Ok, we ordered a Nokia 9300 from Cingular today and I certainly hope it's worth the $780 they are asking for it (without a plan).

I am starting this thread because I wonder how many 7290, 7100, or 8700 users have tried the Nokia 9300 or 9500 using BB connect software and what your thoughts are.

I have been a BB user for more than a year and have tried the 7280, 7290, 7100g, and now use the 8700c. As the BES Admin/Exchange Admin for my company, I have been asked to evaluate and report on BB connect and the Nokia 9300. I will post more when I begin using the device.

I encourage anyone in a similar position to contribute.

Thanks.

$780? who did you speak to? corporate store pricing with no commitment is $449.99

Karbon Systems has it for $449 as well. I ordered one from them today for $199 with a 2 year contract.

I decided not to get the Blackberry Connect plan and instead just went with the PDA Connect plan. While I like having push email, because I do not use BES, I have found it to be a pain that when I delete my email it does not delete on the server. I'm instead going to use the polling method. But I am curious to know if Blackberry Connect is any different from the regular Blackberry service.

Does aanyone now if it does a complete wireless sync ie: contacts.,calendars and email. I can only see calendander and email not contacts. For that you still need to connect it.

I have BB conect on Sony P910. Only email and calendar from BES are working OTA. I'm also able to do address lookup from GAL in exchange (email and contact information). Contacts\Notes\Tasks sync has to be done in cradle. I think it should same for Nokia unless Cingular is blocking something. I'm on T-Mobile.

I've tested out the Blackberry Connect on a nokia 9300. Because it was not my primary phone and used only for email, its usability was very poor vs a regular Blackberry. The keyboard, although QWERTY, wasn't easy to type on because of the buttons. Also, because the keys were so close to the edge of the device, it was hard to hold it and type at the same time. I've forgotten if calendar and contacts synched wirelessly. I gave up using it after a day or two and went back to my BB.

Ok, done this awhile ago... and the comparison is not the right way to go about this...

BlackBerry Connect is the BEST BlackBerry like experience you can get for a Nokia 9300, and if you have users who love the device itself (which some people do for reasons beyond me), this will allow them to fit into your BlackBerry environment and give them good functionality. Much better than anything else available.

However, for a current BlackBerry user the device is substandard when it comes to BlackBerry functions. Comparing BlackBerry Connect to a BlackBerry device is always going to end up with the BlackBerry Connect functions coming up short because it is NOT a BlackBerry which is purpose built for the core BlackBerry functions (i.e. why people like their BlackBerry).

BlackBerry Connect is designed to allow people who have a device pereference or need to still get access to BlackBerry functions within the BlackBerry Envrionment. It is not a replacement BlackBerry in any shape or form.

BlackBerry users will HATE the Nokia 9300 for BlackBerry. Nokia users will like it (but mainly because they don't know any better)

Bunker

I tried the N9300 a little while ago. I didnt like it vs my 8700g or 7100g because:

- no vibrate alert (serious ommission for an email device)
- no backlit keyboard
- no security wipe possible
- no wireless sync of contacts, memopad, and tasks.

I initally used a 7100g and after a brief moment I got a hand-me-down N9500. I only have 1 SIM with 2 phones for Blackberry.

Here is my two cents on the subject.

With the BB 7100g:
- its far more easier to carry around than the 9500
- its simplicity and easy use makes it soo attractive even more so after I upgraded it to OS 4.1
- can write messeges faster but had a hard time using Tagalog words and adriviations
- no camera but then again, I don't even use the camera on the 9500
- PIN-to-PIN messeging is a trip but no one to PIN with in the Philippines
- Browsing the net is fast but have to get used to the interface (need to make some adjusments)
- view attachments like pics, word and excel but thats it

With the 9500:
- comes with all the novelty that people like in phones now a days, real sound ringtones, camera, etc.
- its big and for someone in construction like me, its dangerous to bring around
- messeges are more organized and easy to access with the messege boxes. you could even create as many as you can
- I don't browse the internet with the GPRS cuz its sooooo slow. I use WiFi when using the 9500 fro the net
- Even with the qwerty keyboard, I swear its like typing using your index finger only and you make a lot of mistakes so forget about speed. also, your fingers will be tired soon enough.
- can view attachments and can also make word, excel and powerpoint to send through email.
- NO pin2pin messeging and no Blackberry Messenger application available
- In my opinion, only with the Blackberry Connect did it have the right to called a COMMUNICATOR

Which phone would I choose if my life depended on it?
Ans: I'd rather die.

I just wish I could switch between the BB 7100 and the 9500 at any time I need to depending on the situation.

I guess this was more than two cents, aight.......

There are lots of reasons someone would prefer a Nokia 9300 to a Blackberry:

1) The 9300 is a multimedia phone as well as a business phone. It has a memory card slot, and can be expanded up to 2 GB. It has a music/MP3 player, and it has a RealPlayer to view video as well as stream video & audio from the web.

2) The web browser and wide screen (640x200) are much closer to a desktop-like experience when it comes to web browsing. The browser can handle javascript much better than the Blackberry browser, and it also has Macromedia Flash 6.0.

3) The 9300 comes with full Word, Excel, and Powerpoint applications, not just viewers. I know they can be added to the Blackberry, but the cost is huge.

4) Same goes with the IM program -- the Cingular 9300 comes with AIM, Yahoo, and ICQ messengers preinstalled. On the Blackberry, you have to purchase them seperately.

5) The 9300's email program can view HTML email, although if you use the Blackberry Connect service, the Blackberry server will remove any HTML content anyway. But you can still use the regular email program to check any personal POP or IMAP accounts that you have, and then you can view HTML email.

6) When the 9300's flip is closed, it's much more like a regular phone than a Blackberry. It's easier to hold and talk into and has a regular numberpad.

7) Battery life is much better than all but the older 7200-series Blackberrys.

8) Bluetooth is not crippled. You can do file transfers, DUN, OBEX -- have your phone book transfer to your bluetooth car-kit, etc.

I'm sure there are some more reasons that I can't think of at this moment -- I'm tired and it's 4am.

The Blackberry is a very focused device. It is great at what it does. But if you want a more well-rounded smartphone that can do many other things AND still have Blackberry capability, then the Nokia 9300 is a good choice.

...Still waiting for my device to arrive. Delayed shipping.

I got mine last week. The web browsing is just unreal, and the speed on EDGE is way faster than my 7100g was. It really is like having a mini laptop in your pocket.

I started to use a 9300i in the last 2 days and its a big change from a blackberry device itself. For e-mail functionality it dosen't come close but does have a lot of extra features. Also the voice quality on calls is superior on the Nokia as it is still a mobile phone primarily. We'll see how it goes over the coming weeks.

I got a 9300 to try for a months trial. Two weeks and it's headed back. After you get over the "Wow" factor, it just isn't a good device as a Blackberry or a phone.

Found out today that Cingular is supporting the HP 6510 and it should be able to push e-mail, calendar, contacts etc. if you run Exchange 2003. Trying to get one of those to test drive for a month.

Doug

Summary Day 2:

GOT IT! Friday after a shipping SNAFU...

The gadget factor is a 10. I like the phone form factor, but man is it heavy. I call it the Bananna Phone. It looks a bit like a bananna split when you open it up.

Anyhow, I have been asked to "evaluate" bbconnect. I am FORCING myself not to go back to the 8700. MAN IS IT TOUGH. I picked the 8700 up today and stared at it longingly, I miss the li'l guy!

My experience so far has been technically challenging. I spent a day online with Support just to figure out why Wireless Calendar was not working. Formatted the device less than 24 hours after getting the bloody thing! Bad sign number 1.

I figured it out, I think, and determined that you needed to use the desktop synch to perform an initial synch telling it not to use the desktop for synching calendar. Kind of odd it never said that anywhere, and although I cannot prove thats how it works, it sure seemed like it was the only thing that worked.

...more later, but the WOW factor is still pretty impressive. BUT HEAVY!

Which 9300 did Cingular launch again? The one with or without WiFi? I had considered this device, but I think the lack of quad band was also a knock against it.

I have read several threads here on how it does not support the global address book lookup - have you confirmed this?

I attempted to locate a GAL lookup feature this morning. I was in a hurry and unable to find the feature so it's still possible that it might exist. I was looking for someone's phone number and they were not in my local contact database. I used the menu feature to see if I could lookup the name and perform a search against the GAL, but no luck.

...However, I know that if you are sending e-mail and a user is not in your contact list, the device WILL perform a lookup against the GAL for the user and it will return search results. If you enter "smith" for instance, and click "menu --> Tools --> check names" in my case and with my settings, the device looks for the address locally and if it doesn't find it, it performs a remote lookup against the GAL and returns choices.

It would sure seem odd to have lookups available only for email addresses and not for information like phone and office. Odd but apparently this is how it works.

...More on this if I find out otherwise.

Summary Day 5:

I miss my 8700! It sits on my desk like "why have you abandoned me? what did I ever do to you but deliver your email flawlessly!?"

So, I like the 9300, really I do. But honestly, I am just getting used to it. I like that it has a memory slot. I ordered a 1gb MMC card for it and I plan to use the memory card to store some music and install some software.

I have not used many of the features yet, but I like the fact that the device plays Mp3 ringtones. I like the layout of the Symbian OS and as a matter of fact, it reminds me a little of the macintosh OS from a few years back. I installed Idokorro's Mobile Admin tool on the device and it seems to work great.

One thing I do not like thus far is that according to Cingular and RIM the device is NOT capable of receiving the MDS Browser and related service books and utilizing the MDS Transport for using the BES as a proxy to browse the web. You MUST use the Opera based browser with their "medianet" Access point.

Thanks for the continued update on this!

How well does the e-mail client handle the attachments? That is, does it use the built in Office compatible applications to open the documents?

If so, are you able to create a document, attach it to an e-mail and send to others without any issues?

I thought long and hard about this device as well, but in the end, decided on the 8700g. The 9300 has some great features going for it, such as the memory slot you mention, and the application base. One thing I couldn't get over was the tri-band vs. quad band, since I do int'l travelling.

Summary Day 6:

Application use: You can open attachments which are on the list of attachments Blackberry and Blackberry enabled devices can open.

Yes you can open documents and modify them. If you want to send them, it seems a little more complicated. It appears that you cannot send attachments using the Blackberry Connect connection, you must have another pop3 or IMAP email account configured. I could not find an option to send an attachment otherwise. Frustrating.

I have Office 12 running on my desktop. I tried to send a message from Word 12 and was UNABLE to open a Word12 formatted/created/saved document, despite the extention of .doc I received the error message: "Unrecognized file type, no application associated with this attachment"

Same goes for Open Office .doc files. I was unable to open .doc formatted/saved .doc files from open office same error as above.

Everything formatted and created or saved in versions of office prior to Office12 seem to open without problems (this includes .ppt, .xls, and .doc).

to send an attachment you have to be in the attachment itself, click the extended menu button and there is an option to send within there! I had to ask some sales guy who turned up for a meeting here once.

Incase anyone was interested, I too evaluated this device for my company and after 2 weeks with have given the its just not right, you'll get all the usual people wanting it for the golf and other games and not its functionality. Also in the UK Blackberry connect is yet a fully supported platform, so that also swayed the decision some what.