I just spent about 30 minutes with an 8100 and can't imagine using it for my daily routine. Typing was torture, although Suretype did seem to get most of what I typed. The 8100 is sleek, but I left the store really disappointed

So what are you using now? Your old 8700?

Yep, my old 8700, unfortunately.

That sucks. Oh well, the 8800 Crimson is right around the corner if you can hold off. It will have all of the stuff the pearl has (microSD Card, trackball, etc... but no camera. It will add wi-fi though )

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 8700g: BlackBerry8100/4.2.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

I went from an 8700 to an 8100 and am glad I did. The size alone makes it worth it and I am rapidly getting used to the trackball, suretype, and the different shortcuts. If I was a heavy emailer I'd definitely miss the full qwerty keyboard more but this thing is just fine for what I use it for. The more I use this thing the more I like it. The 8800 should definitely be an awesome device when it comes out. RIM seems to be releasing a lot of winners lately.

Yep rim is blowing up for sure, they already were blown up with the business crowd but now are blowing up with the consumers as well. The blackberry world is a wonderful thing!

That's my problem exactly, lots of email every day. Guess i'll have to wait and checkout the 8800. Too bad, I otherwise really liked the 8100. Felt well made and engineered.

When I went from the full QWERTY keyboard to my 7100 it took a while to adapt but it wasn't that bad. Now going from my 7100 to 8100 I am just as fast on normal typing as I was the 7100 and much faster getting around the device in general due to the trackball.

The different style keyboard does take some time and has a learning curve. Once you get past it though I'd say I am as fast on the smaller one as I was on the full QWERTY one. I never thought I would be but I am now. It truly took me about a solid month to adapt. First day was miserable for me but by the second day I was getting the hang of it. By the end of the week I was about 15% slower. From there I gradually sped up and as the device learned my words I got even faster.

Don't just write it off because you can't do it at first. Take the time to learn it and you might truly be surprised. I don't miss holding the brick up to my ear any more like I used to with the bigger form factor.

You know this stuff really is to each its own. The Pearl and SureType are great... at least I think so.. some people will probably think it's too small and too hard to type on. It's like saying I like Windows vs Linux or anything else... there certainly isn't anything wrong with prefering one or the other, but at least both are available, which is a good thing.

Took everyones advice and decided to give the 8100 an extended test drive, and after just one week, I'm sold! Still not quite as good on the keypad, and suretype has at least one quirk for me, but the advantages out weigh these by a long shot.

^^Whoo Hoo!

I made my switch to the Pearl from a 'Q'. I' have previously owned the 7250 and 7100 from RIM. I prefer full QWERTY however design makes a huge impact on my decision . The Pearl offers the power of any BlackBerry device with nice little perks including media player and external memory. I have really no need for a camera. I don't take my pics with my mobile device. I have a 7.0 MP Sony digicam that fits in the palm of your hand (DSC T10) and is as thick as the Pearl in fact). The only issue (personal) that I have witht he Pearl is sure-type. The Pearl minus the cam, with QWERTY and wi-fi....is the Crimson. This looks like the ideal device. Still a few months away for Rogers users (4 to 6 mos??). I give the Pearl an 8 out of 10. And as a previous member said, the sure-type seems to get it right 80% of the time (in English anyway). I also type in French and Italian (gets it right about 60% of the time).

I moved from an 8700 to my 8100 and love it. SureType took me about 2 weeks to get used to it, but now it is perfect.

I think it's a matter of use of the device. If I have to type out something lengthy, I'll find a laptop or something with a keyboard. If I needed to be able to type out lengthy replies with a blackberry, I would probably lean toward a larger keypad... but I really use it for reading/notification and short replies, and for me the Pearl works great. I think like one of the members mentioned, whatever works for you. On the other hand... my daughter types on a 7105t like its a full size keyboard. It always amazes me to watch her do that, two handed. She looked at my pearl and went, no thanks. There is a huge difference in size of the two.

I thought the Crimson was supposed to have a camera/video recording. At least according to the Boy Genius report in the 8800 section of the forums. However, I have been known to be wrong....

8700 to 8100 here.

Looking forward to getting the 8800 in three months.

Ahhhhh....another convert. Welcome to our world!

P.S. This is my first blackberry.......shhhhhhhh

I have gone from a 7730 to a 7105t to a 8700g and finally to the 8100. The hardest transition for me was going from the 7105t to the 8700. I found myself pushing the wrong letters, like if I wanted an "s" I would push "a"...took a few days to get used to using a full qwerty keyboard again. Suretype was easy to get the hang of...just keep typing and let the blackberry figure it out. I have rarely run into issues with words or grammer. The 7105t was an ok design but the Pearl gives you all of the blackberry functions in a nice phone form factor.

go with the one that your more comftable with :D

My most difficult transition now is helping anyone without the trackball!!

I have become so good at the Pearl, everytime I pick up a scroll wheel device, such as the 8700, I instinctively hit the wrong buttons.

....It's kind of like when you get used to the feature rich environment of Windows and then try to go back to using your MAC OS, not pretty!