Got a new job, pick my phone!!

Will be used primarily for phone and e-mail. Majority of the usage will be in the Bay Area, with some travel very rarely(Mexico, Asia)
 
I'd pick the 8800 from at&t. Good design, good UI, much better than the Blackjack. The 680 is good if you want to pretend to be hip in 2004.
 
I've used both the 8800 and the Blackjack. Unless multimedia is important to you, I'd recommend the 8800 over the Blackjack for Email/messaging.

The most annoying thing about the Blackjack is the fact that it can't keep up with fast typing. When typing fast it drops characters. This is a really bad feature for a messaging centric device.

The Blackberry UI is also a lot more convenient for Email.

The Blackjack is better for streaming media. Partly this is because of 3G, and partly 3rd party software, and partly built-in OS support.

As for 8800 vs 8830, the 8800 has built-in GPS. It is disabled on the 8830. Otherwise they are very similar. The choice there probably depends on whether VZW or AT&T meets your needs better. One advantage of the 8830 is that you get 3G speeds in the U.S.
 
I voted for the Blackjack because if you need a Blackberry, your company should provide you with one. If you had the Pearl as an option, I maybe would have voted for that.
 
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