I was waiting for that guy, Steve, to reply to you since he was the one with the extensive worksheet experience. If you’re reading this, Steve, why don’t you give it a shot?

Anyway, here’s my two cents, and remember, I’m not an advocate for editing spreadsheets on “smartphones”. But, if you must, then I think your best option is a Treo 700 or 750 wx, assuming your worksheet is a windows based (as in, Excel) app.

And you haven’t really elucidated what else you want to do with your device in a “business environment” beyond the worksheets and what type of third party apps you think you needed.

I’m not a fan of “pull” email, either. But only a server based solution to a corporate email server, like Outlook or Lotus gives you a true “push” solution. A stand-alone BB will fake it but the reality is that is goes out on a periodic basis and looks for new emails. Still beats the hell out of asking for your emails. And the BB does reasonably well with multiple email sources/platforms.

And Palm does all right, as well. The difference, for me, is that the package is better integrated in the BB.

There is a third party app for editing windows based documents on the BB, called e-office, which has gotten some positive notice, but I haven’t personally used it, so I can’t recommend it. And I’m also very gun shy about putting third party apps on BBs. I’m old school – I believe that a BB should have only what can be provided through the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Maybe I’m a fossil. So be it.

And Palm, well, same deal. You’ll need a third party app to edit Excel. And I have no personal experience with them.

Anyway, feel free to let me know specifically what else you are trying to accomplish and then I can address it, item by item. to the best of my ability. And so can anyone else. If you have expertise in these areas – please get your opinions out there.

And one last thing – the SD card placement on the BB sucks. It’s behind the battery.

Well, I’m far from an expert on coverage or networks for that area. However, here’s what I can tell you:

Your Motorola V262 is a tri-band phone. And the reason, I suspect, it appears to have superior range and signal, is because it is able to hop onto an analog network. Now that’s terrific. The problem, though, is that while an analog network will get you extended voice coverage – it will not provide data. And since you want to use one of these devices as a wireless modem, your Motorola is NOT a good predictor of performance.

You’re going to need EVDO coverage, or, at the very least, 1xrtt coverage. That means digital only – no analog. I’ll bet you that thr folks who get no signal at all are using all digital phones that don’t roam onto analog. Generally, CDMA network providers are trying like hell to end analog roaming and it is getting increasingly more difficult to find new phones that will roam to analog – at least in the US.

Anyway, bottom line is this: you need to go back to the Telus coverage maps and take a hard look at whether EVDO or 1xrtt coverage exists in the areas you require. Without that coverage, you will not get any data on either a BB or a Treo and you will not be able to use either device as a wireless modem.

Ken

In the past it was true that treo was a good PDA but mediocre phone and the BB was the opposite. In this case I need a great phone first and PDA second. I will be using the phone as a modem for my laptop to assist with diagnostics on remote well sites so I need solid signal.

Besides that, you can access Telus’s own site and pull down their own coverage maps. Just note that anything on their site that denotes “analog” coverage will not provide data, only voice. I’m guessing the pickings are pretty slim for where you are.

Must be why Santa hasn’t returned my calls yet.

Good luck with it.

Ken

Currently I am looking at BB’s 8830 and pearl and the Treo 755p. My only available carrier is Telus.

Ken

After reading this thread and reading comments from a couple of other sites, I was leaning toward BB over Treo. I just wanted to make sure that Outlook worked, and worked easily, with BB.

I have decided to go with the 8830. It’s such a relief to make a decision and to feel confident about that decision. I would not have been able to do that without this thread (thank you, everyone) and most especially, without your generosity in taking the time to share your extensive knowledge with this community. So, again, I say, Thank You!

Out of curiosity, besides the camera feature and the smaller size, what is it that you like about The Curve over the 8830?

Happy Holidays to you, to Nate, and to Everyone here!

And Happy Holidays to everyone who finds this post and the people here helpful.

Cheers!