BlackBerry Pearl 8100c Smartphone Slate Grey (AT&T)

So I decided a few weeks ago that it was time to get a new gadget (the weather, maybe..?). I love my Palm z22, but I've always wished I could just carry a single device. In addition, the display left quite a bit to be desired, and there was no bluetooth or way of attaching an external keyboard (yes, that's right-- I seriously want to be able to type up essays and such on my PDA... I'm not going to spend $700 on a laptop just so I can type in a reclined position) My initial plan was to upgrade my PDA to a Palm Tungsten E2 and my phone to the microscopic Pantech C3 flip phone with bluetooth. I still had some reservations, however. PDA's are practically dead in the market, and the E2 was quite a bit larger than the z22 (Why doesn't Palm just go ahead and make a smaller, super-slim Palm OS PDA with everything except for a phone built-in already? The technology is certainly there, and it could have the potential to bring back the PDA market for those who prefer not having their PDA tethered to a cell phone carrier).

So one day I headed over to the local mall and happened to walk into a Cingular store. I had never considered a Blackberry because they didn't have touch screens and always seemed bulky and ugly. What I stumbled upon in there was the Blackberry 8800. Playing around with the device, I was very impressed. Where the Windows Mobile Smartphones like the Samsung Blackjack and Motorola Q failed (mostly in the Personal Information Manager (PIM) functions... and absolutely miserably, at that), the Blackberry excelled. It wasn't quite as easy to navigate and enter information as my Palm because of the lack of a touch screen, but the device was fitted with a cool little trackball that allowed for multi-directional navigation, making getting used to the lack of a touch screen seem bearable, and maybe even a positive attribute (as it allows for one-handed operation.)

The 8800 screen was hi-res and absolutely beautiful, the whole unit was very thin and sleek, and it didn't run that god-awful, useless-for-anything-but-consumer-multimedia Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition! Still, it was a bit large for my taste and too expensive at $300. Looking around a bit more, I met my future device: the Blackberry Pearl. As it turns out, the Pearl was the first Blackberry to feature the new trackball, brilliant (self-adjusting for brightness) hi-res screen, sleek casing, and a camera and multimedia functions-- all in a bar-style unit just as thin and only moderately taller than a closed Motorola RAZR. Essentially, this was the 8800 packed into a smaller case with a camera for only a $150 upgrade. You name it, this phone can do it (and most of it quite well).

The form factor couldn't be more perfect. Everything about the phone is very customizable. There are 20 keys on the keypad, and the alpha characters are arranged in a QWERTY fashion with at most 2 letters on a key. Even with this, there is still a dedicated delete key, enter key, alt key, symbol key, space key, and caps key, all arranged similarly to a standard keyboard and easily accessible. If you want, you can even sync up a full sized bluetooth keyboard (and buy yourself a mini version of MS Word!). The center 12 keys are highlighted and arranged like a normal cell phone. This makes the unit excellent for use as a regular phone (I'm very pleased with the call quality), but a huge step up from trying to type on one. The "SureType" system does a brilliant job of figuring out what you're typing, and it learns the words that you use most often over time. If you want, you can shut off the SureType and use multi-tap, which is still pretty decent since you never have to tap a key more than once.

I almost think that SureType is faster in many uses than a full QWERTY keyboard, since it requires less finger movement and allows for larger buttons. After a short while, it becomes very intuitive. A few of the small details that I love about the Pearl include the ability to put it on standby, mute the ringer in a hurry, and shut off the network if you don't want to receive any calls (and don't want it blipping and feeding back through a pair of nearby speakers) but still want to use the device as a PDA. On top of all this, the Blackberry software allowed me to transfer all of the data from my Palm z22 (all 300 tasks and tons of calendar and contacts) directly to the Blackberry-- categories, priority levels, and all! To top it all off, the battery life is excellent.

Of course, there are a few downsides to the Pearl. For one, the 1.3 MP digital camera doesn't record video, and while the pictures are better than many camera phones, they're not exactly jaw-dropping (It's still nice to have a camera with you at all times, however), and let's just say the music and video player functions are no iPod replacement. Still, all in all, this is the coolest little portable computer or gadget... ever. If you're looking for a small phone and PDA combo (especially for the PIM functions), the Pearl is the best thing out there. I don't have a data plan, but I tried out the web, maps, and e-mail at the store, all of which worked great. I'd love to be able to use them, but I don't really have the need and the data plans are astronomically priced.

As soon as the Pearl (newly AT&T branded) arrived on my doorstep I wrapped it in a ShieldZone InvisibleSHIELD, which I had ordered online a few days earlier. If you haven't heard of ShieldZone and BestSkinsEver.com, basically they make nearly indestructible, clear screen and full-body skins to protect most portable devices on the market. They're a bit of a chore to put on, but they last the life of the product and prevent any and all scratching for pathetically OCD people like me. I will never buy another portable without buying one of these skins first.

Phone quality - unknown

Shipping quality - terrible

If you order this phone from AT&T, you should know that the shipping time is 4 - 6 weeks! The product is not in stock. If you want to use your new Pearl tomorrow, your only option with Amazon is to get a T-Mobile plan.

There is a major problem with the firmware for those who want to transfer ringtones and applications to the phone... this is the reason for my one star rating, I did this because a lot of people will sort by lowest ratings and I wanted to let the problem be known. Just make sure and download the Blackberry Manager Software from Cingular's website and do not use the software that comes on the CD-ROM with the phone and you'll be ok, otherwise you'll likely be returning you handset for a replacement.

Now on to my review (in bullet points)

PROS (you'll notice most of these features make you more productive):

* It's fast (coming from a Windows Mobile platform it's like lightning)

* In Blackberry fashion it can sync with just about anything

* It's the only small form phone to provide a full QWERTY keyboard layout, although each key is shared by two letters, although it takes some getting use to it works much better than anything else available on small form phones.

* Voice Dial system does not have to be trained and works well.

* Screen is large, bright and sharp

* Battery life is excellent

* Speaker phone can be enabled/disabled in a single touch and works well.

* PTT (Push-To-Talk) capable

* Programmable buttons on the left and right side of the phone can be set to whatever function you want to engage (e.g. By default button on left side is set to PTT, but I changed it engage Voice Dial)

* Camera has a Flash

* Can play many audio and video media formats.

* Natively can display PDF and Microsoft Office docs (in browser)

* Unlike most Blackberry's the Pearl can load "normal" JAR Java games/apps as well as those designed specifically for Blackberry.

* Supports J2ME MIDP 2.0 as well as Sun's Multimedia extensions and extensions for Bluetooth. This just means that mobile application developers will not have to work very hard to unlock all the power of the Pearl to build great applications. In the future some potential very powerful third-party applications could be made available.

* Runs Googles Maps, Opera Mini and all other popular Java applications for mobile phones.

* Comes with a good bit of memory built it, but is also MicroSD expandable

* It's a Blackberry and can do all Blackberry things (it runs RIM's Blackberry OS)




CONNS:

* No WiFi support

* No 3G support

* No support for Flash Lite

* When CSS and scripting options are enabled, the browser still seems to struggle, layout is of full HTML pages is generally bad.

* No built in GPS

* Bluetooth profiles are limited

* No file system explorer

* No "hard reset" feature to restore device to its "virgin" state.

* No case included and you can't seem to stop polishing it.











I've had my Pearl for over 4 weeks now. It was tricky to active on a Blackberry Enterprise Server, but now it works great! Love the size and good looks. This is my first BlackBerry and it's been really nice to have and the web browser is really fast. It's a little difficult (small) to read, but if you need something on the web, you got it! Also, the voice activated dialing works really well, especially with my motorola headset. This is TRULY handsfree! Highly recommend the Pearl!

After using a Nextel 7520 for 2 years, I was ready for an upgraded phone with a camera. The Pearl is so much smaller that I was skeptical it could really do everything I needed. It CAN! The display is larger and much sharper and better than the Palm Treo 750 I thought I wanted.

I miss the built in GPS capability though. The keyboard works better than I expected for letters, but it's tedious sometimes to enter email addresses, names, web pages.

I love having any kind of ringtone I want now. The camera is nice to have, but the quality is a bit grainy. The size and weight are truly wonderful.

This is my first BlackBerry device. In fact, this is the first cell phone I've had where I had a data plan setup. I gotta say I'm luving it! My email gets to me sometimes even before it shows up on my desktop. The browser is very robust and seems to work great. I've installed a few extra applications (google maps, bbweather, and Yahoo go to name a few) and I haven't had any problems. The applications cover a broad spectrum of interests and are really useful. I still have yet to try the Opera browser for the BB. The camera is so clear with and without the flash it's scary. It beats my old cameraphone hands down!

I've discovered that the moniker "CrackBerry" is so true. I'm just hooked on getting emails, surfing the web and listening to some tunes, all from the same device at the same time. I've discovered a whole community of simmilar BB addicts and they are really helpful in discovering the ins of this device.

The pearl's suretype keyboard learns as I go and words it didn't get right at first it now picks up and selects as I type. I don't even need to censor the typing too often anymore. I stuck with the suretype mode and caught on to it right quick. This may be because I've never used any other type of mobile device keyboard prior to the pearl. The learning curve was but a shallow hill.

My only complaints are that the mp3 player will not play through a wireless headset. You can trick it into doing so, but normal play is only through the speaker on the device or through the wired headset. Also the speakerphone is a bit muffled as the battery cover actually covers up the speaker! Now there are after mod kits that have an oem battery cover with a hole for the speakerphone, but come on. Finally the vibration of the phone is kind of weak. Not a big complaint but it bears mentioning.

Overall this device is great for beginners like myself. I cannot recommend it enough!

I just recently bought the Blackberry Pearl and I love the device. Its stylish, beautiful, small, and it has some awsome features. However, since i bought it from Amazon, Cingular took forever just to approve me and give me a new number. So I constantly had to call amazon and ask them about my order. Then I receive the phone almost a week later than the day I placed my order and as I follow the instructions my phone didn't want to work. So the representatives told me there was something wrong with my SIM card... when it wasn't. Luckily I called Cingular and a very HELPFUL representative helped me set up my account and ACTUALLY the service when Amazon told me there was something wrong with my SIM card LOL. Overall, Amazon should be more careful how they describe their phone activation process because it wasn't easy. But whatever I love shopping @ Amazon and I truly love my phone and I bet you will love it too. :)!!!

I've had this phone for about a week now and I'm glad I waited to post a review because my initial reaction was not very positive. Coming from owning a RAZR and many Windows-based devices, there was an initial learning curve to some of the functions. Also, I was NOT convinced that the strange keyboard would really recognize what you were attempting to type. Boy was I wrong about that one. OK, so for the review.

My motivation for purchasing was primarily to get a PHONE first, with a few bells and whistles for when I just want to play with the device. The Pearl fits that bill perfectly. Phone quality is excellent. Loading ringtones (a pain at first) proved to be relatively easy once I did a little research. Ringtones play very loud and clear. The music player is MUCH better than first impressions would lead you to believe. After a few hours of frustration, I was all ready to purchase a 3rd party app. Again, did some research, visited a few forums, and found out there is much more functionality in the included music player than you might realize. As an owner of a NANO, I was disappointed with the interface of the player. But once you go into the menu functions, you'll find much more functionality. It's not an ipod, but it works as an decent replacement. And if you're not an ipod owner, you'll likely have no complaints. Sound of tunes is quite nice when using headphones. Camera is only so-so, but I don't really care about that anyway. Must admit that I thought it would be better since it is a megapixal camera. The couple of pictures I took were dark and somewhat grainy. Part of why I dropped my rating from 5 stars. As far as email, I have a BB from work and they won't let me use a non-work issued device to access the network, so I have no opinion on email functionality. Organizer features (calendar, tasks, notes, etc) seem more than adequate. Much better than any of my old Pocket PC devices.

The only complaints I would have is that there are still 2 basic things that I haven't been able to figure out and while I'm admittingly not a techie, these should be pretty basic and intuitive. One, I would like to set one of my ringtones as the default ringer. That should be fairly simplistic but I can't figure it out. Two, I would like to change the order of the icons on some of the themes. Again, should be pretty basic, but no go. Almost forgot, can't listen to music through bluetooth. Not sure why, but this is really my only MAJOR complaint.

Only minor complaints. All in all, a pretty sweet device. And BTW, form factor and looks are simply the best out there. I came so close to purchasing the Blackjack, very happy that I went with the Pearl.

UPDATE - Figured out how to set default ringtone and move icons. Coming from a Windows mobile environment, I was expecting something along the lines of: Start-programs-etc-etc. Everyting in windows takes so many keystroks. With the Pearl, it was so easy. I was simply expecting it to be much more difficult based on my prior experience. I'm going to still keep it at 4 stars because of the lack of BT stereo. Otherwise, as close to a perfect device as I've used (and I've used quite a few).

The phone is great .. and I knew it would be. And I am a devoted Amazon shopper. My concern was always whether Amazon was up to the daunting task of selling cell phones and service plans ... a concern that has proved well founded.
I was originally concerned because of feedback I had read on this site indicating the Pearl "shipped hot," with an active SIM, which meant for those that -- like me - were upgrading (vs. new service), their existing phone would stop working while the new phone was en route. To be fair, that did NOT happen; however, I received the Pearl with a SIM card that the phone would not accept.

The instructions that are sent with the phone say that all you have to do is insert the SIM, turn on the phone, and it will work. And, if it doesn't work, it says, don't call Cingular, call Amazon. I followed the instructions -- phone didn't work, I called Amazon, at which point the CSR told me that he had all my information and someone would be contacting me in 48 HOURS!!!

Unfortunately, I let the poor guy have it ... I told him what I truly believe, which is that it is COMPLETELY unacceptable to tell me I have to wait 2 days just to talk to someone about why my phone - which is supposed to work out of the box -- isn't working.

So - 5 Stars for the phone itself ... awesome! 2 stars for Amazon ... they do NOT have the kinks worked out yet. On a positive note -- I immediately called Cingular, and they resolved the problem for me on the spot (SIM was not activated / in the system).

This is my first BlackBerry phone and I must say it's an awesome device! My husband has a BlackBerry through his work so I got one too. How we can PIN each other, keep in touch via email, etc. while he is away. The Pearl has wonderful reception, great style, great features, etc.

I highly recommend it!

I had a palm 650 for two years. It had a few issues, but generaly speaking it worked well. Unfortunately one of my big concerns was the phone size. When I first Bought it, I did not think it woud be a big deal. But after having it for a while, it felt like I was carring a brick in my packet (If you are an smart phone user, then you know what I am talking about.) I wanted to switch phones but all smart phones in the market had the same disadvantage of being good but huge on size. I was debating between a Q and a Bjack when I discovered the pearl. At first I thought it would not have the same capabilities of a palm, Q, or bjack; but I had it for 3 months now and to tell the truth,there is so many advantages on this phone I do not miss my palm at all. The pearl not only does not have the flaws that palm does, but also has the same (or more) capabilities and browsing speed. The trackball works way better than a touchscreen. So far I am very happy with my purchase that I am glad I got the pearl and not the Q or Bjack. The best part is that I finally feel that I am carring a phone and not a brick in my packet. Not sure about it? then do not believe me; simply check the reviews of all smarth phones online. You will be surprised to find that the pearl gets usually Higher grades than most other smart phones.

This phone is fantastic - perfect size and great for those who want to check email and occasionally respond. The interface is not as nice as on a Treo, but the size more than makes up for it.

That said, there is currently a MAJOR bug with this phone. It has a severe memory leak which causes it to lose your emails and call log. This is well documented if you do a search for: pearl memory email call log.

Hopefully this will be resolved soon, since right now my device is useless - the only way I can get it to work is by taking out the battery and putting it back in.

My version is: v4.1.0.71 (Platform 2.2.0.41) running on Cingular.

I'd wait until this issue is fixed. Otherwise the phone is fantastic!

I bought all the hype about the Samsung Blackjack only to be extremely disappointed in the product. I spent 5 hours on the phone with tech support (most of that time spent with lower level(i.e. not as knowledgeable about the phone). 3G still has some glitches in our area, doesn't work that well. Setting up email was a nightmare. Once you get it set up, navigating extra buttons is time wasting. Internet is slower than the EDGE technology on my new Pearl.
Well enough about the negative points of Blackjack.(there are more). I was happy with the Pearl within the first hour I used it. After almost a week I have yet to have a dropped call, get coverage in every spot that the BJ didn't. THe sound is clear as a bell. The sync of Outlook with my device works smoothly. Getting info from the web is fast. The intuitive keyboard is better than just the straight QWERTY in my opinion. There are features I haven't tried yet, but so far it does just what I expected it to do. I highly recommend this phone. Blackberry will have my business from now on.

A previous user stated that there is a $250 "porting" fee, and in effect, there is. If you order from AMZN, you DO save the phone cost BUT since it comes to you "hot" (that is with a pre-assigned Cingular number), when you go to port and change that number, Cingular will charge AMZN, who in turn, will bill you for $250. "New" to AMZN has what seems to be a very narrow definition, they mean (apparently) "new" to cell phones (unlikely).

3 stars for AMZN not being as forthright as one might hope

If coverage or plans are not an issue there are two reasons to choose the T-Mobile over the Cingular Pearl. 1) T-mobile plan pricing is *a lot* cheaper than Cingular -- 1000 minutes and unlimited internet for $59 TMO compared with $79 plus at Cingular... 2) The TMO interface is much nicer to look at and play with.

I have waited long enough. Being a techie and carrying a $20 (free) phone for over 3 years just didn't seem right. So my change of job prompted me to look for a phone which also has web/email capabilities. I considered strongly the Samsung Blackjack and the Blackberries. The blackjack's look, while cool from a distance, had keys that looked like left-over chicken-pox blisters. The much raved about Blackberry email push technology finally won me over. I had to decide between the pearl and the bigger versions. I read the 8700g and other blackberries are a bit too big for the pocket. So I chose the Pearl. Here's my take:

What I love:
============
- Form factor: It is beautiful, it is cute and catchy! It turns heads. Enough said.
- Size: Size is one of the strongest points considering all it does. It neatly slips into a shirt pocket or sits well on the belt.
- Keys: Could be a bit small but I could use it pretty easily though my fingers are bordering on 'butterfingers'.
- Trackball: Awesome! Just don't press it too hard while using it. Just 'roll-it'!. It is great while you have to move around the screen from control to control
- Voice-dialing: Has worked for me very well the 10 or so times I have tried in my van on the road and off. You have to first choose the voice dialing option from the list of icons on the main menu. I read you can assign a menu item to a key; this would eliminate some of the fumbling while driving.
- Screen: Not too big and not too small! This will be a key factor in you choosing between a bigger blackberry and this one. I found the size good enough for me. The fonts display the content sharply enough to read easily. It is bright while viewing; goes off after a few seconds of inactivity to save power.
- Videos: I found the video that comes along very good! The graphics very sharp and quite well paced. Need to try more of this later. But I don't watch videos on my cell phone and hence it isn't that much of a selling-point for me.
- Camera: Now, who needs a sophisticated camera on a cell phone? These are frills if you use the device as a phone and an email device. But, it took great pictures. I could easily email the photo to my wife with a few click (I had her email in my contacts already).
- Applications: Google maps is cool - much cooler on the samll screen with turn by turn directions easy to read. The default cingular media-net browser is so-so. Download the Opera-mini. Love browsing on the phone.
- Audio: Call quality has been outstanding so far. The music files, though, when played left more to be desired. Not your iPod substitution this device.
- Outlook sync: Worked like a charm. Now, I love to have all my contact information in this small hand-held.
- The push-to-talk feature hasn't worked for me so far. Maybe it is a area-specific availability issue; need to follow up.
- By far the best feature, is the RIM email push feature. I easily hooked up all my personal email accounts and feel thrilled when the berry flashes a red light whenever I have an email. This eliminates the need and a lot of time for me to login to my email accounts on the computer. Replying to an email may not be so easy given the size; but viewing - works great.
- Battery: Has been great so far. With my constant use of the device for email and trying the web, the battery lasted me more than 2 days w/o re-charging.
- Miscellaneous: I haven't had the berry hang-up as I read of other windows based phones. It did freeze a couple of times, but given that I have the phone for over a week, it isn't much of a bother. This freezing was mostly while on the web, so it could have been connectivity also.


What better?
============
- Size: If you usage is email heavy and you need to reply quite often, I suggest you get the bigger berries.
- Audio: If you rely on your cell phone to listen to music as well, I find the audio quality a bit lacking.

Overall, I am very happy with the phone. If you are on the line, I suggest you go for it!


This phone is sleek and sexy. But becasue the screen is smaller and uses 2 letters per key, this isn't for hardcore geeks.

I would say this phone is for a busniess man\woman who are conscious about style. It does do everything a full size blackberry does just with a smaller screen and keyboard.

It will take a few days for you to trust the "sure-type" software. It really does work; it guesses the word you are typing by the time you hit the last letter of the word. This allows you to type a word in the same number of keystrokes as a traditional Blackberry.

I use Cingular and pay a ton of add on fees. $39.99 for phone service; $44.99 for Blackberry service\unlimited internet ; $14.99 for 1,000 TEXT messages.

The voice quiality is the best I have ever had. Sounds like a land phone... I suposse it depends on where you live. I live in NYC.

This is not a phone for the non-technical person....


read the fine print!!!! amazon really tried to pull one over on you with this promotion. it happend to me.

they don't allow you to port your cell phone to this phone without a $250 fee!!! how ridiculous! everyone ports numbers these days...it's such a common practice. this process doesn't hurt anyone - cingular still gets the business and amazon still gets their money. why they don't let you port - and it's hidden in the fine print...is beyond me.

I will come right out and say it: I am a Nokia guy. But I could not wait for the Pearl to come out with Cingular.

But after 4 days with my Pearl, I am missing my old Nokia 6230.

Aside from the easy internet access and emails, I don't yet see any advantage with this Pearl. The greatest disappointment so far is the Bluetooth stupidity of this so called "smart phone". Nothing seems to work. I also miss the easier text capabilities of the 6230. (not to mention the 6230s video capturing features).

Of course the Blackberry Pearl must be a better, smarter phone than the old Nokia I love... but I just don't see it yet.

What can I say? I am very disappointed so far. If I don't see results by the end of tomorrow, it's going back to the guys at Cingular.


Bummer.

The Pearl is my first Blackberry. I comparison-shopped for a smart phone for over a year, considering the Treo and other Blackberry models, but I stuck with my old "dumb phone" until the Blackberry Pearl won me over.

The Blackberry Pearl wins in the realms of form and function. I wasn't willing to carry a huge phone. Any phone I carry has to fit in my back pocket and the Pearl is actually smaller than my old phone.

From a new user's perspective, the Pearl's design is very well-done. The trackball navigation is totally intuitive, and the software is easy to navigate. I could figure out how to do email, IM, and browsing the internet without reading the manual.

The pearl trackball is multifunctional depending on what you are doing, and pressing the trackball most likely does what you need to do next!

I was skeptical about the SureType technology, which puts 2 letters on each key (in QWERTY layout) and guesses what you mean as you type, but it has blown me away. I love it. The best advice I received from the salesman who set up my account was to not look at the words as they are coming out, but just to check the spelling in the end. Halfway through typing a word it may look like a jumble, but then it almost always works itself out. This strategy has worked for me, and 95% of the time the SureType guesses right. (You can press and hold the * key while you are typing to toggle back and forth between SureType and the more traditional "MultiTap" mode. This is useful when entering names or other words not in an English dictionary.)

Camera review: I am not too impressed with the quality of the photos but it's somewhat useful. It won't replace a digital camera but it's better than no camera. Including a flash was a nice idea, but it doesn't add much to the picture quality.

As for Cingular service, I have had no problems. I switched from Verizon to Cingular in order to get the Pearl, and the service has been fine in North Carolina and South Carolina.

If you are addicted to the old-style Blackberry keyboard, or need to compose a lot of emails or do extensive web browsing, the Pearl may not be for you. I encourage you to give it a look, though. Before buying any smartphone, make sure you try out the keyboard in person before buying. Some designs that look good on paper may not work with your hands.

For someone coming in new to the smartphone world, the Blackberry Pearl is a standout choice. I am so glad I waited for this gem!

I've had this phone and service(Cingular) 10 days now and am just about fed up. The phone is simply awesome, integrated email in the phone, the size, the user friendly menus, trackball is great, and the method to charge/data transfer is ideal(typical USB cable found with other USB devices, like Canon digital camera).

What I'm done with is Cingular. I currently am a Sprint customer, not the best, but not bad either. I just wanted to try a blackberry, and I'm hooked. But I can't with Cingular. From the static on almost every call, to the numerous "Call Failed" when trying to make a call to the dropped calls(feweest dropped calls???). I live in the Washington DC area btw, if this matters.

Guess my only options are Tmobile or wait until another carrier gets the Pearl.

I just purchased the Blackberry Pearl last week from my Cingular retailer. I am not ever going back to a standard cell phone! This phone has so many features. Some may say that is a waste if you don't use those features everyday. Trust me, when you have access to IM, email, weather, GPS, phone, camera, text messaging, MMS, etc., etc., & it is soooo efficient - you will use all features!!
The only drawback for me was that for the first time I actually had to read my owner's manual for a cell phone, but the BB Pearl is so much more. I can't really complain because I am not missing one thing this little beauty is capable of doing.
Love it!!

P.S. Just an FYI - I live way out in the boondocks & Cingular is the ONLY carrier I can receive a signal with inside my house. Have tried every other carrier out there.

Overall best smartphone I've seen on the market. The others are either too bulky (e.g. Treo) or too wide (other Blackberries, BlackJack, or Motorola Q), or lack the solid Blackberry email service. This one is sure to be a hit. The Pearl's brilliant sure-type keyboard-entry system (with QWERTY layout but 2 letters per key) and "pearl" trackball allows the phone to be small and still enable very fast text entry.

Incidentally Mac owners should look into PocketMac to sync with their Mac's iCal/AddressBook, etc. Gmail can be read using the Gmail mobile app that can be downloaded straight to the Blackberry. Caution: if you already have Cingular, and want to keep your existing Cingular number, you CANNOT get the super-low Amazon discounted price -- you only get the Amazon discounted price if you start a brand new 2-year contract (with new number) with Cingular. So I got my phone at a Cingular store, because I was eligible for a phone upgrade. [...].

Plus points:
1. super-sharp screen, great colors, great resolution.
2. very context-sensitive menus, well thought-out.
3. Sure-type is very easy to learn and surprisingly accurate, and lets you type very fast.
4. Nice-size keys, beat the hell out of Treo's keys.
5. Treos are ugly bricks, this phone is super-stylish and highly pocketable, even in jeans.
6. Rock-solid Blackberry push email service can't be beat.
7. Pearl trackball is amazingly well designed and useful.
8. Cingular/Blackberry unlimited data backage is very good and pretty fast.

Minus points:
1. No wifi , but that's ok because the data service is pretty fast.
2. No video camera, but again I don't really miss that.
3. No touch screen; I don't really miss it because the trackball and context-sensitive menus are so well designed.


Since i can't comment on features, as they may be different between carriers, I can state a few things in general about this phone.

You can go to [...] and download different themes and games, which I LOVE! The resolution on the screen is fantastic, and overall, it's fairly easy to use. There IS a bit of a learning curve, but i was mastering it within a few weeks.

I have wifi, full internet capabilities, and you can download Gmail to your phone from the website and get your own icon for it. I looks just like your gmail online.

Also, if you have yahoo mail, i suggess setting a bookmark for [...], rather than configuring a mailbox. The mailbox doesn't do a good job of filtering spam, so it's annoying to get spam text messages and can get costly if you don't have an unlimited text messeging plan.

Downsides: it scratches very easily taking away from it's sleek look and the battery door, can break and slide off very easily. However, you can buy a replacement from [...].

also, I hear this is a blackberry quirk, but the Instant messenger seems to fail quite a bit when trying to send IM's back and forth between your contacts. This can be very frustrating as you have zero indication that your messages are not getting through or that they aren't coming through. **Can become a problem very fast if you are relying on it for communication.** I never had this problem with my RAZR using the same service.

Last downside, the memory expansion doesn't recognize anything over 1Gb. I tried to use the 2Gb microSD that Verizon offers for[...], but it didn't work, so I had to settle for a 1Gb, which is still neat.

All, in all, I love this phone. But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who only uses their phone for talking and texting. Way too many features will be lost.

Okay, this phone does everything.

Programs-The reason I included this first is because all Cingular Users need to be aware of this. This phone is capable of AIM, Yahoo messanger, ect... but you must download an additional program. On Tmobile AIM is availible from the start, but Cingular does not provide any Apps for this. This link will provide you with programs to use instant chat services for this phone. I use Rambal, a free program for AIM and it works flawlessly. Second note-Instant messanging with programs such as this counts as general Data, not messanging. So, all owners must have (I have the $40 unlimited DATA plan, but plans start in the $20s) data plans, not SMS messaging plans to use this. Use this link to find aftermarket messaging programs that you require.

[...]

Screen-Outstanding, very sharp, great color saturation, great shape. The colors stand out more than on the screen of a 5.5G Ipod, its fantastic.

Sound Quality/ Call Quality-Decent, not outstanding, far better than your average Razr or of the like, but this phone is $499 without contract and there are phones with better Sound/ Call Quality. Note: You must by an adaptor to use headphones if you intend to listen to music as this uses a very small mic. jack. You can purchase one for about $15 on everything [...]

Suretype-This is better than Qwartry, my friend has one for her business and this is far superior. It takes about 2 hours to really master, but its outstanding. I can type much faster than she can, even though the Pearl does not have a regular Qwartry keyboard.

Memory-The phone has enough memory on board if you only plan on using it as a phone. But, if you want to use that camera or recieve emails you need to buy MicroSD, Scandisk makes up to 2 gig capacity. I highly recomend at LEAST 1 gig because of all the features of this phone, if you buy this phone with Data, GET 2 Gigs ($70 on amazon about). It is not a hassle to access the memory behind the battery, given the size of SDMicro (about the size of a thumdnail) I am glad to know it is safely enclosed behind the battery panel.

Email-When you get this phone, you can easily send all your email to this phone.
Currently I am sending my Gmail, .Mac, and Aol email to my Blackberry. All three have their own message boxes on my blackberry interface, but all emails are also shown in my blackberrys general mailbox which is convienent and works similiarly to Enterage.

Microsoft Office programs-Opens powerpoint, word, excel, PDF...ect flawlessly, just like you would expect with images and all sharply displayed.

Music/ Camera- This phone can play everything, MP3s, MPG4s, AACs, ect. Just note to all Itunes users-IT CANNOT PLAY MUSIC BOUGHT FROM ITUNES. Remember that Itunes music is encryped with protected AAC so you must convert your music to MP3s for it to work. The Camera is decent, images are grainy, I would compare picture quality to Isight. Only drawback is that it cannot record Video, a feature I am sure the next iteration will entail.

Syncing-Has problems with Bluetooth syncing with Apple computers. I have found though that using Pocketmac (google it, RIM bought Pocketmac so while it is free you cannot download it from Pocketmac anymore, and instead must go to a RIM webpage). Pocketmac lets you sync countless programs, including almost all OSX programs, office mail programs, and even Lotus notes. Remember for Pocketmac though, you have to OPEN THE PROGRAM FIRST THEN ATTACH YOUR BLACKBERRY USING USB, OTHERWISE THE PROGRAM WILL HAVE A SYNCING ERROR.

No Wifi is a drawback, but for Data, Cingulars network is actually very fast, it does take about 10 minutes for all my emails to appear on my blackberry.

Overall-Best phone I have ever owned.
If it synced better with my mac, had video capture, had Wifi, and played all my tunes along with a regular headphone port, I would be VERY happy. Also, it is too bad Cingualr doesnt provide IM support out of the box, but reseaarch and 3rd party developers firxed that.