BlackBerry 7100x

Author's product rating:   

Look & Feel
Durability & Robustness
Battery standby time
Value for money
Range of features

Advantages:	Light, easier to use as phone than traditional blackberry, looks quite sleek
Disadvantages:	difficulty disconnecting calls, bit 'plasticky'

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Having had the 'old style' Blackberry for a while now, I have become dependent on being online all the time, wherever I am in the world. I loved that it worked as a phone or a mini computer, that I could write notes on it, make calls, check my emails, or browse online on a train, bus, in the bath if I wanted. My only gripe was that I had one of the original Blackberrys/ies (who knows the plural!?) and it was quite heavy and bulky, and not comfortable for making anything other than the quickest phone call.

So when my company announced they would be giving us all new devices, I chose the more phonelike version of the Blackberry, which is much more convenient for making calls, as it's shaped like a (albeit oversized) mobile phone. The home screen is now in colour - before, although web browsing would all be in colour, the traditional and default format was a strange yellowy black colour, and you don't have to fiddle around with the backlight - you just press any key and the back lights up. I spent half my life adjusting the backlight on the old one, so this was a definite plus. It's taking me a while to get used to the keyboard, though - it's very weirdly arranged, as although it is QWERTY there's more than one letter on each button, which just seems to confuse my fingers somehow!

The main advantage of this model is that it seems to run faster and is definitely a lot lighter than my old version. It hardly weighs anything and looks a lot sleeker too. The scroll wheel button is still the same and the menus are very easy to navigate, while all the functions are clearly marked and it's all laid out very simply. There are, of course, all the functions you would expect - alarm, calculator, address book, picture album, task list, notes etc, as well as the browser functionality. Rig it up to your PC, synchronise it and all your emails will flash up automatically when you're on the move, and you can access web-based ones or whatever else through the internet, of course. Because it's a phone it doesn't come with the stand that the old one had, but it has a little material pouch that I find much more convenient than the clunky plastic one. It's also quad-band and supports GPRS, and has a vibrate function, with polyphonic ring tones. And some games, but I don't use them so can't really give them a review either way.. As for the manual, it explains everything extensively, although it's the sort of thing you learn intuitively anyway. I haven't had cause to go back to the manufacturer, but my I.T. person here at work assures me that a Blackberry is basically indestructible, so perhaps I never will!

I would definitely recommend this Blackberry to anybody who makes more calls than emails - while it's fine for emailing too, if you're a heavy message-writer you'd probably prefer an 'old style' device with a normal keyboard. If, like me, however, you'd prefer a lighter, sleeker model which is easier for calling but slightly more difficult for emailing, this is the version for you.