Slashdot Mirror
RIM Color BlackBerry 7230 Review
securitas submits this painfully well-linked piece: "eWEEK reviews the RIM BlackBerry 7230 color handheld, Research In Motion's latest combination wireless e-mail/phone/PDA, and the first BlackBerry to feature a full-color display. The tri-band GSM/GPRS J2ME device features a 240-by-160-pixel, 65,000-color display, 16 MB flash +2 MB SRAM, an Intel 386 32-bit chip, SMS, an HTML browser (missing from the preceding BlackBerry 5810), a claimed 4 hours talk/10 days standby removable/rechargeable lithium-ion battery, POP3/IMAP/Exchange/Notes wireless e-mail for up to 10 accounts with file attachment management, security via Triple DES encryption, USB sync/recharging and the usual organizer functions. RIM squeezes it all into a 4.8 oz/136g, 4.4x2.9x0.8 inch/11.3x7.4x2.0 cm package (tech specs at RIM).
The BlackBerry 7230 is exclusive to T-Mobile USA until 2004 and costs about $400. With this release, RIM is moving the BlackBerry into the prosumer/consumer market to expand its customer base beyond enterprise users. The release comes amid speculation of BlackBerry doom following RIM's recent patent ruling loss and ahead of the highly anticipated Handspring Treo 600, its direct competition (which includes the MS Pocket PC Phone Edition Smartphone and the Palm Tungsten W). More at Wired News, E-Commerce Times, InfoWorld and Forbes/Reuters."
Except one. How many patents can this thing infringe upon simultaneously?
These things keep getting more and more appealing. Someday when I have money I'll have to pick one up.
During the power outage, our execs in New York and Toronto kept in contact by using their Blackberries. Might be the first time they ever REALLY used them, but hey!
...
I do dearly miss the previous generation of Blackberry with Mobitex network access. Not only does Mobitex have vastly better coverage that even works in airplanes, but that version of the handheld had a proper C API and berry-to-berry networking capabilities.
RIM took the same device and gave it two product names, the 7210 and the 7230. Each are precisely the same and the 7230 is likely never to be carried by another company anyway (as RIM will make them specific for the carrier's needs then slap different number variation on it to distinguish the difference). I'd recommend anyone getting one to get the 7210 on AT&T Wireless as you won't have to deal with the crappy coverage that has become synonymous with the T-Mobile name. I got mine this last week, am not using the phone function, and still am at 65% battery left! Related reading: http://news.com.com/2100-1041-5063352.html
well damn... how are we to know which server we should try and slashdot with so many links?
blame me!
I actually considered buying this one (I'm a 100% T-Customer in terms of conectivity) but after reading the review I'll pass.
It's OK if HTML doesn't show as flashy as on IE 6 with every plugin you can get on the web. But crashes? Slowpoking on certain code? Not very reashuring.
Can I update the Browser or install my own? Not easy anyway.
And the weedyness of the account (with extra costs) and it's unconfigurability and unconectability don't add to my trust in this thing.
Don't get me wrong, 400$ for a device that's as featureladen as this is a good deal. Especially when it manages to integrate a PDA with a Mobile pretty well and has a batterytime that is usefull. But with all this proprietary stuff and them glitches in the service account I'll wait another while.
This seems a bit like bananaware to me.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
The injunction banning RIM from selling was stayed pending appeal/re-examination of NTP's patents. You can read more about it at RIM's corporate website. For the meantime and the years it will take to get this through appeal, BlackBerry can continue to be sold in the USA.
If you can't stay away some hours from your email, you'd better never leave the office.
I sometimes wonder if comments like this are trolls, or just people that don't know what they're talking about. I mean, I guess I can see your point if you're the kind of person that likes to sit at the office hunched over a desk staring into the monitor checking every box repeatedly, just to make sure its still up. Personally I'd much rather go sit in the park, or at home, and let Big Brother email my phone if something dies.
Of the submitter's previously accepted stories, this one and this one mention BlackBerry.
While both do mention BlackBerry, both also mention competing products in a good light.
Submitter's other stories which have been accepted, stories on completely unrelated topics, are equally abundantly linked.
Judging by the submitter's past comments' moderation, the submitter does not need more karma.
I suspect what we have here is not an ad, but rather a story submitted by a user who has some exceptional interest in following handheld phone/data technologies.
.sig Realistic fines for copyright in
a company spokesman. No real average human being would have that many links of a product except a company man.
Survey says.... BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!
Sorry, but I have never had anything to do with RIM beyond meeting some of their staff at trade shows.
By your logic I work for Handspring and Sony too. If you look at my previous posts I always try to include a variety of sources.
I'm considering getting an all-in-one phone/PDA-type device and I was looking at the relative merits of a BlackBerry vs. some of the other more phone-like devices. Since I'd already done the work trying to find out about it, I thought it might make a useful Slashdot post.
The 7210 is DUAL-band. The 7230 is TRI-band. It makes a difference to some people.