[lgreenberg]

I'm trying to decide whether paying $20 per month for a hosting service like Exchangemymail.com is worth it or not.

I know it'll give me wireless syncronization of calendar and contacts but I don't really mind having to sync the Blackberry with my PC every time. I guess coming from a Treo has made me used to it.

So beyond that is there any real reason to pay for the service? Is web browsing with MDS much better? I honestly find EDGE pretty quick so I'm not sure.

I just don't think I can justify paying an additional $20 per month on top of the $45 I pay Cingular for wireless sync.

I guess I'm thinking I don't really need it unless someone can convince me otherwise..............

[KonTiki]

If you were on a company BES and needed to have access to a lot of addresses that are shared or have a secretary adding things to your calendar, I could see it. For personal usage, synching via USB is fine, and you are not going to see much speed difference in browsing for it to warrant $20 more a month, thats my opinion.

[lgreenberg]

Originally Posted by KonTiki

If you were on a company BES and needed to have access to a lot of addresses that are shared or have a secretary adding things to your calendar, I could see it. For personal usage, synching via USB is fine, and you are not going to see much speed difference in browsing for it to warrant $20 more a month, thats my opinion.

Thanks. That's pretty much what I was thinking.

[ina-nyminute]

Originally Posted by lgreenberg

I'm trying to decide whether paying $20 per month for a hosting service like Exchangemymail.com is worth it or not.

I know it'll give me wireless syncronization of calendar and contacts but I don't really mind having to sync the Blackberry with my PC every time. I guess coming from a Treo has made me used to it.

So beyond that is there any real reason to pay for the service? Is web browsing with MDS much better? I honestly find EDGE pretty quick so I'm not sure.

I just don't think I can justify paying an additional $20 per month on top of the $45 I pay Cingular for wireless sync.

I guess I'm thinking I don't really need it unless someone can convince me otherwise..............

Another View:
In my experience, I get busy and rush out the door w/out syncing my device (My device used to be a Compaq Ipaq).
I am out in the field and I need "that info" that I just typed in my MS outlook calendar or contacts or notes. No problem I power on my device and... it's not there, I can't find it. That's because I forgot to sync.
That never happens anymore with my bb on a hosted exchange(Mailstreet). The piece of mind alone is worth the price.The moments of terror that I used to have where awful.
There are other advantages like OWA (Outlook Web Acces), Outlook back up (in effect Mailstreet is doing that for me by hosting my account).

[lgreenberg]

Since my mail is POP3 I can check it from virtually any computer. Verizon has a e-mail on the web site and there are other sites like Mail2web.com if I need to be on a computer. So the Outlook web access isn't a compelling feature for me.

As for the wireless sync. I agree it's a great feature and it's the only thing keeping me from 100% saying no. But I think in the long run I can force myself to sync every day if it's going to save me $20 per month.

[snowpilot]

I'm wondering the same thing. My wife and i are both on the road all the time and i want to be able to make a change to my calendar which would change her calendar on the otherside of the world.

I signed up for link2exchange but it deals with more mail sync than anything else. It doesn't really seem to be what i need.

I wish somebody offered just a calendar synch. I've also tried some of the other services but they take a lot to set up and are very unuser friendly. Unless you are some programer.

[lgreenberg]

Sounds like Exchangemymail.com would be right for you then.

You'd just be looking at the additional $40 per month for the two of you.

[Brad00111]

Wirelessly posted (BB 7100G: BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

I always sing the praises of Mobileweb4u.com and David. I am a personal user and love having hosted BES, sure its an extra 20 a month but in my mind well worth it.. Its all personal preference though, but if you do decide to get one look into www.mobileweb4u.com you won't be sorry.

[dulcamara]

I signed up with link2exchange because Cingular CS couldn't come up with a consitent story about what it would cost go enable APN or how to get it done. From what I've been reading here lately, nothing has changed. I use Pocketday, and don't want to have Cingular billing me for looking at the weather.

So now for $20/month I don't have to think about Cingular, get wireless sync between my BB and two MACs using Entourage, and don't have to wonder how I'll be billed for international data service (Cingular unlimited international data means just that if you avoid APN).

It's been very much worth it to me. If you don't travel internationally, are not a Cingular customer, and don't need the wireless sync, it may be very different for you.

[Sparkomatic]

I use ExchangeMyMail and love them. Like others have said, I think it just depends on your needs. In my business, I'm on the road alot and make changes to my appointments as the day goes on. I use those times for billing purposes when I get back to my office at the end of the day. It's just nice that their all updated between my BB and Outlook without having to sync. As for email, it's awesome to get push email. I constantly get compliments on how fast I return emails in the field.

Just my two cents

[T-Roy]

If your with a carrier that doesn't offer Internet Browsing and you can't use 3rd Party apps, hosted-BES also give you MDS so you can use 3rd party apps...which can be very usefull.

[Sparkomatic]

T-Roy, just out of curiousity, how would you have a carrier that didn't offer internet browsing? Don't all of the carriers in the US offer it or are you talking about some carriers in Europe?

[takeshi]

Originally Posted by snowpilot

I'm wondering the same thing. My wife and i are both on the road all the time and i want to be able to make a change to my calendar which would change her calendar on the otherside of the world.

Any hosted BES/Exchange should do this for you. If you're not familiar with Outlook in an Exchange environment then you probably haven't used this feature within Outlook but here's what you need to do: create a meeting request, add your wife to the attendees, enter the details, and then send out the request. It will place an entry in your calendar and when your wife accepts the request it will also place it on her calendar. She can also suggest a different date/time. Further, if you reschedule the meeting you can send out an update once you make the changes that will adjust her calendar appropriately.

My partner (SO, not business partner) do this all the time and it's an incredibly useful function of Exchange. It would be nice if it's cheaper, but we're both very busy professionals who rely on our Blackberries and Outlook for everything.


By the way - if you accidentally choose to create an appointment instead of a meeting request, no big deal. Just add attendees to your appointment and you'll achieve the same effect as creating a meeting request. You can even do this to exisiting appointments in your calendar. These requests and changes can be made both in Outlook and on your handhelds.