Internet

The Tour's name was inspired by its ability to find Internet service around the globe. In North America, the handset connects to Verizon's high-speed 3G EV-DO Rev A network. On other continents, the device can access 3G UMTS/HSDPA networks.

Either way, Internet service on the Tour is often through a high-speed 3G network, which means fast download and upload times.

The service is great, the browser is not. Pages load quickly and buffering rarely takes long. But while there aren't any major flaws with Internet Explorer Mobile, the BlackBerry browser isn't the easiest to navigate. The issue is no different with other BlackBerry devices.

The smartphone uses VZAccess Manager to connect to Mobile Broadband on the Verizon version of the phone.

Internet service is quick and reliable on the Tour, but is only available through the phone's Internet connection.

Wi-Fi is not included in either Verizon or Sprint models -- but the latter carrier has said it will launch a Wi-Fi-enabled version -- something Sprint now requires on all of its smartphones -- early next year.

Although users are virtually assured to find service across the globe, Wi-Fi would still be a nice asset for those rare times the phone cannot find a 3G network at home or abroad.

Storage

The Tour has 256MB of memory -- 114.8MB of that is free to play around with. It also comes with a 2GB microSD card built into the back. That outshines some smartphones that come with as little as 60MB free. The BlackBerry Bold, for example, comes with more than 800MB of memory, but only 32MB of that is available out of the box.

Not only is that a lot of free memory for a phone to have, but adding the card on top of that means downloading or syncing music from a PC has rarely, if ever, easier. Packing the memory card into the back of the phone is also nice aesthetically because most card not only have to be purchased separately from a smartphone, they also have to be plugged into the side of the phone, making them stick out like a sore thumb on an otherwise sleek design.

Users can choose to save videos or photos to the card or the memory before the image is even shot, and save songs on the card or the phone.

The handset gets five hours of talk time but just 14 days of standby time -- a full week less than similar smartphones.

The Tour has a lot of memory to play around with and come with a microSD card, saving users the expense of buying one in order to store a song library on the phone, which is a likely option considering the Tour can sync with a PC song library, comes with a headset, has great audio and has playlist and shuffle features.

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