I think most of us agree that the battery door design is very flimsy, although I have not had any problems yet. I use the OEM leather holster case, so I have protection, unless I drop it How hard could it be for RIM to design a more sturdy battery door?

One concern I have is the trackball and how long that mechanism will last. Any long-term issue with the trackball? Any opinions?

What is the standard warranty? Would a broken battery door latch or dead trackball be covered and for how long?

Discloser. I love my Cingular Pearl!!!

Dead trackball would be covered for the warranty period with RIM. I got the insurance with Cingular and I am not sure what it covers.

As far as the battery dor goes, it is a design flaw that needs to be fixed but is not a crisis. My Pearl is only temp till the Indigo comes out after the first of the year, at this point the Pearl is drawer fodder!

When I tried to get insurance through Cingular they said that they didn't cover this particular phone. There was an earlier thread about this and the consensus seemed to be that even though a company rep. mistakenly might sell the insurance it isn't valid.

Do a search for 'insurance' and you'll find the thread...

Thanks for that info. I will call and cancel the insurance on these two lines. We had the insurance BEFORE getting the Pearl so I can't expect the rep to correct it.

I've had my Pearl since the day they came out.
No issue - no dust, no trackwheel problems.
I keep it in a holster (the T-Mobile SDA horizontal holster) and have not dropped, fold, bended, spindled or mutilated it. It has no scratches.

It's like a cell phone - it you treat it like crap, it will look like crap.

Only long term effects I can see is you're gonna be a Crackberry addict. You just won't be able to do without it. If you ever misplace it.......your withdrawal symptoms will be extreme.