ThinkPad X200 Tablet Save Extra 5%
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 86 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"An upgrade on a proven design..thats not finished yet.."
Pros: New OS is amazing to look at, and adds more functionality
Easy & efficient interface
sleek sexy looks
wi-fi & gps
amazing call quality
great video quality
best BB camera to date
faster than previous Curve models
fantastic audio quality
DIVXCons: battery life sucks before firmware update
Summary: I'm a previous 8330 owner (Bell Mobilty) and recently made the switch the beautiful 8900 (Rogers). It's a fantastic looking device that improves heavily both visually and functionally on Blackberry's proven design.
battery life is still poor for a blackberry after firmware update
all the apps you loved on the 83xx series are not working yet on the 8900
no themes available on the 8900 (yet)
finger print magnet
You just take one look at this device and you know it's something special. The full black face with the faux chrome bezel and faux brushed battery door is a classy and professional. In fact this is just as sexy as the Bold! (I just wish the battery door was actual brushed Metal and not scratch-easy plastic!)
However the sleek piano black finish loves scratches and finger prints...
The dedicated lock key on the top of the device is a nice added touch. I usually have the left convenience key on my BB's setup as the keyboard lock, but now I have it set to the sexy looking clock! You also have the sleep key up on the top of the phone...which you will soon learn will keep your battery from draining in 8 hours of standby time...
On that note... the battery drains very fast on this phone right out of the box. Maybe a day tops with very minimal use. Updating the firmware helps get you 2 days with medium use (ie: hour of calls, 20 emails and 20 texts, some browsing and downloading) but you can't be using the leather pouch which seems to help drain the life out of the battery a bit quicker (apparently the aA key stays pressed when the phone is in the case)
The keyboard compared to the old Curve is very similar. The keys are a little closer together, but the spacing betweent eh aA and the alt keys are a bit father apart... which can be annoying but is not a deal breaker. Overall it's a very familiar feeling device, and is comfortable in the palm o fyour hand.
The form factor is terrific for my smallish girly man hands. Unlike the Bold which I found was too big for me and my pockets.
The trackball is very fluid and runs smoother than the one on my 8330. In fact everything is smoother than it was on my 8330. Brickbreaker will operate just swimmingly when you leave a few apps open, even when you receive texts and e-mails! All the apps in fact are much quicker, even the browser... which I think is more phone than network.
However not all apps are working on the 8900... Windows Live Search is one of them (in fact this is one of my fav apps, and is a huge disappointment at this time). But I can only assume this is because the device is relatively new.
media hounds will notice that audio and video quality has improved over previous blackberries, and the DIVX support in the video player is a nice added touch. I can now sell my ipods now that I have this! Thank God for the high capacity memory card compatibility!
The availability to have both wi-fi and GPS in the same device is a welcome feature. I used the GPS quite often on my 8330, but having wi-fi speeds up the browser in hotspots, and with Rogers Talk-Spot service increases the call quality nicely.
The camera offers a lot more detail and has a blinding flash... not much more to say there because I can't attach pictures to this review...
It's just a fantastic device, through and through. It is nearly perfect... but I can understand why RIM didn't make it so... giving this device 3G, wifi, gps, 3.2mp camera, fast processor, and the high res screen would kill Bold sales... As is it's a hard choice for many between this and the Bold. Obviously we know which way I went.
- 1 reply to this review
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If you want a better battery you could always buy one off the internet from a store like the one below.
[url=http://www.blackberrysource.com/store/start.asp?category_id=143&category_id2=0]BlackBerry Curve 8900 Accessories[/url]
RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 (T-Mobile):
%20user%20review%20and%20rating%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/rim-blackberry-curve-8900/4864-6452_7-33485567.html?messageID%3D10021157){kind=small}