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One of my criteria when I recently got a new phone was that it be capable of acting as a modem occasionally for my laptop, a MacBook Pro. While I don’t need access frequently enough to justify the $59.99 monthly fee of having a dedicated EVDO card, on occasion it would be helpful to have Internet access – perhaps to show a client a web site when I am offsite.Now according to RIM (BlackBerry) the 8830 can not be used as a tethered modem, nor can it be used as a Bluetooth modem, here is a quote from their support site:”Mac users will not be able to use their BlackBerry handheld as tethered modems with their mac laptop or computer as there is no support capability for Mac yet. The Mac does not use or recognize the standard modem drivers used by Microsoft Windows. At present, there is no tethered modem support via Bluetooth® functionality for Windows or Mac…”A quick search on Google tells a different story. I quickly found a forum thread that indicates that the 8830 can be used as a DUN Bluetooth modem. Below is a summary of the directions that I found for setting the 8830 up as a Bluetooth DUN modem on my network Verizon Wireless:

• Go to System Preferences (OSX 10.4.x or greater)
• Choose Bluetooth
• Under the Setup tab choose “Set Up New Device”
• The Wizard should walk you through the process, but here are the details you need:
  • Username = yourphonenumber@vzw3g.com
  • Password = vzw
  • Phone Number = #777
  • Modem script = WWAN Support

This worked for me – while speed wasn’t great over bluetooth, it certainly meets my needs. If you are trying to accomplish this as well I would highly suggest you checkout the forum thread I previously mentioned.

While there may be no smartphones that met all of my criteria right out of the box it does look like both the Palm Treo 700p and the BlackBerry 8830 came very close. Both phones are feature rich and include many important features such as robust e-mail, Internet, modem capabilities and the ability to read common document formats. However in the end I found a few things that I preferred about the BlackBerry 8830 including:

1. User interface – I like the user interface on the BlackBerry I found it very intuitive. The trackball interface was very easy to use.
2. E-mail – This is what BlackBerry is famous for and give it a try and you see why.
3. Form factor – The 8830 is slim and fit well in the hand – a big plus.

Once I have had ample time to use the phone I will post a short review.