Saxguy's Full Review: RIM BlackBerry 8703e Smartphone
I’ve been looking to replace my Tungsten E organizer and phone with a single unit for some time. First, I was looking for a Palm unit, as I have used and synced with Palm units for years. However, my cell phone service, US Cellular did not have the Treo, Palm’s phone, available and my contract was not up until next March. Plus, I was unimpressed with the current and prototype Palm phones. I noticed that Blackberry had a number of different products and was a hot stock, so I figured I would check their units out.
Before I bought, I identified the two viable units at US Cellular. The 8830 was the newer model; the 8703e a year older. Each had 64K base memory. The 8830 had a slightly glitzier display, expandable memory and could play MP3s. It also cost $100 more, plus tax. The online reviews of the two products indicated that some people found the buttons on the 8703e more comfortable, and that the 8730e seemed more suited to business applications, which is what I wanted it for.
Armed with that information, I called around to see which of the nearby US Cellular stores had stock and went. In the store, I tried the two models and found, in fact, that I liked the buttons on the 8703e better, so I bought that unit, at $199 plus tax, with an available $100 rebate. The web service from Blackberry will add another $39.95 per month to my existing phone service.
I was looking two accomplish two things with this purchase:
1. A single phone/organizer interface, so I could adjust my calendar while receiving phone calls from student families or gigs or day job issues .
2. Check email, stock quotes, sports scores, weather and driving directions from the unit.
The Blackberry 8703e has done very well at each.
I had US Cellular load the phone numbers from my existing phone into the new one. I then loaded the Blackberry desktop software, which is well-menued and easy to follow and then conducted a sync. Microsoft Outlook (I use the 2003 version) was configurable as software to sync with, and there was no problem at all synchronizing my calendar, contacts, tasks and memos. There were some duplicate entries between the old phone and the organizer, which I went through and eliminated.
I have had no problem accessing my calendar and contact screens while talking on the phone. I have also been able to view a contact and call directly from that contact’s page. This alone is a great leap forward.
Phone and internet reception has been no problem. The sound quality on the phone has been fine.
The browser has taken some getting used to. The screen on the Blackberry is so much smaller, very little will fit on the screen. On most of the web pages I use, the Blackberry deals with this by putting everything into one giant “column” so that I have to do a lot of scrolling to get to where I want. I’ve coped by simplifying some of my personal screens, particularly my portfolio. I’ve also downloaded “Yahoo! Go” 2.0, which has an optimized interface for the Blackberry, and has menus that include driving directions, weather, sports scores, and my stocks. Yahoo! Go takes a little time to load but it has been manageable.
Email has worked well, too, although there have been some learnings. I have it configured to download my email from AOL and Yahoo. It does download every email automatically, and I can respond, although it’s a bit cumbersome. I have learned to cut down on my email subscriptions and send the non-essential ones to a non-downloaded email address. The buttons work reasonably well. It’s not like typing at a pc, but it is improved from drawing letters on the Tungsten E screen.
This unit is approximately 2.5” x 4” x .75”, so it is slightly smaller than the Tungsten E, although it is a bit wider. The screen is 1.75” x 2.25”.
It came with the USB synching and charging cable, another improvement over the Palm unit, as a single cable can charge and synch. The Palm unit had two. The Blackberry also came with a separate desktop charger, a holster, hands-free (but not wireless) headset, getting started guide, Blackberry software CD and US Cellular documentation CD.
I don’t feel safe with a holster, because I’m a bit clumsy, so I bought a leather case with belt loops on Ebay. I also got a car charger. I’m considering whether I need a wireless headset, but I haven’t bought one yet.
This unit has been an excellent purchase. It’s doing what I need and I’m very happy I bought it.
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