BlackBerrys are cool. Sure, they don't have cameras, most don't play mp3s, but if you live on e-mail and always want to be on top of what's happening you need one. No other handheld device comes close to matching BlackBerry's push-e-mail functionality whereby mail is delivered to your handheld by itself. Here's what you need to know.

The models

In Australia there are several major models you can opt to use. These are given specific names, and their major distinctions are:

• 7230 - blue in colour, smaller screen, 16Mb RAM. Entirely suitable as a base model. This should be the least expensive of the range.
• 7290 - blue in colour, smaller screen, 32Mb RAM, Bluetooth. This is a perfectly usable and suitable model for most people.
• 7730 - black in colour, taller screen, 16Mb RAM. Functionally equivalent to the 7230 but with more screen space and slightly slimmer. Even though I've moved on, this was my favourite for a long time. The screen gave more space for content than any other model. It is to the carrier's collective shame that they have not brought in the taller screen equivalent of any other model.
• 7250 - black in colour, smaller screen, 32Mb RAM, Bluetooth, CDMA. This handheld is functionally equivalent to the 7290 with two important distinctions. The first is that the device uses the CDMA mobile phone network and not GSM like all other models (bar the 7130). This means you can only use it with a carrier who provides CDMA. Secondly, the handheld can also be used as a high-speed CDMA modem (just like a Maxon, MiniMax, or Sierra card) but this is billed separately. Nevertheless, it can provide you with Internet access on the road, anywhere, to your laptop or some other computing device.
• 7100x - the first of the candy-bar models, this resembles a traditional mobile phone with the exception it has two letters per key. This is unlike the 72xx/77xx/88xx range which have full QWERTY keyboards. My subjective view is this model is more suited to people who use their BlackBerry primarily to receive e-mails and to make and receive calls. I tend to feel heavy e-mail senders will benefit more from the QWERTY keyboard. The model number varies between carriers; Vodafone has its own unique 7100 handheld. Note the software is identical except for any operator branding.
• 7130 - the candy-bar equivalent of the 7250. That is, this is a CDMA model with the same CDMA benefits of the 7250.
  8800x - this is the newest model with styling not unlike the 72xx series but with a more modern design and more colourful displays. It is likely to be the most expensive, but conversely offers the quality of the most recent manufacturing knowledge.

Note that some models have Bluetooth; that is only a need if you plan to also use the handheld as a mobile phone and have a Bluetooth earpiece, car kit or similar. The Bluetooth will not let you transfer files or perform other, non-audio, functions.

You should expect to receive with any handset a battery, at least one USB cable, a travel adaptor (a powerpoint pluggable head, which connects to the handheld by USB cable), an earpiece and a software CD. Depending on the model you may also receive a desktop stand and a belt clip. The least important item is the software CD; you can freely download the BlackBerry Desktop Manager program from either BlackBerry's web site or a carrier's web site. It would be a shame to win an auction to find any of the other items missing but they're not irreplacable; the USB cable is standard and the earpiece uses a standard jack size.

The pricing

A BlackBerry by itself is of no use; you need to connect it to a mobile phone plan, whether corporate or personal. This will include two components, one being for voice - which may not be an issue if you do not plan to use it for calls - and the other being for data. Check the options here; corporate BlackBerry plans cover unlimited data transfer (with the exception of CDMA modem mode). This means no matter how many e-mails you send or receive, your bill will always be a flat rate. However, plans for individual consumers generally have a cap of so many megabytes. Do note that the BlackBerry only sends mail in plain-text form so the sizes of e-mail messages are very lightweight; there is no bulky HTML formatting or other issues that beef up message size and consume download limits unnecessarily. Images and attachments can be easily retrieved but these are not sent by default.

The CDMA modem mode pricing is at a rate of an additional monthly charge for so many hours with excess pricing. It is comparable to MiniMax pricing but with the advantage of only one device required.

To BES or not to BES

Companies (or well-off individuals!) may choose to use a BES - a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. This is additionally-charged software which connects to your mail server itself. This means as soon as an e-mail comes in to your server, the BES will fire it off to your BlackBerry. Sometimes you will even find your handheld has received the message before your desktop mail client has polled for it! The BES supports a number of licensed users; one BES can service many, many handhelds. Other advantages of the BES include an administrator being able to set policies to company handhelds or being able to wipe a handheld completely over-the-air should it be lost.

Individuals will almost always use a web-based service. This means you create an account at a special web site hosted by your carrier. Here you enter the details of all your e-mail accounts (POP3, IMAP, Hotmail are all supported). The BlackBerry servers will then poll your accounts on regular intervals and forward new mail to your handheld. Note that this is not instantaneous like with a BES, there will be some delay (on average 15 minutes) but this still offers huge productivity benefits by allowing you to manage e-mail no matter where you are.

Carrier upgrades

One last point to mention is that all the carriers make handheld system software updates freely available. These are downloaded from their web sites and are applied via the BlackBerry Desktop Manager software. If you buy a handheld, it does not matter if it has older system software or even if it came from a different carrier to the one you use, provided your preferred carrier supports that handheld you can freely download their own customised up-to-date version of the system software and load it on.

Welcome to the world of BlackBerry and learn why business execs the world over call it the CrackBerry :)