Customer Reviews

BlackBerry Pearl 8100c Phone, Red (AT&T)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Pros:

- Sleek enough to be perceived as a regular cell phone and yet comfortable for browsing and mail checking

- Highly intuitive OS and Menu

- Track ball is a welcome change

- Nice screen

- All the typical blackberry functionality available.

- A lot of other features that can be expected from a smartphone, such a camera, MP3 player, Calendar, PC sync, etc...

- This quasi-qwerty keyboard takes a day or two to get used to but the "suretype" software works sooooo well that you will be amazed. In about 90% of the typing I do on this phone, It works just like a normal qwerty keyboard. Entering names and web addresses at times requires manual intervention, otherwise the software takes care of everything. You have to try it to believe it.

Cons:

- Supports only EDGE. 3G is definitely faster and it becomes strikingly painful when you are trying to do a lot of information searching in a small period of time, mostly when you are on the road. But for the most part, it does its job

- Battery life. Nothing to brag about but then I heard that other phones in the category have worse battery performances. So, I guess I will have to live with it. I am sure if I search the web, I can find articles on how to minimize battery usage. On less than moderate use, it lasts about 2 days.

- The headset that comes with it is a joke. And the headphone jack is not a standard one. So, if you actually want to use it as an MP3 player, you have to purchase the converter for the jack for $15 approx and then use your headphone with it. I personally view this as a very cheap tactic.

Overall, it is a great phone. But I am already getting over the crackberry addiction and have stopped checking my gmail on this every 10 mins. I might even drop the data plan altogether :-). And can't complain about the price either.

Nothing has happened yet for me to vouch for its toughness and build quality but I am guessing it won't be built as tough as my old Nokia 8260.

I took a star away for the minor qualms mentioned above in the cons.

First, the call quality is very good- much better than my Motorola SLVR v8. If you're looking for a good phone, with a few extra "smart phone" features, this is a good choice.

Some observations after owning this phone for 2 months:
1) SLOW. Everything about the phone is slow from the applications to the AT&T EDGE network. This is NOT a 3G phone, and it shows.
2) The size is great, small and lightweight
3) The software that syncs with your computer (I use a mac) is very good.
4) Scratches easily. The phone is plastic, and the color (including the fake metal) rubs or chips off.
5) It requires a blackberry data plan from AT&T. It is VERY expensive, and probably not worth it. If you complain enough to the AT&T reps, they will give you an unlimited smart phone plan for a quarter of the price.
6) You will want to install additional software like Google Maps.
7) The battery is not very good
8) The the media player is poor
9) The ringer is very quiet
10) The keyboard is very easy to use, after you get used to it.

First, I really like the blackberry pearl. It is great phone that gets great reception and has a lot of useful features. However, the real reason I am writing a review is to alert you that that phones may be refurbished even though they say new. After I received my phone, I was having weird security issues (i.e. not allowing out-going calls, password protection, etc.). I worked with the blackberry administrator for my firm and he said it was due to the fact my phone was refurbished. I contacted amazon, and after a few rounds of emails, they finally admitted that due to a problem with the vendor the phone was refurbished. Amazon never made any effort to contact me before this to alert me that the phone they sold me was refurbished. I am currently in the process of trying to get a "new" phone.

I had been researching the Pearl for a month or so before I decided this was the phone/device I was going to buy to replace my regular cell phone. While the Pearl performs well, it has its quirks. The phone has frozen up on me a few times. Nothing major and never when it was urgent or important. Usually while browsing the web. I have figured out the reason for the freezing of the phone (at least in my situation) is because of the web page content that is trying to load onto the phone. There is either too much Java script for the phone to handle, or simply too many graphics. You can change the settings of the phone to avoid this, but I find that to be a pain for only a hand full of sites I've had issues with. And sometimes, they load correctly. Typing on the phone does take some time but after enough practice (and patience!), you will be comfortable with it in about a week or two. Navigating through the phones options/settings is a bit confusing. Pairing with other bluetooth phones has been a problem. I have not been successful at this. However, pairing with a bluetooth headset has been no problem. Overall, it's a great little device. Don't expect it to work like your home computer and if you have big fingers, the typing may be an issue. One odd problem was the AC Adapter/Charge for my phone began to melt one night. Not a pleasant experience. But after contacting Cingular, they shipped a replacement charger at no charge. Other than that, and the previous mentioned quirks, I would still recommend this phone.

I just purchased this phone mainly because of the price. I wanted the least expensive blackberry I could get. I dropped my 8800 one too many times and the screen no longer worked and I was only a few months into my contract. The decision purchasers have to make are based on the features of the different blackberry devices. This one has a camera and MP3 player. While I will never use the MP3 player I will use the camera to "personalize" my screen with various photos. The 8800 that I had before I really liked the size of the screen and the fact that the letters all had one key. I have fairly large fingers so using this keypad is going to take some getting used to. In the end if you can use this as a supplement and not a full time device I say go with it. I like the size (feels both dimensional and weight) is much smaller than the 8800. If it isn't a price issue I would go with the 8800 or the Curve which is coming out soon.

I was skeptical buying a phone from Amazon and if anyone else is do not worry about it. I bought this phone from Amazon and it was exactly as advertised. ATT sells this phone for $250 with a new 2 year agreement. Amazon sold it for $.01. The phone arrived brand new as described and quickly less than 3 days.

I took my sim card from my previous phone put it in the new phone and was making and receiving phone calls in under 5 minutes. If you are upgrading phones and eligible for a new phone go to Amazon first and see if the phone you like is available...you can't go wrong.

This phone is perfect for "adults" who need a smartphone but want the features of an I-POD. In my line of work I spend alot of time alone taking readings, so I like to listen to music while I perform these tasks. Before I used to have to carry an I-pod as well as my Treo. Not anymore. The music player quality sounds just as good as my I-pod, which by the way, stays in a desk drawer now. It has the best mobile e-mail, google maps, infospace, you name it. With the 2 gig micro. card I have 250+ songs, the full length movie "SE7EN" and numerous pictures on this phone. This is my first "Berry" and I love it.

Awesome little phone, emailer, browser, etc. It's like having a tiny computer in the palm of your hand. In addition, it has a good camera and a very good media player device (although I wish it supported WMA music files). On top of all that it's a sexy little device. Also, the phone quality is excellent (with the handset, wired headset, Bluetooth or speaker phone). I'd recommend buying one. I did (through AT&T Wireless) and I couldn't be happier.

I have had this phone for about 4 months. The size is very good and it feels good in the hand. The phone and PTT functions work very well. The e-mail works as advertised. The browser also works well. I had hoped to use this in place of my PDA but found out it won't serve my needs. You can't really store word or excel documents on it. The sure type has never learned to make "OK" when I type those keys and correct it. I find I text less because it is too slow. You can't save often used text messages. When this dies I'll look into something else. In the past couple of weeks the phone has locked up 3 times. The battery must be removed to reset the phone.

I was the one to make fun of people addicted to their BlackBerrys, now I am one of them. The Pearl is the perfect size for all that it holds, it has great features and an awesome speaker phone.