[bradg33]

Hello all,

I'm currently on Sprint with a Treo 700WX. While I like the phone, it's a little bit more than I need as far as capabilities. Also, I don't care much for Windows Mobile. What I'm really looking for is mobile email, calendar, and light web browsing (reading the news, looking up phone numbers/addresses for restaurants). It seems like the 8830 is a streamlined version of what I want. I don't care about the lack of camera, and I like the fact it does not have a touch screen (I live in constant fear that I will break/scratch mine). That being said, I've found a guy who wants to trade his 8830 for my Treo. Anyone have any experience trading phones and can offer some advice? I've never done anything like this, so I'm a bit hesitant. It seems to me that as long as his ESN is clean, there should be no problem. Also, I use GMAIL. Any problems there? From my research, there doesn't appear to be any, but it never hurts to ask. To further complicate matters, I am on a Sprint SERO plan. According to their CS, once I'm switched over to some new billing system, they can put me on the $30 blackberry plan. Any thoughts/hints/suggestions/rants regarding that? Really I'm just looking for some objective advice regarding my situation. So feel free to offer up any thoughts on trading, the 8830 v. 700WX, etc. Thanks in advance!

[mrjerome]

Well this is a subject that has opened a lot of thoughts, well first of all I was/am a Treo lover but the crashing & resetting with both the Treo700wx and the Treo700p, my wife had the 700p, just got ridiculous, and that is after the so-called MR updates to both devices. I waited and waited for the device to work as promise but to no avail. I own a landscaping company and I need my phone/pda to work at ALL times and I shouldn’t have to make/hack the Treo to help it to be usable. One day here in sunny 102 degree weather in Jacksonville Florida, after taking care of a property an important client called and my phone locked up as we were talking, I had to reset the Treo again, I only use the phone twice for maybe 20 minutes combine and looked at my calendar for the day and it crashed! I have about 20 to 30 clients per day in my calendar and about 600 contacts, Verizon says and here is their fix, do a hard reset, take out what I don’t need because the device can’t handle it. So logic kicked in my little brain, and I said to myself, “self, what device has been a standard for most professionals for years, BlackBerry! Therefore, I did my research briefly and I went to Verizon and told them my issues and they agreed that I’m making an excellent choice, they gave the phone free of charge, granted I first purchased the original Treo700w January 5, 2006, the first day it hit the stores, I’ve had 3 replacement phones and one upgrade to the Treo700wx March 2007 at NO COST, so getting the BlackBerry 8830 fair to me, and yes I know the Treo cost more, Why? I’ll never know but the 8830 has NEVER let me down or crashed or had to do a reset in two months which is almost unbelievable. It was common to do a reset every morning so I could have a decent day with the Treo. I feel cheated and foolish that I kept believing they were going to fix all the ailments with the Treo. When they do they will maybe, probably catch up to the BlackBerry. The latest upgrades were a joke. Now since I got that off my chest the comparisons. Are you serious, there is No comparison.

Emails: which includes Hotmail, AOL, yahoo, Gmail and Bellsouth/AT&T works seamlessly, with no work arounds, they just work.

Phone: Sound quality excellent, lets not even mention speaker phone quality.
Workmanship: The screen is better brighter, no hint of yellow. The screen automatically adjust to the brightness of it environment, it turns down the brightness in low light which is great for looking at it early morning because I do use it as an alarm clock, Treo alarm issues still unresolved. Its thinner, lighter and I thought I would have a difficult time adjusting from touch screen to the BALL, no problems, its working. The USB charger is also great, no need to have several preparatory connections it works with my stereo Bluetooth charger (Motorola).

Battery: Comes with a high output battery that last all day, I bought the Seidio 3200mAh Ultra Extended Battery for Treo 700p, 700w|wx for $54.95. I have a battery that is just as good that I didn’t have to buy!

Software: Software is slim pickings for the 8830 but they are good software, no junk software. I have bought a few so far and it was worth it. Pocket Express, Opera Mini 4 (free), etc. the developers put out a more polished software for BB (BlackBerry). The GPS is awesome, what a treat with VZ Navigator, no need for Google Maps or Live but they all work with the GPS built it, . Great for a landscaper, addresses and directions are must for me.

Operating System: Quicker, No slow downs, No crashes, No mysterious RESETS, Loads programs faster, the media sync is smoother, No Active Sync!, I do miss wireless sync but I don’t crash to lose my contacts or appointments so it’s not really missed.

[sgvnut]

I just made the switch. I too am on the sprint sero plan, it only took about 30 minutes for them to switch me over to their "new system" and then I was all set. I now have the $30 bb plan added to my $30 sero plan. The $30 bb plan also includes sprint navigation which is kinda cool. My biggest mistake was switching from a bb 8700g to the treo 700wx in the first place.

[orbitz]

With the requirements you have listed, the 8830 would be an excellent choice. I am on Sprint and have an 8830 as my primary phone. I have had nearly every model Treo and WinMo phone Sprint has offered since the 6700 came out. To be fair, I really like WinMo phones when I am in the mood to play with different 3rd party apps / tweak the system just to my liking etc....but for day-to-day consistency especially on the email front, the BB can not be topped imo. Add Viigo (or one of the other good free rss readers) and you should be very happy with the BB. The 8830 is excellent as just a phone as well.

Given your requirements, I would trade the Treo for the 8830 in a heartbeat...although I believe you have to have had your billing with Sprint switched over to Ensemble before you can add the $30 plan to a Sero account..not 100% sure as I haven't paid too close attention to that but I think I did read that somewhere.

[shogunmaster]

I agree with everyone else here. I've only had the 8830 for 4 days but really like it. I'm a long time Treo user (lately 700p). I had become very reliant on email and while Versamail worked fine, I really wanted more.

I am also with Sprint and had to add the Blackberry Data Service to my plan. They say that I would have to pay more in order to be able to use my phone as a modem but I'm not sure if that is exactly the case. I'll try that this week.

The only thing that I am disappointed about is the lack of the ability to edit office documents. Since the Treo comes with Documents2Go, I used that very frequently. I've got documents and lists that I carried with me and made changes to all the time. Now it looks like I'll have to buy something. Docs2Go says they will be coming out with something for Blackberry soon though.

Applications for 8830 are a bit scarce though. I am also still looking to replace a few other applications that used on the Treo and it looks like there aren't any free alternatives so I'm trying to find some low cost alternatives.

I hope this helps.

[bradg33]

Thanks for all the information. I'm just waiting on Sprint to move me to the new system, and I'm gonna make the swap.

[gameboy213]

Two words: DO IT!
It will take no time to get used to the device.... learn the keyboard shortcuts and the thing will rock... super stable....
Enjoy!

[bradg33]

Any suggestions on how to handle the swap? It's with a guy I don't know. He's sent me pictures of the phone. It seems to be in good shape, and the guy is local to me. Thoughts to make sure I don't get screwed?

[TotalTech]

Originally Posted by bradg33

Any suggestions on how to handle the swap? It's with a guy I don't know. He's sent me pictures of the phone. It seems to be in good shape, and the guy is local to me. Thoughts to make sure I don't get screwed?

Simple meet at a convenient sprint store/service center and have them do a once over of the phone and do the swap for you. Since you are both Sprint customers it's free for you. It will also give you a piece of mind that you have a "clean" phone because they can do a hard reset on the phone.

I went through the same upgrade, I went from the Treo 650, to the 700P, then to the HTC mogul (worst phone I've oned), Sprint tried to move me into a 700WX and I refused. When they refused to put me into a 8830 it was simple I changed carries. They broke the contract with me by not giving me a phone of like value that worked. I've now owned the 8830 and out of the box it works. No work arounds no loading 3rd party apps to get something done.

[AndrewAZ]

Changing treo or mogul to a blackberry is a no brainer...

[SheepDog]

I love my 8830 even more than I loved the 7100i !