Cell Phones : RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8100

I purchased this phone about a month ago and I love it. I have had tons of cell phones and this by far blows all others out of the water. Great styling, easy to use controls and navigation menus. Wonderful help features. The web browsing has great speed. The screen is very clear and full of vibrant colors. The trackball makes scrolling so easy, it is a computer mouse on a cell phone, great idea! Camera is a wonderful feature normally not available on other blackberry phones. Bottom line, I will be holding onto to this phone for a while, my next phone will be the next version of the Blackberry Pearl. Hide Full Review

The Blackberry Pearl has faster internet speed, probably the added feature I benefit from the most. But it also has the new camera added in and a media player that is easy to use. I also like that it is even less bulky than the 7100t that I had been using. No complaints so far, other than that the screen size is slightly smaller, but still has a great pictue. The cost is also well worth the value. Hide Full Review

First of....this is not a review of the phone - but a WARNING/review of the vendor WIREFLY - who claims that they will sell the phone to you for 0.01c

Do not EVER buy any cell phone equipment from WIREFLY - they are a DISHONEST company that makes false claims in the hope that you will never follow up - they will advertise that the phone is 0.01c and then you will end up paying something because they will make sure that you do not send in the rebate in the 'time frame' that they have said you need to send it in or they will modify the postmark and then tell you that 'WE have processed your rebate request and have discovered that we cannot issue you your rebate because we did not receive the rebate claim in the time frame that it was supposed to arrive'

They need to be put out of business. Hide Full Review

The Pearl is one of the best devices I've used in quite some time. Whether you're looking for a simple phone, or a corporate e-mail and internet solution, the Pearl has a little bit of everything for everyone. First of all, the Pearl doesn't look anything like the BlackBerry that I was used to -- it's slim, sleek and very "phone-like." No more holding a scientific calculator up to your ear to make a call!!



With all of it's phone-like qualities and features, such as the MP3 player, 1.3 Megapixel Camera with Flash, kinda-QWERTY keypad, etc., it's simply familiar to most users.



With the more advanced features, such as the BlackBerry Internet Service or Enterprise Solutions, Real web browsing, downloadable programs, document viewers, etc., it's a great alternative to the users like me who can't stand the Microsoft SmartPhone solutions.



Overall, the software - being upgradable as new features are introduced - is really easy to use. Although it's very "texty," and doesn't have a lot of colorful icons and pretty menus, it's very reliable, fast and easy to use. Microsoft Windows Mobile is slow and unstable (much like their PC Windows versions), and the BlackBerry OS is much like that of a MAC in stability comparison.



I would highly recommend the Pearl to anyone who is looking for a phone with all of the features and functions that a PDA has, without the bulkiness.



One of the bigger Cons listed above is the Backlighting Options. To touch on that, let me explain. When I first got the Pearl, you could turn "Auto Brightness" on or off - making the screen a constant brightness, which I preferred. In the new software upgrades, BlackBerry removes that option, and sets the feature to "On" automatically. Unfortunately, it seems a bit backwards - go into a dark room, the screen gets darker, move under bright lights or the sun and the screen gets brighter. I'm sure it was due to the less than desirable battery life, but it doesn't seem to improve that area as much as it should. This issue is not enough for me not to love the Pearl, however, and I'm still a huge fan!



Get the Pearl - you won't be sorry! The Desktop software even allows you to transfer data to/from Outlook, Excel, Act and other contact databases. It also allows you to switch from a different device (i.e.: your Windows Mobile device) to the Pearl, importing most data seamlessly. Hide Full Review