This Blackberry model -- positioned in the middle of RIM's line of Blackberry devices -- is a useful solution for employees constantly on the move, from technicians to salesmen and executives, and who want to stay in touch with the office e-mail. It is basically a device for receiving emails forwarded from any e-mail address (presumably one's office address) and for replying through the same address from anywhere in the country. Actually, count on it in well-populated areas. For a little extra each month, you can get internet access.
The base system needs to be kept on (except for the Enterprise Edition) and redirects e-mail to the handheld, wherever it is. The 957 chimes or vibrates when it receives e-mail, and there is little delay as long as the base machine is working fine. Sending an e-mail from the Blackberry is equally easy. You just have to type in the standard e-mail fields and click 'send' and the e-mail is on its way.
The display, though on a handheld, is big enough to make reading long e-mails easy. The backlight helps when it is dark. Moving through the e-mail is convenient with the track wheel and the 'Enter' key on the keyboard. Typing an e-mail for sending is remarkably fast, considering that it is a mobile device. I was able to type quickly using just my thumbs (making the expression 'all thumbs' quite meaningless). The orange control key and shift keys are conveniently placed.
The track wheel is a very interesting and useful control. It is a sort of mouse for moving the focus from one item to the next. Once the desired character or option is highlighted, pressing the wheel amounts to clicking on the selection. Hold the shift key down while 'track wheeling' to select a large portion of text for cut/paste/delete operations. The orange alt-key, the shift-key and the track wheel are used in various combinations for all types of quick and easy shortcuts.
The PDA functions that go beyond e-mail are an address book, memo, calendar for scheduling, task list, calculator and an e-mail search feature. These functions (barring the calculator) can be synchronized with the base system as well. The calculator could have been made much more sophisticated considering the display size available. Search could be made available on notes and tasks as well.
One feature that was missing is the ability to send attachments, which would need other software like a spreadsheet or word processor. Some current cell phones do have the ability to send e-mails with downloaded attachments. The 957 does have a facility to download third-party software written for the Blackberry. These partners have expanded the Blackberry's offerings to cover a host of extension services.
A lot of setup effort is spent on the synchronizing process between the base system and the handheld. The data transfer through the cradle is very fast. Charging the device is a snap, and the charge stays for long periods of time.
All in all it is a very useful gadget for people on the move.
