Blackberry pearl!

[bwana]

@PiesangTee - thanks but I dont know how informative or unbiased my opinion might be. I have a habit of finding a technology that works and sticking with it.

The blackberry on its own - rather than part of an enterprise situation - does one thing really well and that's email. Dont get me wrong - its got other good features/utilities etc but the only reason I got one in the first place was email.

Right now I've got my blackberry as well as a normal phone (razr) but that's only because I never got used to the idea of using it as a phone - my missus does and she doesnt have a problem with it.

With the Pearl it might be sleek/slim enough that I can get rid of the razr and the slab like 7290 and settle on one device. I just need to decide on the usability. Otherwise the 8700 is looking pretty attractive too but I'm going to wait to see if Apple reveals anything at MacWorld before I decide.

If you get a lot of emails and you like the idea of a single flat monthly fee then look into the blackberry (or even one of the other brands that offers Blackberry connect capabilities) they're a robust solution and they're idiot proof. I put mine on a 4u contract so that I could have two devices.

Personally, I've always rejected anything with windows on it because I dont like windows. However if you're looking for something more PDA like with touch screen then maybe the blackberry isnt for you.

Keep in mind though - Blackberry's are addictive - they dont call em crackberry's for nothing!

EDIT - one thing I do know is getting my missus a blackberry saved me a fortune in SMS fees alone!

 

[kwmf]

... And if you SEND a lot of email then you'll probably want a QWERTY keyboard. The SURETYPE is allright (and the best thing you can do when learning it is to not look at the screen until you're done), but I'm definatly someone who needs the QWERTY keyboard.

And you can type faster than you can hunt and peck a touch screen keyboard or do character recognition.

@Bwana
Nothing wrong with multiple devices - it's impressive

 

[bwana]

lol - I think I've got little dead spots on my thumbs from thumbing so much

 

[kwmf]

If your thumbs don't hurt ... it's not enough yet

 

[mancombseepgood]

Lol -thanks

I have a habit of finding a technology that works and sticking with it.

That's become the crux for me actually. Email is basically my life on the road.

as for using it as a phone - I guess the new model looks more like one, so that's why I'm looking at it closely...
How does the flat monthly fee work btw? And the saving on SMS? I take it email works just like SMS then? And internationally? I use celtel and MTN when elsewhere on the continent... will that work? (I guess it uses GPRS/EDGE/3G/Whatever, so it depends on the SP?)
Thanks for the info!

 

[mancombseepgood]

Ok

And you can type faster than you can hunt and peck a touch screen keyboard or do character recognition.

That's what I like to hear - I hate stylii - I lost a couple and find them irritating.

 

[bwana]

That's become the crux for me actually. Email is basically my life on the road.

as for using it as a phone - I guess the new model looks more like one, so that's why I'm looking at it closely...
How does the flat monthly fee work btw? And the saving on SMS? I take it email works just like SMS then? And internationally? I use celtel and MTN when elsewhere on the continent... will that work? (I guess it uses GPRS/EDGE/3G/Whatever, so it depends on the SP?)
Thanks for the info!

If the country you're visiting has blackberry you should be able to access it as normal though depending on your SP roaming charges will apply.

The Vodacom's flat fee is R140 per month iirc and that covers all your email and pin messages. PIN's are inter-blackberry messages so basically if you know someone's blackberry number (different than their cell number) you can basically send them a PM. There is also a chat application, blackberry messenger, that uses these to form a chat session.

My missus prefers sending me the PIN messages because it doesnt clutter up our inboxes with trivial stuff and there are delivery reports.

 

[mancombseepgood]

Sounds like fun - I think I need to get us each one. Nice - thanks bwana. Unfortunately I travel abroad more than locally but i will look into the options in the different countries.
Cheers m8!