Also does anyone have any idea where to get a replacement housing for the Pearl, I'm not to fond of Cingulars rendition. Are there any sites to buy one or maybe even buy a T-mobile Housing? just a thought

I don't think there is any. But maybe you can find some broken 8100 on Ebay and use the case from that.

There was talk and a link, on another site, that referred to a site that was going to sell Pearl parts, including the case. I looked at it, at the time, saw a price list and everything. I bookmarked the site.

But my PC crashed and I had to install a spare hard disk. While I have the site in my restored favorites, can't find it right now. You might want to do a Google search for "8100 case battery cover price" or other terms and see what comes up.

By the way, as I recall, the prices were HIGH. Just the battery cover was about $50.

Try finding a dummy case. Not sure if it'll work for the pearl but it worked on my old treo 650.

Also, as I recall, on another site someone posted the same query. Someone posted that they had contacted RIM and RIM said that there were going to be some vendors selling Pearl parts. That was about a month or more ago. Hearsay on hearsay though.

But as the posts say, scan eBay and look for someone selling a fried Pearl with a good case. Probably would go for less than $100 and from the prices I saw on that site, buying a fried Pearl on eBay would be the less expensive way to go.

They'll start showing up eventually, but I wouldn't expect them for quite some time. They'll show up for Tmo and Rogers first...with Cingular to follow.

Keep an eye on promobility.com...they usually are quick to have them when they're available.