Post a Comment On: AstralBase

Despite the fact that I cancelled the first Blackberry device and shipped it back for a lack of service in my area, and despite them calling me back and saying Cingular had excellent coverage in my area, and despite the fact that I agreed to get a Blackberry 957 sent to me for $199 (the other one on the other network was free) on Thursday, and despite the fact that I called back and cancelled it on Friday, the device arrived on Monday.

My first instinct was to immediately take it to the post office and return it. I had sold myself out of wanting one. Well, the geek in me won out and I decided to open the box. After all, it's on a 14 day trial and what the heck, I might as well TRY it.

Two days later, I am hooked. This thing not only reads and responds to all my normal email but also has IM built right into it. That along with syncing my outlook contacts, tasks, to do's etc. All I can say is that when it works like this, it rocks!

The only thing I am debating now is whether I want the model 957 they sent which has a pocket pc/palm form factor or whether I want the pager form factor. The palm one is nice and the screen is about 2.5 times the size, however the keyboard is the same and frankly, in my world, smaller electronics are almost always better. One other important thing is that this device has a rechargeable, unserviceable battery in it... which means if you are on the road and it dies and you don't have your charger... you're screwed. The 950 can use a normal AA battery or a rechargeable lithium ion battery. This is a good thing. I'm going to give it a day or two but I will probably ship this one back for a model 950.