[jmkolm]

To all new Curve (8300 series) owners installing Blackberry Desktop Manager - be advised that the Roxio media management software that comes with it is simply a pile of dung and doesn't work. Check almost any relevant discussion group on the web if you don't believe me. There are complaints everywhere about bad design, serious installation problems, even worse de-installation problems, and finally and above all - yes - IT DOESN'T WORK. Do not feel bad when video files don't convert to files that play properly on your Curve, or when the software freezes - it is not you - Roxio is just a flat-out crummy product and DOESN'T WORK.

The simple answer is (i) de-install (or better, never install) the provided CD for Desktop Manager with Roxio (vn 4.2 SP2 and later) and instead, install the previous - stable - Vn 4.2 SP1 or earlier made entirely by Blackberry, which you can get at http://www.wireless.all.com/bbdownloads and probably other places too. Then (ii) find any of a profusion of cheap video converters for the Blackberrry that are all over the place and actually work. Some are free and work fine, the one I chose was Mobiola Video Studio for about $20 which works perfectly with the Blackberry in Mass Storage Mode. I am not theorising, it works, it works easily and well and on the first try. If you don't want Mobiola, just look for one that specifically lists your model of the Blackberry Curve as a device it handles. (The Curve is very VERY fussy about what video formats it will play, and the standard labels like "WMV" and "AVI" mean nothing, because there are countless incompatible variants for each. Unless you want to become a tech, do what I did.)

Until Blackberry (really RIM) comes to its senses and fires these clods at Roxio, this is by far the best solution and will make all your Roxio problems go away. It took me two days to find this solution - who do I send my bill to, RIM or Roxio?

[citidelx]

I downloaded v4.3 and it seemed to have resolved the minors issues that I was having with Roxio. From what I understand version 4.3 on a w/s machine has problems where nothing works to include the manager and syncing information.