Introduction

Having a phone with multiple Internet, email, message and entertainment features is good. Being able to use them simultaneously is better.

RIM BlackBerry Bold (9000)

Your Price: $39.99 with service

When connected to a 3G/HSDPA Internet connection, the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9000 can send and receive email and text or multimedia messages while receiving a phone call and browsing the Internet. Even better, the Bold can do all of this quickly without backpedaling -- if a user shifts to another task, the application they were working in will pause where the person left it until they're ready to return to the original application.

The Bold boasts great connectivity and plenty of opportunities to upload great-sounding music and watch vivid videos on the Bold's large horizontal screen. But the Bold's bulky size, so-so camera quality, lack of extra storage space and bland themes could detract some buyers.

Design

Unless you've got quite a paw, the Bold isn't exactly palm-sized. It measures 4.48 inches tall, 2.6 inches wide and 0.59 inches thick and weighs 4.8 ounces. Sliding the phone into a pocket may not be an option, but conveniently the Bold package comes with a black leather holster that blends in with a pair of black pants. It's also slim so it fits in a purse or messenger bag pocket easily.

The silver-lined black face of the Bold features a full raised QWERTY keyboard with buttons that seem small but are large enough to prevent most typing mistakes. The keyboard contains alt, delete, enter shift, speakerphone and symbol keys. Numbers are located to the left on top of letter keys. The QWERTY design expedites the text messaging process, but it makes calling 1-800 numbers that spell the last seven digits of their phone numbers in words a brain twister to figure out.

Above the keyboard is a bar with, from left to right, a send key, a menu key, a trackball that's rolled to move around the screen, an escape key and an end/power key. On the top half of the phone's face is a large, reflective screen, the BlackBerry logo, an earpiece speaker and a light that shines red when the phone is charging. The soft, black back of the phone contains the phone's camera lens.

Located on the left side of the phone are a headset jack, a USB port, and a media card slot. The right side has volume keys and the top of the phone has a mute/standby key. Each side of the phone contains convenience keys.

The phone's design makes messaging and navigating a snap, although it may be too large for some people's tastes and the specialized features may be more than a novice needs.

Out of the box, the RIM BlackBerry Bold comes with a handsfree 3.5mm stereo headset, a travel charger, a USB cable, a 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery, a quick start guide, a getting started guide and a BlackBerry user tools CD with BlackBerry desktop software with media manager.

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