Develop Bugs

Looking to buy, need advice on Blackberry features please

Hi all, I'm looking to buy either the XDA IIs or the PDA2K. Firstly, which one would you all recommend?
Secondly, my main reason for wanting this is that I have a phone and a Blackberry today (connecting to my companies Blackberry email server). If I go with one of these, will I still be able to collect my company email or do I have to use O2's email service and forward my work mails to it?
For those of you who have used a Blackberry before, how does the BB features on these devices compare? Is it easy to use etc..
Thanks in advance.

Re: Looking to buy, need advice on Blackberry features pleas
saldous said:
Hi all, I'm looking to buy either the XDA IIs or the PDA2K. Firstly, which one would you all recommend?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no difference in the hardware between the XDAIIs and PDA2k except cosmetic differences. the PDA2K is silver and the XDAIIs is black
The differences are in the ROMs which are shipped with each unit, however if you read this site you can find ways of installing different ROMs onto different suppliers machines
saldous said:
Secondly, my main reason for wanting this is that I have a phone and a Blackberry today (connecting to my companies Blackberry email server). If I go with one of these, will I still be able to collect my company email or do I have to use O2's email service and forward my work mails to it?
For those of you who have used a Blackberry before, how does the BB features on these devices compare? Is it easy to use etc..
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are mixed reports regarding blackberry support. Some people report it as working fine with Blackberry Connect for Internet mail, whilst others report its not working. As long as your BES server supports the client, and your price plan will allow you to connect to a corporate BES server, then there should be no problem.
Personally, I've not been able to get it going, mainly due to having to convince the company to add me to the BES server and also with getting the software talking to the desktop manager.

Thanks for your reply. Yes my first question was mainly around the software but if you can install from one to another etc. then great as from what I have read the PDA2K has newer drivers etc.. for the radio.
The Blackberry piece is what concerns me the most as this is the main reason for getting it.
One final point, I urrently have an iPaq in the car with TOMTOM3 on. Can I put TOMTOM3 on the XDA ok as well?
From your experience, should I buy one of these devices or wait for something better to come out? I head there may be a smaller version of the PDA2K down the line?

Blackberry Attachment Limits (Caveat Emptor)
Just to add to the debate I am on the T-Mobile BB Instant Email flavour service not BES.
It has now become apparent that attachments received or sent using the BB Instant service on my MDA III (i.e. XDA 2s/PDA 2K etc) cannot be above 36kb or something like that. Also it cannot handle scanned documents etc. In my job I deal with 50 page plus word documents so this is a killer.
T-Mobile informed me that they weren't aware of this limitation when selling me my price plan. To be fair they are being very helpful and their customer service is excellent.
We have discussed putting me onto my corporate server (Vodafone BES) which can apparently easily be done (provided we have a licence at the Server level). I will have to see what our IT guy says about that ! :wink: There is also a charge though on the device side of £35 per month (the instant email is £10).
T-Mobile are also checking whether there are any inherent device/software restrctions on attachments on either the Instant Email or Enterprise service. I cannot believe this is an inherent device issue, as Rim hardware is much less sophisticated than the Pocket PC version.
The moral of the story is check the small print and the service very carefully.
Anyone's help and advice would be appreciated.
J

Can I put TOMTOM3 on the XDA ok as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TOMTOM3 work fine on my XDA2s - that's why I bought one rtathaer than any other phone; I wanted a PDA & phone all-in-one that could support a SatNav system

Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 08:41 Post subject: Looking to buy, need advice on Blackberry features please
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi all, I'm looking to buy either the XDA IIs or the PDA2K. Firstly, which one would you all recommend?
Secondly, my main reason for wanting this is that I have a phone and a Blackberry today (connecting to my companies Blackberry email server). If I go with one of these, will I still be able to collect my company email or do I have to use O2's email service and forward my work mails to it?
For those of you who have used a Blackberry before, how does the BB features on these devices compare? Is it easy to use etc..
Thanks in advance.
/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I currently have an xdaIIs, which I got a great deal on with O2, but in hindsight and if you can afford it, I would probably go with the PDA2K. Reasons? Well it appears that iMate are quicker to come out with ROM updates and fixes and it seems as a result these device are a bit more stable out of the box. The xda IIs with O2 Active interface on is particularly unstable and O2 (and most everyone on this forum) recommends using this device in 'corporate mode" This is simply done by selecting the corporate mode option when prompted toward the end of the set up process. This deactivates the O2 Active interface and makes the device more stable (i.e. less soft resets needed)
On Blackberry service, I had used it exyensively on my old xda II with T-Mobile USA. I was using the BWC rather than BES version and found it to be very fast and reliable. A couple of problems with it that I found:
1. Could not get any attachemnets to download form the T-Mobile Server
2. The "Sounds and Notifications" function was very poor. You could not set an audible, repeating alert on the device, as the blackberry client did not show up as an option in the sounds and notifications settings dialogue box..
There have been a lot of fos try to install the Blackberry CAB files on the XDA IIs, without much success of making them work. There are certainly some integration issues to ovbercome here with the device and the Blackberry client. Some sevice providers are including it in there ROM and supporting it now, but many are still not. O2 have been working for some time on a new ROM for the XDA IIs, but its release has been delayed again as there are still issues with the Blackberry client integration. Latest I heard is that it will not be out before July at this point... In the meantime, I use Smartners "Always on Mail" web client (www.alwaysonmail.com) as an alternative. You can try it free for 2 months and its $49 per year thereafter. It supports attachments and is almost as fast as Blackberry (18 seconds slower per message on random tests I have done). Also gives you the ability to set a repeating audible alert. I would say the service if pretty reliable overall, although some users have noted that it occasionally does not forward a message. I have had a couple like that and it appears that some spam filtering is going on somewhere. Altogether though a pretty good altrenative and a fair beit cheaper.
Hope this helps
Regards
Chris

T-Mobile BB Instant Email Attachments
See my mail above. Although I am speaking about the UK the same will no doubt apply to T-Mobile US.
What it comes down to is this - support for attachments is very limited on the BB Instant Email Connect Service. You need to do your homework very thoroughly before signing up.
In its favour - if you are just receiving emails without attachments or simple rtf attachments you will be fine.
As I keep saying learn from my mistakes and check out the usage restrictions on the service very carefully.
:wink:
J

My company has a BES server so I just need to connect it to that. Does that work?

I keep hearing people say that they have the Blackberry Connect for Pocket PC on these devices. Are any of them the English version and could you please post a link here?
Thanks a Bunch!
Raptor

For the xda II or xda IIs..??

XDA III iMate PDA 2K aka Siemens Sx66

No, sorry :-[ Latest I heard from O2 is that itwould be July, as they were still experiencing some issues with the integration of the Blackberry software with the xda IIs ROM...
It seems the T-Mobile MDA III in germany may have it now, so hopefully we won't be far away.
In the meantime try Smartners push mail (www.alwaysonmail.com) for siimilar functionality (free 2 month trial) Use this in conjunction with pocketmax AlarmToday, which has a WM 2003 wake up fix so the mail gets through even when the device is off.
Hope that helps
Regards
Chris

Thanks, but I need Blackberry, trying to turn my all in one device (iMate PDA 2K into an all in one device and quit carrying multiple devices on my belt...

Yes, thats what I do. All my group use Blackberry's. I keep that address and just have the e-mails forwarded to the account smartner uses and then respond from the PPC..

T-Mobile UK Released Blackberry months ago/News Rom Update
Just to clear up the confusion T-Mobile UK launched Blackberry Connect (called Instant Email in T-Mobile speak) on the MDA III months ago.
They have stolen a march on all the UK Operators on the MDAIII. The update is unofficial (in that they have been posting it out on request).
The Rom was uploaded to Wiki. As yet I don't believe anyone has it working with a non T-Mobile device.
I only wish they would be as frequent with the ROM updates. However I am told a new ROM update is imminent (my contact says end June).
Here's hoping as it is my birthday soon.... :wink:

We have a mix of Blackberry users and Good Technology users. Good Technology has a product that IMHO run circles around RIM. The server software works almost exactly the same as the BES (encrypted push technology), but the cost for the server is $0.00 (unlike the BES which can range from $1,500 to over $3,000) and it is specifically designed for PocketPCs with Wifi, PocketPC Phones and the Palm Treo. The client is a 1 or 2 year subscription which comes out to about $28.00 a month for 12 months. With my t-mobile umlimited data plan @$29.00 a month, it roughly comes out to around the same as the monthly blackberry service.
The Good client has it's own email, calendar, notes and tasks applications that is a wireless direct sync to your exchange server mailbox (no active sync required). You can tell it to add additional email folders to sync, not just the inbox, outbox and send items. It shows you every email folder in your mailbox, but will only show the emails if you either move the mail from the good client, or you have setup the folder for sync. My PDA2K phone app goes right into the good contacts or I can click on a phone number in an email or in my contacts and directly call the number. If you have any contact public folders, it will allow you to add them to your contacts application. It also lets you backup the client on to PDA storage or a card. If you do a hard reset, it takes minutes to reinstall using the recovery backup.
If your interested in this, you can go to www.good.com to get more information.
If your IT department has any reservations about this, let me know. I am the Director of IT for my company and swear by this. Their Customer Service and support are fantasic, the units are easy to setup and I have literally gone on to my Good Server twice in the last twelve months (the two times was to do the server upgrades which are also free AND easy)
Sorry if I sound like a sales rep, but this is a great piece of software.

Thanks for the info Tekhound. But my company has already invested in a BES server that has been running for some time and they won't change it.

tekhound said:
We have a mix of Blackberry users and Good Technology users. Good Technology has a product that IMHO run circles around RIM. The server software works almost exactly the same as the BES (encrypted push technology), but the cost for the server is $0.00 (unlike the BES which can range from $1,500 to over $3,000) and it is specifically designed for PocketPCs with Wifi, PocketPC Phones and the Palm Treo. The client is a 1 or 2 year subscription which comes out to about $28.00 a month for 12 months. With my t-mobile umlimited data plan @$29.00 a month, it roughly comes out to around the same as the monthly blackberry service.
The Good client has it's own email, calendar, notes and tasks applications that is a wireless direct sync to your exchange server mailbox (no active sync required). You can tell it to add additional email folders to sync, not just the inbox, outbox and send items. It shows you every email folder in your mailbox, but will only show the emails if you either move the mail from the good client, or you have setup the folder for sync. My PDA2K phone app goes right into the good contacts or I can click on a phone number in an email or in my contacts and directly call the number. If you have any contact public folders, it will allow you to add them to your contacts application. It also lets you backup the client on to PDA storage or a card. If you do a hard reset, it takes minutes to reinstall using the recovery backup.
If your interested in this, you can go to www.good.com to get more information.
If your IT department has any reservations about this, let me know. I am the Director of IT for my company and swear by this. Their Customer Service and support are fantasic, the units are easy to setup and I have literally gone on to my Good Server twice in the last twelve months (the two times was to do the server upgrades which are also free AND easy)
Sorry if I sound like a sales rep, but this is a great piece of software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Tekhound
Sounds interesting... Does Good Server support showing messages as D delivered and R read, in the same way as the RIM pagers do?
Regards
Chris

Thanks Tekhound, I agree, GoddLink service is fantastic. I was using Good on my xda III when I worked @ Cingular and had only high remarks for it. Unfortunately when leaving for one of the parent companies they only use BES so GoodLink service is not an option.
And BTW, no no delivered, read, delete receipts as RIM devices.
Raptor

Chris...
I'm not sure exactly how the rim pager does it, but I will tell you how the goodlink works:
Since the client by default syncs the Inbox, Outbox, Deleted Items and Sent Items from the Exchange mailbox, it works EXACTLY like Outlook. Once you compose a message and hit send, it goes to the outbox and the client checks to see if it has a connection to the net (keeping in mind that the current version supports regular PocketPCs with WiFi as well as PocketPC Phones). When the message is successfully sent, it puts a copy of the message into the sent items folder of the PDA. While all of this is going on with the PDA, the good server is updating the mailbox itself. I tested one day and it normally updated the mailbox within 2 minutes of makes changes on the PDA, with as little as one signal bar.
If you read a message in the PDA, it marks it as read in Outlook and vice versa. Same goes for deleting messages, but unlike outlook, it does not have a permenant delete. It will go into the deleted items folder in both the PDA and outlook when you delete it from goodlink. The good thing though is that unlike the RIM, the goodlink server understands permenant deleted items and will not orphan messages like the RIM. My policy is that all of my staff have the checkbox for "empty deleted items folder" upon exiting outlook EXCEPT for my RIM users because the way the BES operates.
Options in a new goodlink email message includes the options for Delvery Receipt, Read Receipt, High, Normal and Low importance on version 3.7 up to the current version 4.0. Accept, Tentative and Deny options are available on goodlink for things like meeting requests. I have not checked whether a task request works the same way.
You have your Outlook contacts sync wirelessly as well as the ability to do a LDAP lookup in your exchange global address list. A nice feature is that it not only remembers those you lookup like the RIM, but it also remembers everyone you receive a message from kinda like the autocomplete feature in outlook, but it's also available in the contacts list and not just in the new message.
I will stop this book now in the hopes I have answered your questions. Please let me know if you want any further information. As I mentioned in the earlier post, the server is free, so your only investment is a machine that will run Windows NT, 2000 or 2003 and the OS license. It doesn't have to be this powerful machine. You could use a PIII with 512 of RAM if you wanted. I actually have both my BES and my Good Server on two VMs (Virtual Machines) running on a PIII single processor Dell Blade Server with 1GB of RAM. They run smooth as silk with no problems.

AUTD and Exchange 2003 on Blue Angel w/O2

Has anyone managed to get the auto notify of messages working with a Blue Angel on the O2 network?
i've registered for email-to-sms and the device is definitely receiving some kind of notification, but the activesync isnt trying to connect to the server to resynch against the remote mailbox.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Num

Which email-to-sms service have you registerd with? I know O2 don't offer that.
JD

http://www.o2.co.uk/productsservices/mobileservices/mmail_service.html
This appears to offer what I'm looking for!

Very interesting!
I've been reviewing a whole host of 'push email' solutions available to O2 users here in the UK.
GoodLink, Smartner, Intellisync..... etc
I don't receive mail particularly often; hence I think the inbuilt auto-check would be an unnecessary waste of GPRS data bandwidth. Besides, it defeats the purpose of 'push mail'!!!
The service you've mentioned looks like it may make AUTD a viable option.
I have an O2 XDA IIs by the way, and have been waiting for the O2 Blackberry ROM update to be released (aaarrgh)!
Will give your suggestion a go.

carl, let me know if you get it going.
Like i said, mine seems to be working as I can track the message leaving the exchange environment and entering my sendmail scanner before being delivered to the mmail.co.uk mx gateways.
the device does appear to receive something, but i've got no idea what.
Suppose I should probably switch my SIM to a non-MS mobile and see what arrives.
as you said its not true push, and costing 10p to receive an SMS may seem excessive but it depends on usage, and apparently you can configure the sms notification to a timed period, say once an hour. This hopefully would mean that even if you dont have a mail in an hour, no sms will be sent thus you only actually sync when the server acknowledges receipt of new mail.
Look forward to hearing your results.
Num

numanoids said:
http://www.o2.co.uk/productsservices/mobileservices/mmail_service.html
This appears to offer what I'm looking for!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mmail has been around for years but this has nothing to do with AUTD on your exchange. Bit of a nasty compromise.
Much more interesting are rumours of Windows Mobile 5.0 and a service pack for exchange 2003 that will fully integrate push email.
JD

Hi,
I've tried that here in Germany with O2 and it didn't work either. Previously when I had a vodafone account it worked without problem.
After some investigation I found out that O2 is adding some kind of signature (or removing some characters, don't remember). There is nothing you can do about it, you need a different e-mail to SMS provider!
We are currently using GFI Faxmaker's SMS gateway with an account from an SMS provider.

Tried a number of different configurations!
No luck in trying to het the mmail.co.uk service to work with AUTD on exchange server.
Guess I'll have to hold out for the proposed Windows Mobile 2005/ Exchange Server SP2 solution!!!

carl578 said:
Very interesting!
I have an O2 XDA IIs by the way, and have been waiting for the O2 Blackberry ROM update to be released (aaarrgh)!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am holding off buying the device until this is available. Any idea on when and on what fixes it will have?

Latest update from O2:
" Blackberry for the xda2s is still on the way we are actually testing this in conjunction with RIM and our enterprise server support team. We still do not have a confirmed date for release as there are still some bugs in the system. I know it is frustrating but we have to be sure that it will integrate fully with the xda so as to provide a powerful piece of kit. "
They also denied that AUTD would work on O2 due to Microsoft's implementation of the notifications (nothing to do with how they mangle any messages).
To his credit, the analyst who mailed me back tried to appease me by describing the steps to get it synching on a schedule, but this isnt ideal as everytime is synchs, even if nothing has changed, thats data being used. The bonus of AUTD is the device only synchs when it KNOWS something has changed.
Still waiting and to be honest I'm in serious doubt if it will ever appear and might get rid of my device.

Oh no, that is bad news. I only want the device because it is supposed to support Blackberry so I don't have to carry around two devices. If it doesn't come out then they have lost a sale with me. Oh well. It is good to hear they are testing and won't release it until it works, doesn't always happen this way!

I've heard that this service will work with AUTD, but don't know myself as I don't use it:
http://www.winplc.com/products/textmail.aspx

There are a lot of e-mail-to-SMS services you can use. It's just O2's service that is causing the problems.
You could also install your own e-mail->SMS gateway
We are currently using GFI Faxmaker's SMS gateway solution, it works just fine with O2!

Free Push mail!!!

First of all, a disclaimer I am in no way affiliated with this company.
I just thought to let you know about the fact that I found a company who offers FREE MS Exchange hosting, with 1GB (!) mail storage, with push email for WM5.
After I flashed my unit yesterday, I bumped to this on Google. I signed up, and it seem to work fine. The only catch so far is, that they offer some ads in the webmail, and you cannot access it via POP, but other than that its fully functional. And there seem to be no ads sent to your mobile. (So far)
Its here: http://live.mail2web.com/
Offcourse, you still need to have GPRS data on your phone account, but this is usually much cheaper than to get a blackberry service. At least in Europe it is.
Regards,
Bela

Did you intend to offer up what the name of the service was?
NEVERMIND THIS POST. I was reading too fast. LOL

I think the only negative to mail2web's push mail service is that your email will have to be [email protected], if you want your current email address you'd have to upgrade to a charged account. http://mail.port88.org is an alternative that does provide email masking, you would have to forward your mail to your port88 account. www.emoze.com is another provider, you simply download the software to your pc and phone and it syncs between the two. I haven't tried any myself , you can read the thread on Port88 http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-273878.html. Hope this helps

You can forward all mails from your existing mailbox to go to the mail2web.com account as well.
You can even setup, that the mail2web account fetches your pop or imap mailboxes for you, but only once per hour i think.
I use the forward, that way I have my incoming mails kept in my original pop mailbox, and just auto forward a copy to the mail2web acc.
Regards,
Bela

There was one software which I hoped I could get running on the smartphone, as that was Pocket IRC. I tried and tried (even with SPHelper, there's an adjust option that makes it appear) but no amount of workarounds got it running. I need my DCC, err I want, rather.

Just installed emoze seems to be working very well, will check my GPRS usage online tom to see if used much data through the night, has a built in data counter but want to know over all data.
Will post findings as seems to be a good push mail client.

Please do I'm very interested in your results.

pfunkside said:
Please do I'm very interested in your results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well got it all set up but couldn't send mail via client, mind you was silly o'clock i was trying to work it out and my i.s.p online billing off so no way to find out GPRS usage, so will try and get it set up correctly today and see if GPRS usage available, then give you low down.

stylez said:
Well got it all set up but couldn't send mail via client, mind you was silly o'clock i was trying to work it out and my i.s.p online billing off so no way to find out GPRS usage, so will try and get it set up correctly today and see if GPRS usage available, then give you low down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be hoest i'm rather dubious about data as it has to connect o there server before push and always keep the GPRS connection active...

That's somewhat discouraging. Hmm well I'll have to check it out myself and see if I want my default or what have you

So did you ever end up getting the data usage, as I am just curious to find out how much it uses?

jdoggraz said:
So did you ever end up getting the data usage, as I am just curious to find out how much it uses?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No as i couldn't get data usage before install as account offline when tryed to check, so had nothing to be able to check against, aslo i couldn't get it to send not had time to set up again yet, but now have my GPRS usage so will set up again tonight and see what the data usage is like, i know it only uses data to send recieve but it also has to reconnect to server if connection dropped thats the bit i wonda what ammount of data it uses?

Originally Posted by jdoggraz
So did you ever end up getting the data usage, as I am just curious to find out how much it uses?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edit: given up as must have messed something up on install as evrytime i go to send it kicks the server off, tryed to reinstall but residue left over so i'm giving up as i can't be bothered, worth a try but then maybe instructions on web and having a proper uninstall would help..

what programs are u using on ur dash

Essential Software
Well, I am sure this is a common question with any new phone. I have been trying to transfer some of the applications such as Pocket Plus, MS Streets, etc. from my sister's PPC and I have been unable to do so due to incompatibility. What software do you guys recommend that is compatible for the Dash?
I would like an e-mail software that works over Wi-Fi rather than T-Zones. I do not have the data service from T-Mobile but am constantly covered by Wi-Fi from my school.
In addition, I would like something that would keep my finances in check. I had a software called SplashMoney for the Palm that would synchronize with my bank account everytime I AutoSynched so that my account would automatically be updated. Anything like that for the Dash?
Finally, I am wondering if there is a MS Streets program for the Dash? As a new resident of Boston, I am constantly getting lost in this web of streets. Something to guide me from A to B would be essential.
Thanks again guys...

Using the e-mail on the dash will use the WiFi if you have a WiFi connection. Make sure your e-mail is setup to connect using "The Internet" and it will use WiFi and if you don't it will use T-Zones.
However I would wait for someone else to confirm what I'm saying just to be safe.

Good to hear. Do you know exactly how to set that up?

What e-mail domain are you wanting to setup?

What do you mean by domain? I am using my school's e-mail service with the following information.
pop.ufl.edu
smtp.ufl.edu

.PoNeH said:
Do you know exactly how to set that up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use this to help you setup your account.

Hmm in that case, you may browse around on your schools website and look for directions on how to setup pop3 e-mail programs with your schools e-mail service.

There are a lot of online resources for you to look into, maybe start with http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/default.mspx -- take a look at sites like http://www.handango.com to get an idea of the software available. Sounds like you're used to homework, you have some more now

Wow guys, thanks. The e-mail is working perfectly. I wish it had the ability of setting up 2 outgoing servers within the same account so that you could just choose what account you'd like to send from, like Outlook on the computer. But having 2 separate accounts isn't too bad.
Thanks again guys.

Voice Recorder
I see a Voice Notes program on the Dash, which will record both sides of a conversation for 60 seconds during a phone call.
However, when you try the Voice Recorder application located in the Accessories folder, it doesn't allow you to record during a phone call. The record option is simply unresponsive. But, as soon as the call ends (even when you are still in the app), you're allowed to record.
My question -- if someone knowledgable about these things would be so gracious enough to answer -- is this: Could there be a registry entry that allows you to record during conversations?
Just poking around I found a binary for: HKLM/SOFTWARE/HTC/Recorder
I have no idea what it's for. Maybe this can't be done? Thanks in advance.
(p.s. I know there are legal implications about this in certain states, etc. with notifying the other party. But sometimes when you're on the phone in a place you can't take notes and you're receiving directions, important info, phone numbers, etc. it would be so nice to simply say "hold on a sec, i wan't to record this.")

Voice Notes as the name implies is for taking voice notes, not for recording a conversation.
Vocal data going through the modem is not handled by this application.

That would actually be a good idea. Having directions recorded would be a major life saver. I'm sure someone will be able to tweak around it.

Just use this instead: http://1800message.com/SPWM5CallRec.cab

website for free downloads for dash
does anybody know a good website where i can download free programs for the days? thanks in advance
omar

www.dashsmartzone.com.
Thats actually how I found this board.

this will work on ur phone...
www.surrealnetworks.com/mpx

Here is a direct link.
http://surrealnetworks.com/mpx/MDAapps.htm

thanks guys, just btw, that last link is for the mda, not the dash

omaralt said:
thanks guys, just btw, that last link is for the mda, not the dash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It says MDA but all of the apps on the page are for Smartphone Edition. Trust me it's a favorite on my dash.

thats weird, cuz when i tried downloading them, none of those programs would work? do i have to do something first?

Exchange: Abandon HTC mail app and use TouchDown?

Probably like many of my colleagues blessed with the job of supporting these shiny new phones, I'm coming under increasing pressure to find an Exchange solution that actually works... I have therefore started the process of evaluating Nitrodesk's TouchDown to see if it provides a better solution.
I will report my findings in this thread and I invite others to do the same. We need to know if, for the corporate user, the $20 fee is not only worth it but necessary.

Yes, do it.
Just getting back on this. Generally speaking, it was a no-brainer. Touchdown works. The built in client doesn't.
Couple of niggles:
Touchdown seems to have a larger storage requirement.
Contacts have to be copied (a one-time manual operation) to the phone before you get all the benefits of contact sync.
Massive array of settings and options may be slightly overwhelming for some users although generally they can be ignored.
Emails can only be composed in plain text. Ditto signatures. Rendering of HTML emails received is good though.
Apart from that, Touchdown is better in almost every respect (once you get used to the change of interface).

Interesting take.
I'm using a Desire with the stock sync apps connecting into Exchange 2007 at work and Gmail for home. Everything worked out of the box (well, email, contacts, calendar). I miss being able to search the server, but the functionality works pretty much flawlessly....at least as good as my old WM6 smartphone, anyway The built in calendar is awesome...I love having a single calendar showing items from three different accounts!
What doesn't work for you in the built-in client? Your blanket "the built-in client doesn't work" is a little harsh, to say the least...
Daern

The only thing i don't like about the exchange sync is that i can't seem to subscribe to my folders within my mailbox that I can if i set it up as an IMAP account. Other than that, the inbuilt one does everything that I want it to

Yep built in HTC mail client working quite well for me as well for exchange sync. Mail/Calendar/Contacts plus lookup on corporate address book all working with no problems to report.
Didn't see the need to switch to touchdown though I did give it a try. It did not bring anything extra to the table.

My exchange account for gmail used tu work ok but the last few days it won't connect to the server and so I've deleted the account and re entered the server settings etc and I just get a failed to create account message.
Anyone got any ideas? I'm Considering touchdown, but does it have a widget?
-------------------------------------
Sent from my HTC Desire

Contacts have to be copied (a one-time manual operation) to the phone before you get all the benefits of contact sync.
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can you elaborate on this?

Some answers
daern said:
Your blanket "the built-in client doesn't work" is a little harsh, to say the least...
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There have been quite a few threads prior to this with testimonies of the broken DirectPush/ActiveSync/Exchange implementation. There also appears to be a fault in the IMAP client. I accept that these faults may possibly affect some environments more than others (for example, we're currently on Exchange 2003 - due to upgrade to 2010 later this year) but given the wide variety of installed userbases out there, I would have expected HTC's testing to be considerably more rigourous.
Given that the phone is touted as having DirectPush/Exchange capabilities, that puts it squarely in the corporate market. And sorry, but the corporate market it quite unforgiving of deal-breaking flaws such as the ones users here have reported. An example from my own organisation: a couple of very senior managers were hit by the "multiple re-send" bugs, causing their hapless recipients to receive hundreds (yes, hundreds) of copies of some emails. Given the personalities involved, this became more than a little embarrassing. not least because one of the users was the director of our I.T. department. ("What, your phone is broken? Guffaw guffaw!")
I totally agree that the built in calendar was a great feature. In fact one of the most awesome things about the phone was the way it pulled together diverse information streams together. Sadly we have to forego this in order to have a working corporate setup that includes task sync as well as everything else.
bakersdozen said:
I'm Considering touchdown, but does it have a widget?
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Yes, actually it has several. The "universal" widget is great - quick and easy access to email, calendar, contacts and tasks all on one screen. Plus a load of quick shortcuts etc. Very usable.
@omniwolf: within Touchdown-->Contacts-->Menu is a "Copy To Phone" option. This needs to be done once so that the phone has all Exchange contacts within its own database. Then within Settings-->Advanced, tick "Update Contact changes to Phone" {save} to keep everything in sync. You'll see that your phone's contacts acquire an additional group, "TouchDown-Exchange".

I have the problem and are now using Touchdown.
We have Exchange 2003 and reading various reports from users that the problems dont exist if connecting to newer versions of exchange.
The main problem for us is the inability to search the GAL (Company Directory) I also had strange email sending problems as others have reported.
Touchdown works but is not as cleanly integrated into the phone as the inbuilt client.

Try using Moxier instead

masi0 said:
Try using Moxier instead
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Does Moxier have better integration?

Rob Pomeroy said:
Does Moxier have better integration?
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Unfortunately not - separate contacts/calendar/email client

I've only had my Desire for a say or so and used Touchdown from the start after advice from a colleague (and after reading so many online posts about problems with the native client).
I have to say, it's working really well so far. Small problem with contact birthdays and anniversaries being 1 day out, but the developer got back to me same day and advised a fix will be out next week. Impressive.
Certainly better than the WinMo implementation of Exchange support ActiveSync just slowed down my Touch Pro 2 to the point of being unusable. On the Desire, it's burning rubber.
I couldn't be happier; confident to recommend Touchdown as a reliable alternative (after a day or so of use, I'll let you know if that changes but no reason to suspect it will).
Pete

Rob Pomeroy said:
Just getting back on this. Generally speaking, it was a no-brainer. Touchdown works. The built in client doesn't.
Couple of niggles:
Touchdown seems to have a larger storage requirement.
Contacts have to be copied (a one-time manual operation) to the phone before you get all the benefits of contact sync.
Massive array of settings and options may be slightly overwhelming for some users although generally they can be ignored.
Emails can only be composed in plain text. Ditto signatures. Rendering of HTML emails received is good though.
Apart from that, Touchdown is better in almost every respect (once you get used to the change of interface).
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I beg to differ on the plain text front. The emails are composed and responded to in html.
I had no problem with the built in clients with an Exchange 2007 server, but I hated the fact that it only let me respond with text in Times New Roman 10pt when Outlook uses Calibri 11pt as a standard. So I switched to Touchdown, which allows you to set the font in the settings.
Been using it live for a bit more than a week now and am mighty impressed. Well worth the investment to not make it blaringly obvious that I'm answering my emails from the phone when I'm not in my office.

Quist said:
I beg to differ on the plain text front. The emails are composed and responded to in html.
I had no problem with the built in clients with an Exchange 2007 server, but I hated the fact that it only let me respond with text in Times New Roman 10pt when Outlook uses Calibri 11pt as a standard. So I switched to Touchdown, which allows you to set the font in the settings.
Been using it live for a bit more than a week now and am mighty impressed. Well worth the investment to not make it blaringly obvious that I'm answering my emails from the phone when I'm not in my office.
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I am surprised you find this a big deal especially when MOST mobile corporate mail user are armed with Blackberries that reply in plain text and actually advertise by default "sent from my Blackberry".
In this day and age, it is perfectly acceptable if not expected that you will have your email with you on the move. Don't try and hide the fact, shout about it so your customers can see how up to date you are.
Unless....
You are supposed to be cubicle bound and are sneaking out of the office hoping nobody will notice

@MARK said:
I am surprised you find this a big deal especially when MOST mobile corporate mail user are armed with Blackberries that reply in plain text and actually advertise by default "sent from my Blackberry".
In this day and age, it is perfectly acceptable if not expected that you will have your email with you on the move. Don't try and hide the fact, shout about it so your customers can see how up to date you are.
Unless....
You are supposed to be cubicle bound and are sneaking out of the office hoping nobody will notice
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Blackberry is a uniquely American affair that only recently began making headway in the rest of the world. They were the first to offer pushmail, but now that's ubiquitous and their solution requires servers at the operator which delayed things internationally. Now that numerous free solutions are available and Exchange offers html email support, it's just silly not to use it. Ultimately I think the user should be able to decide how his or her email looks and I for one think having the same look and feel across the board for email, regardless whether desktop or mobile gives a much more professional impression. Not only that, but many people find fonts like Times New Roman difficult to read.
For my part, I'm a freelancer and do most of my work odd hours and weekends, while I receive all my orders from 8-6. That means that I'm often out and about or can't be bothered to crack open the laptop just to answer an email, but I still want to be able to offer a polished impression - not have any potentially dislectic client have to struggle to read my email, or worse, have the guy shackled to a desk deciding whether or not to give me a huge assignment thinking that I'm always out playing (especially since I average 70 hours a week, though not always during the business day).
Moreover, it's not rocket science to implement this kind of option, just a single line of html inserted into the emails sent. It shouldn't be difficult to provide this to customers and I'm glad Touchdown realised this.

Quist said:
Blackberry is a uniquely American affair that only recently began making headway in the rest of the world.
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I am not sure what country you are in but certainly in Europe BB is huge and has been for at least the last 5 or 6 years. Here in the UK, I cannot think of any of the FTSE100 companies I work with for who BB is the primary mobile email solution.
They were the first to offer pushmail, but now that's ubiquitous and their solution requires servers at the operator which delayed things internationally. Now that numerous free solutions are available and Exchange offers html email support, it's just silly not to use it
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I tend to agree but BB is embeded in corporate land and is going to take a lot of shifting
Ultimately I think the user should be able to decide how his or her email looks
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Only if it is the users own email. Remember that most mobile email users are using their companies mail platform so it is the companies choice not theirs.