The low price tag absolves Blackberry of all sins, but it takes a lot to get used to the 8830

On the Monday after Thanksgiving in New York, I had a few holiday dollars smoldering in my pocket. So I hoofed it down to Broadway and Lafayette.

I walked into a Verizon store in search of my first Blackberry. I selected the elegant and very light-weight 8830, the global smartphone that is designed for use on most continents. There was a lot to like up front, though I was a little irked I could only get it in red or metallic, and not black. I prefer black. But I didn’t want to leave that store and walk or take the subway all the way up to Grand Central Station and the two other Verizon dealers up there.

Given that fashion considerations bother me about as much as the pope — meaning I don’t even think about them except once a year — I selected the global unlimited data plan, because I soon would be spending the rest of 2008 in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Latvia. Do they have mobile phone services in Latvia?

Oh, you bet there are, and my main man Juris Kaža, up in Riga is holdin’ it down. Juris rhymes with GPRS! Woot!

Little did I know that I would be getting a deal. Turns out that Verizon is trying to move these bad boys out the door. I got mine for ONLY $US169. Add a $70 rebate to that and my first Blackberry costs less than either of my first iPhone or Blackberry billing cycles.

The Verizon bill is expensive for the first month because I am tacking on the global plan. After I get back to lovely domestic New York City, I drop about US$60 worth of service and continue on my merry way. SO! A $90 Blackberry! Darn tootin’!

But its not a proper Blackberry story until I bitch about it.

A. Is there a “Blackberry for Dummies” series? This thing is complicated. I can’t even figure out how to create addresses from scratch and put it in the contacts folder. It takes a lot of fiddling to figure things like this out.

B. It uses software that does not mesh well with my Apple Powerbook. My “does not mesh well” I mean it doesn’t.

C. The whole sending me a copy of everything I send through email is bothering me. The Verizon salesman set her up, so I don’t even know what he did. I send an email and it sends me a notification. Thanks, dawg.

D. I think the iPhone touch screen is superior to this keypad. It makes clicky noises. I don’t like clicky!

E. Do the keys’ markings rub off? The lettering and these plastic keys look and feel a bit rinky-dink.

But what do I love? A whole mess of features. LIKE:

A. That little red light at the top indicating I have a message. It signals to me while I am working, and already vulnerable to checking my finance portfolio on Google, I always pick it up, even though I could just as easily check my email right in front of me.

B. I can tune the phone to be absolutely silent or I can make it so it makes this yoga gong sound when a message comes in. I like the gong sound. It’s comforting. Smooth.

C. The keys sometimes light up blue. Ooooh, colors!

D. I can create folders. I can manage folders. I feel alive, like a scientist creating logical pathways that delineate easily reachable files! My god! Send me things and I shall file the crap out of them!

E. Dude! An 8% reduction on my monthly bill, because my company is awesome. And I’m awesome. Mostly. Even though I whinge a lot.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry