BlackBerry 8800
Key Pad
So I had the 8700c - AWESOME - then the Pearl - Not too bad - Now the 8800 Blah - The screen and reception of the phone is great but the key pad is horrible. The buttons are way to close together. I have made more mistakes typing on this on the Pearl.
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Did you ever get used to the Pearl keyboard? I'm considering one but I'm used to the full querty of the treo...which is very well made but a bit cramped for alot of emailing...and why did you get rid of the Pearl after, presumably, a short time?
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
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I know from experience that if you are used to a full qwerty keyboard and try to switch to one like the Pearl with sure type, it is a difficult transition. it is just as hard to switch back to a full qwerty as well.
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I've just been working with it and, much to my surprise, its going very well. I actually really like it! I thought I'd really miss the full keyboard. So pretty happy. I'm also thrilled that I've got more bars with T-Mo on the upper west side of manhattan than with vzw. Amazing!
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The 8800/Cingy is my first BB (giving up on Palm after seven Palms, including the original Pilot). I haven't had any problem adjusting to the keypad, and like Lou, I've actually done well -- I'd say I can type about 60% speed of a regular full-fledged desktop/notebook keyboard and only a few mistakes here and there.
The ball is great as well (again, no basis to compare it to the clickwheel) but overall the interface -- keyboard + trackball -- is very user-friendly. I think people with the Suretype Pearls are going to have an adjustment period, as well as will those who are upgrading from 87xx and below. I am mighty impressed that a device this small, well-designed and tightly-assembled can do so much so well.
I have decent reception vi...
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The ball is great as well (again, no basis to compare it to the clickwheel) but overall the interface -- keyboard + trackball -- is very user-friendly. I think people with the Suretype Pearls are going to have an adjustment period, as well as will those who are upgrading from 87xx and below. I am mighty impressed that a device this small, well-designed and tightly-assembled can do so much so well.
I have decent reception vi...
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Thanks for this. After spending a week with the Pearl I'm thrilled. There is a definite learning curve but one of the advantages is that, since there are so fewer keys, you quickly intuit where they are and can go pretty fast. I'm also amazed at how the suretype learns your words and that makes things go faster as well. I also have to say, and this was a real surprise, that here in NYC, the T-Mo coverage and, hands down, the voice quality of the Pearl are better than my vzw Treo 650. Not even close. On both ends of the call. Bravo, T-Mo.
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De nada...a friend got a Pearl, his first BB, two days prior to me getting the 8800, and while I eschewed the SureType of the Pearl in favor of the 8800's qwerty, he explained the plus side, which is the Pearl's smaller form factor and -- what I didn't think about -- the bigger keys on the Pearl. Since the 8800's keypad has a full layout, the keys are actually smaller, which may be a plus or minus.
In short, it's all relative. For me, I finally gave up carrying a phone and a Palm and use the 8800 -- or its variant -- for both, which it handles without a problem. So either way I'm carrying a smaller, thinner, lighter device that outperforms all the crap I used to have to lug around -- so I'm absolutely satisfied with the 8800's size.
In...
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In short, it's all relative. For me, I finally gave up carrying a phone and a Palm and use the 8800 -- or its variant -- for both, which it handles without a problem. So either way I'm carrying a smaller, thinner, lighter device that outperforms all the crap I used to have to lug around -- so I'm absolutely satisfied with the 8800's size.
In...
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So, Boogie, are you switching back to VZW? Sounds like CingaTT is working well for you...? Yeah, I used to love my palms...and I loved my Treo but I just couldn't stay with vzw anymore...AND...interestingly...BB is claiming they can get speeds close to 3g on their devices with EDGE, which sounds like hogwash...BUT, I have to say, comparing the speed I'm getting T-MO EDGE on the Pearl against evdo on a more encumbered wm device, they are right. The speeds are (fairly) similar! And for $20.00 a month for data, that makes me very happy. I agree about the size of the keys, also. Very easy to type with, actually, much to my surprise.
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Lou, I have a VZW Razr via a Family Share business plan, and I have another year to go with the phone/plan. Thus far, I've been using the Razr for voice and carrying a Palm Lifedrive, which is the seventh Palm I've owned (I started with the original Pilot). They're both shot so I opted to get a VZW BB, and chose the 8703e.
Problem is, I did some research and it bothered me that VZW's best example of BB is about to disappear from the market (the Cingy 8700c is collecting dust this very minute). I'm not suggesting the 87xx is awful, but next to the 88xx, it's like buying a used Aries K rather than a new Viper.
Why should I drop $250+ for old technology when for another $50 I can get an incredible, well-designed, all-in-one device that's ...
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Problem is, I did some research and it bothered me that VZW's best example of BB is about to disappear from the market (the Cingy 8700c is collecting dust this very minute). I'm not suggesting the 87xx is awful, but next to the 88xx, it's like buying a used Aries K rather than a new Viper.
Why should I drop $250+ for old technology when for another $50 I can get an incredible, well-designed, all-in-one device that's ...
(continues)
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