[chaznsc]

Hello,

Im not a Blackberry user, but wanted to ask a question or two thats nagging me. Please be patient with me LOL

I have carried a smartphone for a number of years now. I have had a treo 700p, and recently purchased a XV6800 Windows Mobile 6.1 unit. I have also had various PDA's over the years, my favorite having been the Palm Tungsten, which was eventually stolen. I also had a Dell Axim PDA with Windows Mobile that I could connect to my phone via a wireless connection. Windows Mobile seemed clumsy to me, and I eventually went to the Palm Treo to have both units in one.

My phone carrier is Verizon and I am thrilled with them. The phone is a company issued device and we have an Exchange 2003 server which handles email, calendars bla bla bla. Syncing with the Exchange Server is a must for me. I run the IT department at my office so I have a better than good knowledge of IT issues.

I loved the Palm device because of its simplicity. It recently became less than functional, just worn out I suppose.

So I picked the XV6800 last week. I have it set up, yet there is something about it I dont like, but I cant put my finger on it. I dont like the tiny menus, and dont know why Microsoft seems to think that my phone needs to have the look and feel of a tiny PC.

Of course, it read MS Office documents natively. And I can remote access my PC if I need to. So thats a comfort zone for me, a PC user. I am not crazy about the slide out keyboard, its just a little clumsy for me. (Perhaps I should have picked out the Palm 750w?)

Windows mobile seems to tire easily and I hate the windows explorer browser.

But is the Blackberry better? My wife carries a BB Curve and its been reliable for her. She isnt what I consider a power user however. She checks PoP mail does some surfing, takes pictures, and thats about it.

I looked at the Curve, the Worldphone and the Storm. I didnt like the Storm at all. I like the look and feel of the Worldphone, but dont like that it doesnt have a camera. Not sure on the curve, but I do like the phones form factor.

So, being an inquiring mind, I thought I would ask the experts here.

Why would you recommend the Blackberry?
Is Blackberry here to stay?
Is the BB going to sync with my exchange server? (Verizon says that it will be using a service from verizon)
Is the Blackberry capable of editing office documents?
Are there things I can do on a BB that I cant on Win Mobile?
Would our organization benefit from standardizing on BB?

Please let me know if you think I would like the Blackberry, or if an upcoming BB would be better suited for me, or just stick with me Windows device.

Thanks in advance,

chaz