mobile phone help - Blackberry

HardyAddick

As this forum is great at non Addicks issues, can anyone offer me any advice on a minor problem.

I have used a Blackberry for my own small business for 15/20 years - i am with O2. Use it for calls and emails only. Switching to a new Blackberry is easy when I have needed to and its great at pushing emails to the phone and syncing well with Outlook. However Blackberry appears to be on the way out and most stores don't stock them and whilst they can sometimes order one in, they have no idea how it works and support with problems is non-existent.

All i want is a phone that syncs well with Microsoft Outlook emails. Any thoughts?

Dazzler21

HardyAddick said:

As this forum is great at non Addicks issues, can anyone offer me any advice on a minor problem.

I have used a Blackberry for my own small business for 15/20 years - i am with O2. Use it for calls and emails only. Switching to a new Blackberry is easy when I have needed to and its great at pushing emails to the phone and syncing well with Outlook. However Blackberry appears to be on the way out and most stores don't stock them and whilst they can sometimes order one in, they have no idea how it works and support with problems is non-existent.

All i want is a phone that syncs well with Microsoft Outlook emails. Any thoughts?

Just about any device out there now will work for you.

Can't advise any more than that, sorry!

ForeverAddickted

Surely just get something like an Android / Apple style phone and download the Microsoft Outlook app?

eaststandmike

I have issued all my staff with Sony Experia handsets including myself and they sync fine with Outlook Emails. If it helps we were all on Blackberrys the same as you until 2 years ago.

cafcfan

I have a Microsoft Lumia (Nokia as was) it runs off the Microsoft mobile version of 10, so it will sync readily with your emails. I know some (probably mainly teenagers) would sneer at that but, like you, I don't need a phone that's all bells and whistles - which generally seems to mean either Apple or Samsung doesn't it?
I just want one that does calls and messaging. As a bonus it wirelessly charges in my car and the camera is much, much better than I expected. The big downside is the limited number of apps on the Windows Store. But I don't need/use all that crap anyway. And the price was right.
Oh, I can even take the cover off and slap in a new battery if needs be.

HardyAddick

cafcfan said:

I have a Microsoft Lumia (Nokia as was) it runs off the Microsoft mobile version of 10, so it will sync readily with your emails. I know some (probably mainly teenagers) would sneer at that but, like you, I don't need a phone that's all bells and whistles - which generally seems to mean either Apple or Samsung doesn't it?
I just want one that does calls and messaging. As a bonus it wirelessly charges in my car and the camera is much, much better than I expected. The big downside is the limited number of apps on the Windows Store. But I don't need/use all that crap anyway. And the price was right.
Oh, I can even take the cover off and slap in a new battery if needs be.

Apps and browsing are not for me on a work phone. As you say, calls and emails. By chance when I was in the O2 shop earlier an assistant suggested a Lumia 650 but could not show me or explain now emails sync 'd. As you have one, does it push emails to the phone or do you have to keep logging on? Also the Blackberry emails even with attachments use virtually no data but would a
Lumia be the same?

cafcnick1992

You'll struggle to buy a phone that can't install apps and won't browse the internet now. Big screens are the future and they offer a far greater user experience than the archaic blackberrys do now.

The first response was the most accurate one. Any smartphone from the last 3-4 years will do the job perfectly well. Get yourself a Galaxy Note if you want something nice and big to type on. They are great for emails.

Uboat

All good advice, but my wife is like King Canute or one of those Japanese soldiers that won't accept that the war is over. She's just got a new Blackberry Passport. Very odd looking thing. (Edit, that's the phone, not my wife.)

cafcfan

HardyAddick said:

cafcfan said:

I have a Microsoft Lumia (Nokia as was) it runs off the Microsoft mobile version of 10, so it will sync readily with your emails. I know some (probably mainly teenagers) would sneer at that but, like you, I don't need a phone that's all bells and whistles - which generally seems to mean either Apple or Samsung doesn't it?
I just want one that does calls and messaging. As a bonus it wirelessly charges in my car and the camera is much, much better than I expected. The big downside is the limited number of apps on the Windows Store. But I don't need/use all that crap anyway. And the price was right.
Oh, I can even take the cover off and slap in a new battery if needs be.

Apps and browsing are not for me on a work phone. As you say, calls and emails. By chance when I was in the O2 shop earlier an assistant suggested a Lumia 650 but could not show me or explain now emails sync 'd. As you have one, does it push emails to the phone or do you have to keep logging on? Also the Blackberry emails even with attachments use virtually no data but would a
Lumia be the same?

It seems much clever than me, that's for sure. Going through the start up first time wizard, entering my passwords, LAN etc it seemed to find my email clients quickly, sync'd them and added all the contacts from my main PC email client (Thunderbird) together with all the (presumably cloud-based) contacts already on my very old phone. It was a shame that this meant a lot of contacts I thought I had deleted suddenly resurfaced! But I suppose that was me rather than the phone.
However, I've now transferred to Windows 10 and there seems to be an app on my laptop (I don't use windows on my main computer) called "phone companion" that sorts all this stuff out. Presumably doing the email sync too?

Emails seem to get on to the phone with no assistance from me whatsoever. HOWEVER I usually have my data set to "off unless the phone is bluetoothed to my WiFi". So I can't answer you questions with any degree of certainty. But it automatically turns itself on when placed in the wireless charging bay in the car so I ASSUME that new mail is pushed to the phone at regular intervals. When driving, messages and (I think emails) are converted to voice by Cortana (Windows version of Apple's Siri) and she reads them out over the car speakers and asks if you want to respond. I can apparently do emails on my car's system via my phone by speaking them but being an idiot, I've never tried that! I'd suggest you have a look at the specs on the windows phone site to be sure. As you say, the people in the shops don't seem much help so I bought mine direct from O2 and even they didn't know it had built-in wireless charging.

HardyAddick

Very helpful. Can't believe it does that much! Sounds simple but I am not very technical. I will have to take the plunge but having got so used to the blackberry I am expecting problems!!!

csr_cafc

If you are still after a blackberry the priv is a very underrated phone. Made by blackberry and has their apps but runs android albeit with a few security related mods. Possibly the best of both worlds; oh and it has a physical keyboard.

Carter

I'm due to upgrade my own phone soon. I buy them cash and am sorely tempted with the Sony Experia, Samsung have gone a bit stale and I hate apple products.

One thing I would say is steer clear of Nokia and their lumia range. I have one for work and it is poor. I don't like the windows operating system in fact the only thing I like about it is the 4G and that is the network rather than the phone

Cardinal Sin

Have to say I have a Nokia Lumia too for work and it does everything needed, including synching with Outlook. Full Windows, MS Office and supports third party business apps. The phones are cheap in any volume too.