berlind
Executive Editor, Tech Update
Monday, March 25, 2002

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If you're dealing with inbox overload or you think you can benefit from reliably receiving and responding to mission-critical data 24/7, look no further than Research In Motion's BlackBerry.

I've dissed most personal digital assistants (PDAs) because of their unreliability. So when RIM spokesperson Scott Pollard contacted me, saying, "Keep your chin up, David. It gets better from here!" I rolled my eyes. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that before.

But things did get better. A few days later, a BlackBerry showed up in the mail. In spite of some imperfections that RIM will no doubt correct, the device is quite possibly the best existing combination of wireless/e-mail functionality and personal information management.

RIM SENT ME its 957 model, which boasts a larger display and some additional keys on its "thumbboard" than its smaller cousin, the 950. While I've yet to try the smaller unit, you'll have to trust me that almost every 950 owner I've come into contact with has been insanely jealous of my 957.

The 957 is smaller than all other leading PDAs, at about the same width and half the height of a deck of cards. Considering the device's size and built-in wireless functionality (typically a power drain), no similarly equipped PDA I know of can challenge the BlackBerry's battery life. But reliability is really its strong suit. My BlackBerry has crashed only twice and, in both cases, a simple reboot revived the device without any data loss.

Most everyone I know is skeptical about thumbboard-based devices. The keys are so small it's hard to imagine entering contacts or notes--much less responding to e-mail. But you can cut down on your typing by using the 957's pre-programmed--and modifiable--text shortcuts. For example, I programmed "ty" to automatically convert to "Thank you." And the 957's larger display (than the 950) means less scrolling through documents and databases (such as contacts).

After you figure out the shortcuts that convert words and phrases you use frequently, you'll find yourself thumbing some pretty substantive notes with surprising speed. You'll also be surprised at how many messages need only a "yes" or "no" response. This is where the productivity factor kicks in. Recently, while stuck in the Denver airport, I handled 100 percent of the e-mail that accumulated in my inbox since my last online session. Some of the messages required responses, some I just needed to read to keep on top of things, and others were spam that needed deleting. When I got to work the next morning and synchronized the BlackBerry with my notebook, my inbox was nearly empty.

OF COURSE, the BlackBerry isn't perfect. When it comes to synchronization, it has a few flaws. The BlackBerry updates its corresponding inbox wirelessly through one of the supported networks (such as Motient's DataTAC or Cingular's Mobitex) and RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server software, which runs alongside the e-mail server. As a result, MS Exchange Server and Lotus Notes users will notice that inbox messages will reflect previous BlackBerry actions when they use their Windows clients.

On first glance, this seems like a highly efficient feature. Unfortunately, not all possible message activities--only four of five--are updated this way. Yes, you'll be able to see, for example, opened messages, but deletions are ignored. According to RIM's Pollard, this was done to conserve battery life. But that doesn't make sense to me; it can't take any more battery power to communicate a delete mark than it does to send an open, reply, forward, or move mark. Even if it did, the decision to send or not send them should be a user option.

The bottom line is that you have to use the BlackBerry cradle and desktop software in order to perfectly synch. This is similar to how Palm and Pocket PC devices work, but if you do a lot of offline e-mail work, you may find your BlackBerry and Outlook inboxes frequently out of synch.

After you've worked around the synchronization problems, you may find--as I have--that your e-mail productivity will shoot through the roof.

ANOTHER AREA where the BlackBerry falls short is in Web browsing. Doing so will cost you more money than it does with either the Palm or Pocket PC devices.

Wireless services for PDAs such as OmniSky typically run around $40 per month. The basic wireless service for a BlackBerry costs the same, but doesn't include any Web browsing capability. For that, you need to go to another service like GoAmerica or WolfeTech. Both have downloadable browsers (Go.Web and Pi, respectively), but charge more per month for the privilege of wireless Web access. GoAmerica also offers an automatic document normalization service that will take a bunch of common document formats that the BlackBerry can't handle natively, such as Microsoft Word, and convert them into a format that makes them readable on the handheld.

But I don't think it matters that I don't have the Web browsing option on my RIM. My browsing experiences with Palm and Pocket PC have been lousy due to speed and network availability, so I haven't found the feature very useful. I use wireless for e-mail, and the BlackBerry handles that expertly. I'm fully prepared to sacrifice the color display I've grown used to on my Pocket PC-based Compaq iPaq; if I'm not browsing the Web or viewing images, I can live without color.

Finally, the BlackBerry should improve its cradle, which acts as both a synch tool and a recharger. Unlike Compaq's iPaq and Hewlett-Packard's Jornada (both of which can be recharged without their cradle), this means that if you want to bring a recharger on a trip, you have to bring the entire cradle as well (or purchase an optional AC charger).

But given the BlackBerry's reliability, battery life, size, wireless capabilities, and tremendous boost to my productivity, I can overlook the device's current flaws in the name of getting mission-critical work done. Nothing I've used measures up to the 957.

How do you handle e-mail when you're on the move? Do you use a BlackBerry? Or something else? How do you like it? TalkBack to me!

Read more by David Berlind at ZDNet's Tech Update.

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