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First 3G BlackBerry Announced
An anonymous reader writes "The Register is featuring an article on Research In Motion's first 3G BlackBerry, due shortly for release in the UK via Vodafone. The big news is that it contains an integrated 3G data modem - meaning UK addicts will be able to connect from the device and their laptop (via USB/BlueTooth) at 3G broadband speeds. No EDGE so the US will have to carry on waiting, but for those in the UK and Europe, short of integrated GPS, is the BlackBerry 8707v finally the first example of mobile device convergence everyone has been waiting for?"
You pretty much heard correctly, with some conditions.
First, plain text email is the only aspect of email that the Blackberry does right. If it's HTML formatted you might get the text, plus any graphics that you would be able to view with a competent mail client come through as attachments. With RTF formatted email you'll get the text, but loose all the formatting. If you intend to do anything meaningful with attachments then forget it unless you install third party software. The built-in attachment viewer is quite pathetic.
As far as composing email, if you have large hands then unless you're using a 6700 or 7700 series device you'll find the keyboard to be a crampfest. The rest of the models with full keyboards are too small. At least that's been my experience. I rue the day when my 7780 bites the dust.
Regarding PIM functions, with version 4 of the device software they finally got this mostly right. The address book has enough fields now to properly sync with Outlook Contacts, whereas before if you had more than one address for your contacts you had to play with the field mapping to get that data into the Blackberry. With BES and Exchange, the wireless sync is very nice. Email, address book, calendar, and notes all sync wirelessly with Outlook so the only reason you have to plug the thing in is to charge it or mabye run a backup if you have other apps installed.
Don't get me started on how well these things perform as phones. With the exception on the 7100 series, Blackberries are generally awful as phones. The form factor is all wrong, the UI is all wrong, it's just plain wrong. Put your voice plan on a decent wireless phone, and put the data plan on the Blackberry if you must have one. Of course if you're going to go this route, and don't need live access to your email, then forget the Blackberry, get a Bluetooth phone, a Bluetooth PocketPC or Palm, and access the net through the phone.
If all you want in a PDA is good PIM and basic wireless always-on email then Blackberries are okay. If you're a PDA power user, Pocket PC's and Palms have much more to offer if you don't absolutely need to read your email the second it hits your mailbox.