I haven't used an organizer like a Palm since 2002. Once I no longer had someone else keeping my schedule, it was more convenient for me to keep the schedule in iCal on my laptop. The gadget freak in me has looked at Treos and Blackberrys and thought it would be neat to have one, but I've not wanted to carry around a phone as big as a boat anchor for the limited utility I'd get from the organizer functions.

Lately, however, the connectivity of these devices has led me to think I might be willing to carry one around. I increasingly want to be connected when I'm mobile and find a phone interface to be too limiting. I avoid going online just because I don't want to futz with the phone keys. I'm also using SMS more and more and, again, the phone interface just doesn't cut it. I have to admit that it was Dave Winer's announcement on news rivers that pushed me over the edge (no pun intended).

So, I may be ready to bit the bullet. The question is device should I buy?? I'm partial to the Blackberry just on looks, but I could live with a Treo if it's a better team player or has significantly better features or hardware. I want something that works well with a Mac, has Bluetooth, and can be used as a modem (preferably over Bluetooth) with my OS X laptop for network connectivity. I {d|w}on't use Exchange for email. I want a full keyboard, unless SureType is just so good I'll never know I'm not using a full keyboard. I'm using Cingular now, but would change carriers to get the right device.

Recommendations? Would I be happy with a Blackberry 8700? Has Cingular disabled any key features that I could get with another carrier? Should I get a Treo? I'm in no huge hurry, so if I should wait for a few months, I can do that too.