As the must have gadget of last year the Blackberry is now one of the most popular and widely available PDA's on the market and it didn't take me long to catch the bug insisting that my Member Liaison Manager bought me one and my love affair with Blackberry's started. I originally used the Blackberry 7230 but got fed up with the small screen, lack of games, poor quality ringtones and general frumpy look.

Installation of the software is very straightforward and onscreen instructions guide you through the installation process. I found it very easy to do but did get frustrated with the time it took to load everything onto the computer to synchronise the Blackberry with Outlook. All in all, it took 40 minutes to get everything ready to transfer my Outlook contacts and calendar across to the Blackberry.

In terms of looks I find the 7100v snazzy to look at and much better than most of the other Blackberry's in the RIM range. The standard colour is plain old black, and matt black plastic which does nothing in my opinion for the brand image. I opted for the silver 7100v similar to the picture shown above. Although it is longer in length than the standard Blackberry it is no more difficult to hold or operate, in fact the additional length increases the amount of room dedicated to the bright, high resolution colour display. Its precise dimensions are 11.4 x 5.6 x 2 cm and it only weighs 120g so despite being packed full of up to date technology it remains in weight terms similar to a mobile phone.

The 7100v is packed full of features that are useful to anyone who has to work on the go. The built in memory of 32MB is more than adequate and the fact that it is Quad-Band means I can use the mobile phone and e-mail features when in Asia, Europe or North and South America. The actual features included as standard are:

The mobile phone function is superb. Call quality is always crystal clear and the volume (controlled by the track wheel) allows even the quietest of callers to be heard perfectly. I have never had an issue with call quality using the 7100v on the Vodafone network. I also always seem to have a reception signal long after my normal mobile phone has given up the ghost. SMS text messages can be sent and received using the QWERTY keyboard and e-mail inbox. - 10/10

The address book I have contains in excess of 450 names and it remains as fast as ever. The address book provides the capability to store names, addresses, telephone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses. I find this facility fantastic and the search option narrows down your contact database as you input your search criteria. If you were looking for Robert Downs in your address book, by the time you had entered "Rober" a list of all the Roberts entered in the list will appear. This saves quite a bit of time when making hectic calls to all and sundry. 10/10

The calendar provides the ability to input time and dates of appointments easily. Once connected to your PC, the 7100v software will automatically update Outlook on your PC and visa versa. This function is a life saver at times, especially with the meeting alert facility that reminds me of what I have to do the following day. 10/10

The 7100v only comes with one game. Brick breaker is installed on all Blackberry devices however the 7100v version is in colour and has 75 levels to complete in comparison to the 7 levels on the Blackberry 7230. I love the game and am constantly trying to beat my previous score.