BlackBerry Pearl is a Bit Thin

The BlackBerry team has delivered a very thin product with its new Pearl... too thin for my liking. I recently checked it out at Cingular Wireless and I don't know that it is capable of handling the rough work of business. It's pretty delicate unit.

BlackBerry ships the phone without any type of carrying case to protect it and the shiny outer appearance is bound to get wasted within a few weeks. I'm sure aftermarket products are already available and more on the way.

I currently use an 8700g and I love it. The major challenge other than the size of the unit and its delicate appearance is the keyboard layout. Without a full size QWERTY keyboard I can't imagine this unit being the workhorse BlackBerry fans are used to hammering away at.

The Pearl loses the scroll wheel and uses a "joystick" to maneuver through its menus. It's a little awkward but I'm sure the feel for it comes quickly. It comes with a camera and an MP3 player, but that's not why I choose BlackBerry products. Leave the fluff to Treo et al.

Check out the Pearl at a Cingular store near you.

TK