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Vodafone BlackBerry 7100V
Price: £0-100 inc VAT contract dependent

Features
Performance
Ease of use
Value for money
Overall

Reviewed By: Andy Shaw

This review updated: 14/02/2005
Featured in magazine:
Issue 101
Manufacturer Contacts:
Supplier: Vodafone
Web Address: www.vodafone.co.uk


The BlackBerry was one of the first devices designed specifically for carrying internet services like email around with you. The latest generation is midway between a phone and a PDA, with a full keyboard and a GPRS connection. But don't you have to be connected to 3G to get a decent internet connection?

Features
If you're looking for a phone that can browse the net and look after your email, this has all the features you'll need. It also comes with standard PDA functionality like a contacts database, calendar and address book, though these aren't as easy to use on the device as they are on a standard Palm or Pocket PC.

Performance
The phone works remarkably well. Its GPRS connection (sometimes known as 2.5G because it's faster than the standard mobile phone network but falls short of the speed offered by 3G) is slow to download large, graphical websites, but it deals with rendering them on its diminutive screen exceptionally well. There's no 'walled garden' in place here either – with this device on the Vodafone network you can access the entire web, just as long as the pages aren't too complicated to be viewed on its little screen.

Ease of use
The QWERTY keyboard takes a bit of getting used to, especially if you're a serial texter or are so used to touch typing that you don't really know where any letters are unless your fingers are lying on them. A scroll wheel provides a handy way of browsing through menus, but with most of the options in its various features relying heavily on a single menu, there's lots of scrolling required to get anything done.

Value for money
With a minimum contract of £18.50 a month, you have to fork out £100 for the phone, which may make you wish you were getting 3G speed for the price (though you'd be lucky). On top of this you'll have to pay for your phone calls and for the amount of GPRS data you send and receive. You could walk out of a shop with a free phone, but the contract is likely to set you back a bank balance engulfing £85 a month. Either way, internet access on the move is a long way from being as good value as it is if you're sitting at home.

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