The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is RIM’s latest powerhouse of an emailer, stuffed with 3G, Wi-Fi and a QWERTY keyboard in a case that unlike the original Bold, is actually small enough to carry around. And carry around everything you need it will, from your address book to your diary and even your photos. Want to know how to back all those vital deets up quickly and painlessly? Read on and we’ll show you how in our BlackBerry Bold 9700 tutorial.

Work or play?
Did you buy a Bold 9700 under your own steam, or have you been given it by work? If the chaps in IT have handed you one, you’ll need to check with them before proceeding, as company BlackBerry setups use different servers to consumer ‘Berries. The chances are they’ll be able to set you up with Microsoft Exchange backup support, but this here tutorial is for consumer, not corporate phones.

Hook up to a PC
The easiest way to keep your BlackBerry Bold 9700 up to date and data safe is to connect it to your PC. Download the official BlackBerry Desktop Manager, install it, and connect your new phone to the machine with the supplied USB cable in the box. The software should start up automatically, but if not, just double click the program icon on your desktop.

Synchronize
Now it’s time to load all your contacts, appointments and notes into the BlackBerry Bold 9700. On the Desktop Manager software, click Synchronize, then Configure > Synchronization and choose the application you want it to hook up with (your email client) by hitting Setup and following the steps through. Now whenever you plug your BlackBerry Bold 9700 in, just click the big Synchronize button and it’ll keep everything up to date. You can even set it to auto-synchronize on plug-in by ticking the box that pops up when you do. Easy!

Back-up and restore
Want to keep all that data on the BlackBerry Bold 9700 safe? Make sure you back it all up frequently. When the phone is plugged in, just click the big Backup and Restore button on Desktop Manager to save it all in case of catastrophe. Need to load it all back up? We hope not, but if you do, just hit the same button and follow the step by step instructions from there.

Multimedia
If you want to load up your BlackBerry Bold 9700 with all the music stashed on your PC, all you need to do is download BlackBerry Media Sync. It works perfectly with both iTunes and Windows Media Player so you can transfer files with a couple of clicks, or even playlists. If it’s video you’re wanting, Roxy Media Manager for BlackBerry will convert everything for you. It’s completely free, and available on the official BlackBerry website.

On a Mac instead?
If you’re using an Apple computer as your main machine, don’t worry. The BlackBerry Bold 9700 will sync in just the same way with it as a PC now, and syncs all your Address Book, Mail and iCal doodah so you never miss an appointment, as well as transfer iTunes playlists. You can get the software here.

Go Google, go wireless
You’ll notice all these steps require you to plug in your BlackBerry Bold 9700. If you hate the sight of cables though, you can sync a whole load of data over the air instead, completely automatically. If you use Google’s Gmail and Calendar apps, head on over to Google’s mobile page and download Google Sync for BlackBerry. It’ll transfer your contacts and calendar schedule to your phone completely automatically, so you can add an event on your PC, and will be sitting there on your smartphone minutes later.

Photo back-up
If you use Facebook or Flickr to stash your photos online, you’ll love what the BlackBerry Bold 9700 lets you do. Download itookthisonmyphone (Available on BlackBerry App World) and you can automatically upload any snaps you take with the 3.2 megapixel camera to just about any social network or photo sharing site you like, so they’ll be saved online too for extra peace of mind.

Read our full review of the BlackBerry Bold 9700…