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- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 112 reviews Back to product review
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18 out of 20 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"When You Are Ready To Grow Up -- Get A Curve"
Pros: IT JUST WORKS
Cons: ICQ and AIM clients not natively supported
Summary: I am not the type of person that writes many reviews but I felt compelled to share my experience with the Verizon Curve because I have enjoyed reading so many other reviews and I wanted to ?give back?.
I have used many different phones?my last being the Verizon XV-6700 Pocket PC?and I was struggling between the XV-6900 Touch as my next upgrade or making the switch to Blackberry. I had already ruled out the Samsung i760 and the Verizon XV-6800. Both decent phones, by the way?I played with them extensively?if I would have hung out any longer at the Verizon store, they would have started charging me rent! I just found the location of some of the controls on the Samsung ?odd? and I kept on hitting all of the wrong buttons when I slid the phone open. The shade of blue on the 6800 threw me off for some reason. It made the phone look cheap.
But the real reason I wasn?t happy with then is because I have had it with ?brick? size devices. I wanted something sleek and smooth. A device that wouldn?t make me look like I jammed a paperback novel into my pants pocket. (I am not a big fan?however utilitarian?of PDA aka ?Geek? cases.) I also wanted something that I didn?t need to slide or flip open and could be totally operated with one hand (or thumb). Hence, the attraction to the Touch.
I really wanted the Touch but the more I played with it, the more I realized that I would be doing what I had always been doing with my 6700?spending 50% of my time playing with the phone, rebooting it, waiting for it to stop freezing and looking for new ways to download software onto it. Right out of the box, the 6900 could not play YouTube videos and I realized that that would be my first Holy Grail. Plus, the Touch only has a screen keyboard?and no matter how effective it is?it?s simply not a match for a physical, tactile keyboard. I love the Resco virtual keyboard?but then I realized that I enjoyed playing with it more than it was actually useful. I so enjoyed downloading the lovely PointUI interface onto my Pocket PC?but then I realized that I was in love with the tinkering more than the utility!
Along comes the Curve! I am elated and upset at the same time AND for the same reason: the device simply WORKS!!! And it works well. All of the time I spent tinkering on Pocket PC?s was no preparation for the utter simplicity of the Blackberry OS. It actually knows what you want to do next. Someone (or a team of people) at RIM sat down and said, ?Let?s see?if Susan (or Sam) does this, what?s the next probable thing she?ll (he?ll) want to do?? It?s uncanny.
So a part of me IS upset. No more fooling around looking for workarounds, hack files or patches. I am actually getting some work done! (Except for writing this review.) When I discovered that the Verizon Curve was not supported by Mobile ICQ and AIM (the T-Mo version is), I said, ?Aha! It has flaws!? A few clicks later, I downloaded a trial version of JiveTalk directly to the Blackberry and my woes were unwarranted. Rats! It plays YouTube videos right out of the box and it flawlessly downloaded Google Maps, Windows Live Search and Google Search. I have nothing to do!!! Except work.
Not having a stylus to loose is the essence of FREEDOM and the trackball works smoothly and accurately. You can set the sensitivity level. Mine is set at 80. The speakerphone is AWESOMELY loud and the Curve is exceptional as a phone. Just start typing a number or a name and it will figure out who you want to call.
Any cons? The device feels perfect in your hand and it?s smooth as a pebble so that makes the keys a bit small?but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. Blackberry Maps is pretty useless and Voice Dialing is not my favorite app in general?but the ability to assign speed dial numbers or apps to the keyboard is more efficient than voice dialing in my opinion?at least it comes standard with the Blackberry.
Any other cons? Yeah, it works.
- 4 replies to this review
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Just wondering if there is a word type of document on this phone. I have the Pocket PC and love being able to take notes in word and then transfer to my computer.
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HI, I think I understand from your review that the text is small. Isn't there a way to increase the font size? I have a Storm which I think I will return for the Curve, but it is very important to me that I am able to increase the font to at least 10 pt., as I don't have the greatest vision. Thanks.
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Thanks, you've saved me a trip to the Verizon store. Now I know not to get the Touch.
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I have the XV6900 for just over a week and I am just coming to the realization that I need to go to the Curve. The Touch is a slick phone, do not get me wrong. I just find myself fiddling with it and not really getting anything done. I was a tried and true Treo user for 3 years and have been avoiding a BB for sometime. It looks like I will be contacting VZ and sending the XV6900 back and ordering the Curve.
Where to buy
RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 (Verizon Wireless):
$29.99
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$29.99 | Yes |
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