Blackberry as PDA question

[nupe]

I'm trying to figure this out for my mom, who needs a phone like a palm that will sync to her desktop for PDA purposes, and is not going to have a data plan. Does anyone use a blackberry like that? I have heard too many bad things about the palm products to put the treo high on the list. I know I've seen some Treo threads here. She's probably going to AT&T.

Thank you!

[caleymama]

I use my Treo 650 this way. I used it for about 2 years and then switched to a Blackberry Curve. I'm with Verizon and could not have the Blackberry w/o a data plan. I sorely missed the Palm Desktop calendar when I was using the Blackberry, but all of the other features were fabulous. I never could figure out a good substitute that actually worked (I don't have Outlook). I actually recently switched back to my Treo and LOVE having my old calendar back! I dropped the data plan and do miss having the access to my emails that I did with the Blackberry, but it's not a big deal at this stage in my life. I haven't had any issues with my Treo at all (knock on wood!).

If AT&T had the Palm Centro, that might be a good option for her. I know lots of folks here like their iPhones.

www.treocentral.com might be worth checking out. It's been a while since I was shopping for mine, but that was a useful site then. Also www.crackberry.com for stuff on Blackberries.

[egoldber]

I used to sync my BlackBerry to my Outlook on my PC. It was easy, but quirky.

[khm]

I thought Blackberrys required the data plan.... They are more complicated. My husband has a Treo and loves it. They are sooooo intuitive.

I also know at least 5 moms with Centros. They all are very happy.

[tylersmama]

I have AT&T and a Samsung Blackjack. I sync it to Outlook on my computer, and I've been pretty happy with it.

[BillK]

Technically BB's don't "require" a data plan to work - however I think you'll find the vast majority of cell providers out there won't activate one on their network w/o you ponying up for the data plan.

[luvmypeanut]

I use ATT and have a pearl without the Blackberry plan - just the normal data plan - because I dont' need the BES. I use gmail exclusively now so I downloaded mobile gmail and it works fine. You can sync your google calendar to your phone as well.

[nupe]

Thanks for your help! I got her a bbery. Had to get the data plan to start but will remove it later.