PearlI got a BlackBerry Pearl. After happily living with my Ericsson T68i for about 4 years, even I had to admit it was “virtually an antique.” It was time to upgrade. My criteria were:

  • A “candybar” style phone (a non-flip phone). I hate flip phones. They are too thick (ok, except for the Razr) and are designed to be worn on your body, which is something I would never, ever do.
  • The phone must work in Europe (GSM).
  • The phone must be able to check email. These days that means it must be capable of checking SSL POP mail (such as gmail). My T68i wasn’t able to do any SSL encryption, so I lost contact with my email about 2 years ago.
  • Address book syncing between my computer and the phone. At this point, my address book on my phone only had phone numbers and on my computer all the phone numbers were out of date.
  • Calendar syncing would be nice.

My technical advisor (my husband) recommended either the Motorola Q or the Pearl. I went with the Pearl, in part because I am not a fan of “Microsoft’s familiar and trusted Windows Mobile software.” I also did not anticipate ever integrating the phone with Exchange Server. I am very happy with my choice:

  • It takes about 5 seconds to set up simple email checking (e.g. gmail). It takes about 10 seconds to set up more complex email checking (e.g. SSL POP corporate email).
  • You can customize phone, email, IM, and SMS alert profiles to your heart’s content.
  • The interface isn’t terrific, but it is OK.
  • I am enjoying having my calendar much more than I thought I would.
  • Google Maps for BlackBerry is very cool.
  • The phone quality (what? this thing is actually used as a phone?) is good.

If you are curious about the Pearl, I have a nice treat for you. I have the experience of syncing the phone with both a Mac (using PocketMac, syncing with Address Book and iCal) and a PC (using BB’s Desktop Manager, syncing with Lotus Notes 7’s address book, calendar, and tasks). Read my later post for my issues with both synchronizations options.