BlackBerry 8700v

What to buy?

I was in need of a new mobile phone. My existing Sony Ericson had been a reliable companion, and worked perfectly with my Mac OS X Tiger apps - iSync, AddressBook and Salling Clicker.

I wanted a Mac compatible phone, one that would sync with my AddressBook and iCal. I also wanted to be able to send and receive e-mails and do a little web browsing. I looked at the Nokia E61, which looks cool especially the WiFi connectivity, but the BlackBerry was meant to be the king of e-mails, so no matter how tempting the Nokia was, I went for the BlackBerry 8700v

So far, so good

I downloaded PocketMac for BlackBerry V4, and via a USB lead (which also charges the phone), my AddressBook and iCal calendar all synced up perfectly to the phone. I would prefer to have been able to sync wirelessly via BlueTooth, but syncing is fast as you like with good old USB.

Web browsing was quick too, although many sites are not very friendly to small devices, but it is still very useable and the screen is gorgeous

Unfortunately, it won't let me send SMS messages via my Mac, nor will it let me use it as a modem when I travel. (If you know different, please let me know). What it does do though, it does extremely well. It has good battery life, it is great ergonomically and the Qwerty keyboard is very addictive. I am now mastering some keyboard shortcuts, and can get rid of spam and the like with just a couple of deft strokes. Email on the go is very cool and it works great with my .Mac email.

BlackBerry 8700v conclusion

All in all, this is a great piece of kit, and one that is growing on me the more I use it. Ok, it doesn't take photos and won't sync wirelessly (yet) but it is solid, reliable and well designed, and I am on top of my emails and messaging, which can't be bad.