BlackBerry Pearl

[loco2.0]

What do you guys think about the BlackBerry pearl? I am thinking if I don't get it as a Xmas present I have to buy it. I pretty much always carry my laptop, but that has created a dependency on email. Which wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't grown sick of the phone; thus, I think a BlackBerry Pearl would be perfect for me. You comments and suggestions are welcome.

 

[joebear]

Bell doesn't carry it but Rogers does. I hate Rogers.

 

[DistantVoyeur]

HP ipaq, with WIFI & bluetooth....some have no phone but need wifi access....

 

[WhaWhaWha]

The Pearl is great but not perfect:

1. It's smaller and slimmer than most cel phones including the Slivr and the Razr yet it's still a fully functional Blackberry with email integration, built in IM clients and all the PDA functionality you can ask for.
2. It's the first Blackberry with a camera. 1.3 Megapixels. It records images and short vids. It also has a media player that can playback vids.
3. Memory is expandable to whatever Transflash Mini-SD card you can find on the market. I've seen SANDISK release a 5GIG. That's a lot of media for a handheld.
4. It also has a quad band receiver meaning you can use it anywhere in the world except in Japan or Korea where G3 band is required.
5. It has voice activated dialing which accesses the phone book for name recognition.

Drawbacks:

1. The battery will standby for 16 hours but it only has a 3.5 hour run time. Other handhelds have 4.5 to 5.5 hours. Thats a lot of recharging for relatively little use.
2. The firmware has a silence feature that operates easily - just brush the trackball quickly and it silences the whole device. But if you want to unsilence the device you have to wade wrist deep into profile settings and reselect ringtones, or you have to remove the battery and replace it to reset the memory.

 

[kooley]

The Pearl is great but not perfect:
The firmware has a silence feature that operates easily - just brush the trackball quickly and it silences the whole device. But if you want to unsilence the device you have to wade wrist deep into profile settings and reselect ringtones, or you have to remove the battery and replace it to reset the memory.

no true, i have been using it for months now, the trackball silences when someone is calling but it olny does it for that call.


i have never had to pull the batter on mine except to put in the minisd card.

and to be honest the battery life is pretty good, never counted but it does last longer than my razr.

 

[MissInnocent]

I've also been thinking about getting a blackberry from rogers.

Right now i have a rogers cellphone and wouldnt mind upgrading to the blackberry.

thanks for the info

 

[loco2.0]

no true, i have been using it for months now, the trackball silences when someone is calling but it olny does it for that call.


i have never had to pull the batter on mine except to put in the minisd card.

and to be honest the battery life is pretty good, never counted but it does last longer than my razr.

Motorola is one of the reasons I am not fond of phones anymore. Nothing but trouble, and email is the way to go nowadays. I was looking at the iPaq that DistantVoyeur suggested, and only have one question: Do I have to sign up to one of Rogers' packages to use it? Or could I just access my email via any available Wi-Fi network?

Thanks for the info guys.

 

[taylorR7]

I have had both, the Pearl is better for phone usage but I did not like the keyboard. The keyboard on the 8700 is much better and easier. The camera and mp3 is great for the Pearl. I am waiting for the 8700 to come out with the camera and mp3

 

[wrock_solid]

want a pearl?

What do you guys think about the BlackBerry pearl? I am thinking if I don't get it as a Xmas present I have to buy it. I pretty much always carry my laptop, but that has created a dependency on email. Which wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't grown sick of the phone; thus, I think a BlackBerry Pearl would be perfect for me. You comments and suggestions are welcome.

I'm picking up a pearl in the next few days through a corporate plan at work but I don't really want it. Anyone interested in purchasing it? $500 cash.

 

[canucklehead]

You can get unlocked Pearls on howardforums for around 350........ there are a lot of great phones that use wifi and are unlocked. I use a N80 from Nokia and use the wifi with Voip for internet calls while on a wifi so no airtime charges. With Hydro having the downtown core covered and lots of free hotspots i do alright.
The other thing to look at are the O2 phones and iPaqs. The have wifi but also can use a skype client to do VoiP also. Skype calls are free anywhere in North America til the end of year and from my understanding this may carry over.
The unlocked Nokia E61 is a great phone and has the full qwerty keyboard and wifi.
check www.howardforums.com lots of deals and lots of knowledge on their. Be prepared to pay but i found it worth it getting a unlocked uncrippled phone.

 

[WinterHawk]

Motorola is one of the reasons I am not fond of phones anymore. Nothing but trouble, and email is the way to go nowadays. I was looking at the iPaq that DistantVoyeur suggested, and only have one question: Do I have to sign up to one of Rogers' packages to use it? Or could I just access my email via any available Wi-Fi network?

Thanks for the info guys.

You can get yourself a HP iPaq hw6515 or the 6915, with Bluetooth and WiFi. I have the 6515 and bought a WiFi Mini-SD card that works just fine at home or in a public access WiFi location. It has a fully functional phone that syncs to my Windows Outlook contact list. It's a hand held PDA with Excel and Word, a built in Video Camera with a light, and it's got GPS that I run TomTom with to find my way round with it's Voice Directions.

A great all in one device. And yes, it only works on Rogers.

 

[kooley]

I have had both, the Pearl is better for phone usage but I did not like the keyboard. The keyboard on the 8700 is much better and easier. The camera and mp3 is great for the Pearl. I am waiting for the 8700 to come out with the camera and mp3

thats the blackberry 8800 due out in q2 2007

 

[wrock_solid]

You can get unlocked Pearls on howardforums for around 350........ there are a lot of great phones that use wifi and are unlocked. I use a N80 from Nokia and use the wifi with Voip for internet calls while on a wifi so no airtime charges. With Hydro having the downtown core covered and lots of free hotspots i do alright.
The other thing to look at are the O2 phones and iPaqs. The have wifi but also can use a skype client to do VoiP also. Skype calls are free anywhere in North America til the end of year and from my understanding this may carry over.
The unlocked Nokia E61 is a great phone and has the full qwerty keyboard and wifi.
check www.howardforums.com lots of deals and lots of knowledge on their. Be prepared to pay but i found it worth it getting a unlocked uncrippled phone.

$350 canadian? i doubt it. Maybe I'm asking a little too much with $500, but when you consider currency conversion and shipping, I think it will be closer to 500 than 350...

 

[canucklehead]

There are two posted on Howard Forums one an unlocked Rogers Pearl (rebranded) for 380 and the other is locked and a Rogers Pearl for 350.
If u sell on ebay u will bet mor money faster. Lots of phones that can get email for anywhere from 500 to 900. I am selling a N80 Nokia with a 3.2 meg camera unlocked barely used for more then 3 hours. 500 dollars. Nice slider. Named number one mobile technology device of 2006.

 

[censored]

A brand new Nokia N80 is $600 Can. at easycell.ca. OTOH, they have the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 for $700 Can. and the 8700 for $850 Can. All of their phones are unlocked.

$500 is a reasonable price I think for a new BlackBerry Pearl if it's unlocked (though of course $350's better if you can find it).

 

[canucklehead]

Pearl used unlocked 340 in this post below

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1048618