BlackBerry Pearl 8100

“So does the Blackberry Pearl do its job? Well, as a consumer device, it's a definite success. It's slim, it looks great, ticks all the right boxes and adds the killer instant email feature. For kids who are on email all the time, its a great feature - and the fact that RIM is already starting to ship truckloads of these things seems to back that up.”

“Die-hard BlackBerry fans will be glad to hear that the addition of all these consumer-friendly features hasn't lessened the device's prowess as a stellar messaging device. The Pearl supports the RIM push e-mail technology that has made the BlackBerry so popular, and adding a POP3 e-mail account is a snap. You enter your e-mail address and password, and within minutes your messages will be delivered to the device. It also supports AOL, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo instant messaging networks. None of the new features on the Pearl are earth-shattering, most smart phones have offered music players and cameras for some time. And the phone has rough spots in audio quality and key design. Nonetheless, when you combine its well-executed features with RIM's messaging capabilities and the Pearl's sleek look, this device is a winner. This sleek cell phone adds a serviceable camera and multimedia features to BlackBerry's already terrific e-mail capabilities.”