How often do you check your Blackberry?  Recently, much of society has become dependent upon Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).  Who can blame them?  With features including Internet access, Email, mobile phone, instant messaging, camera, MP3 player, calendar, and games, PDAs such as the Blackberry Pearl would be hard to replace.

A device that is so important requires that the user take special care of it.  One way this can be done is by purchasing a case for your PDA, such as a Blackberry Pearl Case.  Blackberry Pearl Cases come in several different styles and colors.  If your Blackberry Pearl isn’t customized already, it will be after you purchase a Blackberry Pearl case!

Deciding On A Price Range

The first step when purchasing a Blackberry Pearl case is to decide what your price range is.  Blackberry has designed several different cases for the Blackberry Pearl, giving you many options as far as how much money to spend.  The lowest-priced case designed by Blackberry is $9.99, while the highest-priced case designed by the company is $29.99.

If you want to find a Blackberry Pearl case that is even less expensive, then consider purchasing a generic case from your local convenient store.  Many stores carry standard-sized cases that will suit your needs just fine—without spending a lot of money.

Blackberry Pearl Skins

One type of case that you can use for your Blackberry Pearl is a Blackberry skin.  This rubbery shell is designed by Blackberry specifically to fit the Blackberry Pearl model, and it provides excellent protection from everyday wear and tear.  

Additionally, this case comes in many colors that allow you to make your Blackberry Pearl your very own!  The available color selection includes turquoise, red, orange, pink, lime green, white, and black.  Add stickers or jewels to the Blackberry Skin to make it even more unique.

Blackberry Pearl Tote

If you are looking for a Blackberry Pearl case that is more up-scale, you might want to consider the Lambskin Leather Tote, also designed by Blackberry.  Though this case is also in the upper end of the price range, it is well worth it.  The case has a built-in sensor that has the ability to detect when the Blackberry Pearl is in place.  At this point, the case will automatically shut down the screen to conserve the battery.

Again, this case gives you the option of customizing your Blackberry Pearl by selecting a color (tan, pink, red, white, black, and brown) and by decorating the case with jewels and charms.

Worth The Investment

Purchasing a case for your Blackberry Pearl is the best money you could spend.  Ensuring the protection of your PDA means that you are protecting the personal life you have stored on the device.  What could be more important than that?

If you've owned a PDA for more than a few days, you may have come to that point where you need a few accessories, or even parts. I would divide the parts you may need to three categories:

1. You need accessories. These are the basic, non essential goodies that are accompanying your PDA, like a nice leather case, a spare battery, a data/recharge cable, a recharge cradle and the like. These can be described a "nice to have items" that many PDA owners like to get for their pocket pc. They are usually cheap items. 2. The second category it for the more expansive items, that expand your PDA's abilities. These can be any memory expansions, memory cards such as an SD card, GPS system addition or a commercial software you want to add and the like. These items call for a more serious attention than the accessories as they cost a lot more and you should dedicate some thought as to choosing the right item for your needs. 3. In the third category I'll include all the absolutely essential parts you need to get if your PDA has a malfunction. This can be a replacement ROM memory, a replacement mother-board, a new screen if yours was broken, etc. These items usually cost quite a bit and there is always the option of declaring the PDA as a total loss and getting another one instead of repairing it.

Ok, so now that we covered the 3 different types of parts you may need for your PDA, what can we do to get them for the minimum price and best results? Here are a few valuable tips that were learned by me and others. In many cases - they were learned the hard way.

1. Start with a research first. Always look for a few Internet forums about your PDA and ask around about the item you want to get. People there are passionate about the topic and in many cases will be happy to give you their 2 cents about every item you wish to get. Continue your research at Amazon.com where people submit impartial reviews about almost every item available on Amazon. 2. Find the real "Market Price" - look for your item or similar items on ebay.com. The good thing about ebay.com is that you can get a feel fore the market and see how much the items are being sold for - new, used and refurnished. You may not want to actually buy on ebay.com, but you certainly can get your price research done there. You can also ask the merchants any questions you may have and grow your knowledge. 3. Decide where to buy the item. Many people will shop online, and many others prefer to buy off line at a regular store. At a regular store you enjoy the advantage of actually seeing the item before you buy it, and in many cases you get to go home with it, and don't have to wait for it to arrive a few days later. But buying offline in many cases adds to the price. If you want competitive process, and you've done your research, you may want to shop online at eBay, Amazon, or a site like pdaparts.com that specializes in PDA parts and accessories.

Whether you buy online or off, make sure you do your research right, even if it's only a 10 minute research. It can save you money, time and frustration.

The Motorola "Q" phone is Motorola's answer to the Treo 650 and the Treo 700. It's a thin somewhat attractive PDA phone running on a Windows operating system. What makes it more like a Treo, and similar to the Blackberry 8700, is a form factor that includes a compact QWERTY backlit keyboard. My test for the true usefulness of a QWERTY keyboard is whether I can write an email comfortably with one hand.

So if I were deciding which PDA phone to purchase,it would be a choice between the Treo 700, the Blackberry 8700 and the new Motorola "Q", also known as the Moto "Q" smart phone.

My criteria for selecting the best PDA phone on the market, assuming there is excellent cell phone coverage and Bluetooth built-in, would be whether the handheld is user-friendly or not. In this case, the Palm Treo 650 might edge out the other cell phones because of the Palm Operating System. But,a PDA phone like the Motorola "Q" with a built-in Microsoft Windows Operating System might also be a smart choice.

When it comes to other factors like weight and style the Motorola "Q" is the clear winner because of it's razor thin look and feel. Blackberry 8700 phones are the most durable of all the PDA's but again the new Motorola "Q" is certainly not a pushover. Many people base their final choice on the price. My suggestion is to switch carriers and buy a new service plan and then you will be eligible for lower equipment costs.

So why is there so much marketing hype around the Motorola "Q"? Mainly because Motorola has been very successful influencing how people think about their cell phones. For example, consider the runaway success of the Motorola Razr V3 and the new popular Pink Razr phones. Motorola has been doing a great job in branding as well as advertising while also giving a great feature set at a low price. If Motorola can do for this new PDA what it did for the Razr phone, we may just witness a virtual explosion in cell phone sales of PDAs beyond the corporate Blackberry zone.

Brice Richards has been following the cellular trends in the cellphone industry for over 15 years and is currently the vice-president of strategy for YouNeverCall Wireless one of the leading online cell phone stores specializing in Verizon, Cingular,T-Mobile, and Cingular cell phones. Brice also has a cell phone review blog where he writes about free cell phones.