[Cleric]

I have had my 8700g for a few weeks now and love it. I am having a difficult time trying to figure out if a PIM was included or what simple one I can use.

I did a forum search here and found where someone suggested a high end one that would be good for business, but that is too much for me. I would really like something simple, simlar to the functionalities that Palm Desktop offers.

I am somewhat familiar with Palm devices and thought that the software that I installed that was the BB Desktop Manager would be the PIM and the Device Manager would be like Hotsync. I tried going to the BB website and that just made me more confused. It says:

BlackBerry Desktop Software installs and runs on your desktop PC. It [B]manages the link[B] between your BlackBerry device and your email account. This integrated suite of applications provides the following:

OK, so the "manages the link" to me seems like it is similar to HotSync. There is also a link to which when you click on it seems to be exactly what I am looking for...but no link to download it.

Am I missing something?


*Note I could not link to the webpages on BB's website as I am a n00b and have not made 10 posts yet.

Thank you in advance.

[Stinsonddog]

Wirelessly posted (8700c: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

DM has Intellisync which allows you to sync Outlook and other programs. Your BB has a calendar and address book.

[Cleric]

Thanks for the reply. I know I can sync with Outlook but I do not have that and even so is overkill. The "other programs" is what I am looking for. I did a little more research and found the following:

# Organizer Support:

* Microsoft Outlook 97, Outlook 98, Outlook 2000, Outlook 2002 Outlook XP or Outlook 2003
* Lotus Notes 5.0.6 or later, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0
* ACT!® 4.0.2, 2000, 5.0, or 6.0
* Lotus Organizer 5.0, or 6.0
* Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0, or 6.0
* Novell GroupWise 6.0, or 6.5
* Netscape® (contacts only)
* ASCII Importer/Exporter

That was somewhat helpful as I didn't even know what ones it supported. I was going to go with OE but that does not support calendar or tasks to name a few.

Any other suggestions?

[EricaJ1074]

Google has just released Google Calendar that will send text alerts to your phone when a calendar event comes up and it does not require BES.

[NJBlackBerry]

Most people use Outlook as their PIM... I don't know of any Palm Desktop like programs which can be used with a BB.

[sm1th]

I really think RIM should develop some basic PIM software, like Palm did.

[Dubdub]

Originally Posted by sm1th

I really think RIM should develop some basic PIM software, like Palm did.

Given the fact that the BB is used more for business than personal use, and most buisnesses use Outlook or one of the other "PIMs", I don't really see the need. Maybe a 3rd party, but not RIM.

Just my 2 cents.

[sm1th]

Originally Posted by Dubdub

Given the fact that the BB is used more for business than personal use, and most buisnesses use Outlook or one of the other "PIMs", I don't really see the need. Maybe a 3rd party, but not RIM.

Just my 2 cents.

This same logic applies to the Palm, but they have a PIM.

[peterskim]

Originally Posted by sm1th

This same logic applies to the Palm, but they have a PIM.

Not really. Palm has always had a "consumer" line of devices like the Z22 and its predecessors. Also, when Palm started out, Outlook/Exchange was not the defacto standard in corporate PIM. Palm Desktop filled a good void then, but I highly doubt many corporate Treo users still use Palm Desktop.

Blackberry is and always has been a corporate device, and therefore, has no need for developing their own desktop PIM software that only 5% of its users would probably use.

That being said, it'd be nice some free open-source messaging/organizational solutions like those from the Mozilla Project (Thunderbird, Sunbird, etc.) become more fleshed out and gain a larger user base. It shouldn't be impossible for someone to develop a sync utility for those tools, since RIM seems to be pretty good with providing developer kits.