[shiznaught]

My contract with attws (now cingular) is up and Amazon.com has a sweet deal where you can get the pearl for free with 2 years activition. I'm pretty sure you can bring your number with that deal as well.

I'm a pretty active person, and I carry my cellphone in my pants pocket everyday, so my main worry is durability and being able to lock your keypad easily.

I read that some people are having an issue with locking their phone, in that the pearl trackball is easily activated just from riding around in your pocket. As a result incoming calls get answered while the phone is still in your pocket. Is anyone having this issue?

Also, I'm interested in occasionally browsing the web on the pearl. Can you effectically browse websites, log in to your accounts, make blog posts with this phone?

[rperalta]

Hi shiznaught,

Don't think......run and get one asap.

[mas90guru]

Read the Amazon terms very carefully. At one point for some carriers they were prohibiting number transfers for a period of time. I am guessing because whoever is tracking the commissions is doing so by tracking that the phone number is active.

Other than that I'd say that Amazon is awesome for cell phones. Cheapest reputable place I've found and it beats the hell out of standing in line at the retail store behind 15 people waiting to either pay their bills, argue a bill or ask for help in figuring out how to turn their phone on....

[shiznaught]

info for porting number:

amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/508597/ref=amb_link_2013252_5/002-1215686-6476823#TMobile]Amazon.com Message[/url]

[JinFocker]

The Pearl is DEFINATELY the best phone out right now. I spend $400 on a Sidekick 3 cause I REALLY wanted qwerty keyboard, but the suretype is NOT BAD AT ALL! Once you learn the system, you can type just as quick if not quicker then on a regular qwerty. The "in pocket" issue has been resolved with the Rogers firmware upgrade(if Im not mistaken). And, if you upgrade your firmware through Rogers, you can also up your memory to 2Gigs. I honestly dont see any complaints at all about this fone.

[mrpg]

The pearl is pretty close to perfect for the mobile person who wants to stay connected. Perfect messaging functionability, good phone perfromance and great space saving "pocket phone" design.

If you can get the hang of sureType then this is the phone for you. The trackwheel issue is a minor annoyance I think, my calls don't get answered in my pocket the ringer just gets muted, sometimes, if I'm walking around and always when I goto retrieve it from my pocket but in all cases I do atleast hear a ring or 2. The same with the lock, it doesn't become unlocked but when I pull it from my pocket, again rarely, the "unlock \ emergency call \ cancel" menu is up because of the trackwheel, another lil bug I find is that when I unlock it with the trackwheel it doesn't unlock anyway, I have to press *, send. However I'm almost positive RIM will address that issue with software updates pretty soon. I think what'll happen soon is the trackwheel won't be able to bring the phone out of sleep unless its pressed, which isn't going to happen accidentally in your pocket.

[SanFrancisco]

You may want to consider this Company. Myself and four other lawyers whom are my friends signed up with T-Mo, got a better minute plan than even T-Mo on line was offering. We got the rebates from T-Mo too, which made the phone free, as advertised.

But now they are tossing in a free bluetooth headset. That's about a $40 freebie.

BlackBerry Pearl On Sale

I use Amazon many times, so they are cool too. Just showing you an alternative.

Oh, I think that US Shop Wireless also ships FedEx. I recall getting the phone about three days after ordering it.

[patberry]

I ordered my phone on 10/5 and i love it. I ordered it from cellphonehookup.com and clicked the t-mobile specials in the lower left. It was $99 but there is a $50 tmobile mir, and the company that sells the phone has a $50 mir that you have to send in with your 4th bill (something I wasnt told until I actually got the rebate and read the terms).

I really like it, am a bit concerned about durability over the two year contract, but so far its workin out well, I think I am going to get a skin for it for that reason.

There are some issues with silencing it when its ringing, but as stated before I am sure it will be corrected soon.

When i ordered the phone I told them to port my phone number but they did not. I promptly called tmobile around 7pm pst to port the number, they did so at 4:42am pst.

Get this phone.

[SanFrancisco]

Originally Posted by patberry

I really like it, am a bit concerned about durability over the two year contract, but so far its working out well, I think I am going to get a skin for it for that reason.

Get this phone.

Remember that T-Mo's current policy is to permit customers to upgrade their phones [at the upgrade price, $200 for the Pearl] every 11 months. The length of the contract is irrelevant except that with each new upgrade your contract gets extended another two years.

As to the small size and damage, I used to be torn on getting T-Mo insurance. This is because the phone has a $100 deductible on making a claim. That's way more than the $25 deductible Sprint had on their insurance.

I figure that if I DON'T lose or damage the phone within the first year, then it makes no economic sense to get insurance. That is because a year from now Pearls will sell for less than $100 on eBay, I would have paid about $90 in insurance premiums and I would have to pay a $100 deductible.

So insurance would only be a wise purchase to the point that the Pearl starts selling on eBay for $100 or even slightly more.

Guess I won't insure it and instead be damn careful. I have the thing "padlocked" to my belt and "chained" to my wrist when using it. So I should be OK. In three months the phone will be for sale for $200 or less on eBay, so for me the gamble is worth it.

Sidenote: I bet T-Mo has a $100 deductible to discourage people from insuring their phones.

[shiznaught]

thanks for the feedback everyone. if only tmobile still had that 1000 for 49.99 family plan...

[harry0805]

I'm thinkin of bittin' the bullet for a new unlocked pearl (i'm on cingular) before I buy it I was hoping for some feedback from current owners. On ebay they're going for around $400 so before I spend that cash are the current owners COMPLETELY happy w/ their Pearl/8100? Also what other BB's have you used to compare it to? I'm currently using the 8700c (cingular 8125/treo 650 prior to that) and am happy w/ it but looking to trim down the size of my phone if possible.

[majorxp]

I have been using various BBs and the pearl is definately the best of the bunch - by far.

That said, the software is still flaky at times with wierd bugs and some things not quite working the way you would think. However, it is a great phone and when the software matures, it will only get better.

[harry0805]

Originally Posted by majorxp

I have been using various BBs and the pearl is definately the best of the bunch - by far.

That said, the software is still flaky at times with wierd bugs and some things not quite working the way you would think. However, it is a great phone and when the software matures, it will only get better.

majorxp,

Thanks for the follow up... Just to verify, when you say "flaky" are you comparing that to other BB software or PDAs (like a WM5 device) in general.

Thanks again!

[red_octane_aero]

Here's a question for you guys. Im thinking of picking 1 up too..and I'll use it WITHOUT the data plan...but let me ask you this.

Is it true that you CAN NOT send a pic MMS message without the data plan? Or ???

[Lex Luthor]

I can't say for other carriers but I know with my carrier (Rogers Wireless) you need a data plan on a BlackBerry to send MMS.

[majorxp]

Flaky as in small bugs (like turning off confirmations on deletes and it still shows confirmations). There is a long thread here that goes into detail, but I'm sure that in the next few weeks we will get some more OS updates to fix all/most of the issues.

My biggest gripe right now is that I think I need to get a new bluetooth headset to get the voice dial to work and mp3s wont play in bluetooth (afaik). I have an old headset -so that's a possibility.

Edit - the other bug that is annoying me is that it won't launch the calendar in agenda mode from the today plus screen...it for some reason goes to January 1st, 2001.

[phungy]

Don't think, just buy it.

[harry0805]

thanks for the feedback guys!