Just got a BlackBerry 8830WE

[KeithTalent]

Let me preface by saying I have never owned a BlackBerry before and my PDA experience is limited to about 5 months with a Compaq PDA.

What I like:

• The size/shape/feel of the device is great. Very comfortable in the hand and typing/rolling around is relatively painless.

• It is nice to finally be able to receive my e-mails and browse the web while on the go.

• Ummm, can't really think of anything else.

What I dislike:

• Setup has been relatively painful so far. Getting my e-mails is no problem, but I can barely figure out how to change my ringtone, or change what icons are displayed on my home page. I guess I just do not find it very intuitive.

• Reception is not as good as my old cellphone.

• Screen feels a little small.

I have been fiddling with this thing for many hours and am still not even close to happy with the setup.

Now for the questions:

1. Does anyone know how to change what appears on my main page? I have 5 icons on there, 3 of which are totally useless. I would like to add BBIM (and others) to that page so it is easy to access.

2. Is there a way to turn off auto CC on all messages I send? I am hooked up through my Gmail as one of my addresses, and it looks as if I always get copied on e-mails I send from my BB.

3. When I turn off my wireless capabilities (when I am working at my desk and can access all my e-mails through my PC), the BB automatically downloads all of the e-mails after I turn the wireless back on, even if I have already read them or replied to them on my PC. Is there any way to change this? I am trying to minimize my usage by doung this, but it obviously defeats the purpose if the BB is just going to download them all afterwards anyway.

That is all for now.

Thanks very much for reading!

Cheers,
KT

 

[DivideBYZero]

Answers:

1) Got to 'applications' or hit the Blackberry key to get all the icons on screen. Select one of the top five that you want to use and hit the BB key again. Choose 'move application' and drop it below the top line, i.e., off the top five list. This should sort you out.

2) This is changed by the web interface to you BIS account, AFAIK.

3) This is the idea. Unless you delete them they will be reconciled to your BB. It's kinda the point...

Let me know if you have any more BB questions.

<-- ATOT BB resource.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
Answers:

1) Got to 'applications' or hit the Blackberry key to get all the icons on screen. Select one of the top five that you want to use and hit the BB key again. Choose 'move application' and drop it below the top line, i.e., off the top five list. This should sort you out.

2) This is changed by the web interface to you BIS account, AFAIK.

3) This is the idea. Unless you delete them they will be reconciled to your BB. It's kinda the point...

Let me know if you have any more BB questions.

<-- ATOT BB resource.

Awesome, thanks for that! That first one was driving me nuts!

With respect to number 3, I get that is sort of the point, but I thought there may be a way to just have it sync unread messages or something, but I guess it is not that intelligent.

A. How exactly do I post to the forums using this thing? I was on BB mobile forums on the way home from work last night and thought I had posted 2 messages, but they did not show up. Do I need to do something different?

B. On subscribed messages, is there a way to have it so the link to the thread is actually hyperlinked so I can follow through to a forum, through the browser?

C. Are there any good 3rd party apps to have? It looks as if most thing are covered already, but I figure there could be something very handy that I have not thought of.

Thanks again for your help. I have a feeling I will have a tonne more questions the more I play with this thing.

Cheers,
KT

 

[DivideBYZero]

Answers:

A: I normally only use forums that have a mobile theme. I can use fusetalk, but it's a pain, especially as I have a Pearl (much smaller screen than the 8800). Saying that, fusetalk is a pain on a real browser, so what should we expect?! Check any SMF based forum and it will offer up a cut down text only forum theme by default. Try www.tfnn.net/forum, for example.

B: Any links in an email can be clicked on with the trackball if selected. This should be happening out of the box.

C: Yeah, there are loads. Off the top of my head I would advise:

- JiveTalk. IM that can connect to AIM, MSN, GoogleTalk and Yahoo all in one very nice interface. It's about $19, which is dirt cheap if you ask me.
- Google maps - You simply have to have google maps, the directions and satellite image features are cool.
- New themes. I've posted a thread in this forum today to an iPhone theme. It's very cool. Also check the BB browser homepage for the comic strip and other themes to liven up your device
- If you fly often, take a look at Worldmate Live
- Google Mail. Got a gmail account? Then get the gmail client. It just uses data and doesn't add those mails to your BB mail DB. Handy if you have a corporate device on a BES and want to keep the mails separate.
- Get Ka-Glom. Brickbreaker is sooo 7290. Get up to date with this Tetris-a-like with explosions!

That's all I can come up with for now!

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
Answers:

A: I normally only use forums that have a mobile theme. I can use fusetalk, but it's a pain, especially as I have a Pearl (much smaller screen than the 8800). Saying that, fusetalk is a pain on a real browser, so what should we expect?! Check any SMF based forum and it will offer up a cut down text only forum theme by default. Try www.tfnn.net/forum, for example.

B: Any links in an email can be clicked on with the trackball if selected. This should be happening out of the box.

C: Yeah, there are loads. Off the top of my head I would advise:

- JiveTalk. IM that can connect to AIM, MSN, GoogleTalk and Yahoo all in one very nice interface. It's about $19, which is dirt cheap if you ask me.
- Google maps - You simply have to have google maps, the directions and satellite image features are cool.
- New themes. I've posted a thread in this forum today to an iPhone theme. It's very cool. Also check the BB browser homepage for the comic strip and other themes to liven up your device
- If you fly often, take a look at Worldmate Live
- Google Mail. Got a gmail account? Then get the gmail client. It just uses data and doesn't add those mails to your BB mail DB. Handy if you have a corporate device on a BES and want to keep the mails separate.
- Get Ka-Glom. Brickbreaker is sooo 7290. Get up to date with this Tetris-a-like with explosions!

That's all I can come up with for now!

A. The mobile Anandtech forums are ok, but for some reason I can't post on them with my BB. I have found a list of sites here: http://www.pdaportal.com/ that has been helpful.

B. None of the links are hyperlinked, they only look like text. I guess I will just need to dig around alittle more on this one.

C. Nice, thanks! A couple of those look great (particularly the Gmail one and that Iphone theme)!

Do you know if I am able to put an MP3 ringtone on my BB? I have an editor, so I could probably change the format if need, but I'm not quite sure how to get it working.

Thanks again,
KT

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
Answers:

A: I normally only use forums that have a mobile theme. I can use fusetalk, but it's a pain, especially as I have a Pearl (much smaller screen than the 8800). Saying that, fusetalk is a pain on a real browser, so what should we expect?! Check any SMF based forum and it will offer up a cut down text only forum theme by default. Try www.tfnn.net/forum, for example.

B: Any links in an email can be clicked on with the trackball if selected. This should be happening out of the box.

C: Yeah, there are loads. Off the top of my head I would advise:

- JiveTalk. IM that can connect to AIM, MSN, GoogleTalk and Yahoo all in one very nice interface. It's about $19, which is dirt cheap if you ask me.
- Google maps - You simply have to have google maps, the directions and satellite image features are cool.
- New themes. I've posted a thread in this forum today to an iPhone theme. It's very cool. Also check the BB browser homepage for the comic strip and other themes to liven up your device
- If you fly often, take a look at Worldmate Live
- Google Mail. Got a gmail account? Then get the gmail client. It just uses data and doesn't add those mails to your BB mail DB. Handy if you have a corporate device on a BES and want to keep the mails separate.
- Get Ka-Glom. Brickbreaker is sooo 7290. Get up to date with this Tetris-a-like with explosions!

That's all I can come up with for now!

A. The mobile Anandtech forums are ok, but for some reason I can't post on them with my BB. I have found a list of sites here: http://www.pdaportal.com/ that has been helpful.

B. None of the links are hyperlinked, they only look like text. I guess I will just need to dig around alittle more on this one.

C. Nice, thanks! A couple of those look great (particularly the Gmail one and that Iphone theme)!

Do you know if I am able to put an MP3 ringtone on my BB? I have an editor, so I could probably change the format if need, but I'm not quite sure how to get it working.

Thanks again,
KT

MP3 is fine. The BB has full mutimedia support and MP3's are easy to add for ringtones. The ONLY thing you need to do is copy the tune you want as a tone into the Ringtones Directory of the device memory card. Use the desktop media manager or just set it up so that it works as a mass storage device. This is how I use my Pearl, which has a 1Gb microSD card jammed with tunes, files, video and the like.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
Answers:

A: I normally only use forums that have a mobile theme. I can use fusetalk, but it's a pain, especially as I have a Pearl (much smaller screen than the 8800). Saying that, fusetalk is a pain on a real browser, so what should we expect?! Check any SMF based forum and it will offer up a cut down text only forum theme by default. Try www.tfnn.net/forum, for example.

B: Any links in an email can be clicked on with the trackball if selected. This should be happening out of the box.

C: Yeah, there are loads. Off the top of my head I would advise:

- JiveTalk. IM that can connect to AIM, MSN, GoogleTalk and Yahoo all in one very nice interface. It's about $19, which is dirt cheap if you ask me.
- Google maps - You simply have to have google maps, the directions and satellite image features are cool.
- New themes. I've posted a thread in this forum today to an iPhone theme. It's very cool. Also check the BB browser homepage for the comic strip and other themes to liven up your device
- If you fly often, take a look at Worldmate Live
- Google Mail. Got a gmail account? Then get the gmail client. It just uses data and doesn't add those mails to your BB mail DB. Handy if you have a corporate device on a BES and want to keep the mails separate.
- Get Ka-Glom. Brickbreaker is sooo 7290. Get up to date with this Tetris-a-like with explosions!

That's all I can come up with for now!

A. The mobile Anandtech forums are ok, but for some reason I can't post on them with my BB. I have found a list of sites here: http://www.pdaportal.com/ that has been helpful.

B. None of the links are hyperlinked, they only look like text. I guess I will just need to dig around alittle more on this one.

C. Nice, thanks! A couple of those look great (particularly the Gmail one and that Iphone theme)!

Do you know if I am able to put an MP3 ringtone on my BB? I have an editor, so I could probably change the format if need, but I'm not quite sure how to get it working.

Thanks again,
KT

MP3 is fine. The BB has full mutimedia support and MP3's are easy to add for ringtones. The ONLY thing you need to do is copy the tune you want as a tone into the Ringtones Directory of the device memory card. Use the desktop media manager or just set it up so that it works as a mass storage device. This is how I use my Pearl, which has a 1Gb microSD card jammed with tunes, files, video and the like.

Sweet, thanks!

I'm going to try that this weekend. This thing is starting to grow on me...

KT

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
Answers:

A: I normally only use forums that have a mobile theme. I can use fusetalk, but it's a pain, especially as I have a Pearl (much smaller screen than the 8800). Saying that, fusetalk is a pain on a real browser, so what should we expect?! Check any SMF based forum and it will offer up a cut down text only forum theme by default. Try www.tfnn.net/forum, for example.

B: Any links in an email can be clicked on with the trackball if selected. This should be happening out of the box.

C: Yeah, there are loads. Off the top of my head I would advise:

- JiveTalk. IM that can connect to AIM, MSN, GoogleTalk and Yahoo all in one very nice interface. It's about $19, which is dirt cheap if you ask me.
- Google maps - You simply have to have google maps, the directions and satellite image features are cool.
- New themes. I've posted a thread in this forum today to an iPhone theme. It's very cool. Also check the BB browser homepage for the comic strip and other themes to liven up your device
- If you fly often, take a look at Worldmate Live
- Google Mail. Got a gmail account? Then get the gmail client. It just uses data and doesn't add those mails to your BB mail DB. Handy if you have a corporate device on a BES and want to keep the mails separate.
- Get Ka-Glom. Brickbreaker is sooo 7290. Get up to date with this Tetris-a-like with explosions!

That's all I can come up with for now!

A. The mobile Anandtech forums are ok, but for some reason I can't post on them with my BB. I have found a list of sites here: http://www.pdaportal.com/ that has been helpful.

B. None of the links are hyperlinked, they only look like text. I guess I will just need to dig around alittle more on this one.

C. Nice, thanks! A couple of those look great (particularly the Gmail one and that Iphone theme)!

Do you know if I am able to put an MP3 ringtone on my BB? I have an editor, so I could probably change the format if need, but I'm not quite sure how to get it working.

Thanks again,
KT

MP3 is fine. The BB has full mutimedia support and MP3's are easy to add for ringtones. The ONLY thing you need to do is copy the tune you want as a tone into the Ringtones Directory of the device memory card. Use the desktop media manager or just set it up so that it works as a mass storage device. This is how I use my Pearl, which has a 1Gb microSD card jammed with tunes, files, video and the like.

Sweet, thanks!

I'm going to try that this weekend. This thing is starting to grow on me...

KT

Yeah, it will! The new gen BB's are not just for corporate email, they are gaining massive support with third party apps, both from big corporations and home brew. Couple that with a nice stable OS, which can be updated to 4.3 soon which will be a good upgrade, and all it's media functions you have a cool device.

The one big issue with the 8800 is the 2.5mm headphone jack, but Jabra( and others) do a converter to 3.5mm. The 8300 and all BB's going forward have 3.5mm jacks so you can use your own cans.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
Answers:

A: I normally only use forums that have a mobile theme. I can use fusetalk, but it's a pain, especially as I have a Pearl (much smaller screen than the 8800). Saying that, fusetalk is a pain on a real browser, so what should we expect?! Check any SMF based forum and it will offer up a cut down text only forum theme by default. Try www.tfnn.net/forum, for example.

B: Any links in an email can be clicked on with the trackball if selected. This should be happening out of the box.

C: Yeah, there are loads. Off the top of my head I would advise:

- JiveTalk. IM that can connect to AIM, MSN, GoogleTalk and Yahoo all in one very nice interface. It's about $19, which is dirt cheap if you ask me.
- Google maps - You simply have to have google maps, the directions and satellite image features are cool.
- New themes. I've posted a thread in this forum today to an iPhone theme. It's very cool. Also check the BB browser homepage for the comic strip and other themes to liven up your device
- If you fly often, take a look at Worldmate Live
- Google Mail. Got a gmail account? Then get the gmail client. It just uses data and doesn't add those mails to your BB mail DB. Handy if you have a corporate device on a BES and want to keep the mails separate.
- Get Ka-Glom. Brickbreaker is sooo 7290. Get up to date with this Tetris-a-like with explosions!

That's all I can come up with for now!

A. The mobile Anandtech forums are ok, but for some reason I can't post on them with my BB. I have found a list of sites here: http://www.pdaportal.com/ that has been helpful.

B. None of the links are hyperlinked, they only look like text. I guess I will just need to dig around alittle more on this one.

C. Nice, thanks! A couple of those look great (particularly the Gmail one and that Iphone theme)!

Do you know if I am able to put an MP3 ringtone on my BB? I have an editor, so I could probably change the format if need, but I'm not quite sure how to get it working.

Thanks again,
KT

MP3 is fine. The BB has full mutimedia support and MP3's are easy to add for ringtones. The ONLY thing you need to do is copy the tune you want as a tone into the Ringtones Directory of the device memory card. Use the desktop media manager or just set it up so that it works as a mass storage device. This is how I use my Pearl, which has a 1Gb microSD card jammed with tunes, files, video and the like.

Sweet, thanks!

I'm going to try that this weekend. This thing is starting to grow on me...

KT

Yeah, it will! The new gen BB's are not just for corporate email, they are gaining massive support with third party apps, both from big corporations and home brew. Couple that with a nice stable OS, which can be updated to 4.3 soon which will be a good upgrade, and all it's media functions you have a cool device.

The one big issue with the 8800 is the 2.5mm headphone jack, but Jabra( and others) do a converter to 3.5mm. The 8300 and all BB's going forward have 3.5mm jacks so you can use your own cans.

That is very strange about the headphones; why the heck would they do that? I doubt I will ever use it for MP3s anyway, since I like using my current player.

Is there an easy way to turn off e-mail but keep the phone functions available? When I'm at work I would like to turn off the e-mail, but still be able to receive phone calls.

Thanks once again!

KT

 

[DivideBYZero]

You can't turn off email and keep the phone working. You can turn off the wireless connection(this mean the GPRS/EDGE connection), but this will also nobble the phone functions. This is an air safe mode that allows you to use your BB in flight.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
You can't turn off email and keep the phone working. You can turn off the wireless connection(this mean the GPRS/EDGE connection), but this will also nobble the phone functions. This is an air safe mode that allows you to use your BB in flight.

Hmm, ok, well that's unfortunate. If I click the Manage Connections, then Mobile Network Options, there is an option called 'Data Services' that I can turn on/off/off when roaming, what does that do? I was hoping that would be the option I needed, but I don't want to cripple the thing so am a little scared to try it. My instruction book is not very helpful and does not say what this does exactly.

Oh and I made my first ringtone and got it on there, which is kind of cool!

KT

 

[DivideBYZero]

I thought of the 'Data off when roaming', but you'd need to be roaming...so it would do nothing.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
I thought of the 'Data off when roaming', but you'd need to be roaming...so it would do nothing.

Heh yeah, but what if I just turn data off entirely, or would that do something else weird?

KT

 

[DivideBYZero]

If you have the option to turn off data only that will just stop emails, and web browsing, etc. If you can do that it will do what you want. Nothing odd will happen. BB's are well behaved, stop thinking like a windows user!

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
If you have the option to turn off data only that will just stop emails, and web browsing, etc. If you can do that it will do what you want. Nothing odd will happen. BB's are well behaved, stop thinking like a windows user!

Hah, but it's the only way I know!

That's awesome, I am going to give that a try and see how it goes.

Thanks so much for all of your help. I'll post back here if I come up with anymore questions.

Cheers,
KT

 

[DivideBYZero]

You're welcome. Post back here if you need more help or advice.

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