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"Its not an iPhone people" on by david4566
Pros: Having owned a Palm Pre, HTC Hero and iPhone 3g, I still prefer the Blackberry. It is simple and does what I want, and with the addition of WiFi (finally), it does pretty well.
Cons: Lower screen resolution than most smartphones
Summary: I like to describe Blackberrys as simple smart phones. The amount of crap running in droid phones makes them unusable, unless you drop almost 300 on an EVO. I picked up my curve contract free for 79.00, so I REALLY cant complain.
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"this blackberry rotted out too fast..." on by scottysgirl7682
Pros: sleek, nice purple color
Cons: horrible battery life, resets itself, slow, stops charging
Summary: Got this phone for free, and now I know why. Went thru 3 batteries: first one just up and died, second one swelled up, and hadn't had the 3rd one for a month and the phone's charging port stopped working. After attempting a few other chargers, it still wouldn't charge, and the phone ending up dying in a couple of hours of it just sitting on my desk. Have insurance, but since they don't make this model anymore, Sprint offered to replace it with a refurbished phone (fancy word for "used".) I read a lot of reviews on used phones, and a lot of people had more problems with those than their original. Upgraded to an iPhone 4, and love it. Won't be getting another crackberry...
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"SUPER first 'smartphone'..." on by ckw333
Pros: 'Entry-level smartphone' buyer, I am happy with my decision. 6 months-still don't know ALL of the features-it is loaded. Internet acces 'lightening quick'; LOVE the GPS feature, good looking, great clarity-battery charges in minutes. HTC Evo next!
Cons: Pictures are not as good as I would like; don't do a lot of texting - still, I find the keyboard a bit tight after using a 'slide-out'. Internet usage usurps the battery life, need to have an extra charger. My 'pros' really out-weigh my 'cons'!
Summary: As I stated, this was my first 'smart-phone' purchase. I am older, in that age group where many do not even HAVE a cell phone! Always have said that I use one only for phone calls while away from home, and to answer my son's text messages. My son talked me into purchasing the Blackberry 6-7 nmonths ago. Aside from the 'tight' keyboard (and, at times, difficult on the old eyes), I love it! REALLY like the optical trackpad and am having fun with the super fast internet access, GPS feature, and calendar options. Like the fact that you can access numerous email accounts.I do wish the camera function produced a better quality photo-or maybe I just have not figured out how to use it to it's potential...it is only a 2 megapixel lens, however. I am hooked on the smart-phone now, and could never go back to a traditional cell phone. I am currently eyeing the HTC Evo, only because it LOOKS so cool and I like the 'touch screen'. I'll still keep the Blackberry-one for home use, one for the road!!
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"horrible phone" on by casmar87
Pros: nice feel to it, useful programs, decent pictures
Cons: phone shut itself off while using gps program, freezes, and white screen appears for no reason. bad battery life, and sluggsh
Summary: overall not too bad, but i wouldnt recommend this phone for someone who texts or uses programs alot
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"It sucks, but it ain't all bad..." on by GoseiKnight
Pros: The slick look is nice, as is the user interface. Overall, it seems almost exactly like the much better Curve 8900! While it takes some getting used to, the optical trackpad is pretty sweet as well.
Cons: The processor is SLOW AS CRAP; those memory-boosting apps do NOTHING to alleviate this. The whole phone just feels cheap and gets banged up VERY easily if dropped! Finally, weak screen resolution and an equally weak camera doom this thing.
Summary: I don't like the negatives that I mentioned, BUT, you've gotta give RIM credit for the slick look and the nice interface. Another con that I didn't have space to mention before is the Media Player. On my friend's purple 8530, the thing goes into sleep mode often even while watching videos; this doesn't happen on the (newer?) red/black 8530, nor does this happen on the 8900 (both of which I no longer have now). The dedicated media player buttons don't really mean much of anything to me. The browser's pretty nice, especially since the most recent version of Opera Mini completely sucks. It's not the fastest thing on wheels - it even chugs along on the 8900 at times - but it gets the job done. (Downloading music and video, however, the 8530 is an absolute BEAST!!! It's only done the job slowly at rare occasions!!) If only the thing hadn't been so cheaply constructed, though...I'd have rated it a LOT higher!! All in all, if it's an entry-level smartphone you want, you can't go wrong here, but I personally prefer other things for a first foray into the world of smartphones, like a Sidekick...
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