[CrashPush]

I figured there should be a thread about Blackberry Curves (8300) working like they should be. What I mean is working no less than 90% of the way it supposed to.

_________________________________________
Below are the 10 points I'm judging my phone by:

1. Call quality
2. Handset microphone
3. Screen clarity
4. Construction/build quality of the device
5. Camera quality (overall picture quality)
6. Battery life
7. Internet & E-mail speeds
8. Input tools (trackball, keyboard, buttons)
9. Ringers & Speaker phones
10. Operating System performance
__________________________________________

I am very fortunate to have received an 8300 with everything on the list working pretty much near perfect. I'd give my phone a 95%. A 95% because I get some slight static depending where I'm at when receiving/making calls. Also, I've been told that I sounded better with my old phones. The mic sounded a bit muffled sometimes but overall okay and understandable.

I know there's more of you guys out there having had good luck receiving the good batch of 8300's.

If anything else should be added please post it.

[davistld01]

So far, so good!

The only glitch I have had so far is the phone freezing and going to a black screen when I try to access a private message from this or any other web forum I belong to. I guess it's because the BB browser doesn't support that for some reason or another. I am only bothered, because my Treo never had a problem...not that I am going back to Palm full time.

But, other than that...smooth sailing so far. I really like the phone.

So, I guess mine is working 98% of how it's supposed to...

[Brad00111]

1. Call quality - Improved over the 8800, I have had no complaints and people are even suprised that I am on a cell phone some of the time. Also noticed that the call quality is better over my Parot CK3100 than with the 8800 as well.

2. Handset microphone - No issues, speakerphone works great, a little background noise but not bad at all, even in the car with the AC cranked.

3. Screen clarity - perfect, looks good, I still have the original cover on it until my ScreenPatronous arrives, but even with that on it still looks good.

4. Construction/build quality of the device- Slight (very) play in the "AT&T" piece at the bottom, but very little and you really have to push on it to notice. Other than that rock solid. The 8800's side rails were killing me, I thought the phone was going to fall apart on me at any given moment!

5. Camera quality (overall picture quality) - Great pictures, have tried in a variety of settings with no problems for a cell phone camera.

6. Battery life- Jury is still out on this sucker. I charged it up, and left it alone over night, it was 100% when I left it and about 12 hours later it was down to 85%, not very good considering the 8800 would be at 80% after a full day of use (email, web, bluetooth, phone, and a little telenav). But I recharged it and did a battery pull which fixed things on my 8800, so I will report back on how it is after that.

7. Internet & E-mail speeds - perfect, no issues, no difference between 8700, 8800, and 8300 really for me.

8. Input tools (trackball, keyboard, buttons)- LOVE the keyboard, it is way better than the 8800. I never disliked the 8800's keyboard but this blows it out of the water. No trackball issues, and I love the 2 conveinence keys on either side. Great addition!

9. Ringers & Speaker phones - Ok so the 8800 was loud, and I mean LOUD, I usually set my ringers for the highest setting, well Mexico could hear my phone ring when someone called me. That being said I think the notifications on the 8300 are the right volume, and I do not really have to crank the earpiece volume much past 65% or so. The earpiece is great to, very clear.

10. Operating System performance- The 8800 was laggy. It drovge me crazy sometimes it would be good and others I oudn myself sitting and waiting, and multi-clicking because I thought it didnt get the first command, then it would click 2 times. It wasn't a deal breaker but it was annoying. I have had very VERY little OS lag with the 8300, when multiple things are going on it can be a little sluggish but it is nothing compared to the 8800. Greta performance thus far.

So far I give it a 9.5 out of 10 solely due to the battery life. If the battery pull fixed the issue than it will be totally a 10. I loved the 8800, don't get me wrong, but the 8300 is such a better device IMHO that it blows the 8800 out of the water. I will report back on the battery issue and hopefully it will be resolved.

Great Phone, Good Game RIM! (Now just give me a Camera and GPS in 1 unit, and if you want to throw a little 3G action into the mix I will be totally excited!)

[gfisher99]

No problems or glitches for me. I dont generally surf the web on my device (Thats what I have a PC for), so I would have to say mine has worked 100% they way it should.

[athenslb57]

Mine is working very well with no real issues.

[greggebhardt]

I have to give two thumbs up to my 8300. A glitch or two in the transition from my 8700 but all is working very well. No hesitation, in fact very responsive!

[FSUFAN1200]

I can honestly say since I am a previous Palm Treo user, and previous Blackberry device user, my newly acquired Blackberry Curve 8300 is working excellent.

It seems to me, now lets not forget I have only had it for 3-days, but the longer it’s been turn on, and being used, it seems to become more stable and running much efficient. Not that it was unstable because it was not, but I have had no lag, lock-ups, re-starts, turn-offs, black screens.

The device sync’s perfectly with my computer operating with Windows Vista, and Outlook 2007. All my calendar appointments, contacts, ect…..are synced whether they are added on the device or the computer.

I would have to say the only thing I’m having a hard time getting use too is how light it weighs. I was so use to the heavier Palm & Blackberry devices; this has taken some getting use too. In a good way!!!

I hope everyone else is having a good experience like I am. If there are any questions or concerns, please feel free to PIN me or contact me, I’ll try my best to assist ya.

Matt

[CrashPush]

Originally Posted by FSUFAN1200

It seems to me, now lets not forget I have only had it for 3-days, but the longer it’s been turn on, and being used, it seems to become more stable and running much efficient. Not that it was unstable because it was not, but I have had no lag, lock-ups, re-starts, turn-offs, black screens.

That's exactly how I feel about mine. I think mine and yours came off the same line.

__________________________________________________ ______________

Greg,

Did you ever get the camera to take any better pictures?

[ryang4938]

i love my curve... everything about it just seems perfect. the screen is amazing!!! the trackball alone is perfection and the keyboard is awesome. no compliants here. i will be keeping this bb for a long time lol

[JR8700BIG]

Just bought the Curve no more than an hour ago. I absolutly love it.. It is definatly a change from the 8700, seeing that there is no scroll wheel, and now it is a trackball, but i think it will grow on me. everything seems to be working perfectly fine.. My MMS is working great, saw on another post that people were having problems with it.

[futballer]

I am a very happy curve owner, after coming from the 8800. This phone feels great in the hands and I can only hope that RIM continues to create phones like this. My only gripe is that the track ball feels somewhat loose compared to the 8800. However aside from that, the camera, speaker, keyboard is everything you can expect.

[glacked]

1. Call quality is better than my Verizon phone. In my area, Verizon is everywhere I'm not. I decided to switch to ATT/Cing last week when I was trying to call the swat team out and couldn't get a signal. A buddy on shift handed me his Cingular phone and it was a done deal for me. I had wanted the 8300 prior to that, but decided to get the 8830 since it would've been an upgrade.

2. Have heard no complaints about the mic. Works like a cell phone.

3. Absolutely wonderful. Coming from the 7130e, I can't see how anyone could say anything bad about it.

4. Sturdy and light at the same time. Very small compared to what I thought it would be. Having played with some 8800's, I do like the form factor better on the 8300. To each their own.

5. Fine for a cell phone. I'll use my other digital if I really want something to look good. Heading back to work tonight and will attempt some goofy pics of the guys and see how well it does.

6. Have yet to really push it. Seems fine as I've used the heck out of it for about 24hrs on one charge and still show 60%.

7. Net is a bit slower than VZW's offering. Nothing too abrupt. Emails speeds are on par and haven't made me thrown things.

8. All very well put together. Nothing is loose, nothing is too small, nothing hacks me off about it. Other than continually hitting some buttons twice - muscle memory from the 7130 with suretype off - I have no complaints.

9. Ringers are loud and get my attention as they should. I'm in love with the 'sonar' alert for no real reason. Just sounds good. I saved a few song clips as ringtones and they work flawlessly unlike the 7130 which needed a battery pull once a day to ensure you heard the ringer. Hells Bells is loud and my Linkin Park song scared the heck out of me waking me up earlier.

10. OS performs as advertised to me. No lag or any of the other issues I've seen posted. In fact, I'm impressed with how seemless it has been. Getting used to new icons and placement is somewhat troublesome - but how valid is that complaint, really?

Overall, I give this little thing a thumbs us. My wife and I got these so we could PIN back and forth as well as get emails while on the go. She's a juvenile referee and I'm a cop. We go very long periods of being in places we shouldn't answer the phone - court, etc. This device allows us a lot more freedom in communication and we're very excited to have this ability now. She hates cell phones, so I was worried about it until last night when she sent me a voice mms and this afternoon when I was able to make contact while she was on the bench in a hearing. Makes life a lot easier - which again, is as advertised.

[MattM2G]

Originally Posted by Brad00111

1. Call quality - Improved over the 8800, I have had no complaints and people are even suprised that I am on a cell phone some of the time. Also noticed that the call quality is better over my Parot CK3100 than with the 8800 as well.

2. Handset microphone - No issues, speakerphone works great, a little background noise but not bad at all, even in the car with the AC cranked.

3. Screen clarity - perfect, looks good, I still have the original cover on it until my ScreenPatronous arrives, but even with that on it still looks good.

4. Construction/build quality of the device- Slight (very) play in the "AT&T" piece at the bottom, but very little and you really have to push on it to notice. Other than that rock solid. The 8800's side rails were killing me, I thought the phone was going to fall apart on me at any given moment!

5. Camera quality (overall picture quality) - Great pictures, have tried in a variety of settings with no problems for a cell phone camera.

6. Battery life- Jury is still out on this sucker. I charged it up, and left it alone over night, it was 100% when I left it and about 12 hours later it was down to 85%, not very good considering the 8800 would be at 80% after a full day of use (email, web, bluetooth, phone, and a little telenav). But I recharged it and did a battery pull which fixed things on my 8800, so I will report back on how it is after that.

7. Internet & E-mail speeds - perfect, no issues, no difference between 8700, 8800, and 8300 really for me.

8. Input tools (trackball, keyboard, buttons)- LOVE the keyboard, it is way better than the 8800. I never disliked the 8800's keyboard but this blows it out of the water. No trackball issues, and I love the 2 conveinence keys on either side. Great addition!

9. Ringers & Speaker phones - Ok so the 8800 was loud, and I mean LOUD, I usually set my ringers for the highest setting, well Mexico could hear my phone ring when someone called me. That being said I think the notifications on the 8300 are the right volume, and I do not really have to crank the earpiece volume much past 65% or so. The earpiece is great to, very clear.

10. Operating System performance- The 8800 was laggy. It drovge me crazy sometimes it would be good and others I oudn myself sitting and waiting, and multi-clicking because I thought it didnt get the first command, then it would click 2 times. It wasn't a deal breaker but it was annoying. I have had very VERY little OS lag with the 8300, when multiple things are going on it can be a little sluggish but it is nothing compared to the 8800. Greta performance thus far.

So far I give it a 9.5 out of 10 solely due to the battery life. If the battery pull fixed the issue than it will be totally a 10. I loved the 8800, don't get me wrong, but the 8300 is such a better device IMHO that it blows the 8800 out of the water. I will report back on the battery issue and hopefully it will be resolved.

Great Phone, Good Game RIM! (Now just give me a Camera and GPS in 1 unit, and if you want to throw a little 3G action into the mix I will be totally excited!)

This sums up my experience EXACTLY!! So rather that rewriting it, I will just quote and simply state - "Well said". As someone who has been a Palm and Treo user for as long as I can remember, I swore I would never use a BlackBerry. Now I swear I will never look back. IMHO, I really think that RIM has surpassed Palm in every way with these devices, and especially the 8300!!

[I8UB4]

I had an annoying problem with the Calendar not syncing properly, but once I got that fixed, I can honestly say I love this phone.

I switched from a Pearl. I really like my gadgets as small as possible, so I was concerned about the size of the Curve. I wouldn't want anything bigger than the Curve, and it is still a little too big for my liking. Nevertheless, the full QWERTY keyboard is a big improvement over suretype.

As for the ratings:

1. Call quality: fine
2. Handset microphone: I haven't had any complaints
3. Screen clarity: The Pearl's seemed a little bit richer, but this is still nice - plus it's bigger.
4. Construction/build quality of the device: Barely noticeable looseness on the right side between the volume buttons and the convenience key, but overall, very nicely built.
5. Camera quality (overall picture quality): Better quality and better flash than the pearl. Overall very good for a phone, but should have video.
6. Battery life: Fine, so far. I haven't had any long, busy days yet.
7. Internet & E-mail speeds: Pure Blackberry performance on Email. Internet is the same as Pearl.
8. Input tools (trackball, keyboard, buttons): Love the trackball. Once you get used to it, it is much better than the trackwheel. This is the best QWERTY keyboard I have used so far.
9. Ringers & Speaker phones: Fine.
10. Operating System performance: Once I solved the Calendar sync issue, and deleted the other languages from the Curve (per another post on this site), it works great. No lag. Very zippy.

All in all, the best BB yet., IMHO.

[quillhill]

I couldn't resist any longer. Here's what I think so far:

1. Call quality: Coming from an 8700 (five months) then a 7130 (eight months) this is my favorite BlackBerry thus far. I've also made test calls on the Pearl in Cingular stores (yes, plural, phone geek here) and I find that I like the Curve the best. It's much clearer than my previous two BB's and people seem to be understanding me better. It holds onto a signal much better here in my office which is great. One little snag: yesterday during a call it re-started. Made a few calls since and hasn't done it again but it was a hiccup.
2. Handset microphone: See above.
3. Screen clarity: I think it looks great. It'll probably look better once I get some real screen protectors on it and not this silly looking one they put on it before it goes in the box. But, I am a bit paranoid about scratching the screen and haven't had a chance to really look for a better solution.

4. Construction/build quality of the device: It feels so good in the hands. I've had some cheap plasticky phones (Nokia 6030, Motorola v180, for example) and I've had some tank phones (BB 8700, Sanyo 4900). I'd say this bad boy is on the tank end of the spectrum though I'm certain that unlike the 4900, I wouldn't be able to use the Curve as a weapon.

5. Camera quality (overall picture quality) After reading some initial reports from folks claiming the quality was crap and blurry, I had low expectations, so I've been quite pleased with the results. Oh, it's not my Nokia N73, but it is pretty good. The thing I noticed immediately is that it has the least amount of shutter lag I've experienced on a camera phone in the 3 1/2 years and 30 plus phones I've used in that time on four different networks. The snaps are good for what I use a camera phone to shoot.

6. Battery life: I have been at 25 percent all day after getting it yesterday and I've been trying to kill the battery. Dropped to 20 percent about 10 minutes ago. If I can get two full days on a single charge on it, then I will be happy. I suspect I'll get at least that, if not three days.

7. Internet & E-mail speeds: Internet seems a bit quicker than the trusty 7130c but I don't use it much. E-mail is instant and perfect, as always.

8. Input tools (trackball, keyboard, buttons) Coming from a scroll wheel device, this took me a bit of adjustment -- I'm still adjusting to the trackball. But, I love it. Playing brickbreaker with the trackball is so much better. Heh. It seems much more responsive and a faster way to navigate the phone. The keyboard is nice and stiff and tactile. I like it. Buttons, good.

9. Ringers & Speaker phones: Pre-loaded ringers, like every other phone ever, suck. But, assigning ringers from microSD card was a snap and they sound great. Nice and loud and clear. I've been pleasantly surprised. I use the speaker phone to check my work voicemail. Next time I use it, I'll turn it up a bit.

10. Operating System performance: I think this OS is light years ahead of what my previous BB was running and I am really pleased. Once I adjusted to the changes and improvements, I am really enjoying it.

Yeah, I gush, but for me this is a huge upgrade over my previous device which I've actually already sold after only 24 hours with the Curve. I could never go back now.

[fatbboy]

Working perfectly here!

[mogrefy]

Not a single problem, tomorrow will be it's 1-week birthday!!

[WIKID3]

I wanted to blow my first one up (resetting issue), my second one....I'm in love. This is the best phone I have ever used.

[Flashman]

Originally Posted by CrashPush

I figured there should be a thread about Blackberry Curves (8300) working like they should be. What I mean is working no less than 90% of the way it supposed to.

Today I got two brand new BlackBerry 8300 Curves. One for myself and one for my wife. Mine is a BES setup and hers is BIS. My opinions, after LOTS of configuration:

1. Call quality - Same as 8700c
2. Handset microphone - Same as 8700c
3. Screen clarity - Same as 8700c, not as bright as my buddy's Pearl
4. Construction/build quality of the device - Excellent, similar to 8700c
5. Camera quality (overall picture quality) - Excellent, and flash is very nice.
6. Battery life - no comment yet, but specs seems same as 8700c
7. Internet & E-mail speeds - same as 8700c
8. Input tools (trackball, keyboard, buttons) - seem ok, some getting used to, miss the 'linear' scrolling of wheel, which there was option to make ball behave that way
9. Ringers & Speaker phones - same as 8700c (4.2 software)
10. Operating System performance - same as 8700c (perception)

[Flashman]

overall, a great improvement on the 8700!