Having always used either Palm OS or symbian smartphones I thought I'd give you a short review of the new 8300 after spending 24 hours with this phone.
First thing to say is that it is tiny. Much smaller than the pictures make it look and very light. Easily fits into the palm of my hand and jeans pocket, and one-handed operation is very manageable. Did I say it is really light - having been using a Nokia N95 and previous to that a treo 650, the 8300 feels almost feather-like by comparison.
The screen is stunning - easy to view in the sun (not that we get much of that here in London), and the trackball is an inspiration for scrolling/navigating - it feels solid and confident to use.
I have never used BB before and was nervous about setting up email on it. I followed the setup wizard on the handset itself and within 2 minutes (seriously) I was up and running. I thought I'd have to enter SMTP/POP3 settings etc but no. Just email address and password and it was done. I set up a zen.co.uk and a yahoo.com address and they have worked seamlessly.
There is a certain lack of themes on the device (just 4 or 5 on my O2 one), but I chose one which contains all the icons on the main screen and tidied the ones I don't really use into a new folder called 'rare' so that I can access all the programmes I need without scrolling down.
Maps is brilliant - fast and intuitive, it renders quickly and the images are clear.
I love how sms messages are saved in conversation style and as a communications device (like I had heard) this is undoubtedly the best there is - it seems like you're never more than 1 click away from sending a text/email or calling someone.
Web browser is fast and the sites seem to fit very nicely to the screen.
Call quality is outstanding, as is reception - I live in a basement flat and have tried O2 here on 3 different mobiles - this one is by far the best. And the speakerphone is louder than I'll ever need even on half-volume. Earpiece volume is very loud indeed and this is the first device where I haven't had to turn it up more than 3 quarters of the way.
Physically and aesthetically they have done a superb job - taken a leaf out of Apple's book imho. The black rubberised sides are easy to grip and hold and give a feeling of solidity to it. The casing and battery cover is totally flush and seems to fit perfectly. Keyboard is sturdy and a joy to use (although I have slim fingers and am a concert pianist so I find typing on it very easy - those with fatter fingers may struggle a little bit).
The layout is spare and simple - just what you want. I can access any application with a maximum of 2 clicks, most of them with one.
After installing the desktop software (running Vista) it synchronised perfectly with Outlook 2007 first time and is approximately twice as fast to synch as any other device I have used before.
Haven't tried the cam/media player yet so can't comment on this.
The thing that really impressed me is the speed of the device - apps load instantly and the OS seems incredibly stable. No resets so far, and no problems. I had an illegal exception error when trying to send an sms the first time, but I went into service centre number and retyped the number myself which fixed the problem instantly for some reason.
So all in all, a stunning device - looks the business (especially the glossy back!), phone functions and quality are outstanding, and email is everything they said BB is - quick, simple to set up and idiot proof (thank God).
Can't believe I've waited so long before trying one, and very grateful my introduction to BB is with this phone. I feel like I've finally found an all-in-one device that I'll stick with for a while.
James
BB virgin: my 1st time. Short review.
