The past few days at work I’ve been playing with a Blackberry. I know what you are saying, “What the hell are you doing that for?”. Well, trust me, I thought the same thing. Don’t get me wrong I am happy with my Treo 600. The screen is descent, the phone portion is good, lots of software to play with, memory slot, and a fairly small form factor. There are 4 things that hold me back from calling it the ultimate geek gadget though:
- It is not “always on”
- You cannot type on the small keyboard
- I cannot get work related email
- No bluetooth (which I miss horribly)
Blackberry recently announced their newest model, the 7290. This model interests me because it is smaller than other blackberry’s I’ve played with, it has a color screen, backlit keyboard and screen, AND it has Bluetooth. I did a little more digging about about the 7290 and saw that Cingular was carrying the 7290 as was T-Mobile. One of the best places I’ve found to find really good information is the Blackberry Forums. Here are a few things that I discovered digging around:
- I can get personal email (up to 10 email boxes) plus company email in pretty much real time always on
- I can get always on AIM (which I don’t have with the Treo)
- I can use the 7290 as a modem as I do now with the Treo
Based on this I acquired a Blackberry from work through our business center (they had an extra one that came back in from loan) and tried it out for a few days. The first few minutes I was trying to work the thing, I didn’t get it. I kept wanting to touch the screen as I was used to on the Treo 600 and past PDAs I’ve owned. It honestly took me about a day or so just for the new device to feel good in my hand. I kept fumbling trying to use it in the right hand, then the left, then the right. After a day or so went by I started getting used to having my email with me as I wandered around the office. I have to say this was really nice. If for example I had to go meet with someone, I’d take the Blackberry and if a trouble ticket came in I could either respond right there or leave and go back to my desk. At this point, I am so torn between the two, I cannot even see straight. I’ll have to spend another day or so playing with the Blackberry. Stay tuned!
