General BlackBerry® Functions and Features

[g-man1]

I am in the process of creating a website that will be accessed by Blackberrys and other mobile devices. My expectation is that the BB will be the most common device.

I want to make sure that everything on the site works as advertised for BB users. My problem is that I don't have a BB to do the testing.

Now, I know that I can get one with a plan for data access but, once I'm done with it, I won't need it anymore. It would be overkill for my purposes.

Is there a way to purchase a BB without any sort of a plan and connect to my own network to access this website? For example, is it possible to connect with wi-fi to my router and then use the browser to go to the local IP address ... or is there a cable (USB?) that will allow me to connect directly to my web server and access the site that way?

I know that there is BB emulator software available for download, but that does not help me to simulate the "real world".  It is just a small browser on a big screen.

I'm fully prepared to buy the BB, but I can't justify a data plan when, quite literally, the data will only be travelling about 6' within my office.

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[d_fisher]

I dont understand your issue with the simulators. They are designed for developers to create applications and test against. I use them on a regular basis to see if websites load properly. The only thing that is not real world is the speed the pages load (lots faster).

[g-man1]

My issue isn't with the emulator itself.  In fact, I intend to use it to make sure that everything looks good and works.

What the emulator can't do for me is tell me how easy or difficult it would be for a user to navigate through the fields (e.g. scrolling, jumping to the next field, selecting an option in a dropdown list, etc.) with an actual mobile device.  I want this site to be as easy as possible to navigate.  I do not want it to be awkward.  Just because the site "works" and "looks good" does not necessarily make it BB-friendly.  If I'm wrong about this, please tell me.

In my mind, the only way to accomplish this is to test the site using an actual Blackberry.

[bslja]

In terms of the simulator we found it to be a great way of testing certain functionality in our environment. I agree that there is nothing like a real device to ensure that you get a better feel for how it works. Perhaps you could just find a BB user and ask them to be a BETA tester for you. Most people love trying out new stuff