So you just got a Blackberry Pearl and you have a mac...

I unpacked my new Blackberry Pearl a few hours ago and after running all over the web trying to solve basic problems, I figured I should do a roundup of the basics here for other mac users, since I couldn't find all this info in one place.

• Charge it up the first time by plugging it into a wall. It seems buggy at first with USB charging, giving errors that you are not using a powered USB port and you are missing drivers, both which are untrue. My iMac worked fine after the first charge.


• You can't pair the device to your mac via OS X's bluetooth utilities just yet. That means no iSync over bluetooth right now either. I suspect this is coming someday soon and someone can correct me on all the backstory (leave a comment).


• update: at this point I would suggest using Missing Sync for the Blackberry Pearl. It's much more stable and reliable than PocketMac.


• You can use PocketMac along with the included USB cable for syncing, but don't look for it on PocketMac's product page, you can only get it from Blackberry directly following a link halfway down this page.


• PocketMac 4.0 will resemble iSync and let you sync your address book, calendar, etc. Be sure to launch the app, then connect via USB, then sync everything. PocketMac refused to launch until I did it in this exact order.


• Even though you can't do much via bluetooth, apparently using the blackberry as a modem with bluetooth is possible and works using this modem script and set of instructions. I also hear it is free under T Mobile's regular blackberry plans (I used to pay $20/month for the luxury on my old phone).


• You can apparently transfer files over bluetooth but it sounds buggy.

Hopefully iSync/OSX starts fully supporting the device soon, but until then, this was all the info I needed to get started. Gmail works great on the device as does MetaFilter, so I'll be set whenever I'm on the road and away from the keyboard.