Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
W A R N I N G -- This phone becomes water damaged easier than you think even if its never dropped in water or exposed to rain., October 31, 2008
WoWPerfect except AVOID WEARING WHILE WORKING OUT / better than the Verizon Storm for a true keyboard.
Explanation of Warning:
The is the first Blackberry I've seen that doesn't protect the LCD with a plexi faceplate. The earpiece mesh cover is a vulnerability allowing ambient humidity such as body heat from exercise.
BECAUSE WORKOUT CLOTHING SUCH AS UNDER-ARMOUR IS MADE OF WICKING MATERIALS TO VENT HEAT AWAY FROM THE SKIN, THIS PHONE CAN BE COOKED INSIDE A BODY HEAT SAUNA IF LEFT INSIDE THE PHONE POUCH OF YOUR WORKOUT SUIT.
The LCD can become foggy and the pearl button may behave erratically such as outputting letters and numbers instead of Enter.
Remove the battery immediately, and store the phone inside a bowl of white rice and the silica packs included with DVD players and other electronics. Rice absorbs moisture and the silica packets will ensure any moisture will become trapped.
Remove the SIM and swap with a compatible GSM phone so you can make phone calls.
You can also blowdry it with COOL / NO HEAT SETTING inside a veritable while wrapping the rest of the LCD with Silica packs.
(SEE UPLOADED PHOTO's)
Our method after two days in rice and silica, was sandwiching the LCD ontop of a low heat source with silica packs, after two days, we cleared the fog out and avoided spending $50 - $150 for replacement screens.
Solution : I haven't found any protective covers which covers the ear piece opening without ruining audio reception.
SUGGESTION: Like most runners and gym junkies you need to receive emergency phone calls during your workout and you can take any unlocked or prepaid Cingular GO phone and swap your BB SIM to receive calls at your existing phone number without carrying your actual BB.
For those of you who will inevitably ask the following questions, here are the answers:
NO: you won't receive Blackberry emails if your BB SIM is inside a temporary phone, you'll receive calls and SMS messages but not your BIS and BES messages (DUH)
NO: you aren't subject to a contract when buying a Cingular GO phone and inserting your BB sim into the GO unit. Cingular, TMobile and most other GSM carriers are rather uniform in their frequency use because GSM is a mature European and Asian standard but one of the last to reach the USA and the carriers were happy to get whatever RF spectrum possible. For this reason it is nearly impossible for Cingular to make GO phones incompatible with BB or another Cingular contract SIM.
NO: You don't have to register a Cingular GO Phone for this purpose, when shopping for a spare GO phone, ensure it is a model with an included "SmartChip" which is synonymous with SIM Card, ...bloggers have claimed Cingular has and is selling integrated SIM cards inside GO Phones (I've never seen one) and if they're true..... you won't be able to swap SIM's into the GO Phone.
I "smuggled" this phone from Canada a few months back since Rogers and Rim have made it available for about six months now and I unlocked it then slipped the Cingular SIM card w/o any hassles. ( You have to use a "3G" SIM card from Cingular or AT&T to reliably use the data features / TMobile SIM's typically meet this requirement and have been for years )
Whether or not you're an existing Blackberry user, you'll be impressed by the Bold.
If your LCD is al
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Short Review
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+ The best keyboard we've ever used on a Blackberry or any other smart phone from Motorola Q or Nokia E71 and anything from HTC.
+ A screen that compares to HDTV and the brightest Blackberry screen ever made.
+ Streaming video support is first class, you can watch youtube videos and other streaming content without hiccup when in a 3G area and the audio is as loud as many external iPod speakers.
+ Lighter than an 8800, easy to remove battery cover and pleather case back helps to prevent the phone from dropping to the floor.
+ Built in eOffice to edit PowerPoints, Word docs and Excel files, this is normally a $45 add on package that is built in.
+ Most of your existing accessories work with the Bold, including the leather case from the Curve, the 8800's and the chargers, headsets plus the same Mini-B USB cable to dongle power from your laptop.
-- But there are a few imperfections: --
- The MicroSD slot is hard to remove memory cards from, the phones built in 1GB of RAM is enough to store MP3's but you can load 8GB Micro SDHC cards but ejection is difficult and you can risk damaging the card if you use tools.
- The camera sucks as any other cell phone camera, the flash is inadequate for low light or indoor conditions and the camera is best for outdoor photos in bright light. The video camera is better than nothing and Rim includes Geotagging as a standard feature.
- The battery drains faster than a fresh keg of Duff's at Moe's tavern, we're forced to recharge it every 16 hours or risk the phone disabling the radio before entering suspend mode. Plan on keeping a car charger and extra wall chargers in your attache case, office and your mistresses bedroom.
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Detailed Narrative Detailed Narrative Detailed Narrative
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The screen is just stunning, wider and taller than the Curve and even prettier than the 8800. Technically, the screen resolution is twice the resolution of the Curve and it is obvious when you see it and apparent when compared side by side.
The speaker phone and stereo speakers are actually too loud and the speaker rivals Logitech MM22 Portable Speakers for iPod my external iPod speakers.
The speaker phone (often cited as a Blackberry weakness) is fixed, we were in a conference room and experimented by using the BB 9000 speaker phone instead of our US Robotics tripod phone and the Bold worked just as well.
The Operating System interface is familiar to existing BB users and photos attached inside emails can be viewed as appendments or inline items instead of being opened in the pic viewer.
The OS and applications are blatantly faster than the Curve or 8800's, the improved CPU is especially apparent when using the spell checker.
The gapless keyboard is real Blackberry perfection, myself and other BB complain about the 8800 keyboard and how easy it is to double hit letters or fat finger the adjacent keys.
Curves and most other BB's have spaced keyboards and are excellent for fast typing and the 8800 and earlier Pearl gapless keyboards resulted in howls of pain from the user community.
Rim improved on the Bold my elevating the pitch of the scalloped keys on the Bold, in short it means they've made it harder to fat finger and double hit keys and the keys are the best feeling Blackberry keystrokes I've used.
The camera doesn't seem much better than the camera in the Curve, and the brighter screen drinks the battery while supporting up to 1600 x 1200 pixels. The flash and video functions are rudimentary and shouldn't be used for indoor or cozy light settings.
The camera does include geotagging capabilities to imprint the location coordinates into the photo data, and it works fairly well indoors. Geostamping is an expensive feature found on newer Nikon cameras and very few cell phones. Earlier Pearl models with cameras didn't include Geotagging as standard but after market add ons and Rim's adoption of the functionality remains in the Bold 9000.
The browser is excellent and has native support for Adobe Flash so you can watch YouTube videos when you have nothing else better to do, the pocket versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint are surprisingly decent for a mobile device and even better than the versions included with Windows Mobile / Pocket PC.
NOTE: The MicroSD slot can be sticky and almost impossible to remove the card after the spring eject. Sometimes we have to use tweezers to remove the MicroSD and this is hazardous since the top portion of the SD card is where the flash data chip resides and can be destroyed if handled poorly. We are able to use 8GB cards from different manufacturers w/o any compatibility issues.
The WiFi LAN speed is comparable to any other PC but it didn't seem faster than using AT&T's 3G over the air network.
Be prepared to be interrupted by strangers and BB lovers who want to know more about it, I've been approached by more strangers than the tour guide at the Heffner mansion.
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WARNING: This model seems more susceptible to ambient moisture because the LCD is directly exposed instead of protected from an outer plexi faceplate window of previous models. Blogs and user communities are rife with complaints and discussions of LCD's becoming irreparably fogged and nonsympathetic warranties forcing expensive replacements or LCD replacements of about $75 but warranty voiding.
Ours 9000 LCD fogged over from being inside a fanny pack on a 10K run requiring full dis-assembly.
Visit cnn [ dot ] cn website for superb video detailing dis-assembly and repair services.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best Blackberry ever and stomps the iPhone and Nokia E71 / skip the Storm and get a Bold if you still want a real keyboard., November 8, 2008
I "smuggled" this phone from Canada a few months back since Rogers and Rim have made it available for about six months now and I unlocked it then slipped the Cingular SIM card w/o any hassles. ( You have to use a "3G" SIM card from Cingular or AT&T to reliably use the data features / TMobile SIM's typically meet this requirement and have been for years )
Whether or not you're an existing Blackberry user, you'll be impressed by the Bold.
------------
Short Review
------------
+ The best keyboard we've ever used on a Blackberry or any other smart phone from Motorola Q or Nokia E71 and anything from HTC.
+ A screen that compares to HDTV and the brightest Blackberry screen ever made.
+ Streaming video support is first class, you can watch youtube videos and other streaming content without hiccup when in a 3G area and the audio is as loud as many external iPod speakers.
+ Lighter than an 8800, easy to remove battery cover and pleather case back helps to prevent the phone from dropping to the floor.
+ Built in eOffice to edit PowerPoints, Word docs and Excel files, this is normally a $45 add on package that is built in.
+ Most of your existing accessories work with the Bold, including the leather case from the Curve, the 8800's and the chargers, headsets plus the same Mini-B USB cable to dongle power from your laptop.
-- But there are a few imperfections: --
- The MicroSD slot is hard to remove memory cards from, the phones built in 1GB of RAM is enough to store MP3's but you can load 8GB Micro SDHC cards but ejection is difficult and you can risk damaging the card if you use tools.
- The camera sucks as any other cell phone camera, the flash is inadequate for low light or indoor conditions and the camera is best for outdoor photos in bright light. The video camera is better than nothing and Rim includes Geotagging as a standard feature.
- The battery drains faster than a fresh keg of Duff's at Moe's tavern, we're forced to recharge it every 16 hours or risk the phone disabling the radio before entering suspend mode. Plan on keeping a car charger and extra wall chargers in your attache case, office and your mistresses bedroom.
=========================================================
Detailed Narrative Detailed Narrative Detailed Narrative
=========================================================
The screen is just stunning, wider and taller than the Curve and even prettier than the 8800. Technically, the screen resolution is twice the resolution of the Curve and it is obvious when you see it and apparent when compared side by side.
The speaker phone and stereo speakers are actually too loud and the speaker rivals Logitech MM22 Portable Speakers for iPod my external iPod speakers.
The speaker phone (often cited as a Blackberry weakness) is fixed, we were in a conference room and experimented by using the BB 9000 speaker phone instead of our US Robotics tripod phone and the Bold worked just as well.
The Operating System interface is familiar to existing BB users and photos attached inside emails can be viewed as appendments or inline items instead of being opened in the pic viewer.
The OS and applications are blatantly faster than the Curve or 8800's, the improved CPU is especially apparent when using the spell checker.
The gapless keyboard is real Blackberry perfection, myself and other BB complain about the 8800 keyboard and how easy it is to double hit letters or fat finger the adjacent keys.
Curves and most other BB's have spaced keyboards and are excellent for fast typing and the 8800 and earlier Pearl gapless keyboards resulted in howls of pain from the user community.
Rim improved on the Bold my elevating the pitch of the scalloped keys on the Bold, in short it means they've made it harder to fat finger and double hit keys and the keys are the best feeling Blackberry keystrokes I've used.
The camera doesn't seem much better than the camera in the Curve, and the brighter screen drinks the battery while supporting up to 1600 x 1200 pixels. The flash and video functions are rudimentary and shouldn't be used for indoor or cozy light settings.
The camera does include geotagging capabilities to imprint the location coordinates into the photo data, and it works fairly well indoors. Geostamping is an expensive feature found on newer Nikon cameras and very few cell phones. Earlier Pearl models with cameras didn't include Geotagging as standard but after market add ons and Rim's adoption of the functionality remains in the Bold 9000.
The browser is excellent and has native support for Adobe Flash so you can watch YouTube videos when you have nothing else better to do, the pocket versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint are surprisingly decent for a mobile device and even better than the versions included with Windows Mobile / Pocket PC.
NOTE: The MicroSD slot can be sticky and almost impossible to remove the card after the spring eject. Sometimes we have to use tweezers to remove the MicroSD and this is hazardous since the top portion of the SD card is where the flash data chip resides and can be destroyed if handled poorly. We are able to use 8GB cards from different manufacturers w/o any compatibility issues.
The WiFi LAN speed is comparable to any other PC but it didn't seem faster than using AT&T's 3G over the air network.
Be prepared to be interrupted by strangers and BB lovers who want to know more about it, I've been approached by more strangers than the tour guide at the Heffner mansion.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Best and Possibly the Last Classic Blackberry (with a real keyboard), November 20, 2008
I've been using Blackberries since a blackberry was thought to be something you would find in a muffin. The 8800 was the one I was using until I was given the Bold and, up until then, I thought of it as the best Blackberry ever. Then, the Bold came and it is probably safe to state that the Bold is now the last and the best classic Blackberry ever because the Storm, lacking a physical keyboard, probably deserves its own class.
When the Bold and the 8800 are placed next to each other, what's striking is the similarities between the 2. The exact same size, similar keyboard, buttons placement, including the now familiar trackball. Even the ports are more or less the same, the same weight. Mine came with its own holster but I could have used the 8800's with the Bold.
Then, it's the display. The Bold is what it says it is: bright, clear, vivid. You see it and you now know that it's an evolutionary step up on the ladder. In addition, you get the camera that shoots both pictures and video and the ability to add more memory means that you scan store more video and more music if you want to use your Blackberry as an iPod lite. The operation seems to be a bit faster, the battery life is more or less the same, the quality of the speaker phone is better but, overall, it's your familiar Blackberry, having learned a few new tricks and with a bright face.
I am happy with the Bold because I am happy with Blackberries in general. I like the unlimited email and Internet browsing plan, the ability to use Wi-Fi when available and the security it provides. My Blackberry is tied into my company's email environment and it is now very much an extension of my office while I'm away. The Bold, with its high resolution screen and the same solid, functional build is a good tool, now with more 'fun' stuff (camera, video playing) added to it.
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