RIM BlackBerry 8830 World Edition Smartphone Our rating:

The Blackberry 8830, although it looks to be a basic and even to some a boring and bulky PDA/Smartphone compared to others of its kind (and even its Blackberry siblings such as the popular and snazzy Pearl, Storm and Curve), the 8830 is set apart from the others by being both a CDMA and GSM phone. This phone is marketed especially for International businessmen and world-travelers who would benefit most from the network interchangeability. For those Sprint/Nextel and Verizon users who grit their teeth when they want to keep their phone when they change networks, or just switch out their sim card when they travel somewhere overseas with only GSM networks, the 8830 comes to the rescue. With both a CDMA function and a GSM sim-card slot, you get the best of both worlds. For the world-traveler who uses a CDMA network Smartphone, this Blackberry is a lifesaver and relieves a lot of hassle they may have had in the past when it comes to mobile networks and phones. It’s easy to use the World Edition 8830 overseas. Simply activate Sprint/Verizon World Service (by calling Sprint or Verizon, it’s free) and it will work in both CDMA and GSM countries (although the roaming fees are pretty hefty). For those who want to use a local sim-card, just switch out the Sprint or Verizon card for a local network’s card.

The Sprint version of the 8830 lacks a camera, which is a downside and a disappointment since Blackberry tends to stay on the cutting edge, but I suppose most world-traveling businessmen (who this phone is marketed for) don’t need a camera-phone to snap pictures while on a meeting in Beijing. And even though it might not have a camera, you can still fit a lot of media on the 8830 with the memory card option and SDHC capability. The audio isn’t the loudest, but still fairly good for a phone, and the video quality is exceptional. And, since the screen is 2.5 inches, you won’t be squinting your eyes nearly as much as with other, smaller phones. Of course, the 8830 also comes with the mobile internet option and blackberry email, which is outstanding and quite simple to use if you have a data package.

Although the transition to blackberry from another phone, Smartphone or PDA can take a bit of getting used to, since its menu can tend to be a bit complex and difficult to navigate, the convenient “help” functions and online guides make it clear to even the least tech-savvy folks. For those already familiar with blackberries, the 8830 features the trademark trackball as well as blackberry maps, GPS, browser, email, MMS, SMS, wireless e-mail, organizer, and corporate data access. The price is quite fair when you buy it with a new plan or decide to upgrade. Otherwise it retails around $400-600, still a fair price given the features of this one-of-a-kind PDA phone.

LG VX5500 Cell Phone Our Rating:
The LG VX5500 is by far the best cell phone I’ve tested so far. First I’ll just say that I have personally always used whatever phones Verizon will give for free when a contract is renewed, so naturally, this phone as well was a free phone from Verizon. This was the best out of the 3 others I could choose from the last time I renewed.

Since I really use no other functions than the simple phone function, and this does a great job of it, I would highly recommend it for anyone who is looking for a phone to be just that. It’s durable as I dropped it more than once and it’s still going strong. At first I noticed the battery life did not seem a reliable as my previous phone, but after 2 charge cycles it is right up where I would expect it to be. The camera on it is what you would expect from a basic camera phone, VGA quality. No technical issues whatsoever, and Verizon service is always great. The design is sleek and fits well in my pocket.

One downfall of this phone is that it does not have a simultaneous “ring and vibrate” feature, but that is a minor issue compared to the otherwise very high quality of the phone.

Overall, I was very pleased with the LG VX5500 and would recommend it to anyone looking for a basic but reliable phone.