[johnfromphilly]

Own: BB 7100G on 30 trial from Cingular
Palm
Nokia 6200

I am a current and many years past Palm user. I am trying to put phone, pda and e-mail together in one small unit. I did not choose the Treo 650 because I had read some negative reviews regarding the phone function but now I might give it a try. E-mail is important to me but contacts and basic Contact Management is a must as I am in sales. Please read below and tell me if I am missing something--thanks!


I was shocked to find that a recently purchased Blackberry 7100 G does not link appointments, to-dos or calls to the contact they are meant for. Is this not a basic PDA function? Yes, I am from the Palm world but I need e-mail capability now.

How is this basic business need, of linking what you are doing to who you are doing it with, missed by any PDA? Am I missing something? If so I guess it is back to carrying 2 devices- Palm and BB which is a waste but I need to link appts with contacts. Otherwise all my appointments just say what they are not who they are with (e.g. "sales call" @ 9 AM)- OK who is this appointment with - I have 6 calls that day- how do I remember who comes first and who I am having luch with?

Anything I am missing here or is this the world of BB where it is all about the e-mail and let the rest suffer?

Thanks for any input to this problem.

I would love any input on how to make the BB a better CM.

Thanks,
John

[penguin3107]

I think your biggest misjudgement is classifying the Blackberry as a PDA.
It's not.

A blackberry is primarily a mobile e-mail device... which has some added features, such as a Phone, Address Book, Calendar, etc.

[johnfromphilly]

Originally Posted by penguin3107

I think your biggest misjudgement is classifying the Blackberry as a PDA.
It's not.

A blackberry is primarily a mobile e-mail device... which has some added features, such as a Phone, Address Book, Calendar, etc.

OK, that is fine but still- can it accomplish the basic CM functions? If not that is OK and I will move on to the Treo but I love the BB except for that.

I do not expect it to be a Palm. I never used the Palm for anything except taking my Cm (ACT) on the road with me and it did that very well. I am disappointed that BB does not seem to address this at all.

How do all of you (BB sales/ business users) use it as a CM at all? If you can't tell one sppointment from another- what tricks do you use.

I am not trying to clssify the BB as a PDA or anything else I am just trying to get the best Phone/e-mail/CM combo.

Anyone have any onther HELP to offer?

Thanks so much,
John

[Dusty Saddle]

Originally Posted by johnfromphilly

OK, that is fine but still- can it accomplish the basic CM functions? If not that is OK and I will move on to the Treo but I love the BB except for that.

I do not expect it to be a Palm. I never used the Palm for anything except taking my Cm (ACT) on the road with me and it did that very well. I am disappointed that BB does not seem to address this at all.

How do all of you (BB sales/ business users) use it as a CM at all? If you can't tell one sppointment from another- what tricks do you use.

I am not trying to clssify the BB as a PDA or anything else I am just trying to get the best Phone/e-mail/CM combo.

Anyone have any onther HELP to offer?

Thanks so much,
John

John,

You will probably have to sync your Palm data to Outlook or another contact manager and then sync to the Blackberry. I use ACT and, with Companion Link, can sync my ACT data base, calendar and tasks and they are all linked. I formerly did the same thing with my Palm Tungston.

[kilo]

You are right that it doesn't necessarily say "Sales Call; 9AM; Jim Jones; Suzy Shirley". But if you are in the same company you can "Invite Attendees" to your meetings.

If they aren't in the company, I setup my appointments by writing:
Title: Sales call with Jim Jones and Suzy Shirley
Location: 806-555-1212
Time: 9AM
Duration: 1 hour

[johnfromphilly]

Originally Posted by Dusty Saddle

John,

You will probably have to sync your Palm data to Outlook or another contact manager and then sync to the Blackberry. I use ACT and, with Companion Link, can sync my ACT data base, calendar and tasks and they are all linked. I formerly did the same thing with my Palm Tungston.

Dusty,
Are you saying that you have a way to link contacts to appointmnets/tasks on the BB?

I am ok with 3rd party sftwr or linking to Outlook first. For years I lived with Companion link to link Act and Palm. They then offered Act for Palm and it was INCREDIBLE.

If you have a way to link contacts to tasks please describe it. I am VERY interested in this as it is making me want to return the BB 7100G right now.

Please let me know.
Thanks,
John

[johnfromphilly]

Originally Posted by kilo

You are right that it doesn't necessarily say "Sales Call; 9AM; Jim Jones; Suzy Shirley". But if you are in the same company you can "Invite Attendees" to your meetings.

If they aren't in the company, I setup my appointments by writing:
Title: Sales call with Jim Jones and Suzy Shirley
Location: 806-555-1212
Time: 9AM
Duration: 1 hour

Do you write this on your PC based CM and then sync or just when you make appointments on your BB?

I usually make appointments and create tasks in the office and just need to have that info when on the road.
By the way, 99% of my appointments are outside of my company. They are customers I must see/call. etc..


Thanks for the input..

John

[Dusty Saddle]

Originally Posted by johnfromphilly

Dusty,
Are you saying that you have a way to link contacts to appointmnets/tasks on the BB?

I am ok with 3rd party sftwr or linking to Outlook first. For years I lived with Companion link to link Act and Palm. They then offered Act for Palm and it was INCREDIBLE.

If you have a way to link contacts to tasks please describe it. I am VERY interested in this as it is making me want to return the BB 7100G right now.

Please let me know.
Thanks,
John

No, the link is not the way it was on ACT for Palm. When I go to my Task List, I get info on the task to be performed, date, time, contact Name and phone number. If I want to see the entire contact file, I have to go into the Address Book. If you want true linking, you would prpbably have to look at somethink like "Handheld Contact by J2X Technologies Inc. software puts your favorite ACT! features on the BlackBerry and our wireless synchronization service keeps your BlackBerry and ACT! database always up-to-date throughout the day! ". I just heard about it recently and, don't know anyone who has used it. Web site is http://www.handheldcontact.com/

[John P]

Originally Posted by Dusty Saddle

No, the link is not the way it was on ACT for Palm. When I go to my Task List, I get info on the task to be performed, date, time, contact Name and phone number. If I want to see the entire contact file, I have to go into the Address Book. If you want true linking, you would prpbably have to look at somethink like "Handheld Contact by J2X Technologies Inc. software puts your favorite ACT! features on the BlackBerry and our wireless synchronization service keeps your BlackBerry and ACT! database always up-to-date throughout the day! ". I just heard about it recently and, don't know anyone who has used it. Web site is http://www.handheldcontact.com/

Dusty,
I had trouble logging in so had to reregister but it is "johnfromphilly"


I am ok with it not being as good as "Act for Palm", I just want to show what contact is associated with the activity. I do not need the "go to contact" option or anything like that.

I just want to, for now, be able to show the contact's name/company in the activity area of the calender.

Can you describe how you achieve what you are doing? I would love to replicate it.

Please let me know the details as this is the deciding factor in keeping the BB or not.

Also, I looked at the "Handheld Contact" web site- it is way too expensive and more about syncing while on the road which I do not need--thanks for that though.

Thanks,

John

[Dusty Saddle]

Originally Posted by John P

Dusty,
I had trouble logging in so had to reregister but it is "johnfromphilly"


I am ok with it not being as good as "Act for Palm", I just want to show what contact is associated with the activity. I do not need the "go to contact" option or anything like that.

I just want to, for now, be able to show the contact's name/company in the activity area of the calender.

Can you describe how you achieve what you are doing? I would love to replicate it.

Please let me know the details as this is the deciding factor in keeping the BB or not.

Also, I looked at the "Handheld Contact" web site- it is way too expensive and more about syncing while on the road which I do not need--thanks for that though.

Thanks,

John

John,

I'm using ACT 6.0 with Companion Link. Once Companion Link and your Blackberry software are loaded on your desktop, go to Companion link Set-up and configure it the way you want your data to show up on your blackberry. In Desktop Manager, go to Intellicync and check "Execute Add-in Actions" and then cync your blackberry to ACT.

[John P]

Originally Posted by Dusty Saddle

John,

I'm using ACT 6.0 with Companion Link. Once Companion Link and your Blackberry software are loaded on your desktop, go to Companion link Set-up and configure it the way you want your data to show up on your blackberry. In Desktop Manager, go to Intellicync and check "Execute Add-in Actions" and then cync your blackberry to ACT.

Thanks Dusty,
I have not used Companion link since Act for Palm became available-that ROCKS. I will probably have to repurchase.

Thanks for the help,
John



I am going to try the 14 day version- I have until the 11th to return the 7100G. I may get the 8700 if I like the Companion link setup enough.

Thanks again

[MobileRC]

from what I have been able to determine you cannot do that with the treo650 right out of the box either... treo 600 you could. but i didnt look that hard.

[johnfromphilly]

Originally Posted by MobileRC

from what I have been able to determine you cannot do that with the treo650 right out of the box either... treo 600 you could. but i didnt look that hard.

You are correct- not out of the box. I use Act as my CM and there is an "Act for Palm" that is incredible.

I am working to get Companion Link loaded right now (on the 7100G)to give it a whirl- I did not know it did what I wanted until Dusty mentioned it.

Thanks,
John

[kilo]

sorta quasi related, but just FYI, the phone log is available from the Messages screen by holding Alt and pressing P