Before you read my opinion, please bear this caveat in mind. I am writing this opinion, primarily with a lawyer, investment banker or other similar professional in mind.

I work for a large NYC law firm that recently gave Blackberries to all its employees. Thus far, my experience with the Blackberry has been extremely disappointing (though this may have to do with the nature of the e-mails I receive).

Let me explain, most of the work-related e-mails I receive contain attachments. Blackberries are not able to open attachments. Further, I can't forward the e-mail to my secretary so that he can open it (to clarify - you can forward an e-mail, but any attachment will not be forwarded). Thus, I am reduced to receiving short text messages only (which leads me to wonder what type of text only message could only be sent by e-mail and not by phone).

The size of the keyboard is, obviously, quite small. While this is great for portability, it makes typing more than a few lines quite strenuous (again, why not just leave a VM). As far as weight goes, this device is fairly lightweight and fits in the palm of your hand (i.e. if you get bored in a meeting, you can turn on the device and check your messages while cupping the device in the palm of your hand and no one will be the wiser.

Essentially, this device is an expensive toy. It's nice to be able to send and receive short text messages (as well as keeping an eye on work-related messages), but, at the end of the day, given that you can't send or receive large documents or attachments, it is extremely impractical for my purposes. Unless you get this for free (or have money to burn) I don't think you will find this device all that useful.

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 0.00