Rating: 
Summary: Two-way paging is more than two-times better than one-way
Review: As several reviewers have noted, the RIM 950 device and the function it offers, can outstrip the quality of the underlying messaging service offered by Bell South. For the most part, Bell South works well, but there are some coverage holes, and the infrastructure has occasional outages.The RIM itself is terrific. Two-way paging is a very different communication scheme than traditional one-way. In addition to providing all the function of a one-way pager (including both numeric and text messages), the RIM allows you to originate messages and send responses. This positions the RIM as a hybrid between a pager, an email client and a cellular phone. The ability to respond to a message quietly, by thumb-typing on the keyboard, allows you to rapidly reply in situations where a cellular phone or land-line aren't viable, such as meetings. Those who sit in meetings all day will welcome the ability to keep in touch with the outside world without having to interrupt the flow of the proceedings. Nor will you have to cram all your business into a 15-minute break. In addition, by taking incoming messages as pages (rather than phone calls), you can prioritize your responses, ingoring some messages until later (or altogether) and reacting immediately to others. The RIM is simple to use, includes a useable phone book (to add to your cellular phone's and PDA's). The facilties for searching messages (by sender name, subject, message text, etc.) are very useful if you use your pager as more of an email outlet. The calendar and task lists will duplicate those many keep in their PDAs, and it's not clear that users will be able to let go of their Palms yet. Two-way paging has many novel uses, including a number of email services that allow you to poll for information (e.g., stock quotes, David Letterman Top-10 Lists), or set up agents that will notify you of various events (e.g., bids in your eBay auctions). The pager allows you to send to another pager, to email, to fax, to 1-way pagers, and perhaps most novel, to telephones. The latter will have your message read in typical computer voice to the recipient, which while often hysterical, can be very useful when you need to communicate with someone who's only reachable by phone and you can't make a call. Pager-to-pager communication becomes increasingly useful as more people in your organization sign on board. (You can even send a page to someone presenting at the front of the room to let them know they've gone completely off the rails and should sit down!) The unit itself isn't much larger or heavier than other alphanumeric pagers. It's easy to use, and the keyboard, though small, is surprisingly easy to type on. The display is easy to read, and can be configured for either 6- or 8-lines of text per screen. The backlight works well in dark circumstances. There are a few places in the OS where it seems options could be reordered to reduce the amount of scrolling one has to do with the thumbwheel, but that's a minor issue (and your fingers develop memory for this pretty quickly). Battery life is shorter than that of typical one-way pagers, so best to buy a huge box of AAs at Costco, or get yourself some rechargeables. Overall, a big step forward in pager technology. Once you've moved up to two-way paging, there's no going back.
Rating: 
Summary: Always On - Always Connected - Palm can't do this...
Review: One of the nuances of the Blackberry that is a huge advantage over Palm's wireless products is the device uses a "push" delivery model to allow emails and other alerts to instantly arrive to your Blackberry. I have a Palm V and Palm VII and both use a "pull" delivery model where I have to proactively connect to the wireless world, to get email. The other big factor why Blackberry is great, is the battery life on the 957 is tremendous. One of my employees didn't charge his for 6 weeks with relative use. This is thanks to a lithium battery. My Omnisky had a separate battery from the Palm V battery, and it lasted only 4 hours! 4 hours v. 6 weeks - I think you know which one to buy! Mark
Rating: 
Summary: BlackBerry Bungle
Review: Bought (& returned) the 957 as I found it difficult to handle and use due to two elements of design in the 957 unit. I won't own it until RIM does something different. The BlackBerry 957 is terrific except for two significant things: (1) the "Trackwheel" or "Clickwheel" on the side of the unit, upper right-hand, is awkward to use. You have to type, then shuffle the BlackBerry backward in your hands to grip the left side firmly while you "click" the wheel (located on the upper right side). Then you shuffle the unit forward in your hands to resume typing--it's easy to drop it when doing this, also easy to miss-cue your entry or execution of a "send" command. Hey! I'm a creature with opposing thumb and finger--the click-wheel needs to be located similar to where the original BlackBerry has it--on the deck of the unit next to the keyboard... a user can securely grip the unit this way. (2) ALSO, Yuk... The keys on the keyboard are situated more closely together than the original BlackBerry (compare side by side to the 950 and 850 models), thus making it harder to type and easier to make "fat-finger" errors. In my honest opinion, RIM has two major design flaws here. No doubt, the 957 is more sleek and slim than the 950, and the screen of the 957 is highly desirable (WOW!). However the click-wheel and tighter keyboard design in the 957 are major "don't-buy" disappointments to me. Suggestions: (1) The unit can be kept slim if you put a "Track-roller" in the deck of the unit, just above and to the right of the keyboard--the roller could be about the diameter of a #2 pencil and 1/2" in length, 45' angle, left to right, would be perfect for operating with the thumb (quicker typing and clicking) if designed in this way. (2) Expand the key spacing to equal the original BlackBerry. (3) While I'm griping, maybe add a touch-screen with stylus too. If the above were done, the 957 would be so very awesome, king of all PDA's. I like the original BlackBerry and would be your #1 fan of the 957 except for the above. Thus, I vote with my dollars, they stay in my bank account until a 960??? or some other model comes out with improvements. RIM BlackBerry 957... uhmmm... think it needs a few minor design adjustments to make it "the magnum bomb" of all PDA+Internet devices. Do it RIM!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Device but BAD services and coverage for Aether System
Review: The RIM 957 is a great device and the concept of sending and receiving email WITH YOUR EXISITING email address (so no need to have a second email address) work as promised. Moreover, the PDA functionality such as Memopad, Calendar , etc. work just fine like any other PDA like the Palm. It syncs with your Outlook too! Unfortunately, the devices use Aether System as the Wireless Service Provider and they're VERY UNRELIABLE. I have tried both the RIM 957 and the RIM 950 (like the 957 albeit smaller and have less screen line) and they both use the Aether System for the wireless service. When it work, it works fine. When there's problem on Aether network, expect emails to be delayed for MORE THAN 2 HOURS or worse, and this happened to me, delayed or non-delivarable emails for more than 48 hours. The RIM device is designed for people who rely on their emails but what will be the use of it if the services is poor? I don't recommend this device. I am now using the Motorola TimePort 953 and it uses Skytel's FLEX network which is MORE RELIABLE and allow you to send text-to-voice messaging (i.e. email to a phone number and Skytel Network will call that number and read the email in a digitzed voice). AVOID AETHER SYSTEM AT ALL COST!
Rating:
Summary: DEDICATED PALM USER!
Review: Well, I was a dedicated Palm user until I won the Blackberry 957 in a recent contest! It has all of the productivity tools I need - calendar, contacts, to do's and notes. Synchronizing with my PC was dead easy with the provided Intellisync software. There's also an automatic backup/restore utility that ensures data safety. The added functionality of email and paging is incredible. I can now communicate with my key clients real time, eliminating phone tag when I'm on the road. The browser works well for up to date news and brief research, however there are no graphic capabilities. The transition from the stylus to the compact keyboard was easier than I thought, and a lot more accurate to! The lack of third party applications like Financial Calculator Plus is a bit of an issue. I trust that developers will soon recognize the opportunity with the Blackberry platform. Rogers/ATT is my service provider in Canada. Coverage has been excellent so far, and their flat rate packages include email, paging and browsing. Connection is simple and immediate. I highly recommend the Blackberry for anyone who needs to stay in touch and be more productive!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome PDA that really works
Review: Wow! Simply the greatest. Bought it from Amazon, unpacked it, and had the device synched to Outlook contacts and Groupwise Calendar within minutes...a world record for me. I usually spend several hours and sometimes days getting the PDA synched to my calendar, etc. I have used 3 different Palm Pilots, two Windows CE devices, and this is head and shoulders above the rest. I was skeptical about the micro-keyboard, but it's actually very functional. The only negative is that you have to wait 2 days or so for the e-mail wireless account to be activated, and wireless coverage is not ubiquitous. The best thing about the RIM for me is that I no longer get interrupted for messages by cellphones when I'm in meetings. My secretary simply sends me an e-mail - the RIM vibrates (silently) and I can read the message without disturbing the meeting.
Rating:
Summary: I love these! It's a Palm/Handspring killer!
Review: I got a 950 last year and the 957 in April (when it was in beta). After spending $400+ on a Palm V and using it for a few weeks my company put us all on the 950 with the MS Exchange edition so our corporate email system's users were all linked with our pagers. Since then I never used my Palm again. The 957 is a great improvement over the 950. The extra screen space is great. The calendar features much better with a larger screen. And the synch software seems to work better as well. Ever since I got one I've been the envy of the office because they've been hard to find in stock and RIM's US distribution is pretty weak right now. It's good to see they're finally becoming easier to get a hold of now.
Rating:
Summary: Revolutionary Advance in PDAs
Review: I have owned a dozen pagers, PDAs, Palms, WinCEs, etc. The Blackberry is the revolutionary breakthru. It holds 5000 of my contacts, 1000s of calendar items, 100 memos & notes, and 1000 emails. It is revolutionary because: -it has real-time, synchronized email capabilities -it has a screen big enough to read multiple paragraphs of information -it has a keyboard that allows users to type one page emails -it can be operated with a single hand -it has an effective micro-web browser (Go America) -it has self-recharging batteries that never run down I carry this device everywhere. It has untethered me from my office, allowing me to work at home, at restaurants, on the beach, etc. It also replaces note pads. I just ask people to email me the notes I need. A subtle point: now, instead of making notes to myself about things that I need to do "when I get back to the office", I just do them (i.e. email a direction to someone when I first consider the issue). This has placed much more velocity into my life & decision making. This product is addictive. You will love it.
Rating:
Summary: RIM 957
Review: Do I go large 957 or 950? Well if you want to see 10+ lines of text at time go large. Very functional, esspec. for those using MS Outlook as it sync's up and puts all contacts,address,mail, etc to the RIM. They don't call these "Crack-Berry's" for nothing, you will be addicted to yours as well! A must have for those that like to be connected.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent product
Review: I have owned a Blackberry 957 since June. This product is awesome. The keyboard is great, it sychronizes well with desktop PIM software and the best thing of all, I get my email everywhere (well, almost everywhere). It is light in weight. I will recommend this product over any Palm or PocketPC. It also has a JVM (at least mine does) for running java programs.
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