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- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 109 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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16 out of 16 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"The pinnacle of what an exceptional phone can do with a superb provider platform."
Pros: Fast, lots of memory (in comparison to other providers), form fitting to the hand, excellent battery life, quick internet/messaging
Cons: No BlackBerry OEM extended capacity batteries available, no support for Verizon's Backup Assistant
Summary: I've always been the guy that wants a phone. A phone with no dings, bells, whistles whatever. I just want a contact list and a dial button. But realizing that the trend in phones and consumer products warrants that legends like the StarTac will never surface again, I must adapt and overcome.
My needs for a phone over the years have changed as well. I'm a restaurant manager with a need for constant mobility to allow all kinds of data correspondence, yet I'm not able to commit my time to a desktop to get it done.
Which brought me to the BlackBerry series. I've always kind of had a sense of contempt towards the BlackBerrys. I don't know why. I went to my Verizon Wireless store and started to seriously test these phones (within limits of being tethered to a booth of course).
The Curve (as opposed to the World Editions, or Pearl) seemed the best option.
My battery life is excellent right out of box, I did some additional tweaking such as the backlight timer, brightness etc and feel I get optimum battery performance. My BlackBerry routinely sees 3-4 days of heavy texting, surfing, emailing and calling before requiring a charge (I'm not so good about putting it on the charger when I get home).
Call quality is excellent as well. I frequently use the speakerphone to which a lot of people don't experience the talk back of a speakerphone and I've yet to receive any negative feedback about my end of the conversation.
Reception on the phone is superb as well. My kitchens are filled with stainless steel, interference producing equipment, all in all being fully surrounded by conrete walls. My previous LG-VX8100 would get spotty reception in various parts of the kitchen and even in my walkin coolers and freezers (which have heavy insulation and steel) that would give me minimal reception. My Curve triumphs all of it. I always notice full service reception on the meter anywhere in my building.
The phone is also extremely easy to use. Within 10 minutes of opening the phone I was able to seamlessly integrate my Gmail as well as my corporate email accounts, as well as establish my vzw.blackberry.net email address. One feature I really like is that the phone has the ability to sense if it is holstered. You can change ring profiles and behaviors accordingly, and even set it to lock the phone upon holstering.
The phone also has a good hold on security I feel. I have my security settings to use maximum strength encyption connected to the device and a password, and with these features installed, I see no decrease in performance.
The system loaded software is excellent too, the maps program is fast and very thorough on searches and giving directions (not on the fly, but that is what VZNavigator gives me).
My only cons to offer is that the Backup Assistant feature that Verizon has is not supported. I had to type out 170 contacts emails, phone numbers, faxes etc into Outlook to be synced into my address book on the phone. The plus to this, it that everytime I sync my phone to the computer, any new additions are updated to my Outlook/BlackBerry (depending on where I added or updated it), and my contacts are in my control (if Verizon's feature ever stopped working etc, I still have my master list in MY control).
Also, even as much as I praise the battery life, I always prefer to have an extended capacity battery if offered. BlackBerry does not offer one for the Curve, but an aftermarket one is available (Seidio has one, as well as a battery cover, but I don't like aftermarket batteries or battery covers with a different maker on the back of it). I don't have a real need for it, I just like having it available (living in Florida during hurricane season can put you on edge for power). So for now I'll buy another battery and keep it charged.
All in all, I recommend this phone highly to the mobile professional or text crazy person. The phone keeps you extremely mobile for long periods of time, isn't uncomfortable to type on, is easy to use and gives you impeccable service quality and reception.
Where to buy
RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 (Verizon Wireless):
$49.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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$49.99 | Yes |
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