Blackberry Update

Well its been a real learning experience using a Blackberry. All in all it hasn't been any worse than when I got my first Windows Mobile Device. I enjoy using the Pearl and I still love the form factor. I was at Circuit City this week and looked at a Curve and again realized I did not like a device that wide. While I do like having a keyboard, they seem to be even wider than a Treo, which is what I keep at home for a backup. With the new crop of devices coming out, the Treo will end up on sale very soon if not today.

I activated my Touch for a few hours last night to see if I missed it. I did miss the touch screen because it is easier to tap the "X" button versus hitting the BB button and scrolling down to "close". However the Touch (with the extended battery) seemed fat to handle compared to the Pearl. I did switch back to my Pearl which surprises me. I do like this device more than I thought I would.

The real issue for me with switching to a BB, and I think some of you are in the same boat is dealing with Exchange Server. You can complain about the state of the Windows Mobile operating system and some of the hardware out there, but MS Exchange Server just does an outstanding job. It has been very difficult making that adjustment the last week or so with the Pearl. I had to do a hard reset this week due to not receiving emails. Then the next day I have the same problem. I ended up getting a free trial of a hosted Blackberry Enterprise Server so I could sync Email, Calendar, Contacts and Tasks OTA because I thought Blackberry Internet Service wouldn't play nice with my hosted Exchange Server via OWA. Then this article shows up today...Blackberry BIS issues being reported globally. This explains why I have been having problems and probably didn't really need a hard reset. I have been using 4smartphone.net for close to a year with no problems at all and I have experienced a week full of issues with BIS.
The hosted BES is working fine so far except if you do make that switch, that make sure you export all your Outlook data to a file because when you switch servers then you lose all your data

I do think that the trackball on mine is a bit loose. I ordered a new one for six bucks and they install very easy. As I mentioned before, if it weren't for the trackball I wouldn't even bother trying it. Using a D-Pad exclusively is a dealbreaker for me.

Screen size hasn't bothered me at all. I think the ability to navigate the screen is more important to me than the screen size.

I still had issues requiring soft reset and some lagginess so it wasn't phenomenally better than Windows Mobile....just different, but with nicer hardware compared to what I have now.

So basically if you really like the look and feel of a BB device, you have to be willing to make a total 'gadget life change'. I don't think I am there yet.