Can you still use the PDA function of a Blackberry Pearl without a SIM card?

Question

functions like document reading (.pdf, .pdb files mostly), editing and emailing

Answer 1

You won't be able to do e-mailing on it. You will be able to use the stuff like calendar, tasks, notes and contacts. For reading PDF's you would need to send them via e-mail, and that won't work unless you have a data plan. And the data plan requires a SIM card to work with the particular wireless carrier.