[rustypixel]

Wait, I'm sorry to take this OT, but does the Curve have the abilty to change trackball colors? Did I miss something?

Originally Posted by Azunprinzess

I came from the pearl too and just bought the 8320 and was worried about the same thing, but look, you can change the trackball on the curve you just gotta pay for it:

e-Mobile Color Pearl by e-Mobile Software, Inc. - Handango BlackBerry Curve Software

What's 7 dollars compared to 200-400?

[invisik]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8320/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

I've got a few issues with my Curve. I've had the 7100 and 8700 on Tmo before this. I have Bis and Bes accounts. I use it for everything for work, time tracking, note taking, email, calls, main address book, vehicle tracking, tethering.

Dropped calls. I've had this phone for 6 days now and I've had 4 dropped calls. Situations where I'm on UMA (no hs@h), on my bluetooth headset with the phone sitting on the table. Also when on EDGE sitting still. Seems signal reception is not at strong as my 8700 or 7100. Very hard to take a backwards step in signal.

Trackball menus. The short menus are convienent some of the time but when you have to click again for the full menu and then click a third time for your selection, makes me long for my 8700. Can these short menus be turned off?

Also, when selecting the time in a calendar item trackballing downward makes the time later, which is backwards from the trackball Blackberries. This seems like a weird change to me.

Multidirectional scrolling. The desktop mode of the browser is cool with the mouse pointer. Not good is the scrolling through calendar items. Always seem to get stuck in certain points, wasting time.

Themes. I love the list theme with no icons. I find it much easier to find the items I want. This theme is gone with no way of porting it, I'm told. Now I have to sift through 6 rows of little icons that I have to learn. Maybe this is just more of my frustration.

Blackberry menu button and Back button and clicking the trackball. Two functions on the 8700 are now spread to 3 buttons? That seems a bit backwards too.

Quick buttons. Great to have them, but natural hand position for pressing one is holding the unit on the opposite side. This makes you inadvertedly press the other quick button. I'd have maybe put both buttons on the right side and put the volume control back on the scroller.

I'm pretty used to the keyboard now, its kinda stiff but good. Wifi speed is good for browsing. Loading media in via Mass Storage mode is fine. Its convienent to have a camera. The IM clients more integrated to the status bar and operating system is nice as well. The slimness of the case as compared to the 8700 is nice and of course it's more flashy looking. The auto dimming via ambient light is great too.

Well, there you have it. Any suggestions or encouragement appreceiated!

-m

[John Clark]

Originally Posted by rustypixel

Wait, I'm sorry to take this OT, but does the Curve have the abilty to change trackball colors? Did I miss something?

No, that's one of the things I miss already as well as SureType (believe it or not.)

BTW, I'm totally enamored with the 8320!

[PCgirl]

Originally Posted by John Clark

No, that's one of the things I miss already as well as SureType (believe it or not.)

BTW, I'm totally enamored with the 8320!

Hey John Clark! You got your 8320, cool!!

I miss the color trackball too. And the smaller size of the Pearl...and the lanyard hole. But I definitely don't miss SureType!

I totally agree with invisik about the quick buttons. While they are indeed convenient, I wish they placed them a bit more diagonally to each each other so you don't hit the other one by mistake.

[HyperDream23]

I, too, am coming from the Pearl 8100 into the 8320. The main reason I decided to change over was the fact that I had my Pearl replaced 9 times through T-Mo warranty exchange, and it seemed to be an ongoing, never-the-same-issue, process for me. However, I *did* love my Pearl.

I first saw the Curve on AT&T's network, and silently cursed T-Mo out for being late in the game (again)... but, the time came, and on Day 1, I ordered the Curve (at regular price, of course -- I wasn't eligible for an upgrade).

I received my Curve yesterday, and immediately began playing with it. I compared it with a magnifying glass to my Pearl, and this is what I came up with:

Likes:
1. The screen is wonderful... bright, big and easy to navigate.
2. The sound quality on the phone function is about equal.
3. The camera and flash are much better than that of the Pearl.
4. The media is very much louder than the Pearl.
5. The "manage connections" menu is easier to use than 3 or 4 separate icons.
6. The size and weight of the Curve surprised me. It's not "that much" bigger than the Pearl. (not too noticible to me, at least.)

Dislikes:
1. Of course, the loud keyclicks and scrolling even when muted.
2. There is more wind noise when using the handset to place or receive calls.
3. The keys are TINY, and I hit the wrong ones or two at a time accidentally (thank goodness for the Spell Checker).
4. The UMA crap keeps making me drop calls if I don't turn WiFi off before I use the phone (I don't have the @home service or router).
5. The media is very much louder than the Pearl. (also a Like, but some things sound very distorted).
6. What happened to the silver sides?? The black plastic seems (in my opinion) to cheapen the apperance of the Curve compared to the Pearl.
7. I miss SureType (at least until I get used to the small keyboard or my fingers shrink).


With all of that being said, I weighed both sides last night and wanted to make a decision on whether or not to keep the Curve. I was absolutely in love with my Pearl, but I got tired of having to have it replaced every month-in-a-half because of a different issue. I think I can get used to the Curve's keyboard, and it's functions - but I'm gonna keep my Pearl just in case. I am not a huge fan of the WiFi yet, but I'm sure that will come in time.

On the final note, I called to return the Curve in exchange for a new one, hoping to elimiate the "grainy" feel and sound of the trackball... it almost feels as if I have to "smash" the trackball to scroll... My replacement should arrive tomorrow or Friday.

If anyone knows of a way to disable the WiFi calling, but keep the WiFi data connection on, please forward it my way.

Additional opinion: If you've got the Pearl, and aren't eligible for an upgrade yet, I don't think the Curve is worth $399 from T-Mo. Give it a few months, and it will be down to where the Pearl is now, hopefully.

Oh, and I am hoping that the Pearl doesn't become another Razr... I noticed that a year after T-Mo introduced them, they suddenly gave birth to the Gold one, the Red one and the Blue one... If it's going to be like that, God help us all.

Thanks!

[Dawgfan]

This is an interesting read as I sit here trying to decide if I am going to give up my iPhone and come back to the world of BB. I do miss it.

Before my iPhone I had an 8800 and loved it. Loved TeleNav, loved the battery life, loved BB for all the things it does so well.

If I return it will be between a Curve and an 8800. I have heard comments that the battery life of the Curve is not as good as the 8800. If I get a Curve it will be the 8310 with GPS. Anyone here know how that new model's battery life will compare to the 8800, not considering GPS usage which could sway it all over the place.

I too was a bit annoyed (while playing with a Curve) by the clicky keys.. maybe they are just going retro 72xx style.

[pinetreerr]

I love my 8329 -- replaced my 7105t which replaced a 957.

The only complaint I have is the noisy trackball. But that seems to be the design. My wife's which arrived a week later has the same issue, and I checked two stores and their units have this problem as well.

[invisik]

Dawgfan,

From what I've seen and used of the iPhone, it doesn't really do that much. What it does it does well (browsing mainly) but I'm glad Apple kept it in the consumer space. It really doesn't equal the BB products....

Most people that I know who scream their love of the iPhone are the people who have never had a PDA-type phone before. Everyone (typically) loves their first PDA phone.

It doesn't even have push e-mail! I was expecting that was a standard thing these days--guess not.

-m

[njguy]

returned mine today...after spending hours on the phone with tmo and rim.
the person at tmo said she had never heard of the any problems with the 8320...and she was 2nd tier support

[TeritaM]

so the first curve I had died after an unfortunate, "my name is terita and I kill phones" incident on monday. I got the second one today, and I have vowed to give it a fair shot and not compare it to my 8800.

[wirelessforever]

Originally Posted by TeritaM

Maybe I'm having buyers remorse?

Probably. Some people just can never be happy. It's just not in their nature to ever be happy. Other people just have super specific needs (nothing wrong with that -- sometimes it just what a job or some other life circumstance requires). Basically, there will never be a product that makes everyone happy.

This is the finest phone I've ever seen or used. I couldn't be happier. I looked closely at the Pearl a few months ago and concluded that it didn't meet my needs. Then I heard about the Curve. I read every thing I could get my hands on about it. I ran out and bought a Curve the first day they were available at TMo. Since then I've spent a million hours customizing mine and downloading software to make it do what I need done. I'm pretty pleased now with all the customizations I've done to my Curve.

I think there are some basic software programs RIM should be packaging with the Curve and are not but aside from that, this is simply the best phone ever made.

I'm a tough grader but I'd give the Curve an "A+" and would recommend it to anyone who wants the best phone money can buy.

[JAMESOJA]

I am still trying to get used to my 8320. I have had the 7105t, 8700 and the 8100 which I returned because it was to small for me. I am really enjoying the phone, thankfully I have 2 routers here at home becuase the Airport Extreme did not seem to work, however no problems at all with Belkin.

My only gripe and its really driving me nuts right now, is what happened to the "shortcuts?"

On my 8700 I hit "Cap O" and get options, "CAP A" for address book and so on, this is a major let down. If this function is still available and I am missing out on it, please let me know, becuase this is my only source of pain at the moment.

Cheers!

[Helmdawg]

I am loving this BB. I do miss color pearl but not enough to really complain about. I am glad I am able to use BB Alerts on this phone. And one other thing, I do NOT miss sure type....

[flar]

Originally Posted by JAMESOJA

My only gripe and its really driving me nuts right now, is what happened to the "shortcuts?"

On my 8700 I hit "Cap O" and get options, "CAP A" for address book and so on, this is a major let down. If this function is still available and I am missing out on it, please let me know, becuase this is my only source of pain at the moment.

Disable "Dial from Home Screen" as mentioned on the _8300 Series Home Screen Shortcuts_ page on the blackberry FAQ. You can have the shortcuts without the Cap key...

[xxbrowndragon]

Just like evmonk said,

RIM is perfectly capable of releasing a Blackberry in the future that has
3g
GPS
3mp camera or more
video recording
color led trackball,
better screen resolution,
better battery,
and something that i would love is interchangable color housing,

[JAMESOJA]

Originally Posted by flar

Disable "Dial from Home Screen" as mentioned on the _8300 Series Home Screen Shortcuts_ page on the blackberry FAQ. You can have the shortcuts without the Cap key...

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

[dwc]

Originally Posted by xxbrowndragon

Just like evmonk said,

RIM is perfectly capable of releasing a Blackberry in the future that has
...,

Can you throw in streaming audio/video as well?

[invisik]

Any way to have WiFi on and connected while disabling UMA? I think my Linksys WAP54G is not compatible and causing some dropped calls.

[churchill]

I have a linksys wrt54g and it works flawlessly with my curve on both calls and internet. One thing to make sure of is that you have the latest firmware on your linksys. There was a new firmware release in the last few months--and if you have had yours for a while there have been about 4 firmware releases in the last year or two. Make sure you have the latest and try that to see if it fixes your problems. If you need help upgrading a linksys 54g, pm me and Ill explain to you how to do it, its not complicated, but if you havent done it, it can seem hard to find what you need to do it.

[invisik]

Hi! I upgraded my firmware last night to version 3.-something. Mine is a WAP54G not the WRT54G, which there is a huge difference. I was hoping the wireless part would be similar though.....


-m