Customer Reviews

BlackBerry Curve 8320 Phone, Sunset (T-Mobile)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I resisted a Blackberry for years because I didn't want my email following me everywhere. Finally broke down and got this Curve 3 weeks ago. It truly lives up to its name as a "smart phone."

The Good:

1--The preloaded applications. I LOVE having mapping and search technology right on my cellphone! No more wondering where the nearest Wells Fargo or Pinkberry is. No more wasting time in the doctor's waiting room. I can check/respond to email or better yet, play tetris or brickbreaker.

2 --Multi-Tasking. If you are in the middle of one app (e.g., entering an address) and a call comes in, when the call is finished, the screen goes back to what you were doing instead of losing all the data you just entered. Coming from regular phones, this is a HUGE time-saving improvement for me. Also, if you are on the phone with someone and you want to look up a number or an email or a calendar event on your phone, you can click a button and search for the info, all while continuing your convo with the caller. How novel that technology should actually work the way common sense dictates. I uploaded a software called Mobile Tracker that works with a GPS to track my movements (which I can later upload in a file and watch on Google Earth) and the tracking is done in the background all while I continue to make and receive calls, check email, etc. Love that!

3--The Keyboard (Characters). I love that all the letters, numbers and common symbols are on one keyboard instead of my having to scroll thru multiple screens like most other phones.

4--Phone quality. Speakerphone is crisp and clear. Phone can hold a signal even in certain dead spots.

The Bad:

1-- Battery life is not great. Requires daily charging but I use it quite intensely. Easily solved with a car charger.

2-- Browser is sometimes a little too slow for my taste. This may be the phone or it may be t-mobile. I haven't tested to know whether wi-fi makes the browser go faster than being on the EDGE network. Also, could be slower when there are multiple applications working in the background.

The Ugly:

1--The keyboard (surface). Not crazy about the texture. I prefer the feel of the Bold's keyboard but I'm not going to switch carriers for it.

2--So incompatible with Mac it's not funny. After 3 days of trying different alternatives (the free pocketmac from blackberry froze my computer), I had to pay $40 for Missing Sync software to make the phone play nice with Mac, and even then there are issues. If you have a windows pc, you won't have this issue. If you have a Mac, be prepared to accept less than accurate syncing.

3--The manual. It's beyond useless. Doesn't tell you anything about this phone which has menus within menus within menus. There are a lot of features and you really need to take it out on a date and get to know it intimately. I have started to create my own little "how-to" file to keep track of how to do everything on this phone.

If you are new to smartphones, you will really enjoy this phone, not just for the email but for the constant access to the internet which is great for having information at your fingertips when you're away from your computer.

NOTE: A week or so after getting the phone, I also experienced the problem mentioned by the reviewer below with the phone locking up and the interminable hourglass. When I went in to each of the programs on the phone I had opened (maps, browser, weather channel, missing sync, brickbreaker, etc) and selected Close or Quit from the menu, this problem went away. I guess what makes this a smart phone is that hitting the back button on the phone just takes you to the previous screen but it doesn't automatically close out the application you are working in. You have to do that manually.

UPDATE: It has now been more than 6 months since I have had the phone and I want to throw it into the ocean. I still love the map feature and the camera has come in handy a couple of times, but the phone part drives me nuts! #ver since I activated the UMA feature which allows me to make calls over my highspeed Internet connection, I have had constant dropped calls, call failures, inability to dial out or receive calls. The phone basically works when it feels like. I have called T-Mobile but the support on this particular feature is useless. You might ask, why don't I just disable it, but when it works, it's brilliant -- it's like being on a landline. And cell service in my home is spotty so if I don't use UMA, I have to stand in one corner of the house. I had the phone set to work exclusively with UMA and I had problems so I switched it so that the phone would go back and forth between UMA and Edge, but I still have problems. This could be the phone, this could be T-Mobile, this could be my internet connection, who knows. I haven't tested UMA over another wireless network to isolate the problem. Perhaps I will do that next and update the review again.

Out of all the phones I have had this is by far the best phone ever! I love it. It's camera takes great pictues that are so easy to upload to your computer. The phone it self is easy to use and keeps me stay organized!

I received this phone twice. First time I received it, it was a returned/used item. It had someone else's emails on it. I had it returned to Amazon. I informed them that this was a used blackberry. They sent me another one and again, it was used because the battery door had a scratch. I kept it anyways, when you buy blackberry for a penny, you're not guaranteed a brand new phone. Besides, I got a rebate, so I really shouldn't be complaining. This phone works very well. I have the myfaves minutes, blackberry unlimited data, and the hotspot calling. It all works well. In my opinion, if you want reliable email and data service, blackberry is the best. Tmobile customer service may not be that great, but what cellular provider gives the best? Either you get a great customer service rep or you don't. At least, their automated message service is way better than ATT and Verizon. I can get through to customer service department by pressing zero.

I am very happy with this keep-in-touch instrument. I replaced an ordinary cellphone with this, so it's a real step up for me. Being able to check on, and send, emails from just about anywhere is a real revelation! It just eliminates the need to be attached to a base during working hours. It was also easy to set up and is easy to use. Can you tell I'm happy with it?

Bought this product just before Christmas 2009. I only ended up with it because T-Mobile didn't want to give me a price break on the G1... I knew I shouldn't have settled.

I should have known it was a piece of poo before I even left the store with it. As I was leaving, the T-Mobile rep told me, "When you have to do a hard reset, don't be alarmed at how long it takes to reboot." And... yep... it does take FOREVER (as in several minutes) to reboot. And... yep... you have to reboot all the time!

Less than two weeks after I got the phone, it started locking up. I called T-Mobile, they said to delete any pictures, apps, or files I had on the phone. Even though I only had one ringtone and maybe 10 photos, I did what they said. No noticeable change in performance.

I dealt with it for a few weeks, but it only got worse. I broke down, drove to the T-Mobile store, handed it to the rep... who performed a "software update." (By the way, I used to work for Sprint PCS... "software update" is what you do when you have absolutely no idea what is wrong with the phone.) Of course, this did no good... but whatever.

I used the phone for a few more months. The problem only got worse. Another random T-Mobile rep told me to go out and buy a Mini-SD card for it. I did, and of course, no change, the problem just kept getting worse. Another T-Mobile GENIUS told me to delete everything on the phone and restore it to default condition. Soon, the phone was completely devoid of anything fun or useful... no ringtones, no photos, no apps, nothing personalized.

The phone only got worse. Eventually, it was to the point where it would lock up for 10 minutes, you could use it for 3 minutes, then lock up for 10 more minutes.

When it wasn't locked up, I enjoyed using the camera and enjoyed the somewhat intuitive e-mail/instant message/text functions. Of course, I didn't get to enjoy it all that often.

I don't think I am biased in my dislike of BlackBerry. My best friend hates his BlackBerry Bold with a burning passion, and a family member recently returned the BlackBerry Storm after just a few days use. I am convinced that BlackBerry just plain sucks!

I was so happy when an accident befell this device. I recently hopped out of my car to fill up with gas. I was in a hurry, and set the phone on top of my hood while I pumped fuel. I hopped back in the car and drove away sans Blackberry. This miserable device met its painful end somewhere near the La Cienega/Wilshire intersection in Los Angeles during Noon traffic. Problem solved.

I love this phone. It suites all my needs, has a camera, calender, MAPS, email, voice recording, it also has facebook already installed & you can download the myspace application later. I also love the color. I'm very satisfied :)

The curve is a downgrade from previous models. WiFi and gps barely work. You need a very strong signal for wifi. No 3G. The most annoying part is that you will have to change all your chargers and adapters because they changed the connector. The old mini-USB cable was very handy because it is shared by many manufactures so it was very easy to find someone to help you out in case you run out of battery on the road. Not anymore. Do not waste your money.

I to am please with my black berry. its my first and a upgrade from my regular phone and I love it I can access my email while relaxing, I love to send and recieve text it,s easy to do before with my regular phone I didn"t know how on my regular phone to complicated. it takes beautiful pictures, I'm learning how to use more technology with this blackberry. thanks t mobile.

I purchased this phone in August right after the Sunset version of the Blackberry Curve was released. It's my first Blackberry and my first smart phone (I upgraded from a Motorola Razr). I really wanted to love this phone, but I don't. Despite its sleek appearance and numerous cool features, this Crackberry is not at all what it's cracked up to be (pun intended).

First, the good things: It's pretty. It's functional and easy to use. The QWERTY keyboard is fabulous, and I finally started text messaging people because I am now able to do it without cursing. The color screen is fantastic, Web browsing is slightly above average (most mobile browsers kind of suck), and the camera is pretty decent as well. The battery life is pretty long. As for the actual phone, reception is very clear. The unit itself is a bit awkward to hold against the ear, but it's not a flip phone and I could always get with the program and buy a hands-free device, so I'm not going to complain about that.

However, despite all those great features, I hate this stupid phone. My biggest complaint is that it locks up on me ALL THE TIME! That blue hourglass appears on the screen about 70% of the time I have the phone turned on. The constant "updating" makes the rest of the device slow and sluggish, and to my knowledge there is no way to speed that up. Also, sometimes the hourglass refuses to go away after 10 or 15 minutes, and I'm forced to take the entire battery out and reboot my phone, which is also time consuming. That happens at least once a week. In addition to that, my phone apparently came with some sort of poltergeist, because sometimes the red light will flash and the phone will start beeping WHEN IT'S TURNED OFF! Plus, although I have the settings adjusted to store e-mails and text messages for 30 days, sometimes the phone decides to delete everything all by itself without even prompting me (and not necessarily just when I have a ton of messages in the inbox, either). Finally, this phone does not shoot video! I suppose it's my own fault for not realizing that it lacked that feature before I made the purchase, but I seriously did not expect a $250 phone to lack something as simple as video capabilities. Ridiculous!

The bottom line is, even though this is a nice looking phone, I have had more problems with it than any other mobile device (I actually miss my old Razr!). If T-Mobile offered the iPhone, I would ditch my Crackberry in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, though, it looks like I'm stuck with this stupid thing for a while longer.

Blackberry does not honor their warranty. If you must get one, buy insurance. The USB connection breaks because of poor design. I have had two fail. One had insurance, the other did not. Blackberry claims that this does not happen and WILL charge you $180. There is no escalation. I got the device back with a broke screen and no battery (new one too). Poor design, poor software, and the worst customer support. You have been warned.