RIM Color BlackBerry 7230 Review

securitas submits this painfully well-linked piece: "eWEEK reviews the RIM BlackBerry 7230 color handheld, Research In Motion's latest combination wireless e-mail/phone/PDA, and the first BlackBerry to feature a full-color display. The tri-band GSM/GPRS J2ME device features a 240-by-160-pixel, 65,000-color display, 16 MB flash +2 MB SRAM, an Intel 386 32-bit chip, SMS, an HTML browser (missing from the preceding BlackBerry 5810), a claimed 4 hours talk/10 days standby removable/rechargeable lithium-ion battery, POP3/IMAP/Exchange/Notes wireless e-mail for up to 10 accounts with file attachment management, security via Triple DES encryption, USB sync/recharging and the usual organizer functions. RIM squeezes it all into a 4.8 oz/136g, 4.4x2.9x0.8 inch/11.3x7.4x2.0 cm package (tech specs at RIM). The BlackBerry 7230 is exclusive to T-Mobile USA until 2004 and costs about $400. With this release, RIM is moving the BlackBerry into the prosumer/consumer market to expand its customer base beyond enterprise users. The release comes amid speculation of BlackBerry doom following RIM's recent patent ruling loss and ahead of the highly anticipated Handspring Treo 600, its direct competition (which includes the MS Pocket PC Phone Edition Smartphone and the Palm Tungsten W). More at Wired News, E-Commerce Times, InfoWorld and Forbes/Reuters."

Plaintext tota!

[anonymous coword]

Even the printer freindly version is bloated. Here is the cleaned up tota!

August 16, 2003
RIM Ships Color BlackBerry

By Jason Brooks

The BlackBerry 7230, the latest in Research In Motion LTD.'s line of BlackBerry wireless messaging devices, became available in the United States this week, complete with a tri-band GPRS radio and an attractive new color display.

Like the BlackBerry 5810, which eWEEK Labs reviewed last year (see review), the 7230 maintains the mobile messaging competency on which RIM's BlackBerry devices have risen to popularity. However, users who need more than basic messaging and cell phone functionality will have to look elsewhere.

The 7230 does include applications for managing contacts, calendars, to-do items and notes, but it lacks appreciable third-party application support and is also missing any sort of memory or peripheral expansion slot. Competing Pocket PC- and Palm OS-based devices offer these things.

In addition, some of the improvements we'd hoped to see materialize since last year remain absent. For example, the 5810 was the first RIM device to ship with a General Packet Radio Service radio, and yet it lacked an HTML browser--which would be one of the best uses for a speedier Internet connection.

The 7230 does include an HTML browser, but T-Mobile USA Inc., the only currently available service provider for the new RIM device, does not officially support HTML browsing. Instead, the T-Mobile service plans available for the 7230 allow access to a handful of Wireless Application Protocol-based "t-zones," including information such as basic news and sports headlines.

Somewhat confusingly, though, we could in fact visit HTML pages in our tests, albeit with unpredictable results. We at times received network error messages, and HTML pages tended to load slowly. Browsing seemed to work best when we configured the browser not to download images.

The 7230 sells for $399. Unlimited wireless data and t-zone access costs $29.99 per month atop one of T-Mobile's standard phone rate plans. Alternatively, users may opt for a $39.99 monthly plan with unlimited e-mail, t-zone access and 300 two-way text messages. On this plan, voice calls cost 20 cents per minute.

The 7230 performed acceptably as a telephone, although it does require the use of an included earbud/microphone combo. We'd like to see a Bluetooth radio included in the device, which would enable the 7230 to team with a wireless headset. In addition, integrated Bluetooth would enable users to access the 7230's GPRS Internet connection with a laptop.

RIM lists the 7230's talk time at approximately 4 hours, with a standby time of 10 days.

Measuring 4.4 inches tall, 2.9 inches wide and 0.8 inches thick and weighing 4.8 ounces, the 7230 is a bit smaller than the 5810 and similar in size to Handspring Inc.'s Treo.

Can BlackBerry keep selling? Read all about RIM's job woes.

The 7230 is built with the same sort of thumb keyboard found in previous versions of this device, but instead of the 160-by-160-pixel monochrome display that the 5810 featured, this device comes with a 240-by-160-pixel, 65,000-color display that we found very readable both indoors and in sunlight.

The 7230 can be used to send and receive e-mail from Microsoft Corp.'s Exchange or IBM's Lotus Software division's Domino servers via RIM's desktop redirector software or its Enterprise Sync Server products.

RIM's BlackBerry Web Client Web-based service is designed to forward mail to the 7230 from Post Office Protocol and IMAP accounts, as well as from Exchange accounts using Outlook Web Access and from Notes accounts using iNotes.

The Web Client worked well enough, but we found it frustrating that once we'd added an account for forwarding, we couldn't view or change any account information beyond our password.

Senior Anal ist Jason Brooks can be reached at [e-mail].

Blackberry Jam

[cybermace5]

These things keep getting more and more appealing. Someday when I have money I'll have to pick one up.

During the power outage, our execs in New York and Toronto kept in contact by using their Blackberries. Might be the first time they ever REALLY used them, but hey!

RIM software extremely super bad

[Anonymous Coward]

As part of my job I develop three applications for the Blackberry. All of them involve network access. The experience has been absolutely infuriating. Firstly you must use RIM's JDE which is terrible and slow. Secondly the operating system is a dog. In the 3.3 version the handheld unit would sometimes reboot, and this can take as long as 8 minutes in my experience. In the 3.6 version the network stack crashes itself by spawning too many threads, but then doesn't fix itself so the user is left to figure out for himself that he needs to reboot it with a paper clip (more often the user will be likely to just smash the damn thing and bring it to IT folks in pieces.) In the simulator, the networking stack can throw uncaught exceptions. The Blackberry Enterprise Server, which is needed to push data to the handheld, crashes regularly.

I do dearly miss the previous generation of Blackberry with Mobitex network access. Not only does Mobitex have vastly better coverage that even works in airplanes, but that version of the handheld had a proper C API and berry-to-berry networking capabilities.

Exclusive? Not Quite....

[Anonymous Coward]

RIM took the same device and gave it two product names, the 7210 and the 7230. Each are precisely the same and the 7230 is likely never to be carried by another company anyway (as RIM will make them specific for the carrier's needs then slap different number variation on it to distinguish the difference). I'd recommend anyone getting one to get the 7210 on AT&T Wireless as you won't have to deal with the crappy coverage that has become synonymous with the T-Mobile name. I got mine this last week, am not using the phone function, and still am at 65% battery left! Related reading: http://news.com.com/2100-1041-5063352.html [com.com]

Re:Can you still buy Blackberry units?

[Jeffrey Baker]

RIM doesn't provide the service. It uses regular GSM GPRS service.

Re:Can you still buy Blackberry units?

[incast]

The injunction banning RIM from selling was stayed pending appeal/re-examination of NTP's patents. You can read more about it at RIM's corporate website [rim.com]. For the meantime and the years it will take to get this through appeal, BlackBerry can continue to be sold in the USA.

Ad? I think not.

[The Revolutionary]

Of the submitter's previously accepted stories, this one [slashdot.org] and this one [slashdot.org] mention BlackBerry.

While both do mention BlackBerry, both also mention competing products in a good light.

Submitter's other stories which have been accepted, stories on completely unrelated topics, are equally abundantly linked.

Judging by the submitter's past comments' moderation, the submitter does not need more karma.

I suspect what we have here is not an ad, but rather a story submitted by a user who has some exceptional interest in following handheld phone/data technologies.

Don't be so paranoid

[securitas]

a company spokesman. No real average human being would have that many links of a product except a company man.

Survey says.... BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

Sorry, but I have never had anything to do with RIM beyond meeting some of their staff at trade shows.

By your logic I work for Handspring [slashdot.org] and Sony [slashdot.org] too. If you look at my previous posts I always try to include a variety of sources.

I'm considering getting an all-in-one phone/PDA-type device and I was looking at the relative merits of a BlackBerry vs. some of the other more phone-like devices. Since I'd already done the work trying to find out about it, I thought it might make a useful Slashdot post.

I like mine.

[Anonymous Coward]

At one time, I was using the Motorola C230 mobile... what a piece of trash, really.

Then I moved onto the Blackberry6210 - It was good, no complaints - the monochrome was a bit of a disappointment but the backlight was nice and bright, bright enough that I could use it as a flashlight to find the keyhole on the cardoor if need be.
Now, I'm currently using a colourised version of the 6210 (which more than likely won't be released now because they seemed to be opting to release the 7230 instead). I've got a 7230 waiting for me at a mate's place, I just need to get around to picking it up.
To all you nay-sayers and the people being influenced by them... these devices are great. Battery life is sublime and the functionality is better than anything I would've expected. And for whoever said that there's "no speaker" and that you have to plug in a headset just to listen, that's rubbish.. just put the thing to your head - there's a great speaker built-in.
The only thing I don't have but want for mine is an SSH client but the 3rd party solutions are just too expensive for a single-license purchase.

Re:Exclusive? Not Quite.... Dual vs. Tri-band

[securitas]

The 7210 is DUAL-band. The 7230 is TRI-band. It makes a difference to some people.