Blackberry has always been plagued with poor technology. While Nokia was developing 3G and WiFi, BlackBerry was developing colour screens. (kidding)

The BlackBerry 8520 does a fine job of masking its technological inferiority to its rivals.

I like:

- BlackBerry internet service. Its an all you can eat buffet. Including downloads within reason.

- QWERTY keyboard.

- small compact size

- decent battery life

- 2gig card included

- touch trackpad

I didn't like:

- phone slows down with only a few apps installed

- no pouch included

- poor screen quality

- no 3G

- in call audio sounded like caller was in a tin can

- cheap look and feel

The 8520's key rival is the Nokia E63. Bare in mind that the E63 is about 300 years old as opposed to the BlackBerry being around for about a year or so. The E63 is a little bulky, but it's rugged, good looking, easy to use and so many people use it, so it must be good. The 8520 has a terrible screen, it hangs all the time and the build quality is iffy.

I do like the BlackBerry operating system but that is also a matter of taste. Most people like the more familiar Symbian system on the Nokia, which I feel is past its sell by date.

The E63 also has 3G. Now that isn't very impressive considering there's 3G on my cheap old Samsung. But the BlackBerry 8520 only has GPRS and EDGE. Now that can be a deal breaker in this day and age. If speed is your "thing" then the BlackBerry 8520 isn't.

So to sum up:

The Nokia has a more established operating system, a better screen performance, 3G and the pedigree of Nokia. The BlackBerry has a nice operating system but its slow and ugly.

So I recommend you buy the BlackBerry...

Okay so I'm doing a bit of a Top Gear "set you up to be surprised" thing. The reality is that the BlackBerry still has everything you need including WiFi. It just has a slighty slow internet connection and the screen's resolution is a bit low. But it still has the unbeatable BIS data plan. Integrating seemlessly with your emails, downloading attachments and applications for free, unlimited facebook photo uploads is included, along with the luxury of being online 24/7 without paying a cent extra on your contract. And that touch trackpad is a winner.

At the end of the day a BlackBerry could be a brick with an aerial. But with the data plan on offer its pretty hard to beat. If you can't afford an iPhone or the BlackBerry 9700, get the 8520.