[George1]

Originally Posted by Liberty Ship

My only real complaint is the memory leak. It would probably be intolerable were it not for SoftReset. Best $10 you can spend.

Other than that, it's an amazing phone!

That is almost letter for letter what I wanted to type. Spot on!

[sLanG101]

i thought no phone that could take me away from the easy keyboard sk3. I went from regular to LRG to D-Wade and finally I was just tired and wanted to try something new. Now I know why it is called a crackberry. Thanks RIM for making this the phone I will keep for awhile.

[akg]

Originally Posted by tprime

To each their own...but some of the complaints I don't get. For example doesnt have Wifi or no video recorder...etc?? you knew these before you brought the phone.

My 8700 vibbed before it rang also. I agree with #85 above ... sometimes it's a life saver.

Again no offense to anyone...to each their own.

I agree. I guess the OP anticipated this and was asking for complaints about features the Pearl actually has...

Originally Posted by whoscalling

...I am not looking for these types of complaints such as needs Wi-Fi, or "needs a button to make my spouse sexier". Items like ringer too quiet or can't see screen in sunlight is more of what I am going for...

[King-B]

1. This worst speaker of any phone i've used. (Maybe I'm deaf)
2. No video recorder.....
3. Sluggish O.S.
4. Attracts to many people. (Please wipe those greasy a** fingers before touching it.)

[tech no logy]

Overall I think that they did a wonderful job with this device esp considering all it does and its size.
My complaint would be about the alarm (i use it every day) there seems to be a real lack of alarm features, multiple alarms stuff like that. Also for some unknown to me reason about once every two or three weeks it fails to sound. I wake up late to find the snooze screen but it never rang. I can push the snooze to test to see if it will ring in five minutes and sure enough it does ring.
The battery back cover could have been a little thicker, and I do worry about dirt under the keys and trackball.
Even with these fews things I still like it alot, it does what it should do, has a bright screen, camera takes good picts, texting is pretty easy.

[avaxcontrol]

I love it, but I HATE scrolling through all the long lists. Sometimes it takes so long I want to scream. BUT it's not a huge deal, I'm just impatient

[dovebar27]

Originally Posted by whoscalling

I am gearing up to become a Pearl owner once the release on VZW. I feel RIM has done a pretty good job at hitting the things that are important to me in a Blackberry. It would however be helpful to hear from current users what their #1 (not a list of 3-5) complaint, constructive criticism, improvement, etc is. We all have wish lists, but I am not looking for these types of complaints such as needs Wi-Fi, or "needs a button to make my spouse sexier". Items like ringer too quiet or can't see screen in sunlight is more of what I am going for.

Thanks in advanced for any information that might prove helpful for future Pearl owners to be aware of before they buy.

Biggest complaint, hmmmm...

I'd say my biggest complaint is that SureType isn't so sure of itself. :P Of course, SureType is needed with the Pearl because it doesn't have a full QWERTY keyboard, so...this is the one thing that made me wish I didn't have to replace my Sidekick 3 with another phone. :( Oh--and I wish there were more keypad shortcuts so there'd be no need to solely depend on scrolling through menus. Those are just about my only real complaints, though. I have a video iPod and I'd much rather use that to handle video and music instead of the Pearl. (For the record, I haven't used the video player at all. I've sorta used the music player, but only to play/preview my ringtones. It's not that I hate the video or music players...I just don't use them for much of anything, that's all.) I haven't had any problems with messages suddenly disappearing on me. Every once in a while, I load up a site that just doesn't work right with the Pearl (ie CNET.com) and I end up having to do a battery pull (pulling the battery out of the Pearl while it's still on) because it's frozen up on me. I don't have to do that often, though...just have to know what websites don't work with it.

I wanted to point this out, though...don't let the other complaints scare you out of buying a Pearl. I mean--I know you asked specifically about complaints about the Pearl, but I know that if it were me, I'd be seriously worried about going for the Pearl if it seems to have the kinds of problems it does. But then, that's just me...I scare easily. I admit it. :P Seriously, though--in the end, you're going to have to just try the phone out and see if you like it, despite whatever foibles it has. I know that after doing some extensive sleuthing in these forums to see what issues people had with the Pearl, I was pretty concerned about spending (wasting?) my money on the Pearl as a replacement phone for my Sidekick. But then I tried the Pearl at my local T-Mobile store and found that it did everything my Sidekick 3 could do, just BETTER. :D It was just a matter of getting used to the phone and understanding what it's capable of doing as well as what its limits are. After getting used to the Pearl and what it can and can't do, well--I haven't looked back to my broken old Sidekick since then.

[leetha18]

no video recorder
can't sync my calendar
shutter noise
lack of cool ringtones

[certel]

I just got my phone last week and I've been very happy with it. Clear call quality, fast interface for a PDA and it has some great features. The only problem that I have with the phone is when you are leaving an area, say a text message that when you go back to it, it returns to the message and not the main screen. Nothing major but you asked for complaints. =)

[LunkHead]

No complaints here.... Love the 8100!

[pinkbishie]

Yeah, I'd LOVE to be able to turn the shutter off because I always get caught trying to sneak a shot of some man-asscrack.

My biggest complaint is that my Pearl and I can't legally get married. *Sigh* Someday....

[tazeat]

1) The browser is slugglish and not very usable on larger pages, Javascript support is minimal.
2) Camera is very low quality
3) Screen is too easily scratched/damaged I think im up to like 5 dead pixels now.

[akg]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0; Google Wireless Transcoder;))

Originally Posted by certel

I just got my phone last week and I've been very happy with it. Clear call quality, fast interface for a PDA and it has some great features. The only problem that I have with the phone is when you are leaving an area, say a text message that when you go back to it, it returns to the message and not the main screen. Nothing major but you asked for complaints. =)

I think if you press the ESC button a couple of times instead of the end button, it will achieve what you are looking for. It may require an extra keystroke but it comes in handy when you are working on an email or something and you need to go over to another app...you can just switch back and forth via ALT + ESC.

[PuuOoPaul]

One of the features that sold me on this phone was the Voice Dialing. However, that feature is the biggest disappointment. I have over 100 contacts in my address book and it only recognizes one name: "Chun Fat"! I guess this feature was programmed in China.

A close second is no html format in e-mails. Grrrr.

Aside from that, I'm totally and happily obsessed with it.

[Flapjack]

Originally Posted by coldconfession13

"cant ring and vibrate at the same time"

yea i wish i could have that feature. I don't have any problems with speaker phone though as people mention and I hear mp3's clearly as stated people said it sounded muffled. I wish you can turn off picture noise.

Not sure what you guys are talking about. Mine vibrates and rings on the "Loud" setting.

[Marc_G]

Originally Posted by Flapjack

Not sure what you guys are talking about. Mine vibrates and rings on the "Loud" setting.

Right, but it doesn't do them at exactly the same time. It will vibrate, THEN start ringing. Most phones can vibrate WHILE ringing.

For me this is obnoxious, because it reduces the chance I'll answer in time (because I don't start reaching for it until I hear the ring, as the vibes might just be emails--it's not until the ring starts that I know it's a call.)

I REALLY WISH it were louder. MUCH louder, either in regular mode, speaker phone, headset mode, and ringing. Sound is on a logarithmic scale, so "twice as loud" isn't exactly a clear statement, so I'll say I'd like something on the order of +5 db.

Marc

[Poobarellah]

I'm also thinking about switching to a Pearl, from a 7290. After reading these posts, I'm more confused than ever (which is not very difficult)!

[sman]

some of these complaints "OS is too slow", "not enough cool ringtones", "speaker blows", can all be found or bought online. What I LOVE about the pearl and all BB devices are the software updates. Faster OS and better sound quality are just some of the features that come with an updated OS. I just picked up a Seidio backplate that has the speaker better exposed and my sound quality couldn't be better. As for cool ringtones, there are hundreds of websites that have free ringtones. Or, just make your own and download them to your phone.

This is not to say all the complaints in this thread are solvable, but most are, and a lot of these have very easy solutions...all you have to do is look for them.

[winste]

Originally Posted by Poobarellah

I'm also thinking about switching to a Pearl, from a 7290. After reading these posts, I'm more confused than ever (which is not very difficult)!

I was debating about getting a pearl or the 8800 or the 8300. Final decision came down to my companies support. The 8700 model is the latest they would allow me use to access the BES.

So I bought a Pearl as my personal phone and they issued me an 8700 with a data only plan. Went from no BB to 2 within five days.

I think that makes me an interesting test subject having no BB experience at all and then having both a suretype and a qwerty.

While I do more e-mail on the 8700, I type just as fast on the pearl. Also, suretype is very intuitive. Unless typing formal names, I rarely rarely ever have to correct. And for names I use often, it only takes once or twice to learn, like my username "winste".

[Poobarellah]

Originally Posted by winste

I was debating about getting a pearl or the 8800 or the 8300.

I'm debating the same; it seems if I want one thing, I have to sacrifice something else!