I will give you an honest response although long. I live in Canada and you know where the BB came from. I have used the following devices since the inception of Blackberry. Original 857, 6280, 7130g, 8700r, and pearl. Also the Nokia e61 with BB connect and now the M600i with BB connect. The pearl is a great device. It is small, compact, with all the bells and whistles. The key board is tight but predictive text is great. The screen is dimmer that the 8700 and the M6ooi. If you are a heavy user of email and text, do not buy the pearl. Although predictive text is great it is no answer to a full qwerty. THe difference with the m600i is the key pad allows you to select either side of one key which in essence is a full qwerty although small. If you want the smallest device and need, not want a camera, go pearl. If you want a pda with touch screen and a better organizer and a stylus go m600i. The BB are made for heavy email use and the delivery of such is more robust. The m600 and the e61, which I have used are capable of delivering quality email and in a timely fashion if you don't expect BB speed. Now what are we talking about when it comes to speed. M600 will deliver the email, through BB connect in about one to two seconds slower time. Ask yourself: Is this critical? If not and you want a better MP3 player with better looking interface go sony. If you want WIFI go E61. I have had all the devices. I still have a BB 8700r. Why? Because I am Canadian and BB are Canadian and I feel proud to have all the world lusting over a device that originated and is still made in canada. The m600 will take some getting used to and it will take time to match the OSystem with the BB connect client. But it will work and it will not crash.