Blackberry in the House

Just got a new business phone the other day.. a shiny new BlackBerry Pearl 8130 and boy am I happy. I won't even post a photo of the last phone I was using, most of you wouldn't even believe it. For shame.

Needless to say, upgrading from my last phone to a PDA with such a huge list of capabilities is a bit daunting, but so far so good. Luckily for me there are quite a bit of sites out there that offer tips and tricks as well as general set up information when it comes to working with a BlackBerry. The main thing I needed was email access wherever I went, and I definitely got more than I bargained for.

After perusing sites for a few days I finally figured out how to get my email working. For some reason, the menu system just isn't that obvious so I was having some trouble. I think Sprint had some good info on it's page titled "How do I set up email for my BlackBerry 8130 or 8830 device?", but for some reason it still wasn't clicking for me. I was trying to set up an account with an SMTP server system, so why don't they just come out and tell you how to do that? I basically had to create an account Username on the phone and THEN go in and enter my email information for my SMTP email. All I had to enter was my email address and password and viola! Instant access.. as far as I can tell.

So what other goodies did I stumble upon during my BlackBerry crusades? My personal favorite is a blog on Wordpress called My BlackBerry Pearl 8130 in which a man named Kelly Carter, who is an Adjunct Instructor at Mercer University in Macon, GA, writes about the trials and discoveries he endures with his new BlackBerry. Pretty interesting stuff, and a good resource for some really cool tips and tricks. It was here that I found another site that will soon become more visited by yours truly, RogersMJ.com.



RogersMJ posted a theme for the BlackBerry that I find absolutely awesome: bPhone, a simulation of the beautiful iPhone that runs on your BlackBerry. You may be asking yourself why I didn't just get an iPhone if I wanted one so bad. There are a few answers, mostly relating to cost and the necessary service provider switch. To be honest, I've been with Sprint for the past 7 years without an issue while many around me complain about the service provided to them by TMobile, Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Plus, Sprint is rockin' their design side at this moment. Or, I could just have a comfort zone that I don't want to leave.. but that doesn't sound like me.