[acastic]

Hi,
I am currently looking into getting a pda or pda/phone. I really like the 7290 and it would save me from having to carry around seperate devices. If I buy a Blackberry, I would purchase it without a contract so that I don't have to get the data package with it because I don't need to check my email or surf the web, I just want to use the PIM functions. That said, I currently have the MediaWorks package on my phone to check sports scores, weather, and news once in a while. Is it possible to access Cingulars MediaNet on a Blackberry without having the Blackberry data package as well?

thanks,
adam

[mrogers]

You should be able to access Cingular's data network on the BB with a regular GPRS data plan.

That said, frankly, if you're not going to use the email or web surfing, I think you're wasting your money on a BB. Those are its two biggest purposes. If you don't need email, I think that a Pocket PC or PalmOS-based phone would work much better for you.

[mgerbasio]

I would also agree with mrogers. Palm and PocketPC are much better PIMs. The ability to work with pdf & MS Office docs, read, view and edit is also a plus for the PocketPC/Palm.

Here's a link to read:
http://www.blackberryforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=269

giving very good reasons to go with Blackberry but I still think compared to Palm and PocketPC it is years behind in PIM.

Regards-Michael G.

[acastic]

thanks for the reply. I do like the Treo 650 but i have huge hands, so the keyboard is very hard for me to use. The 7290's keyboard is much easier for me to use. I'm not really a fan of the Micro$oft Smartphones. 2 of my friends had the Motorola MPx200 and they both had major problems with the phone. Battery life was 3 hours, very poor reception, and the phones would break easily. Being able to read MS office documents would be a nice feature but isn't really that necessary for me. I'm trying to find a decent way to combine phone and PIM features so i don't have to carry around a bunch of devices. I currently carry my phone and ipod mini around and would be difficult to carry my phone, ipod, pda, and the psp when it comes out. In the winter it isn't that big of a deal because i have extra pockets when wearing a coat, but summer would be difficult. I really like the mediaworks feature and it only costs me $7.99 a month for 1MB of data and 250 text messages. I know the text messages would work fine on the 7290 but using Cingular's MediaNet would be a nice feature as well.

thanks,
adam

[Eric5273]

It will work but you will need to get a 3rd party browser such as Reqwireless Webviewer. As far as I know, Webviewer itself does not do wap sites, so using MediaNet itself may not work, but the connection will work and you can browser HTML sites. The built in Blackberry Browser only works with the Blackberry data plan. But any 3rd party software, including email programs and instant messaging programs will work with a MediaNet access plan.

[acastic]

hey,
Blackberry's site says, "allows you to check your email and browse the web on your BlackBerry device. You get automatic "push" delivery of messages, integration with multiple supported work and personal email accounts and convenient access to HTML and WAP web pages." Is there a way to enable the built-in browser to only access WAP web pages? or does anyone know of a 3rd party browser that will access Cingular's WAP service?

thanks,
adam

[Eric5273]

Originally Posted by acastic

hey,
Blackberry's site says, "allows you to check your email and browse the web on your BlackBerry device. You get automatic "push" delivery of messages, integration with multiple supported work and personal email accounts and convenient access to HTML and WAP web pages." Is there a way to enable the built-in browser to only access WAP web pages? or does anyone know of a 3rd party browser that will access Cingular's WAP service?

thanks,
adam

The built in Blackberry email client and web browser work through the Blackberry WebClient. If you do not have the Blackberry data plan, then you will not be able to use these two programs. There are no settings to adjust how they access their data. All the settings are made at the WebClient. You need a WebClient account.

[hughvh]

Originally Posted by Eric5273

The built in Blackberry email client and web browser work through the Blackberry WebClient. If you do not have the Blackberry data plan, then you will not be able to use these two programs. There are no settings to adjust how they access their data. All the settings are made at the WebClient. You need a WebClient account.

What about third party apps like Web Viewer? Is that covered in the Blackberry Data plan? It was on my Nextel 7510, but I just got a 7100g. (It was with Nextel.)

Thanks.

[Tigermania]

I'm a newbie and am looking to buy a new BB 7290 and looking at signing up with T-Mobile data plan. Are there any T-Mobile users that has 7290 that are able to use the IM feature? I understand that the T-Mobile has data plans that also includes a BES plan, but I heard that T-Mobile users can have TCP access with regular data plan for 29.99/mo?

I probably will get Verichat, but wanted to make sure that the IM will work on the 7290 as the T-Mobile website stated that the IM works only on 7100. My spec is to have pushup email, SMS, IM, etc, and I'll get them to add the wap.voicestream.com to the account line.

Thanks in advance, and please excuse my lack of tech knowledge with BB.

[coreyg510]

the 7290 is a great device, and with Cingular, I have had minimal problems. I too skipped on the Treo (although I sometimes wished I had them both) because of the small keyboard. However, if it were larger, I might have chosen the Treo over the BB. anyhow, the device is great. remember that you can always sign it in contract without the data plan. the data plan was offered to me, which i chose, but i was told hat i didnt have to choose it if i didnt want email and such.

[mok7100]

Originally Posted by mgerbasio

I would also agree with mrogers. Palm and PocketPC are much better PIMs. The ability to work with pdf & MS Office docs, read, view and edit is also a plus for the PocketPC/Palm.

Here's a link to read:
http://www.blackberryforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=269

Regards-Michael G.

That link is broken:

The requested URL /viewtopic.php was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

-Marc

[Tigermania]

Thanks. I'm gonna take a plunge into T-Mobile world and get a BB 7290. I'm going to be specifically a data user on the BB. I just read that we can download IM software from T-Mobile for 7290. Wish me luck.