Larry Bodine is the operator of the Law Marketing Portal where law firms go to find out how to get more business. Now after using the BlackBerry for more than a month, I must say that I like it as well, and in some respects better, than the Palm VIIx. Gone is Palm's big advantage of recording appointments, addresses, phone numbers and to-do lists in a handy little device. The 957 BlackBerry does everything that a Palm VII can do - offering a calendar, address book, task list, memo page, calculator and alarm. Research in Motion's BlackBerry 957 cannot run third-party software, unlike the Palm VIIx.
Users are limited to the pre-installed applications that are loaded on the device.
The BlackBerry 957 is for e-mail power users. If you've ever been stuck out of the office and unable to check your e-mail, the wireless 957 BlackBerry is for you. If you are a lawyer who has ever had to kill time in court, wishing you could catch up on e-mail, the 957 is the answer. If you are a marketing professional who needs to send an e-mail while you're on the road or trapped in a meeting, the BlackBerry 957 is what you need. The 957 BlackBerry looks almost like a Palm device and is a definite improvement over the dinky 950 model, which looks like a pager.