i usually put three letters in and it filters it down to only a name or two. I actually like this feature and how it's implemented and look at it as an improvement. the speed is very good so I think it's a quick way to access all numbers.
of course, if you want you can just hold down the send key for a second and the address book pops up and you can search by contact. then when you scroll down it will not show all the numbers until pressing the pearl.
two different ways, i think the newer is faster, just gotta get a hold of that pearl!