Cingular 8125

We're looking to standardize wireless devices at my work, so I'm testing several devices. Currently, I'm carrying the Cingular 8125.

On the plus side it has a slide-out QWERTY keybord, wi-fi, bluetooth, EDGE, 1.3mp camera, and Direct-push email updates for immediate messaging.

On the downside, the sound quality isn't as good as my previous Motorola V551. The QWERTY keyboard, while larger than the TREO or Motorola Q, feels a little cheap to the touch.

It runs on Windows Mobile 5.0, so if you have a Microsoft Exchange 2003 SP2 server, the setup is super easy. Just take out of the box, do the screen alignment wizard, then input the address of the exchange server. Enter your name and password and you are done. The device then configures itself. With SP2, Exchange introduced some remote administration features: the admin has the ability to remotely lock or wipe the device. Pretty cool if you are worried about compromised proprietary data when one of your users looses the devices.

Next week I'll be carrying the Cingular 2125.