I have always been adament that I would never have a Blackberry as they tie you to your desk and make sure that you can never take a day off work.
So I was not impressed when I received a Blackberry as part of my new role with work. Admitedly I am out of the office a lot so it is useful but I just didnt want to always be able to connect to my email!
Anyway I was given the Blackberry 8800 and told to use this. So, swallowing my disgust I have - and I have to say I have been converted.
It comes in a stylish black leather case with a belt hook (only for sad city boys!) but useful for attaching to the inside of your handbag and good for protecting the Blackberry if you drop it on the floor as I frequently do!
I thought that the Blackberry would be hard to use but it is surprisingly easy. It has great features and lots of them. These include maps, address book and calender.
I mainly use the Blackberry for the following tricks Calling - it is easy to use and the keyboard is good once you work out how to use the numbers (hit the "alt" key). The calls are at a good volume.
Web browsing - now obviously I use this for work but it is also great for checking out the rugby / football / cricket scores when you are out and about. You can even check your web based email and do your internet banking. The only problem is that sometimes the machine wont access a site if it has Javascript.
Email - now this is brilliant, you can be anywhere and still respond to important issues - it means that occasionally, like last Thursday I skive off work and went to the Ghost warehouse sale - I was able to be "working from home" and respond to all my emails - brilliant.
The keyboard is ok - for some reason the H key is hard to use.
The blackberry also has an addictive game called "brickbreaker" - it is where you move a paddle accross the bottom of the screen and use a ball to destroy bricks - great fun for the tube.
Overall this is a great product - it is small and light -handbag sized in fact and it is multifunctional. It has everything that I need and a bit more - it is also so easy to use that even technophobe me can use it!
The battery is brilliant - it lasts for about 9 days if you don't do too much and even 4 days of almost constant use!
Oh and I almost forgot the most important feature - you can set it up to do "automatic switch off" - so it is switched off at weekends and after 19.00. Very important if you dont want work to destroy your time off.
Except of course when you are shopping and need to check out the footie scores!
More details
Ease of use
Very easy
Battery talktime
Good
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