- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 106 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Excellent phone with a case upgrade on a Professional level"
Pros: Great quality , a much more durable case and easier to use key board
Cons: no GPS or 3G
Summary: This is an great improvement over the 8800.
I owned an 8800, a 8100 pearl which I still have and now this 8300.
The case of the 8300 is much more professional in quality than the 8800. The casing is not slick and slippery to touch like the 8800 and has rubber skin edges for a better gripping surface similar to professional camera bodies. The overall casing of this phone is much more durable than the 8800 but with less weight and size. This is a phone you can take with you anywhere and subject to a more harsh enviroment. The key board is much easier to use, lights up brighter and reminds me of a palm treo that I once owned.
The functions of this phone is identical to the 8800 with the major exception of the GPS. I have found that the Blackberry maps program still works great on the 8300. There are a few programs on this phone not on the 8800 such as spell check.
The over quality of the 8300 is as to be expected first rate and lives up to being a blackberry.
I fail to understand how anyone such as the others below can write a review about a phone that they have not even owned, handled or tested. I strongly recommend upgrading to this phone if you are an 8800/8100 user and want a better grade/professional case and keyboard. As far as camera phones being a security risk in corporations actually a GPS device is far more of a risk as it can give someone the abilty to place or identify an area to be a target of intrest or distruction more so than a photograph also a GPS device can be actived and you can be tracked anywhere in the world while the phone is on. Anyone in the field of corporate security knows what a threat that could be to a CEO of a major corporation.
I highly recommend upgrading to the 8300.
- 2 replies to this review
-
I just purchased a Curve and it is everything you said. Thanks
-
Oh please, the GPS location feature isn't any more of a risk that just having the phone actually turned on. Anyone compromising enough of the security of the network or device is going to be resourceful enough to do it whether there's GPS on the phone or not. Enough with the hand-waving hype.
What's irritating is the two steps forward, one step back of this device. Finally, a decent keyboard with a camera. Oh, but wait, it can't use modern high speed networking.
Then there's the hassle of burying the card slot under the battery. Great, if you want to actually use the feature for more than just adding to the paltry amount of system memory you're going to end up wrecking the flimsy battery cover due to opening it up all the time.
Were it not for the lack of 3G or HSPDA networking (pfft, wifi would be just TOO much to ask, apparently) this would really be an ideal device. But since they've chosen to cripple it's network speed it's really not an ideal choice.
Of course at the same time the other phone vendors are making their own share of mistakes. So it's not a matter of getting the phone you want, it's more like tolerating the sacrifices the poor solutions put upon you.
I'd really like to buy the 8300, today. But it's limited networking makes it non-starter.
And don't get me started on how carrier crippling of features sucks...
Where to buy
RIM BlackBerry Curve 8300 - silver (AT&T):
$0.01 - $199.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
|
$199.99 | Yes |
|
|
$199.99 | Yes |
|
|
Amazon.com Marketplace
|
$0.01 | Yes |
|
%20user%20review%20and%20rating%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/rim-blackberry-curve-8300/4864-6452_7-32434383-4.html){kind=small}