It’s fair to say that Research in Motion (RIM) changed the way we communicate on the move. Before the emergence of the Blackberry, we were reliant on smartphones to offer us handheld emailing, but then, as now, having to get these devices to log on, connect to server and download our emails was often unpredictable. So when RIM came along with its push email service, with emails that were delivered straight to your handset without you having to go and fetch them, communicating via email on the road became a viable option.

But where previous BlackBerry deviceshave fallen down is with their bulky casing. Barely pocketable, and unwieldy in the hand, the BlackBerry has always favoured function over form. The handsets have also been limited to business users, since individuals wanting to access the service need a server that the BlackBerry enterprise server can work with.

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All this is set to change with the BlackBerry 7100v. It’s consumer focus is clear from the start, with the Vodafone branding and the smaller, more practical design. But the 7100v has had to make some compromises to get itself into this smaller, more consumer friendly format. The exceptional QWERTY keypad has gone, to be replaced by an entirely new keypad of RIM’s construction. Many of the keys are now doubled up, keeping the familiar QWERTY layout while reclaiming some of the space.

The handset is still large by mobile phone standards, however, and it’s not the best looking phone you’ll come across. The grey is a stra§nge choice for a phone intended for public consumption, and the shape is on the wrong side of boxy. Still, at 120g, it’s lightweight and feels sturdy in the hand. It may not match up to some of the more design-focused handsets available, but it’s still a vast improvement on the other BlackBerry devices.

IT managers will need to know that applying the BlackBerry to their network will be cost-effective and secure. However, setting the unit up isn’t as straightforward as it should be and we resorted to ringing the helpline when the automatic setup window didn’t appear. We were directed to a web page that allowed us to get up and running in no time at all, but it was frustrating that the instructions in the box were not really adequate.

Using the keyboard takes a good while to get used to. It’s not as speedy as the full QWERTY keypads on the other BlackBerry models, but after a bit of practice we were able to work up a reasonable speed that was certainly faster than using the mobile phone number pad. Because the keys are nice and big, it really helps to compensate for the loss of a full keyboard and our only complaint is hat once you’ve spent two days getting used to it, you’ll find it very confusing to use a normal mobile phone again.

Another change has been the actual BlackBerry push email service. Single users and smaller companies will benefi t from its use. In order to make it suitable for consumer use straight out of the box, the 7100v doesn’t have to be set up with a company server and will send emails via your usual POP3 email address, as well as a personal Vodafone address. Unfortunately, the downside of this is that emails are no longer actually pushed immediately. Although you’ll find that often emails do arrive as soon as they’re sent, there will be occasions when you have to wait up to three minutes, and, in the very worst cases, it can take up to fifteen minutes. While this is a big downside for the handset, we never once experienced a delay during our trial of the service.

Other than the initial glitch with the setup, the 7100v is very easy to navigate, with a usable scroll wheel and an intuitive user interface. The calendar and other PIM features are not up to the standard of a PDA, but you’ll find them fine for keeping notes of your daily activities. When in use as a phone, we sometimes found feedback and interference from the radio a problem, but sound quality was good and the smaller size made this far more practical as a phone than previous handsets.

The 7100v is likely to have its detractors, with styling still far from perfect and a keypad that will divide opinion. However, for making the BlackBerry service more accessible, in a more convenient form, the 7100v gets our recommendation.

RATING 7
PRICE £85/£100 (EX/INC. VAT) VODAFONE ANYTIME 100
MEMORY 32MB fl ash memory; 4MB SRAM
SCREEN 240 x 260 pixels
BLUETOOTH Yes
EXPANSION SLOT No
BATTERY LIFE 4 hours talk time, 8 days standby
DIMENSIONS 119 x 56 x 19 mm
WEIGHT 120g
CONTACT 07000 500100
www.vodafone.co.uk