paul   blackberry

I like the new Blackberry color phones. I have owned three in the past year (yes virginia i am a geek) -- from AT&T, Nextel, and now Verizon Wireless.

The Blackberry is the best device for people who do lots of "real-time" email. For example, I get about 200 messages a day (not counting spam which is filtered out :) and send about 60-80. You just can't handle that volume as effectively with other devices.

I use my Blackberry with my Linux mail server. Since I don't use Exchange or Notes, I can't use Blackberry Enterprise Software. :( This means I lack some features such as true email sync (delete on Blackberry does not really delete on my server) and network sync (I need to use the cable), sigh.

I have configured my server such that when a friend sends a message to my regular . email address, those messages (and only those messages) will be copied to my Blackberry. Strangers will never be able to communicate with my Blackberry. Also, when a friend marks their message as high priority, my Blackberry will buzz. (See also spam filtering.)

See my PDA Home Page for links to sites designed for browsing from your PDA.

Paul's Blackberry Setup

  1. Create New Account at Blackberry.net for Nextel or Verizon to register your device and setup your free bb email account.
  2. Click Profile, change your "Sent From Address" to your actual email address (vs. your new bb one).
  3. Click Profile, then enable Wireless Delete Option, so you won't run out of space.
  4. Click Manage Folders, then click each folder name (Inbox, Deleted, Draft, Sent Items) and change to delete after 1 day. This won't delete on your bb unit but will instead make sure the limited space you get for their web cache will not fill up.

  5. Setup your existing home and/or work email to forward a copy of all messages to your new bb email address.

  6. There are three buttons on your nextel bb: the top one is the PTT (push-to-talk) button, the side wheel is the menu/selector and the button below that is the escape/cancel/backup button.
  7. At any point click and/or hold the Escape key (possibly a few times) to cancel current operation and get back to your "bb home screen".

  8. From bb home, click Options then Owner then add your name, your (non-bb) phone number and your email address.
  9. Click Options then Screen/Keyboard to change font from 10 point to 9 point, so you can have more text. :)
  10. Click Options then Auto On/Off then enable weekday and weekend auto-off from 11pm to 7am (or whatever time you suggest) to save batteries and getting waked up by calls. :)
  11. Click Options then AutoText. This is fun, you can maintain your own custom table of abbreviations for common expressions and URLs etc, which is great when trying to type a fast email on this small keyboard.
  12. Click Mail, then menu Options. Change Display Time and Confirm Delete to no.
  13. Declutter. On bb home screen, scroll the wheel over an icon you do not use, hold the ALT key (to left of "z") and then press the menu/wheel to invoke the selected icon menu, and choose Hide Icon, or Move Icon. This avoids clutter. You can later move them back or choose Show All. The (only) four applications I use all the time are email, phone, address book, and calendar. I hide most other icons.
  14. Profiles. From bb home screen, click Profiles, then menu New, give it your name, then Edit, select Messages, click Edit, change In Holster to None. (Unless you really want to be buzzed with every single email.)

Paul's Blackberry Usage Tips

  1. When you are entering a phone number into the address book, you do not need to click the ALT key-- it will assume the "w" key is "1" in this context, etc.
  2. When you are entering an email address, you can simply click the "space" key to enter the "@" symbol and the "." symbol. Cool!
  3. When editing a record, rather than clicking Menu, Change Option, and then wheeling a new value, you can simply click the space bar to increment the currently highlighted option (date, time, etc).
  4. The simplest way to call someone is to click the "c" key (for contact), then start typing their name. Note you can enter the first letter of their first name, a space, and the first letter of their last name. When it found the name you want, click the wheel and then invoke Send Email or Call.

Level 1 Notification

I also like to setup my blackberry to buzz me only when I get email from someone on my priority list, or when a certain word appears in the subject line. There are two steps to make this happen.

  1. On the blackberry webclient, click Filters, then New, then set the conditions you want (From address or Subject etc), then set the action to be "Forward messages to handheld" with "Level 1 Notification".
  2. On your handheld, go into Profiles, Edit, Level 1 Messages, and set the desired action for Out of holster (e.g., Tone) and In Holster (e.g., Vibrate).

Paul's Blackberry Wishlist

And here are the things I wish I had or knew how to do with my blackberry. If you have any ideas on these, please send email to .

  1. Multiple identities, so I can send email from my blackberry and select alternate "From" addresses for some messages. Update 20feb07: latest Blackberry software now allows this!
  2. Better synchronization options, including an open API for wireless sync, so I can write a simple program to sync my blackberry to any software I choose.
  3. A better web browser. I have found the builtin one almost useless. What is the best, most popular add-on browser for the Blackberry?
  4. A great smtp/email gateway so I can send email to ask questions, e.g., do a Google search, lookup a book at Amazon, check the weather, sports scores, etc.
  5. How to do sms? So I can use things like Google SMS.

See also my QuickBase of Blackberry feedback.

Blackberry Software

Blackberry Websites

Other Links


home Updated Sun 04-Apr-2010 10:00 AM