Samsung SGH Research In Motion 7230(White)

I like email for messages, because voicemail is dull and unclear (my UNFAVORITE thing--someone goes on blah-di-blah-blah for minutes then when they get to the PHONE NUMBER which is all you really want, they go BZZZZT fivefoureightfivez... and you have trouble getting it. Then you have to go back, wade through the blah-blah again and again to catch the number. Voicemail is LINEAR. Hint to those who use voicemail: repeat your phone number and your name S-L-O-W-L-Y.) But if you want to send more complex messages, email and SMS are great options.
I got tired of emailing on my cell phone--that keypad, and thought, HEY, maybe the Blackberry could work. So I got the T-Mobile version of the Blackberry, which does use a SIM chip, and in about ten minutes of learning curve, I had this thing up and running except for a glitch in the reception of email. This was fixed by a quick call to T-Mobile's friendly technical service.

The email was easy to set up with my POP servers. Sadly, the BES (Blackberry Enterprise System) is not supported at my workplace, so I can't get secure mail from work this way. It's dependent on support from your IT department.

The phone is a bit clumsy (the numeral pad is the left side of the QWERTY keyboard) but with a headset and mic, it works pretty well. And it's clearer than my regular cellphone. One problem: the series of letters found on a phone keypad are NOT on the numeric part, so if you have to dial by name or someone gives you a 800-CALL-MYNAME type number, you have to have those keys memorized.

There is a memo pad, a calculator, T-zones (some limited online ability and weather/news.) The color screen is nice. The battery really lasts long--three or four days. (Hint: let it run down ALL the way before charging.) The ergonomics for typing are good, just ok on the phone, but liveable. The thumbscroll is quite effective along with the escape button below. These two side-mounted buttons are used to navigate, highlight, select, delete and escape--fairly easy to master.

I have to say, it's a pretty slick device. For me, this is a great solution to get both email and phone service in one.