The RIM Blackberry 7100i by Nextel

Nextel has come out with another Blackberry to add to its line of cell phones, the RIM Blackberry 7100i is the latest and greatest Nextel cell phone available to users. The 7100i is much like its predecessors in design and features. It is a slim, stream lined phone, with a crystal clear display, and a quasi-QWERTY keyboard with SureType technology. One added bonus feature most Nextel users will love is the added support for Nextel's walkie-talkie service. This with the Blackberry's push email technology with make the 7100i one of the most sought after phones in the Nextel line. Pricing at a steep $199.99 (if you get rebates) the 7100i is a pretty darn good deal.

The style of the RIM Blackberry 7100i is very similar to other models and is almost identical to the Blackberry 7100g. The 7100i's dimensions are 4.7 by 2.3 by 0.9 inches and only 4.2 ounces make it a small and light phone, easily carried in you pants pockets. The phone is small and easy to hold, feels quite comfortable, and doesn't bother me to hold it to my ear for a long time. The only bad thing about the 7100i's design is its plastic casing feels cheap.

The 7100i boasts a 2.25 inch screen and displays 65,536 colors with a pixel resolution of 240x260, which allows for a clear screen with easy to read text. I liked the functionality of the phone's screen; you can change text size, type and style of the font, and also the backlight time and brightness. Just below the screen you have your shortcut keys which are customizable and then talk and end keys.

The keypad is one of the special parts of the RIM Blackberry 7100i; it has a modified QWERTY keyboard, which has two letters per key instead of one. This allows for the 7100i to be smaller and more phone like. The two letter key design takes some getting used to, especially if you had a full keyboard Blackberry before, but the new SureType technology makes writing text simple once you get the hang of it. SureType technology is a predictive-text entry, once you start typing a word it will present you with a list of possible words that you can select to use. After some time I was able to type like a pro and didn't mind the new keyboard.