BlackBerry Curve

Three days ago I got my first Blackberry, a curve, also known as the 8300.

This is my first "fancy" phone, the ones I've had before are the ones that come free with the plan.

The reason I decided to get one is because I might be traveling more often in the near future, and BlackBerries allow you to stay connected while on the road. In addition to being a phone, a BlackBerry can be used to send and receive emails while on the phone. It also includes a browser to surf the web wirelessly.

To be able to take advantage of the email and browsing issues, a data plan is needed. Cingular/AT&T offers several data plans, and it is not entirely clear what the advantages of one plan over the other might be. For personal use, their $29.95/month plan is the best, since it offers unlimited data access. Cheaper plans limit the amount of data transfer, and more expensive plans are meant for corporate users with a Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES).

The curve is the newest BlackBerry model out, the reason I chose it over other models is primarily because it features a full QWERTY keyboard, making it easier to type emails. It also didn't hurt that when I was doing my research, all reviewers in Amazon had given it 5 stars.

After a few days of having it, I can say that I like it very much. I can snap pictures with the built-in camera and immediately send them as an email attachment to family and friends. The only complaint I have is that the web browser is a bit slow, it kind of reminds me of my dialup days.