RIM BlackBerry 7750 Handheld

Blackberry 7750 (Verizon Wireless)
I purchased my blackberry to be more connected and more responsive to my clients. It has helped in so many ways and keeps me within reach at all times. My customers can get instant answers from me which has improved my sales drastically.

I can't say what will happen in the near future, but for now the blackberry is the de facto standard of mobile email communications. Nothing beats it for instant email back and forth communications.

I was looking at the Treo 600, various Pocket PC PDA Phones, and other devices but ultimately chose the blackberry for its functionality and superior capabilities over the competition. The blackberry isn't always the prettiest or the flashiest choice. It is not going to be able to do all those 'wow' type things you can do on a Pocket PC but for nitty-gritty features that make you money and keep you in business it can't be beat.

In addition, the unit allows me to break the ties to my desktop. I no longer have to boot up my PC to check emails and get out responses. Now I can send email from anywhere at anytime and the keyboard interface allows for quick typing with your thumbs unlike the Treo 600 whose keys are so close together if you were to press the "F" key you might just get a word like "fgdrv" as your thumb presses all the keys around the F.

My unit is very slightly larger than your average blue colored blackberry and has a larger screen. It is a smooth black conversation piece (like myself) and a definite status symbol. On a recent plane trip I pulled out my blackberry while waiting for the flight to take off and two businessmen on either side of me pulled theirs out too so they wouldn't be one-upped. How funny!

In any event, I digress. there are some downsides to the unit. Web features through Verizon are non-existent though said to be on the way. It cannot view picture files like jpegs without add-on software. It's phone feature is ok, but it takes a while to get used to positioning a three inch wide phone to your head. Also, the sound quality in the receiver and the line quality for the person on the other end leave something to be desired. The sound is ok but can be inconsistent at times. I also carry a small Audiovox 8600 phone which has far superior voice call quality and tri-mode communications as opposed to the blackberry's all digital dual mode.

I am a definite gadget guy so you would think I would own a bluetooth enabled phone with all the latest features including seamless web access. In any other circumstance I would. But when it comes to staying in touch with customers, vendors, and developers on a real-time basis, some of whom are in vastly different time zones a blackberry is best. Flashy features don't help you much if you lose an opportunity because that nifty device doesn't pull POP3 emails in but once every half hour and you miss a sale.

I have heard that blackberry recently lost a case in US regarding its email technology but this decision shouldn't affect purchasers at all for years to come I would imagine. Further I have heard blackberry may be in negotiations to license their technology to non-blackberry type phones and PDA's. If this happens maybe that flashy Pocket PC device of the future will be a blackberry too. Then I would buy it. For now... only a traditional blackberry will do.