BlackBerry Pearl 8130
Average Ratings
Excellent interface, horrible defects
Verizon has their own proprietary software installed on most of their phones, unfortunately this software makes it difficult (if not impossible) to listen to music playing from the handheld & perform other tasks simultaneously such as setting an alarm, surfing the web or texting even on the phones they market as "music phones". This alone was the deciding factor in my decision to purchase the 8130. I have sold wireless phones for a long time now & I've learned a lot about manufacturer defects. I thoroughly understand the difference between a manufacturer defect & a problem created by the user or other actions upon the wireless device.
Pros: You don't have to deal with the horrible user interface that Verizon forces its customers to use. You can listen to music as you text, surf, etc. It offers excellent video capture, camera & voice recording. Excellent range on the voice recorder. I love the way you can just scroll down to view the entire history of messages with the associated person in the reply window. This eliminates having to save as a draft in the middle of typing a reply, going back & rereading what that person said in previous messages, then going back to the drafts & continuing with your reply like you would with other phones. It is very easy to add music to the device as there is no specific software necessary to do so. I use windows media player & sync to the micro SD card I have easily installed in the phone.
Cons: MANUFACTURER DEFECTS I'm waiting on my 8th 8130 since Feb. If you own this phone DO NOT be afraid to call the instant you have a problem with it. You'll be sent a refurbished phone, but (in most cases) it will be in better working order than the one you already have problems with. Of all the phones I have owned and sold, the 8130 is the most defective model in my experience. 1st problem is the trackball, then will randomly shut off, then the USB port stops working which means you can't charge nor connect with the computer to backup numbers.
Blackberry=Strawberry
I had the red one for sprint. It is a great phone everything works perfectly. But let me tell you something. You are better sacrificing your sprint tv and multimedia gizmos for an att or tmobile version. Basically not anything cdma. Because sprint crippled this phone. Sms limit 160, no mms? what is that junk. anyway the internet speed and reliability of this phone was just incredible. KEYBOARD FROM HEAVEN. but i gave it up because i didn't like what sprint did to it.
Somewhere A Treo and Nokia had a kid
I have had the Blackberry Pearl 8130 From Verizon Wireless for about 5 days now. I absolutely love this phone. I switched from an LG Voyager, which was alright, but I got sick of the touch screen. This phone is amazing to say the least. I have owned over 8 phones in my time (Moto Q, enV, Voyager, The V, ect.) and this is the best one by far. It has an awesome keyboard, bright screen, a camera better than the voyager and email amazingness! Its the perfect organizer, phone and texting tool all in one!
PROS
Camera
Texting (The Keyboard is AWESOME)
Battery Life
PDA Functionality
Phone Coverage
Media System
Buttons
Quality
Style
Speed
Internet Browser
E-Mail
Options
CONS
Sometimes Quiet Ringer
No Vibrate and Ring at the same time function
CANNOT SEND OVER 160 LETTERS IN A TEXT, this is a killer for me.
Other than that this is a great phone, but it helps to be slightly tech savy because it does take some getting used to, but its not hard once you learn. If your thinking about it, do it
Sprint Pearl 8130 AMAZING!
I have had every thing from the Palm Treo 650 & 700 to Windows Mobile Motorola Q & HTC Mogul 6800. By far the the Sprint Pearl is the way to go. The battery life is second to none not to mention all the great features that the phone comes with Sprint Navigation, Sprint Music Store, Sprint TV etc.... The Blackberry email is the best no other phone compares I have had no issues with this device. If you are thinking about geting a Pearl go for it!
dissapointed!
This is my second pearl in a month. Everything on this phone took a while to get used to, but I learned to love it! After a week with my first one, I opened my inbox and all of my messages were gone. After calling Verizon they explained to me that this is a "Blackberry Memory Glitch" and there was no patch for it. All of my call log and messages were gone, unable to retrieve and my text messaging was now disabled. They are not sure when my text messaging will be back. So, I took it back to Verizon store with the intention of getting a different phone. I wanted to use the "30 day trial" when speaking to the tech he told me this was a RARE problem that wouldn't happen again he could bet. So, I was talked into an exchange. It's been 2 weeks with my new phone, and wham it just happened again. Everything is gone. : ( I am just extremely bummed and on my way to Verizon now to try a different phone out.
Great Phone
This is a great phone, I am giving it 4 stars because it is not fully Mac compatible and a few other reasons. Although missing sync and PocketMac does work with this phone and my Mac for the most part, the calendar still has a problem. The problem is that any calendar items I add on the device itself does not sync with my computer. Missing Sync knows this and points me to a sight that has a calendar patch for this problem. The only thing is that the calendar patch is for blackberry running v4.2 but my blackberry is running v4.3 and so when going to that site it says this patch is not for my version software. But the problem is still there.
Another reason is that there are some quirks that happen, like today I was sending SMS messages and they would not send and just disappear. I fixed it by pulling the battery out and rebooting, but that is quirky, never had that happen on any phone before.
Another thing is that prior to this phone I had a Treo 650 for 2.5 years. It bugged me that the phone was so large and heavy, but it stood the test of time. I used the phone a lot for 2.5 years and I did not use a case. The screen had no scratches and its casing held up. This phone seems very plastic as well as the screen. We shall see if it stands the test of time and can hold up physically for as long as my Treo. I do not like using cases because I fit the phone in my purse phone pocket and cases just get in the way. This phone does everything I want so I will probably keep it for a long time, so we shall see if it will hold up physically.
The PROs, have been listed throughout all the other reviews and I agree with them all.
Oh one more thing, the top button puts the phone in Standby mode but it is a bit annoying that a message comes on the screen and then I have to press OK. The button on the top should just put it in safe mode without the message and just hitting the button on the top again should take it out.
Great blackberry phone.
Almost perfect!
pros -
Great reception had the samsung 990 and the treo 700p, this phone has better reception than any of the phones i have owned so far.
email works great
good camera
fast downloads
call quality is super clear
paired with bluetooth easily
small size fits in my pocket
cons -
internet browser is not the best ( i know if i download opera this would solve that )
no get it now ( i liked the games on there)
overall
i'm very picky when it comes to electronics especially cell phones. this is the best cell phone i have ever owned.
All I need
I always preferred candybar phones over flips -it' what a phone should be.
The phone is the perfect size and does everything - well!
The only thing I needed which I realized after purchase/use was a rubber backing or non-slip. I find the phone to be very slippery but I'm sure that was part of the design. Being a designer - I know sometimes form takes precedent over function so I can relate but there's always a BB 8130 - part 3!
I actually like the fact that you have to use an SD card for video - it reminds you that you will be eating up valuable memory from the phone - plus, it supports an 8gig card.
So buy it - now
Best Phone Ever Made
This is the best phone ever made ! I had the Motorola Q9 for almost 2 months and hated it, bought the BlackBerry Pearl the day it was available and have no complaints at all. Call quality is wonderful, push e-mail feature is the best. I have great service in places where the Q9 showed no service. I agree with the saying that once you go BlackBerry you will never go back. Suretype takes a day or so to get used to, but works really well once you get used to it. Sound quality is great.
Cons: NONE at ALL
good phone w/a few issues
I have waited forever for Sprint to launch this phone. But..I have had this handset for two weeks and have all ready had to swap it out twice.
The first handset had weird software quirks: error message while programming names and numbers into it, also the music juke box with the sprint music store would give errors, low signal, the roller ball was iffy regardless of the sensitivity i set it on and the evdo would stop and I would have to take out the battery to reset a data connection. The 2nd handset i got the headset jack didn't work and i still see a few of the software quirks. I'm sure RIM will resolve them but until then I will just have to tolerate it because this is the phone I want.
Pros: love the size, camera, screen, sound, video playback very nice, features and its fairly easy to use....especially now that yahoo mail will set up blackberry at no cost.
Cons: software issues, blue-tooth is very tricky to keep connected, keyboard takes a little getting used to, i think if the keys had been in a straight line instead of the dipping design, it would have been better. i was disappointed that my carrier didnt offer black but color is not relevant to the phone performance
