[plug] Time to replace palm m130?

[Chris Caston]

On Tue, 2005-10-25 at 13:09, James L. Clarke wrote:
> Chris, and others who may be interested,
> 
> Personally I use a BlackBerry (Yes I know it's not FOSS, but it's not M$ either)
> 
> While not a full PDA, what it does, it does well and it is pretty fast because
> it doesn't have the bloat that comes with most of the modern PDAs.
> 
> Emailing: Direct from the device (push service, that is as soon as the email
> arrives on the server it comes to the BlackBerry) using the mobile phone
> network, can roam (triple band) to practically anywhere in the world.
> 
> Calendaring: Never miss an appointment. Same with the email as soon as someone
> request a meeting it comes to your device. As soon as you enter a Calendar entry
> in Outlook or Notes (not sure if it can work on any FOSS calendars though) it
> updates the device using the mobile network. No need to plug the device in and
> manually sync for this.
> 
> Tasklist: Have to plug in and sync this with Outlook or Notes, but it works well.
> 
> Memopad: Have to plug in and sync this with Outlook or Notes, but it works well.
> 
> Address Book: Have to plug in and sync this with Outlook or Notes, but it works
> well.
> 
> Web browsing: Supports WAP (WML) and HTML
> 
> Can access corporate Intranets.
> 
> Customised Java Applications can be added the BlackBerry for everthing from
> Games to remote server management, and a VNC client.
> 
> Built in keyboard is faster that stumbling arround with Styluses (but, some
> people have gota have there Styluses!)
> 
> Use very strong (military grade) encryption to comunicate over the mobile
> network/internet with your server and the data on the devices is encrypted as well.
> 
> Downsides: (this is with the 2 year old model I have, so might be improved in
> new models) No Javascript support, no support for SSL websites, uses GSM (that
> is max 36KBit data transfer, but with email this OK because it only gets the
> text of the email from the server unless you specifically ask to see the
> attachments, then you wait!), word/powerpoint/pdf viewer is text only, excell
> viewer is pretty limited, using it as a phone without the hands free kit is not
> too great.
> 
> Also there is no MP3, MIDI, or video support, but that would just bloat it
> anyway IMHO!
> 
> Has anyone had any experience with BlackBerries and Linux? Unfortunately
> desktops at work are all M$, but having tried various PDAs, and phones, I would
> say that the BlackBerry has the most painless integration with Outlook or Notes
> ever! Would be interested to know if they will(can be made to) work with Kontact
> or Evolution (even if it is a third party hack).
> 
> If anyone is interested in having a look my BlackBerry, I am normally at the 
> PLUG seminars (at OSWA) and I am happy to give you a demo. Remember my
> BlackBerry is two years old and I know there are better ones now which use CDMA
> (364KBit).
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> James
> 

Interesting suggestion James.

Yeah, I probably want the Stlyus. I can write graffiti at ~30 wpm so its
not that much of an issue for me. 

I don't want to go much larger (in physical size and weight) than my
current m130 as the PDA is like a pace maker for me. I take it
everywhere even when I go clubbing so it needs to be very compact and
durable.

regards,

Chris



> PS I don't work for BlackBerry or any dealers of BlackBerry, just my opinion
> after using the BlackBerry for work for the past two years.
> 
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