Customer Reviews

BlackBerry Pearl 8100c Phone, Slate Grey (AT&T)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I have waited long enough. Being a techie and carrying a $20 (free) phone for over 3 years just didn't seem right. So my change of job prompted me to look for a phone which also has web/email capabilities. I considered strongly the Samsung Blackjack and the Blackberries. The blackjack's look, while cool from a distance, had keys that looked like left-over chicken-pox blisters. The much raved about Blackberry email push technology finally won me over. I had to decide between the pearl and the bigger versions. I read the 8700g and other blackberries are a bit too big for the pocket. So I chose the Pearl. Here's my take:

What I love:
============
- Form factor: It is beautiful, it is cute and catchy! It turns heads. Enough said.
- Size: Size is one of the strongest points considering all it does. It neatly slips into a shirt pocket or sits well on the belt.
- Keys: Could be a bit small but I could use it pretty easily though my fingers are bordering on 'butterfingers'.
- Trackball: Awesome! Just don't press it too hard while using it. Just 'roll-it'!. It is great while you have to move around the screen from control to control
- Voice-dialing: Has worked for me very well the 10 or so times I have tried in my van on the road and off. You have to first choose the voice dialing option from the list of icons on the main menu. I read you can assign a menu item to a key; this would eliminate some of the fumbling while driving.
- Screen: Not too big and not too small! This will be a key factor in you choosing between a bigger blackberry and this one. I found the size good enough for me. The fonts display the content sharply enough to read easily. It is bright while viewing; goes off after a few seconds of inactivity to save power.
- Videos: I found the video that comes along very good! The graphics very sharp and quite well paced. Need to try more of this later. But I don't watch videos on my cell phone and hence it isn't that much of a selling-point for me.
- Camera: Now, who needs a sophisticated camera on a cell phone? These are frills if you use the device as a phone and an email device. But, it took great pictures. I could easily email the photo to my wife with a few click (I had her email in my contacts already).
- Applications: Google maps is cool - much cooler on the samll screen with turn by turn directions easy to read. The default cingular media-net browser is so-so. Download the Opera-mini. Love browsing on the phone.
- Audio: Call quality has been outstanding so far. The music files, though, when played left more to be desired. Not your iPod substitution this device.
- Outlook sync: Worked like a charm. Now, I love to have all my contact information in this small hand-held.
- The push-to-talk feature hasn't worked for me so far. Maybe it is a area-specific availability issue; need to follow up.
- By far the best feature, is the RIM email push feature. I easily hooked up all my personal email accounts and feel thrilled when the berry flashes a red light whenever I have an email. This eliminates the need and a lot of time for me to login to my email accounts on the computer. Replying to an email may not be so easy given the size; but viewing - works great.
- Battery: Has been great so far. With my constant use of the device for email and trying the web, the battery lasted me more than 2 days w/o re-charging.
- Miscellaneous: I haven't had the berry hang-up as I read of other windows based phones. It did freeze a couple of times, but given that I have the phone for over a week, it isn't much of a bother. This freezing was mostly while on the web, so it could have been connectivity also.


What better?
============
- Size: If you usage is email heavy and you need to reply quite often, I suggest you get the bigger berries.
- Audio: If you rely on your cell phone to listen to music as well, I find the audio quality a bit lacking.

Overall, I am very happy with the phone. If you are on the line, I suggest you go for it!

A previous user stated that there is a $250 "porting" fee, and in effect, there is. If you order from AMZN, you DO save the phone cost BUT since it comes to you "hot" (that is with a pre-assigned Cingular number), when you go to port and change that number, Cingular will charge AMZN, who in turn, will bill you for $250. "New" to AMZN has what seems to be a very narrow definition, they mean (apparently) "new" to cell phones (unlikely).

3 stars for AMZN not being as forthright as one might hope

Overall best smartphone I've seen on the market. The others are either too bulky (e.g. Treo) or too wide (other Blackberries, BlackJack, or Motorola Q), or lack the solid Blackberry email service. This one is sure to be a hit. The Pearl's brilliant sure-type keyboard-entry system (with QWERTY layout but 2 letters per key) and "pearl" trackball allows the phone to be small and still enable very fast text entry.

Incidentally Mac owners should look into PocketMac to sync with their Mac's iCal/AddressBook, etc. Gmail can be read using the Gmail mobile app that can be downloaded straight to the Blackberry. Caution: if you already have Cingular, and want to keep your existing Cingular number, you CANNOT get the super-low Amazon discounted price -- you only get the Amazon discounted price if you start a brand new 2-year contract (with new number) with Cingular. So I got my phone at a Cingular store, because I was eligible for a phone upgrade. [...].

Plus points:
1. super-sharp screen, great colors, great resolution.
2. very context-sensitive menus, well thought-out.
3. Sure-type is very easy to learn and surprisingly accurate, and lets you type very fast.
4. Nice-size keys, beat the hell out of Treo's keys.
5. Treos are ugly bricks, this phone is super-stylish and highly pocketable, even in jeans.
6. Rock-solid Blackberry push email service can't be beat.
7. Pearl trackball is amazingly well designed and useful.
8. Cingular/Blackberry unlimited data backage is very good and pretty fast.

Minus points:
1. No wifi , but that's ok because the data service is pretty fast.
2. No video camera, but again I don't really miss that.
3. No touch screen; I don't really miss it because the trackball and context-sensitive menus are so well designed.

read the fine print!!!! amazon really tried to pull one over on you with this promotion. it happend to me.

they don't allow you to port your cell phone to this phone without a $250 fee!!! how ridiculous! everyone ports numbers these days...it's such a common practice. this process doesn't hurt anyone - cingular still gets the business and amazon still gets their money. why they don't let you port - and it's hidden in the fine print...is beyond me.

The Pearl is my first Blackberry. I comparison-shopped for a smart phone for over a year, considering the Treo and other Blackberry models, but I stuck with my old "dumb phone" until the Blackberry Pearl won me over.

The Blackberry Pearl wins in the realms of form and function. I wasn't willing to carry a huge phone. Any phone I carry has to fit in my back pocket and the Pearl is actually smaller than my old phone.

From a new user's perspective, the Pearl's design is very well-done. The trackball navigation is totally intuitive, and the software is easy to navigate. I could figure out how to do email, IM, and browsing the internet without reading the manual.

The pearl trackball is multifunctional depending on what you are doing, and pressing the trackball most likely does what you need to do next!

I was skeptical about the SureType technology, which puts 2 letters on each key (in QWERTY layout) and guesses what you mean as you type, but it has blown me away. I love it. The best advice I received from the salesman who set up my account was to not look at the words as they are coming out, but just to check the spelling in the end. Halfway through typing a word it may look like a jumble, but then it almost always works itself out. This strategy has worked for me, and 95% of the time the SureType guesses right. (You can press and hold the * key while you are typing to toggle back and forth between SureType and the more traditional "MultiTap" mode. This is useful when entering names or other words not in an English dictionary.)

Camera review: I am not too impressed with the quality of the photos but it's somewhat useful. It won't replace a digital camera but it's better than no camera. Including a flash was a nice idea, but it doesn't add much to the picture quality.

As for Cingular service, I have had no problems. I switched from Verizon to Cingular in order to get the Pearl, and the service has been fine in North Carolina and South Carolina.

If you are addicted to the old-style Blackberry keyboard, or need to compose a lot of emails or do extensive web browsing, the Pearl may not be for you. I encourage you to give it a look, though. Before buying any smartphone, make sure you try out the keyboard in person before buying. Some designs that look good on paper may not work with your hands.

For someone coming in new to the smartphone world, the Blackberry Pearl is a standout choice. I am so glad I waited for this gem!

***Update 9/27/08 - Just an all-around GREAT phone. I've dropped it twice and it's still fine. Battery life is quite good and it recharges very quickly. I've had very few problems with this phone and it works almost everywhere I've been. Only a few dead zones in rural Georgia and South Carolina. I wish the picture quality was better because I use the camera to instantly email pics frequently. I initially just cared about a phone that could also keep a "to do" list and synch with my MS Outlook contacts. This Pearl does that consistently and reliably, but it also does so much more with me being able to see all my home email and unlimited internet for just an extra $30 a month. I love it. I still think a man might have difficulty with this phone because the buttons are so small, yet after I got my Pearl, many men in my office got one and have no trouble with it at all. My old Dell Axim is now basically a paperweight. I only use the Axim to synch my contacts with my MS Outlook at work since I'm unable to tap into my Enterprise server at work.

My first blackberry and I love it! I wanted to stop lugging around a phone AND a rather heavy Dell Axim just to have contacts, calendar and task-to-do list. I wanted a phone that synched with Outlook and was a great phone. The Pearl is definitely the BEST choice. I didn't really care about internet, music or camera, but the cheapest $30 internet plan from Cingular lets me have unlmited internet and access to home email instantly - it's just great! I bought the $40 1Gb card and now have about 150 mp3 songs and pictures on it. I use the mp3 songs as ringtones and it's GREAT to be able to instantly recognize who's calling from the music. Camera is ok - not great, but ok and very nice to have for on-the-spot photos that you don't want to lug around the regular digital for. I actually emailed a picture on the spot - very cool. Battery life is phenomenal so far. However, I'm not a heavy user and I used the profiles to have phone automatically shut off from 2am to 6am every day.

Only cons so far are: 1) getting used to the keypad - believe what every one says about the intuitiveness of the keypad figuring out the correct word. I've followed other folks' advice and don't really look at the words letter by letter - i type a sentence and then look - it works like a charm 9 times out of 10 that the keyboard correctly identifies each word. Still, this type of entry is so different for a first time blackberry user, but getting used to this is still better than using a stylus and touch screen like the Axim.
2) Also having trouble with having to restart if I change a ringtone for someone - I have to reseat the battery to get the change to take effect. Hmmm...
3) Volume when talking, even on speakerphone, is average - not terrible, but ok. So far, my reception is fine.
4) I also wonder how long the track ball will last - I'm not a heavy user and I still use it constantly. I think i'm going to buy the insurance plan just in case.

These minor cons are far outweighed by a simply GREAT phone that synchs with Outlook and so very much more. Bye Bye Dell Axim. It's true what some say - I'm a "crackberry" because playing with this thing is addictive. I'll update this review again in 3 months or so, but I don't anticipate any problems. My only regret is I didn't hold out until a red Pearl came in stock at my local Cingular kiosk. I would honestly give this phone 4.5 out 5 stars if they let you.

So I decided a few weeks ago that it was time to get a new gadget (the weather, maybe..?). I love my Palm z22, but I've always wished I could just carry a single device. In addition, the display left quite a bit to be desired, and there was no bluetooth or way of attaching an external keyboard (yes, that's right-- I seriously want to be able to type up essays and such on my PDA... I'm not going to spend $700 on a laptop just so I can type in a reclined position) My initial plan was to upgrade my PDA to a Palm Tungsten E2 and my phone to the microscopic Pantech C3 flip phone with bluetooth. I still had some reservations, however. PDA's are practically dead in the market, and the E2 was quite a bit larger than the z22 (Why doesn't Palm just go ahead and make a smaller, super-slim Palm OS PDA with everything except for a phone built-in already? The technology is certainly there, and it could have the potential to bring back the PDA market for those who prefer not having their PDA tethered to a cell phone carrier).

So one day I headed over to the local mall and happened to walk into a Cingular store. I had never considered a Blackberry because they didn't have touch screens and always seemed bulky and ugly. What I stumbled upon in there was the Blackberry 8800. Playing around with the device, I was very impressed. Where the Windows Mobile Smartphones like the Samsung Blackjack and Motorola Q failed (mostly in the Personal Information Manager (PIM) functions... and absolutely miserably, at that), the Blackberry excelled. It wasn't quite as easy to navigate and enter information as my Palm because of the lack of a touch screen, but the device was fitted with a cool little trackball that allowed for multi-directional navigation, making getting used to the lack of a touch screen seem bearable, and maybe even a positive attribute (as it allows for one-handed operation.)

The 8800 screen was hi-res and absolutely beautiful, the whole unit was very thin and sleek, and it didn't run that god-awful, useless-for-anything-but-consumer-multimedia Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition! Still, it was a bit large for my taste and too expensive at $300. Looking around a bit more, I met my future device: the Blackberry Pearl. As it turns out, the Pearl was the first Blackberry to feature the new trackball, brilliant (self-adjusting for brightness) hi-res screen, sleek casing, and a camera and multimedia functions-- all in a bar-style unit just as thin and only moderately taller than a closed Motorola RAZR. Essentially, this was the 8800 packed into a smaller case with a camera for only a $150 upgrade. You name it, this phone can do it (and most of it quite well).

The form factor couldn't be more perfect. Everything about the phone is very customizable. There are 20 keys on the keypad, and the alpha characters are arranged in a QWERTY fashion with at most 2 letters on a key. Even with this, there is still a dedicated delete key, enter key, alt key, symbol key, space key, and caps key, all arranged similarly to a standard keyboard and easily accessible. If you want, you can even sync up a full sized bluetooth keyboard (and buy yourself a mini version of MS Word!). The center 12 keys are highlighted and arranged like a normal cell phone. This makes the unit excellent for use as a regular phone (I'm very pleased with the call quality), but a huge step up from trying to type on one. The "SureType" system does a brilliant job of figuring out what you're typing, and it learns the words that you use most often over time. If you want, you can shut off the SureType and use multi-tap, which is still pretty decent since you never have to tap a key more than once.

I almost think that SureType is faster in many uses than a full QWERTY keyboard, since it requires less finger movement and allows for larger buttons. After a short while, it becomes very intuitive. A few of the small details that I love about the Pearl include the ability to put it on standby, mute the ringer in a hurry, and shut off the network if you don't want to receive any calls (and don't want it blipping and feeding back through a pair of nearby speakers) but still want to use the device as a PDA. On top of all this, the Blackberry software allowed me to transfer all of the data from my Palm z22 (all 300 tasks and tons of calendar and contacts) directly to the Blackberry-- categories, priority levels, and all! To top it all off, the battery life is excellent.

Of course, there are a few downsides to the Pearl. For one, the 1.3 MP digital camera doesn't record video, and while the pictures are better than many camera phones, they're not exactly jaw-dropping (It's still nice to have a camera with you at all times, however), and let's just say the music and video player functions are no iPod replacement. Still, all in all, this is the coolest little portable computer or gadget... ever. If you're looking for a small phone and PDA combo (especially for the PIM functions), the Pearl is the best thing out there. I don't have a data plan, but I tried out the web, maps, and e-mail at the store, all of which worked great. I'd love to be able to use them, but I don't really have the need and the data plans are astronomically priced.

As soon as the Pearl (newly AT&T branded) arrived on my doorstep I wrapped it in a ShieldZone InvisibleSHIELD, which I had ordered online a few days earlier. If you haven't heard of ShieldZone and BestSkinsEver.com, basically they make nearly indestructible, clear screen and full-body skins to protect most portable devices on the market. They're a bit of a chore to put on, but they last the life of the product and prevent any and all scratching for pathetically OCD people like me. I will never buy another portable without buying one of these skins first.

If coverage or plans are not an issue there are two reasons to choose the T-Mobile over the Cingular Pearl. 1) T-mobile plan pricing is *a lot* cheaper than Cingular -- 1000 minutes and unlimited internet for $59 TMO compared with $79 plus at Cingular... 2) The TMO interface is much nicer to look at and play with.

This phone is fantastic - perfect size and great for those who want to check email and occasionally respond. The interface is not as nice as on a Treo, but the size more than makes up for it.

That said, there is currently a MAJOR bug with this phone. It has a severe memory leak which causes it to lose your emails and call log. This is well documented if you do a search for: pearl memory email call log.

Hopefully this will be resolved soon, since right now my device is useless - the only way I can get it to work is by taking out the battery and putting it back in.

My version is: v4.1.0.71 (Platform 2.2.0.41) running on Cingular.

I'd wait until this issue is fixed. Otherwise the phone is fantastic!

Since i can't comment on features, as they may be different between carriers, I can state a few things in general about this phone.

You can go to [...] and download different themes and games, which I LOVE! The resolution on the screen is fantastic, and overall, it's fairly easy to use. There IS a bit of a learning curve, but i was mastering it within a few weeks.

I have wifi, full internet capabilities, and you can download Gmail to your phone from the website and get your own icon for it. I looks just like your gmail online.

Also, if you have yahoo mail, i suggess setting a bookmark for [...], rather than configuring a mailbox. The mailbox doesn't do a good job of filtering spam, so it's annoying to get spam text messages and can get costly if you don't have an unlimited text messeging plan.

Downsides: it scratches very easily taking away from it's sleek look and the battery door, can break and slide off very easily. However, you can buy a replacement from [...].

also, I hear this is a blackberry quirk, but the Instant messenger seems to fail quite a bit when trying to send IM's back and forth between your contacts. This can be very frustrating as you have zero indication that your messages are not getting through or that they aren't coming through. **Can become a problem very fast if you are relying on it for communication.** I never had this problem with my RAZR using the same service.

Last downside, the memory expansion doesn't recognize anything over 1Gb. I tried to use the 2Gb microSD that Verizon offers for[...], but it didn't work, so I had to settle for a 1Gb, which is still neat.

All, in all, I love this phone. But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who only uses their phone for talking and texting. Way too many features will be lost.