Is that a computer in your pocket? 6 mobile devices tested

RIM Blackberry 7730

  Portable devices
  Main issues

  Fujitsu Stylistic ST5010
  HP iPAQ H5550
  Motorola A925
  Handspring Treo 600
  RIM Blackberry 7730
  Toshiba Portégé R100

 Specifications
 How we tested
 Editor's choice
 About RMIT
There are currently two BlackBerry models available in Australia, the 7230 and 7730. The 7230 has a smaller screen -- 240 x 160 as opposed to 240 x 240. They are quite easy to use, although we would have preferred a second Enter/Select key beside the side-mounted scroll wheel and escape key. This extra key would enable the user to hold the device and navigate through menus with only one hand; as it is the user's thumb has to really stretch. Too bad if you have small hands.

The size of these machines is great. They easily fit into a shirt or jacket pocket and they come with a solid, plastic case and belt clip. The BlackBerry uses a real keyboard; there is no virtual keyboard or stylus. Although the keys are fairly small, we didn't encounter the same problem as with the Treo of hitting more than one key at a time.

RIM Blackberry 7730

Product RIM Blackberry 7730
Price AU$1099
Vendor Research in Motion (available through telcos such as Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone)
Phone N/A
Web www.blackberry.com
 
Interoperability
Proprietary OS; very limited application support
Futureproofing
Adequate memory with a decent screen size
ROI ½
A fair price for what's included
Service
One-year warranty
Rating

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Talkback 6 comments

    One of the main problems I see ...Anonymous -- 31/10/04

    One of the main problems I see with all the phone/pda's is that they seem to forget about phone functionality and concentrate on the PDA side of things. For example handsfree dialling/answering. Most of the end user I talk to want the phone features first and the PDA features second.

    In your review of the Treo 600 ...Anonymous -- 30/12/04

    In your review of the Treo 600, you were concerned about the possibility of hitting two keys at once. Well, I've worked with the Treo software engineers in California (in partnership with my company, Openwave systems), and they have sophisticated algorithms to account for the multi-key-hit problem. In other words, your reviewer hasn't used the unit for any actual work to give it a decent review.

    The design spec was to make it as small as possible with a full keyboard so as to not frighten people who weren't familiar with Graffiti or other handwriting-recognition programs. Well, IMHO they succeeded admirably.

    The price for this notebook is ...Anonymous -- 02/01/05

    The price for this notebook is Aud$$3,960.00......... on the toshiba website..

    The a925 and a920 (same intern ...Anonymous -- 02/02/05

    The a925 and a920 (same internals, different firmware) have the GPS enabled. The (A) in AGPS needs info from the operator (an AGPS server that kickstarts the positioning with additional data), and does not work without the operator enabling it. But the GPS should work anytime, anywhere. Except for the fact that this unit needs up to 5 min to get the initial fix. See www.nhgps.com or http://per.nitro.dk/ for programs that use the GPS units of motorola phones.

    Where in Australia is the Tosh ...Anonymous -- 11/06/05

    Where in Australia is the Toshiba R100 selling for $1999?

    The Trackwheel IS an Enter Key Dummy! Anonymous -- 26/12/07

    Whoever wrote this review is clueless about how to use a Blackberry - didn't even bother to read the manual. The trackwheel is the enter key. All you do is use the trackwheel to navigate to what you want to click, then press the trackwheel in to "enter" !

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