Okay, so I've had my Bold about two days, and here are my impressions so far.

The phone is good, feels solid and reliable, 3G is fast, etc.

But, this phone is HUGE. I mean really, compared to the Curve, it's rediculously large.

Second, it only comes with two themes, with none available to download even.

And the camera is the same 2 MP as the Curve. Why couldn't they put the 3 MP camera off the new 8900 on this phone, since it's already gigantic and all?

Having wifi is cool, but I don't see why I'd ever use it. I mean, if I'm sitting somewhere that has wifi, why not just use my laptop?

So basically, I can't see much improvement over the Curve, except the 3G. And did it take a gigantic phone for 3G really?

Ive had mine since they were relaeased on the 4th. I LOVE IT.. I had the pearl and the BOLD ROCKS!!!!!

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How was the transition going from the Pearl to the Bold? I have had a Pearl for almost 2 years and love its small form factor. Prior to that, I had a few larger devices, 7130 and 8700. The 8700 was a fargin brick and I did not keep it that long. I am just so infatuated with the Bold.

If you thought the 8700 was a brick...the Bold is the same width and actually LONGER than the 8700. Given, it's the same thickness as the Curve, but still.

I was actually pleasantly surprised that its not that much bigger than the curve. I thought this thing was going to be much bigger. I am really digging the Bold.

I've had mine since Monday and I'm very, very happy with it. Brighter, sharper display, amazingly better keyboard than any Blackberry I've had before, and I've been surprised by the increase in speed on 3G and/or WiFi. On Tuesday night, I was out in a location that has notoriously poor service, but was able to get news feeds and updates all night and very quickly on the election returns. Many times faster, at least at that location and under those conditions, than it used to be with my Curve and Edge.

And the WiFi works well, too, and IIRC, allows you to both talk and receive and send email at the same time. The general phone reception and bluetooth also work better than with the Curve. I find myself more and more walking around while I talk on my bluetooth headset, which is something I couldn't previously do without heavy static. The GUI is a little daunting, but I expect I'll wrestle that into a form I like soon enough. Battery life seems to fluctuate a lot, though. And I agree that the lack of upscale camera is a bit of a shame.

So far as the size of the thing, yes a little bigger than the Curve but not really much so, once you get used to it. It also has a heaviness to it, which I like, but worry a little that it might cause it to fall or slide off any slanted surface.

The transitition was simple. no headaches at all. the only thing im having an issue with is trying to get my itunes movies onto the bold. and i have severla avi files of movies that play sound but have no picture.

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I am not so much concerned with the larger size when using the device. I am concerned about carrying a larger device around. I carry my Pearl strapped to my side in the OEM leather swivel holster and I barely know its there.

Oh, and another thing. The Bold's vibration isn't very strong at all. If I have it in my belt holster, I can barely feel it vibrating unless I'm sitting down. If I'm walking around, can't feel it at all.

I also moved to the Bold from the Pearl. I loved the small compact size of the Pearl, but feel the pro column on the Bold makes up for the larger size. The screen is much much better. Much easier to read emails and web then the small screen on the Pearl (that was the biggest downside on the Pearl). The speed is also a nice boost. I am getting used to the larger size and think it was a great move. Especially since I get a butt load of emails all day. If I just used the BB as a casual email and text device (like my gf) the pearl would be better....but for business needs (lots of email) the Bold is much better, IMO.

Picked up my Bold yesterday, and I've used the:

7520
7130e
8703e
8800
8310

I never did like the 7130e that much, always have preferred a full keyboard. I really like the improvements to the Bold's keyboard, but I haven't had much problem with any of them. Wish the camera was a little higher end, especially the video cam. The resolution is slightly better than the Curve, but not by miles. 3G is nice, but honestly, so far I really haven't seen the speed increase that much. Another thing I noticed is that I can't surf with the radio off, even though I'm connected to wifi? That doesn't make much sense. Getting used to the browser emulation modes. It seems ok, but I almost wish I could get back to some of the sites the way I used to view them, scaled down for mobile. Volumes kick some serious ass! Size matters. Bigger is beautiful. Especially when your screen is larger with better resolutions.

Also dude, you can get more themes over at THEME4BB.COM, they have some nice themes for the Bold. OTA and all.

9000 BlackBerry Themes - Bold - Themes4BB.com

That I do agree with. The vibrate might as well be non-existent. The curve was like having a Harley on your hip when it vibrated.

im tempted to get a bold, work with them all day, but i donno they are huge, the batterys on them are huge aswell... lol

Didn't you see one before you bought it and realize it is "huge"?
Didn't you read the specs or look at the reviews before you bought it?
Why complain now? Just take it back!!!

How does the new bold compare to a 8800 series? I gather that it's faster but I really like the compact size of my 8830 is it that much bigger?

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The vibration on my Pearl is fairly weak, but I can handle it.

I switched from an 8800 to a Bold. The ruler says that they are about the same size, but the Bold "looks" bigger. But the Bold also looks so much better, curved lines... and feels good to hold -- heavier but feels more solid.

The display is what really sets it apart though; it is so sharp and clear that it is painful to use the 8800 (which was handed down, hehe) when I have to work with it.

i went from a perl to bold. it was an easy transition. i am so happy being back to a full keyboard. So far, very happy

i upgraded 11-4 from 8820 to 9000 bold. i really like the new bold. i am going to need to try and figure out how to get the browser to render pages with somewhat larger, more readable text. i also have struck out getting any speed test site to render any downstream and upsteam results on the new 3g network. a cnet page that looked promising started a test and said it might take a few minutes, but then it wouldn't complete after 5 minutes or so (kept displaying same message) (this failure repeated on several attempts). i recall dslreports.com's speed test site explaining something about rim or blackberries not ordinarily working with speed test site but it seems like i should be able to find one that really works.

i love the display. phone works fine and i had no trouble getting bluetooth in car to work with bold like it did for 8820. (and that's saying a lot because i'm not tech savvy at all.) i'm going to try to slog through lengthy user guide this weekend. expect there will be a lot of new stuff