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The BlackBerry 8820 is the big beast of the BlackBerry series. Theres no camera, no attempt to make this monster fit into your pocket, and no pretence that this is anything other than a very powerful mobile communications device. In a way, this is BlackBerry at its best - certainly in its purest form. With no distractions, the 8820 just gets on with the job. The 8820 may not be something you want to show off in a pub, but its definitely worth showing off in a conference room. Its surprisingly stylish, considering its utilitarian function, with a hint of curves, and thinner than you might expect. At 134g, its definitely one of the heaviest smartphones around. The display is a good size, although the resolution is not as high as some of the latest smartphones, and incorporates user-selectable font size. The 8820 is packed with a wide range of communication features, including phone, email, instant messaging, GPS, maps, web browser, a wealth of personal organiser functions, and even a media player. Connectivity options include WLAN 802.11bg, as well as Bluetooth 2.0 and USB. The advanced phone features include a speakerphone and voice activated dialling, user-definable convenience keys and dedicated Send, End and Mute keys, making it more like an office phone than a standard mobile. With voice dialling and a Bluetooth headset, its capable of fully handsfree operation. The full 35-key QWERTY keypad and trackball make it the best mobile platform for writing texts and emails - frankly its virtually the same as using a laptop on the hoof. The BlackBerry push email software supports virtually all types of enterprise and personal email servers and standards, including popular webmail systems such as Hotmail and Gmail. Security is given full attention, with password protection and a keyboard lock, plus full support for encryption when using BlackBerry Enterprise Server to access data. The 8820 isnt quite all work and no play however. Theres a media player built in, so you can listen to some music or even watch a video on the train or between meetings. You can plug in stereo headphones or use a Bluetooth wireless headset. Battery life is excellent, with a heavy duty battery giving a theoretical standby time of 528 hours. In practice, the 8820 may not reach this limit, but has plenty of juice for continuous working throughout the day.