KevC84
12-06-2007, 12:32 AM
PRO's
Small and thin
Nice large and bright screen
Excellent battery life
Great camera with bright flash and video recording option
Multimedia (Sprint TV, Music Store, Streaming Web Player)
3.5mm Headset Jack
BlackBerry Maps w/ GPS support (GPS also supported on Google Maps Application)
Sprint Navigation
Very fast web browsing on Sprint's EV-DO Network
Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and AVRC (Stereo Bluetooth)
Voice Activated Dialing
Loud Speakerphone
AIM and Yahoo! Messenger Client available as free download
microSD card slot with support for up to 8GB cards (hot swap enabled, slot on left side of phone not under battery)
CON's
Sprint Music Store will not play in background
Some Themes may cause the phone to become sluggish
No MSN Messenger Client included
No MMS
No full QWERTY (although I must say that SureType works very well, if you want full QWERTY wait for the Curve)
No EV-DO Rev. A
No DUN or VCARD over Bluetooth
Conclusion:
Coming from a background of using a vast collection of PDA/SmartPhone devices the BlackBerry Pearl has really impressed me. It has a range of features that will attract a consumer market while still catering to it's corporate market. The BlackBerry Pearl offers and all-in-one solution built into a small stylish form factor. Don't let it's size fool you. This is not your ordinary BlackBerry Pearl, this one is jacked up on steroids. Offering 3G data speeds over Sprint's EV-DO network, browsing web pages and sifting through corporate e-mail couldn't be done any faster. Sprint's EV-DO network also allows 8130 Pearl users the ability to download music tracks and watch a growing variety of TV channels and on demand videos all at SprintSpeed. The built-in 2.0MP camera delivers great looking pictures and video (first time on any camera equipped BlackBerry) and with its built-in LED flash, it takes great night shots as well. Brightest flash I have seen on a mobile phone. Bluetooth 2.0 allows faster data speeds while reducing battery consumption. The 8130 also offers stereo bluetooth using A2DP and AVRC bluetooth profiles delivering clear sound all wireless. The SureType QWERTY keyboard is easy to use and offers great tactile feedback. The keypad is a great improvement over the 8100 Pearl. SureType predictive text is by far the best predictive text software I have used on a phone, much better than T9. My few concerns were that the Sprint Music Store will not play in the background while you multi-task to do other things, the track will also pause if you receive an SMS. I am hoping that this is just a bug and that Sprint and RIM will release a software update to address this issue. This of course will not be a concern to people who do not download music from Sprint. If you are side loading your own MP3 tracks then you will not have a problem running the built-in BlackBerry media player in the background. No MMS is a bummer since it's the first Sprint BlackBerry device with a camera and Sprint's PictureMail service is very easy to use and offers some great features which unfortunately Pearl users will not be able to take advantage of. However there are workarounds into sending MMS to Sprint and to other carriers so not all is lost. Although Rev. 0 works very fast on the Pearl, Rev. A would have been great for PAM tethering. DUN over bluetooth 2.0 would also have been a great feature to have. Overall the Pearl is one of the best devices I have used on Sprint. I believe that Sprint will likely launch a CDMA version of the BB Curve upon the success of the Pearl but only time will tell. If you are looking for a great all in-one-device then look no more.
Small and thin
Nice large and bright screen
Excellent battery life
Great camera with bright flash and video recording option
Multimedia (Sprint TV, Music Store, Streaming Web Player)
3.5mm Headset Jack
BlackBerry Maps w/ GPS support (GPS also supported on Google Maps Application)
Sprint Navigation
Very fast web browsing on Sprint's EV-DO Network
Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and AVRC (Stereo Bluetooth)
Voice Activated Dialing
Loud Speakerphone
AIM and Yahoo! Messenger Client available as free download
microSD card slot with support for up to 8GB cards (hot swap enabled, slot on left side of phone not under battery)
CON's
Sprint Music Store will not play in background
Some Themes may cause the phone to become sluggish
No MSN Messenger Client included
No MMS
No full QWERTY (although I must say that SureType works very well, if you want full QWERTY wait for the Curve)
No EV-DO Rev. A
No DUN or VCARD over Bluetooth
Conclusion:
Coming from a background of using a vast collection of PDA/SmartPhone devices the BlackBerry Pearl has really impressed me. It has a range of features that will attract a consumer market while still catering to it's corporate market. The BlackBerry Pearl offers and all-in-one solution built into a small stylish form factor. Don't let it's size fool you. This is not your ordinary BlackBerry Pearl, this one is jacked up on steroids. Offering 3G data speeds over Sprint's EV-DO network, browsing web pages and sifting through corporate e-mail couldn't be done any faster. Sprint's EV-DO network also allows 8130 Pearl users the ability to download music tracks and watch a growing variety of TV channels and on demand videos all at SprintSpeed. The built-in 2.0MP camera delivers great looking pictures and video (first time on any camera equipped BlackBerry) and with its built-in LED flash, it takes great night shots as well. Brightest flash I have seen on a mobile phone. Bluetooth 2.0 allows faster data speeds while reducing battery consumption. The 8130 also offers stereo bluetooth using A2DP and AVRC bluetooth profiles delivering clear sound all wireless. The SureType QWERTY keyboard is easy to use and offers great tactile feedback. The keypad is a great improvement over the 8100 Pearl. SureType predictive text is by far the best predictive text software I have used on a phone, much better than T9. My few concerns were that the Sprint Music Store will not play in the background while you multi-task to do other things, the track will also pause if you receive an SMS. I am hoping that this is just a bug and that Sprint and RIM will release a software update to address this issue. This of course will not be a concern to people who do not download music from Sprint. If you are side loading your own MP3 tracks then you will not have a problem running the built-in BlackBerry media player in the background. No MMS is a bummer since it's the first Sprint BlackBerry device with a camera and Sprint's PictureMail service is very easy to use and offers some great features which unfortunately Pearl users will not be able to take advantage of. However there are workarounds into sending MMS to Sprint and to other carriers so not all is lost. Although Rev. 0 works very fast on the Pearl, Rev. A would have been great for PAM tethering. DUN over bluetooth 2.0 would also have been a great feature to have. Overall the Pearl is one of the best devices I have used on Sprint. I believe that Sprint will likely launch a CDMA version of the BB Curve upon the success of the Pearl but only time will tell. If you are looking for a great all in-one-device then look no more.