Blackberry 8830

The BlackBerry® 8830 World Edition smartphone is the stylish way to get things done. It’s the first CDMA BlackBerry smartphone capable of roaming globally on GSM®/GPRS networks. So you can travel the world with full mobile voice and data coverage, without having to change smartphones, phone numbers or email addresses.

The BlackBerry 8830 World Edition gives you phone, email, organizer, web browsing and instant messaging. And then it goes a step further, providing GPS, a media player for your video clips and music, and expandable memory to ensure you’ve got the room you need for your media files.

After being loyal to Verizon for fifteen years, I am tired of the over charging, ridiculous pricing, and now $1.95 per line - per month for detailed billing. **** up a rope Verizon! I have determined that Sprint's coverage is just as good, pricing is a million times better, and as for all you complaining about tech support and customer service......it is the same everywhere. Terrible service and support is the industry standard with just about every type of product now.

I was really torn between the Treo 755P and the new Blackberry 8830. My sales associate at the Sprint store highly recommended the Blackberry. Note; he has never used a Palm and I have never owned a Blackberry. I truly think it is narrowed down to what you are used to. I can only imagine if I was a long time Blackberry user, I would rate this phone a 10+++. The graphics are awesome and I can customize my contact synchronization with Outlook (filter only to synch business and leave the personal contacts on my device). I was unable to do this with the Treo 650, and I did utilize both Verizon’s and Palm's tech support. I believe I can do this now with the Palm with, of course, a purchase of software. I love the fact that I can dial through my Bluetooth headset without ever pulling the phone out of the pouch on the Blackberry. One touch of the headset, and I hear, "say a command" through the headset. Did I mention I love this feature?

The graphics rock on this device. I feel like I am at home watching my plasma when I look at this screen. I also enjoy the option of full MP3 for a ringer.

As a prior Palm user, I will say the Palm software is FAR superior to the Blackberry. I can complete twice as many tasks in half the time with the Palm. Whether I am purging a call log, editing a contact, setting an appointment, or customizing the phone, the Blackberry takes triple the amount of steps necessary to complete the task.

I also do not like the fact that I have to remove the battery cover to access the MiniSD card, and the battery life is terrible, even though I was promised it is strong.

I am likely to return the Blackberry and exchange for the Treo 755P. I think the setup is a bit more challenging on the Treo (in all fairness I dig deep and utilize every possible function), however; once setup is complete the phone is very versatile and user friendly. My time is valuable and even considering that I would acclimate to the Blackberry OS, I can accomplish twice as much in half the time with the Treo. Too bad, I really like the look and feel of the Blackberry much better.