hey all  

 

just recently got myself a Blackberry 7230 for Father's day! (oh, what a shame!  )

 

now, for anyone thinking of getting a Blackberry i suggest check with your mobile/cell phone service provider BEFORE buying the unit to ask about the rates for a Blackberry service.

 

in Australia you have a choice of 3 main networks... problem is with a Blackberry you MUST go on a Blackberry Plan for your email. The problem with this is they are all around $47 for an unlimited account (unlimited in Australia means a 50MB download limit per month) plus your normal monthly access fee on top of this price so if you're on a $30 monthly phone plan you'll end up paying $77 just for the privilege of having email sent to your phone!!! bloody disgusting if you ask me when you can go on the 3 network (Hutchinson Telecom) and pay $3 a month for TRUE unlimited email!

 

on to the phone....

 

does Microsoft Outlook run your life? if the answer is yes then you'll love being able to sync all your data with this device! your calender, tasks, memo's and contacts all sync without any hassles (i haven't set up the email as yet - still trying to find a way around paying $47 just for email)

 

now, as a bit of background, i have been "brought up" on Palm OS and have been using one in some form for aproximately the past 10 - 12 years... so... be prepared for your brain to have a melt down for the first hour of use!

 

once i got the hang of it though i started to warm to the 7230. my thumbs became more "agile" while typing which is just as quick as writing a text message on a mobile phone. everything about the Blackberry is very intuitive and the users guide was only picked up to find the location of the power button!

 

because of the "age" of this model i suggest getting the latest updates of the OS from Blackberry or your service providers site which will give the phone a few extra applications and some added functionality in most applications already on the unit. i did this on mine to find i now have a free password storage program and a global search feature for my Blackberry.

 

as for a phone itself the speaker quality is excellent with the volume being controlled from the thumb-wheel

 

to sum it up i think this is a great unit! the battery life is absolutely incredible, i've had my 7230 for about a week now and the battery is still at full strenth which i reckon is pretty bloody good when compared to our power hungry 262k display, bluetooth enabled, mp3 playing battery eaters!

 

well done Blackerry!