Thinking about selling the two Alltel 8130s I have and buying an Alltel 8230, having a flip version of the pearl would be so much nicer...plus the phone looks pretty cool, and has v4.6 OS which I imagine is a good thing?

Anyways, I was wondering where I could find full specs on the phone/software to help me decide if this is a switch I want to make. I love my 8130, so I don't really want to make any substantial sacrifices by switching to the Flip.

Some questions in particular that I have;

Is the screen/theme layout about the same as a Pearl? I love my L theme, and don't think I could end up liking any other theme/layout style.

Is there more internal memory with the Flip compared to the Pearl, or the same? I really hope RIM took note of all the 'low internal memory hate comments' and fixed that with this Flip.

Were there any huge changes between the pearl and the flip, apart from the ability to flip open, that could be considered bad?

Were there any huge changes between the pearl and the flip, apart from the ability to flip open, that could be considered good?

The Alltel version of the Flip has the CMDA 1X RTT/EVDO Rev 0 technology...would this be the same as my current 1-year old amethtyst pearl or better? Which one is better, Rev 0 or Rev A? I get decent 1XEV reception at this time, and decent data bandwidth(anywhere from 450kbps to 750kbps), but better would be nicer.

Hearing some opinions from Flip owners that previously switched up from a Pearl would be awesome. Thanks!

The best place to find specifications for BlackBerrys is at Smartphones, Cell Phones & Smart Phones at BlackBerry.com - they even have a facility to compare the two.

I just made the switch from an Alltel 8130 to an Alltel 8230 7 days ago, here are some findings:

No L theme that I am aware of. The base theme has 5 icons along the bottom of the home screen and then all available after hitting the Blackberry button.

I normally had between 5-9 megs of memory free on my 8130. I have not dropped below 56 megs on the 8230. Nice to not have to worry about deleting SMS and phone logs anymore.

The Good:
Love the flip as a phone, feels a lot more normal when talking compared to the little candy bar the 8130 is. I have also noticed increased reception, in places where I would drop 1XEV to 1X and maybe lose service entirely I now have 2 bars of 1XEV. Very nice, however some of this may be due to the Verizon merger so take that with a big grain of salt. Bigger keys on the keyboard make it a lot easier to type with less mistakes.

The Bad:
They switch from mini USB to micro USB. Used to not worry about carrying a charger as I could always borrow someones camera cable and computer for a quick charge while out and about. With the new micro I have to be more conscious of how long I will be away from one of my new precious cables. Battery life seems about the same, get somewhere around 2 days of use with little to no talking on the phone. VIBRATE sucks! Don't know why they gimped the vibrate, it is significantly softer than the 8130. I have missed 3 phone calls in the last week because the phone was in my pocket and set to vibrate. I have just had to change my profiles to give an audio notification instead of solely vibrate.

Overall I am very happy with the switch and would not think about going back. Good luck with your decision.

8220 L Theme (which will work) - Kickstart (8220) L Theme - BlackBerry Forums at CrackBerry.com

All new BBs have the micro USB connector now. Motorola makes and sells a mini to micro USB adapter for around $5. A worthwhile investment.

It sounds like this Flip has the better reception technology, so where I'm at I may see a boost in 1XEV signal which would be very nice.

The miniUSB/microUSB isn't a huge problem, but it is an inconvenience since pretty much any camera or phone in this house runs on miniUSB. Now I'll have to rely on just the charger I get with the phone.

Just out of curiosity...would this thing fit in to one of those BB 8130 charging docks or is it significantly different? That'd be awesome if it did fit because I bought one from that other blackberry forum and have barely used it, really cool charging dock IMHO...also helps to greatly reduce the charging port wear which can be a problem if you charge a lot or tether a lot.

Awesome, thanks for the info. Knowing there's an L theme increases the chances of me buying, haha.

There's a U theme also, I believe.

Assume that the dock won't work. I've never tried that one, but they don't seem to be interchangeable...

Or less than $1.00 at Amazon.com

NOTE: Buy two, they're really handy! The cord attached loops around the end of your charger/USB cable/whatever so you can disconnect the adaptor and it'll still be attached, a very elegant solution IMHO!

Watch out for that shipping on eBay.