I’ve been thinking of purchasing a BlackBerry as replacement for my cell phone. Though I wasn’t exactly sure how much of an enrichment the BlackBerry would be. I know that President Obama loves his BlackBerry, and uses it mainly for email. I suppose it would be pretty useful as a “mobile office”. You are always in touch with your clients, you can check whether your server is still running, and stay up-to-date on the latest news.

I’ve heard of people using their BlackBerry for twittering (the act of writing stuff on Twitter). Though I do kind of worry about the tiny keyboard, it might make typing A LOT slower. While there are Bluetooth keyboards available for the BlackBerry, it is extra baggage.

So how does a BlackBerry work?
The BlackBerry comes with a PC installation CD that allows you to configure your BlackBerry. Configuration options for email, phone, and sms are among the settings. To activate the settings on your BlackBerry you’ll have to connect it to your PC with a USB cable. Though this synchronization really is only necessary when new software for the BlackBerry becomes available.

The BlackBerry utilizes “push” technology, allowing for constant updating of your PDA. Data transmissions from and to the Blackberry are encrypted using triple DES.

The BlackBerry Bold 9000 comes with quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G connectivity, allowing you to connect from almost anywhere on Earth.

A pretty nifty tool to have!

I absolutely hate running out of USB ports on my laptop, and I reckon most people feel the same way when it happens to them. A PC card adapter USB would add those much needed USB ports in an instant. All you need is a free slot in your laptop and you’re good to go! Let’s look at my USB setup:

1 x Wacom Tablet
1 x Printer
1 x Mouse and keyboard
1 x USB port to charge cell phone
1 x USB stick.

So I need 5 at least, and only have 4. The PC card adapter gives me some extra room for USB device connections. It solves the limited USB port problem on most laptops with very little effort.