Vikas Bajaj
September 24, 2003
E-mail fiends who can't live without easy access to a keyboard and an always-on Internet hook-up have never had it better. The wireless industry is eager to feed their addiction.
A slew of new mobile phones feature the thumb-operated keyboards made popular in the late 1990s by the two-way Blackberry pagers often toted by consultants and lawyers.
Following the lead of Research in Motion, the Canadian firm that makes the Blackberry, the world's biggest cell phone makers are offering their own e-mail concoctions.
I tested four of the latest creations: the Nokia 6800, the Blackberry 7230, the T-Mobile Sidekick and the Hitachi G 1000. Several others, including the Handspring Treo 600, will hit the market in time for the holiday shopping season.
Given the variety of tasks these phones perform, each device excels and falters in certain respects. Also consider battery life. Despite improving battery technology, wireless devices are increasingly power hungry, especially those that do e-mail and surf the Web.
Nokia 6800
On balance, the Nokia 6800 ($149.99 from AT&T Wireless) is the best phone and e-mail combo I've seen to date. It's also the most affordable.
The 6800's keypad panel flips over and snaps into the top of the phone - think butterfly wings. The screen is flanked on either side with two panels that together form a complete QWERTY keyboard.
What appeared a few seconds ago as a standard-issue Nokia phone is now a very accessible and easy to use e-mail machine. The device is a significant improvement over Nokia's bulky Communicator from a few years ago.
The 6800 excels because it's both a useful e-mail device and an easy-to-use phone, familiar in function to consumers. That harmony has eluded most combo devices until now.
Later this year, Nokia will put Blackberry software on the 6800. The e-mail software that comes with the phone today is not elegant and requires users to actively retrieve messages. And the phone's in-box doesn't automatically synchronize with your desktop.
The Nokia provides four hours of talk or 10 days of standby before its battery needs recharging.
Blackberry 7230
The designers of the Blackberry 7230 ($399.99 from T-Mobile) didn't pay much attention to how ordinary people dial phone numbers.
You can't simply start entering a phone number, because the device is so data-centric that it thinks you are typing text, not numbers. You have to select the phone application on the menu, then hit a function key that lets you dial numbers.
That's not to say the 7230 doesn't deserve a second look. It does.
Its larger, vibrant color screen is better suited to e-mail, phone books and calendars. And the 7230 has Research in Motion's patented e-mail software, which remains extremely versatile and easy to use. The 7230 impressed me with its ability to combine the e-mail in-box with the phone call record. It lists incoming messages and calls on one screen, giving you a clear view of your communications over the course of a day.
If your workplace uses the company's Blackberry server, you can keep your desktop and wireless e-mail in-boxes in synch without effort. The 7230 runs a respectable four hours of talk or 10 days of standby on its battery.
Hitachi G1000
Think of the Hitachi G1000 ($649.99 from Sprint PCS) not as a phone but a mini-computer. In fact, you could buy a low-end laptop for what it costs.
The G1000 has a large color screen that can handle all manner of computing tasks, such as spreadsheets, video and word processing. Oh, and it has a built-in camera, too.
That might tempt geeks with big pockets, but it's impractical and unaffordable for most users.
For e-mail, the G1000 uses a pocket version of Microsoft Outlook. This will appeal to users who prefer the full-blown desktop version of Outlook.
The G1000 carries only enough juice for 21/2 hours of conversation or seven days of standby.
T-Mobile Sidekick
The Sidekick ($299.99 from T-Mobile) has been updated with a nifty color screen but has the same design problem that its monochrome predecessor did - it feels bizarre when held up to the ear like a phone. I'd recommend that users avail themselves of the accompanying earpiece.
Also, dialing a number not already in your phone book is cumbersome. Your choices are to scroll through an on-screen, virtual keypad or slide the screen out, thumb in the number and slide the screen back to begin talking.
Like the 7230, the Sidekick redeems itself with its data functions. The e-mail application is easy to use, organizing and displaying messages in a readable fashion.
The Sidekick also has an elegant AOL Instant Messenger application and games that will appeal to younger users. The Sidekick holds enough power for 31/2 hours of talk or 21/2 days of standby.
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(c) 2003, The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.
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