How does Push email work on Blackberries?

Factual Questions
1

So, I’m thinking of getting a Blackberry Pearl, and I was wondering how the Push Email thing in Blackberries works. Does it have to be with a special kind of email provider, or could I set it up with my Netzero account? (Webmail with POP3 access in Netzero’s case)

2

It works with any POP3 account and all major webmail providers too. So if it doesn’t support Netzero Webmail by default, you can just use the POP3 access.

3

Sweet. I wasn’t sure if you had to be on a special server setup for that. When I used to work as constaff at A-Kon in Texas, all the Con officers had blackberries they’d talk to each other with on a wireless server they set up in the convention center.

It was pretty much the only practical means of communicating without using runners, as the convention center had the ability to block almost all cell phone signals (except mine, my phone being the superman of cell phone reception, and able to pickup calls in the basement of the student center at Texas A&M).

But yeah, now I can get the Blackberry Pearl without any concerns save for the big one: Affording the stupid thing. :smiley:

4

POP3 is not a push protocol, so you can’t get push email with NetZero. Blackberrys work with push systems such as Microsoft Exchange by installing a server-side synchronization package.

All smartphones that I have used will work with polled email (usually POP3) systems, however, and Blackberrys are no exception.

5

Right, glad you pointed that out. I think Blackberry’s servers check the POP3 box every few minutes (maybe 15?) and then pushes that to your device if it finds anything?

If you want instant notification of incoming POP3, see if you can set up autoforwarding from your webmail to your Blackberry email address. The one issue with that is I don’t remember whether the Pearl lets you set a different reply-to address for your Blackberry account (so that their responses will go back to your Netzero account instead of your Blackberry one).

As for affording the Pearl, Amazon has the T-Mobile version for -75 (they pay you 75 dollars) after rebate and the Cingular version for -25. Doesn’t get much cheaper than that as long as you don’t have to cancel a contract :slight_smile: