BlackBerry 8800 - Black (Unlocked) Smartphone

Easy to navigate around the menus. Some of the initial setting up can be a bit daunting at first. I have fitted a 8GB memory card for music storage, the sound quality I found very satisfactory.
Downside is the Bluetooth not being compatible with other makes of phone, I am investigating to see if there is a way around this. No camera also but in hindsight I never really used it much on previous phones and to be honest camera phones never give a good quality pictue anyway.
Overall I would say if you are looking for a phone/pda to organise your life then this could be the one for you. Internet connection is fast and a nice size screen to view it on! Keypad is easy to use and the "pearl" trackball makes navigation a doddle.

The 8800 is an older device and does not have all the latest features but you can get these device for under £50 which makes them a bargain.
What do you need? Most people want a Blackberry for Email, contacts, Diary, the 8800 does these thing really well, the keyboard and screen are large and clear, the battery lasts well and its cheap to buy. Perfect for your basic needs. This model also has GPS so you can use it as a SATNAV device, I tested this with NAV4ALL and it works really well. It has a memory slot so you can use it for a music player although the software is a bit basic and you only have 2.5mm socket but it is still usable.

The bad.
The keyboard and case are a bit plasticy and you fingers don't grip the keys well, it's only a minor niggle but it can effect you during use, the 2.5mm headphone socket means you cant use your own cans for music. There is no WI-FI or 3G so internet browsing is slow. There are models that have WI-FI but you loose the GPS. There's no camera either.

Summary.
If you need a basic Blackberry and GPS get this, it is cheap and perfectly usable, of course if you have the money the 9700 is brilliant but cost four times as much.

I'd give this phone 6.5 out of 10.

If like myself you have had most of the phones on todays market, you may have been somewhat surprised by the Blackberry range, especially my new 8800, yea so what it has no camera facility nor does it take videos nor does it have a radio and I cant video call any one but does your phone give you instant email facility and touch press internet plus the PIN service, yea sure I pay for this service but reducing my monthly contract allowed me to have these facilities, the QWERTY keypad took all of 5 seconds to become adjusted to and I wont ever look back at my N95 in admiration but in a fare well old friend my Blackberry leaves you in the cold. The pure office style layout and uncompromising handling this phones gives has managed to convert 5 of my friends to this Blackberry range as soon as placed in there hands. Yep I would recommend this phone as its grown up and uncomplicated, my life my business have all evolved due to the freedom of email access on the bus, the park bench and even the toilet, so you may never be out of reach because Blackberry can email, phone, text, basic MMS, and the unique service of PIN to which you and I is the instant messaging function shared by every Blackberry owner and is free. Go on treat yourself, you dont know what your missing.
TY

I brought this blackberry 8800 because of it's features, the only thing it's missing was a camera but found I hardly ever used this feature anyway.
The setting up was simple once I got an internet and e-mail service added to my phones package. Not having to power-up my pc or laptop to check up on my e-mails is a great time saver!! Surfing the full internet on the move is always handy thing to be able to do, giving me impotant information when needed when not near a pc or laptop.
The maps feature is also v-handy, if you dont want to subscribe to a map GPRS provider, Google Maps is good and reiliable and being free to download is a bonus.
You sometimes forget this is a phone as well!
All this without even mentioning the basic phone features such as texting being simple and a painless procedure shows how handy this blackberry is.

This particular device is a must have, if you prefer reliability and quality over "trendyness".
It's very reliable smartphone, with expectionally loooong battery life. Regarding the CPU speed, it's such a powerhorse in a very small frame, and I think that the lack of camera does not decreases the overall coolness of this device.
The multimedia capabilities are very good too, I'm using it with an OEM stereo headset, and the sound is nice, of course, it's not like a professional headset, but still very-very enjoyable.
The video playback is crisp on the 320*240, 65k+ display. And you can carry around so much music or video on an SD-card. With OS 4.5, it can even take 8 GB cards!
It's perfectly good for "users", but if you like to tinker with your phone, then you will find, that the OS can be customized very nicely.
After all, this is my phone of choice, and I don't think that I ever change it, except if a new RIM device comes out that can perform better! ^^