Ok heres's the deal, My boss told me that the company would pay for a blackberry and service (cingular, I assume)for me if I wanted it.

I am torn, I dont travel nearly as much as most of you but I am gone at least a week a month. I usually travel to company offices where I can pick up emails and access company networks easily.

My fear is that this will be another leash tying me to work on weekends, vacations etc. I havent really played with the BB to know all that it does. Is it really all that its cracked (no pun intended) up to be?

Any thoughts , comments would be appreciated

Hope you get a lot of replies to this thread, because I've been thinking the same thing. Are you intending to use it just for email or as your phone too?

I have a cell phone, and laptop, that is all I need to be contacted.

I will *NOT* carry blackberry, checking my email's every 5 minutes is too much for me.

You need some personal time

Not sure have never really used one as a phone so I cant say if i would like it or not.

Besides the standard email uses, the BlackBerry is good for reading news and doing light web browsing when there is some downtime (e.g. waiting in line).

Of course, you do need to be aware of the expectation that you have constant access to email--see how others in your organization feel about the device. If you are fortunate enough for others to be understanding about evenings, weekends and/or holidays, then I would definitely recommend the Blackberry. It frees you of the need to log in to check your email or setting up a connection with your laptop.

I'm not a big fan of the larger (non 7100-series) Blackberry for use as a phone, but the new 8700 series may show more promise because of its smaller size and dedicated phone buttons.

If you're the kind of person who would rather avoid the leash, and don't have a fixation on checking your email constantly, then you probably won't want to get one. I say that because it is, in fact, quite addictive. There's a reason they call it a CrackBerry.

If it's just a question of whether the device itself is a good choice for this kind of activity, then yes, I think they're fantastic on a number of levels. The phone service, however, it tied quite strongly to the service provider. I have had excellent results with mine via Verizon, for example, but had poor service back when I had a GSM model with AT&T. I expect that service will improve, however, as the newly merged Cingular/AT&T infrastructure is built out more.

Having carried a free CrackBerry for 2 years, I don't carry one today.

I don't have a problem shutting it off. But the CrackBerry makes for a HORRIBLE phone, especially without a headset. The volume is too low.

I'm also glad not to be tied to my email. But then again, even with my CrackBerry, I took my sweet time to answer emails that weren't urgent. Even urgent emails that weren't really urgent either were put to the bottom of the pile.

My company pays for my BB, so I don't really have a choice...but I strongly agree with the others above who consider it a leash!!!

I enjoy my blackberry since I have less emails to worry about when I get to my hotel. I don't check my emails in restaurants and rarely when on vacation. I do read my emails on the subway in the morning to work. Don't use it as a phone so I can't tell you how that works. As to being tied to the Crackberry it depends on your boss and the boundries that are put in place. Even if I read emails on the weekend I won't respond unless it is REALLY urgent nor does my boss expect me to.

Outside of the fact I do not ride a subway, your statement would mirror my circumstances.

I really enjoy having instant access to email (if necessary) when I'm traveling on business. I can peruse a dozen emails just sitting on a plane, waiting for the door to close. When I finally get back to my office, my backlog of unread emails is manageable.

I use my Berry just to keep track of incoming mail and only respond or forward mail if it's really urgent. No-one expects me to be constantly in touch but it's good if you're travelling or don't have ready access to the company network.

We're just introducing them to the next level of staff down the organisation - most staff seem to want them but we'll see how they feel after a few months!

Yes!!!!!

Howdy,

I too thought that I would have the same problem - being addicted to email, no matter where I am.

In order to stay sane I have it urn on at 7:30am, and off at 7pm, weekends on at 9am, off at 5pm.

Its on silent, so no beeps, vibrations or whatever.

I carry a seperate cell phone to make and receive calls.

I leave the blackberry at home when not at work, but when I am at work I just check it occasionally, and use it for email when I want to read email. And of course I use it for the diary - linked into outlook.

For example I am on Holidays for the next 3 weeks, and guess what its nicely in its cradle at work.. :-)

stuart

If you get it, you need to (and tell your company to) not expect replies on weekends.

Yes, lock it with your guns/gold/jewellery/unwanted step-child on Friday nights, and don't touch it until Monday morning (or, potentially Sunday night).

If the office wants to give you one so you can be able to do more work at home (i.e. on weekends), then its a bad idea. If the goal is to make you more productive when you're outside of the office, then its a better idea...

Say what you want. Tell the OP to keep it locked up but once you get it into your hands it will start calling out to you. Instant email. Text messages. Not having to call someone and spend ten minutes making silly talk to you can get down to what you really called. The blackberry is just plain awesome!!!!