Alright, I'm in the market for a new cell phone, and I've been looking at the BlackBerry. First, I am wondering if a 17 year old student (like myself) would be well-served by a BlackBerry, or should I perhaps consider something else? Next, I would like a phone that is capable of instant messaging (preferably with MSN messenger), e-mail, and is able to access all manner of websites from myspace to amazon, etc; would the BlackBerry be capable of all of this? Third, I'm going to be signing up with T-Mobile, and am wondering if I should just go with the 7290, or muster up the patience and wait for them to release some manner or the 8700 series.

Yes, the BB will do it all. As for model, that is personal preference. The 8700 can achieve EDGE speeds, so I certainly prefer it to the 72xx series. And the screen is much better as well. You can also get the 8700 without contract and then unlock it for use on T-Mo, your choice. But I can tell you that the BB will be a very pleasureable experience.

Been through this with my 2 college bound kids.

IMHO, a 17 yo college student would not use the features of a BB. You first need to see what company provides the best service where you will be going to school. If T-Mo is your choice, have you checked out the service where you are goign to school? T-Mo has a tower near the campus of where my daughter goes but Verizon is the best service, follwed by Cingular and then T-Mo. She currently has Cingular but plans to switch to Verizon this summer for connection reasons. Plus most of her friends are on Verizon and that makes the decision easier and cheaper.

Then you need to decide what you really need in a cell phone, features, connections etc.

The see what you can afford and then determine the device to get. A BB comes at a bit of a premium cost as you need a BB data plan which typically runs higher than most ordinary data plans. Can't speak for T-Mo but I have experience with both Vrizon and Cingular.

Email and IMs should be secondary on your list of things to have. If it is a requirement, then one of the PDA phones might be a better option.

Been there, done that.

Dub

I would suggest a sidekick for your use. I think you will get bored with a BB.

I agree Soapm.

Frankly, I don't know if a 17 year old would like it - for long at least. I'd get a Treo, or a Sidekick.

Probably right, it just depends upon the sophistication level of the person. If what they are after is fun and trendy, the Sidekick is better. But if they are after reliable email and communication devices, then a BB is correct. I just thought it sounded as if the poster was the latter.

"A 17 year old won't like it and would be better served with a Sidekick II" is a broad over-generalization. As seattle18 says, it really depends on the individual in question.

I would agree that the odds are that the Sidekick II is a better match for a teen. However:

The Blackberry's strengths IMO are push email and reliability (OS and hardware). If that's what you're looking for, age is irrelevant. If listening to MP3's, taking pictures, playing games, looking cool with a slim RAZR-esque phone, and/or running various apps (for example) are your priorities then you're better off served with a different device.

Again, age doesn't really factor in unless you're looking for the latest trendy cell device. Of course, that might not be the case either with the number of celebs known these days to carry BB's.

Well, as nice as a sidekick II would be, I would prefer something that is more reliable than it is flashy and trendy. And from poking around on the forums, it seems like the BlackBerry is able to be personalised more (with programmes and the like) to the user's needs than something like a sidekick. And as for palm devices, I'm not terribly fond of them.

As a 20 year old about to graduate college, I'm personally in the market for a Blackberry. HOWEVER, I currently own the sidekick and love it (and went with it because I wanted to wait for the 8700 last year), but it isn't without it's disadvantages. The internet is significantly slower than I would expect from a Blackberry on EDGE (since you said you're going with TMo). In fact, I barely use it for web browsing, but the occasional checking in on myspace is alright. Of course the IM client is the most reliable, but if you want MSN on it you have no luck. There's this complicated process to obtain a developer key; personally it's not worth it. I would go with the Blackberry--as you've stated, you want something more functional and reliable. The camera on the sidekick isn't anything to brag about either, but once photos are uploaded to a photoblog the images are actually surprisingly good. If you don't care about the camera at all, I'd say get a BB, hands down. Tons of 3rd party apps, too.

Get a ppc phone It comes with msn messenger web browsing etc. and all the familiar apps from a pc, just dont drop,vibrate,hit,or touch it because it will break!

There's also the Palm Treo

I'm sorry.....did you just recommend a palm treo on a Blackberry website?!

Palm Treo.....you serious? That thing blows. My buddy has one and while it's not rebooting it sort of works and almost can do half of the stuff a bb can.

lol, I wouldn't really bother with a ppc device anyway, given that I'm using a mac, and am not too terribly fond of most things pc.

lolz yah right a treo does half a bb does if anything it does more (depends what model the 650 and 700w are better than bb)

I agree, give me your BB and go hang out with the Treo folks... And don't forget to reboot!

Now now... I've owned a Treo 600 and 650 and they're not that bad. The 700w INHO isn't ready for prime time yet. They have nice features but nothing I'd give up my BB for!

Hey, isn't there a rule that you can't recommend a Treo or PPC on here? lol... just kidding

I have owned both myself (BB/Treo/Smartphone)...I think the BB hands down is the utimate tool! I love it over the others all the way! Now, saying that, Iwould like a touch screen, those are nice. Used the treo650, was impressed, but hated having to pop the back and soft reset it ever other couple days. Iam using the BB 7250 now(I know it is the bulkiest one out) but love the qwerty on it, makes it EASY!

Drew