Why I Love the BlackBerry Pearl, Part One
Tue Oct 3, 2006 2:00PM EDT
See Comments (79)
I've been meaning to write up the BlackBerry Pearl for a couple of weeks now, but wanted to give it a thorough test drive. Now that I've had a chance to play around with it, I can safely say that it's quite possibly my favorite new phone this year, even though it only runs on the EDGE network for data (versus the faster "3G" high-speed EV-DO networks of Verizon and Sprint or the HSDPA network of Cingular Wireless). But enough about the network for now. What I reallly love about the Pearl is its solid and smooth software and efficient processing: So far, I haven't had any slowdowns or glitches.
By contrast, barely a day goes by when the Motorola Q I have doesn't freeze up or slow down in mid-process, or when my email doesn't show up for some mysterious reason--a real deal-breaker for a phone that otherwise boasts a fantastic slim design, excellent phone-call quality, and a huge color screen. The Blackberry Pearl is similarly compact, but so far I've been getting my emails in real-time without a hitch and taking nice 1.3-megapixel pictures and sending them via MMS with no problem--all on the fly at home in the U.S. or on a recent trip to Europe. I'll be posting more later about this revolutionary new device, because there's a lot to say.
Why I Love the BlackBerry Pearl, Part Two
Why I Love the BlackBerry Pearl, Part Three
Top 5 Posts
More About Cell Phones
Comments on Why I Love the BlackBerry Pearl, Part One
Post a Comment
Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.
-
47 Posted by novemberhorizons on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:41PM EDT Report Abuse
i bought the phone returned it after week they key board is to small 2 letters per key the emails are hard to read
-
48 Posted by svarela_2004 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:50PM EDT Report Abuse
i agree with the previous poster. the track wheel was real nice in the previous models. the pearl takes some serious getting used to..
-
49 Posted by curlymartini on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:32PM EDT Report Abuse
I have had my Pearl for a few days, replacing a 2 year old BB 7100t that was freezing every day. I love it. If you can fall in love with and marry a phone, meet my new husband BB Pearl. Vast improvement on Suretype, love the track ball especially since you can move around in a document without having to hold anything else down,wild about the voice activated dialing. and found set up a breeze after I downloaded pocketmac to transfer my address book. Still figuring out a lot of the stuff, but so far my only problem is regarding volume. Can't get the ringer high enough (even after downloading new and more interesting rings) and can't hear my daughter's soft voice on the phone. I admit to having rock and roll related hearing loss, but still... Any suggestions to increase volume?
-
50 Posted by suave_20_00 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:46PM EDT Report Abuse
Anyone else having issues with the "pearl" in the pearl? The pearl is waaay to sensitive. you pull it out of the holster or out of your pocket and the ringer shuts off. my friend also said last week i called him 4 times accidently while the phone was in the holster....the camera is nice but i have discovered a few dark "holster" fotos as well.
-
51 Posted by robertphtx on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:45PM EDT Report Abuse
way to small as most cell phones are now days
-
52 Posted by hazel_eckles on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:17PM EDT Report Abuse
i love, love, love this blackberry. as a woman with smaller hands than most men, the trackball has made my life easier. with the side trackwheel on the 7290/8700, if not held completely right, it would slip of out my hand and i'd drop it (way too many times). also, with it's size, i can finally put it in my small purses for when i go out to a bar/club. the others were just too big. the dbl ltr keyboard was my BIGGEST concern, coming from the single key, but doesn't even phase me anymore, just after a wk. the predictive text is so easy to work with and get used to. the camera, just actually having 1 is great, but this cam takes great quality, printable pics. maybe not photo like prints, but def have printed good quality photos from color printers. for a camera phone, def cannot complain. screen quality perfect! the speed for web browsing, amazing (but probably cuz my old blackberry was so slow - for whatever reason, i'm not sure). best feature so far that i've found.... not having to set up any of my numbers for voice activation calling (whatever you call it). with having over 1800 contacts in my outlook, which is sync'd to my pearl... i don't have to worry about having a certain number set up for voice calling. it automatically will read any of your contacts for you and give you the names that sound like the name you asked to call. it is simple to use and figure out. like i said at the beginning of this post... i love, love, love this blackberry. :)
-
53 Posted by panky541 on Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:29PM EDT Report Abuse
The Pearl is the best phone that I have ever purchased you just have to read the manual when you cant figure stuff out. I havent had any problems yet!
-
54 Posted by crspx on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:31PM EDT Report Abuse
I owned a Blackberry 7100 for about one year before buying the Pearl and have never been happier with a device. I disagree with some of the comlaints voiced by the author whick I will quickly address: the camera issue? I can't think of any phone currently offered by any of the national carriers with a resolution of greater than 1.3MP. US consumers aren't demanding advance imaging features in their cell phones. those that do want/need such a feature have several excellent GSM choices from abroad. data/GPRS speeds? knowing going into the review that this device is currently branded for T-Mobile USA, it is a moot point to even mention is becuase T-Mobile is the only US carrier without at least some 3G capability on their network. if they could make a Blackberry that does data/browsing faster, I's sure they could. we are probably at minimum 8-12 months away from T-Mobile offering 3G services direct to consumers in limited markets. And now, the #1 thing the is wrong with thi device isn't mentioned at all in this peice: you can't receive phone calls or the Pearl is in your pants pocket, purse, or pocket book. locking the Pearl's keypad does NOT lock the trackball, and if the trackball moves ever so slighty after a call arrives, it mutes the ringtone and you won't hear it. I believe this is partially because T-Mobile was too cheap or too rushed to inlcude a nice OEM holster in the box with the device (the fact this is missing is a very glaring oversight in itself). even without a holster in use, there is ZERO exuse that you cannot lock the ENTIRE keypad, trackball included. this is a MAJOR software oversight, but I understand that RIM is aware of the problem and will hopefully have a solution in a future software release. oh yeah, final thing: best RF on ANY Blackberry device I have ever used. audio quality is comparable to my Nokia 6131, which is saying a lot I think. No auudio issues to speak of, except the occasional droipped call in areas of low signal that any device would be susceptible to.
-
55 Posted by suave_20_00 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:46PM EDT Report Abuse
There were some reviews as well in the BB forums....other have seen the issue of the ringer going off when you bump the trackball in your purse/pocket/holster...i see it all the time in my pearl when i take it out of the holster or while its in my pocket....peep it here: http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/17/blackberry-pearl-wont-ring-in-your-pocket/
-
56 Posted by sweetlorene16 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:52PM EDT Report Abuse
i love the blackberry pearl, it is the best phone i ever have.
-
57 Posted by blak_flames on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:09PM EDT Report Abuse
KEWL!!!!
-
58 Posted by painispast on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:48PM EDT Report Abuse
I gotta be connected 24/7/365 I must be annoying paying more attention to my gadgets than my surroundings I must chatter and type every waking moment if I'm not in touch with everyone at every moment I feel I'm out of the loop and will miss something important OMG someone will kiss the bosses ass better than me wait while i'm typing this I could have missed something, better check my email OMG, OMG OMG....
-
59 Posted by csmckitty on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:31PM EDT Report Abuse
Is the best phone i ever had.. I used to have the 87 something and it was perfect. so perfect that i can text while i was driving. lol!! this one its allright and the camera and the screen resolution its really good to be a 1.3. before i used to have also the sidekick3 and i changed for the blackberry, so u should get this phone
-
60 Posted by easilyaaf on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:51PM EDT Report Abuse
The pearl itself is a pretty decent phone...like most people pointed out there are a few quirks with it. The trackball in the pocket issue is being addressed atm by a new software version being developed by RIM/T-Mobile. Also after awhile of use the ringer tends to stop working(incoming call ringer/alerts etc.), which is fixed by soft reseting the phone(pull battery/back in) - if this is done every couple days it prevents the issue - another issue w/ the current software. Also on some themes it crashes in certain situations, like put your pearl in T-Mobile Zen then from the home screen(w/ 5 icons at the bottom) press the menu key 4-5 times fast and the phone goes to JVM Error 523 Reset - hit reset and it restarts and is fine - another issue w/ the software. The last major s/w issue is the microsd card issue - it supports up to 1gb at the moment until new s/w is released. All in all aside from these s/w quirks the phone is great - fast navigation, great trackball design, great themes and customization options, a cam and mp3 player and expandable memory and lastly probably the best e-mail solution out right now being BB's push e-mail. Once these s/w issues are fixed probably the best PDA/Smartphone out right now IMO, but with new phones coming out all the time it will likely be topped soon.
-
61 Posted by steveo92283 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:43PM EDT Report Abuse
Speaker sucks. Sounds blown most of the time. Trackball movement during a incoming call causes the phone to silence automatically. So having it in your pocket can cause you not to hear the phone ring at all.
-
62 Posted by steveo92283 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:43PM EDT Report Abuse
Speaker sucks. Sounds blown most of the time. ESPECIALLY during speakerphone. Trackball movement causes the phone to automatically silence. Ive had this phone for 2 weeks and have yet to hear my phone ring. Just walking around causes the trackball to move.
-
63 Posted by hummerman28 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:21PM EDT Report Abuse
It;s hard to tell if this can work on the Nextel network or if they will ever make a model that does!
-
64 Posted by wannacumpla on Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:29PM EDT Report Abuse
Got it the day it came out & still love it,waiting on the stereo headphones to listen to the movies & music i put on Pearl.
-
65 Posted by guy4va on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:14PM EDT Report Abuse
the only problems is scratches, I had to spend 20$ to buy the case and screen protector for it from www.fommy.com
Sponsored Links
My Tech
Please enable your browser's cookies to activate the My Tech column.
Also on Yahoo! Tech
| Computers | Home Office | Wi-Fi & Networking | Phones & PDAs | Cameras & Camcorders | TV & Home Theater | Portable Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
46 Posted by misookim on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:21PM EDT Report Abuse
problems that most people encounter with this phone is that they are not using the menu key. When you are looking at a picture that you have taken and want to send it just hit the menu key and an option to send via mms or email will appear. As far as the ringtones just go to profiles and instead of hitting an of the options scroll to the bottom and hit the "advanced" option. Then hit the Normal profile. This will take you to a screen that will allow you to change settings for everything you can think of.....mms indicator, phone ringtone, text message indicator, aol, etc. You can have a different ringtone for each one and many more. You can also have a different ringtone for each person in your address book. I am a phone geek. From unlocked phones to standard phones I have tried them all and I LOVE THE BLACKBERRY PEARL! It is the most complete phone I have ever had (with the exception of taking video). Hope this helps.