RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8100 Reviews

29 Jan 2007

RIM BlackBerry Pearl Review

We can certify that Blackberry Pearl 8100 is indeed revolutionary for its make – it has acquired a camera, a memory slot and a multimedia player. But what is equally revolutionary about it is the design – it is very small and thin for a smartphone, especially for one with a non-standard keyboard. Its dimensions make it convenient to both carry and use and there is the terrific appearance of the black mirror surface to it. After adding the fast and comparatively stable menu, the good performance as a telephone with strong sound and good reception, we can only complain about the unsightly and sometimes hard to use menu, the non-perfect implementation of the camera and music player.

Good

7

out of 10

• Keywords:
• Business
,
• Stylish
,
• RIM

1. Long Term Review, as in 1.5years

12 Oct 2008 by Dan

60%6out of 10

About a year and a half ago I had a sidekick.  I had been stuck on that phase and had the first sidekick all the way to the third edition of it, but the phone was horrible.  I upgrade to this phone and was pleased at first, but I quickly met the phones limitations.  The built in IM client with t-mobile is horrible, I switched to Jivetalk through Beejive.  In terms of instant messaging this phone is great, web browsing with opera mini is okay, and media/pictures is horrible.  The phone slows down a great deal when any sort of application is opened, ie. opening the file browser for photos or music.  The phone had held up well until this past summer, the trackball started to not function properly.  I had to take the trackball unit apart and clean it.  This worked, but would fail and require cleaning nearly every week (Later I discovered it was not that it was dirty, the sensor was simply failing).  About a month ago the trackball simply stopped scrolling down despite my efforts it will no longer scroll down.  This essentially makes the phone absolutely useless.  I have always used a screen protector, the phone has always stayed in a nice case, and I would describe myself as someone who really takes care of their electronics.  For the device to fail after only a year and a half is a testament to how poorly this phone was constructed, I am a power user and my phone requires charging every night, yet thats really the people who blackberrys are made for.  The 2.5mm audio jack also requires a special adaptor from blackberry to use 3.5mm, I went to radioshack and tried several of the ones they had to no avail.

Pros

Opera Mini can be installed.
Can install Jivetalk.
Changeable dedicated side keys.
Bright screen.
Nice keyboard design (in theory).
Notification light.
Email.
Voice dialing.

Cons

Low quality build.
Keys feel cheap.
Low durability.
Freezes more than occasionally, as in once a week.
Slow service w/T-mobile.
2.5mm Headphone Jack.

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2. :(u cant b serious:(

15 Sep 2008 by hellomoto

40%4out of 10

k so i got this phone and i wuz suuuuper happy bcuz i am the only one with this phone in my school. i am the only 6th grader with a smart phone and i wus all syked about having the awsum phone.  i hate this phone cuz first the earpiece broke on my first. then i got another one. the trackball on that wouldnt go right. now im back to my one with no earpiece. peice of crap. not reccomended to ANYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pros

QWERTY keypad
camera
email
web browsing
maps
IM
powerful speakerphone
data transfer

Cons

easy pocket dial
trackball doesnt work
freezes up ALL THE TIME
no video
not able to save or delete pitures
tzones slow
slow startup
updates almost impossible to install

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3. Kyle

18 Aug 2008 by Kyle

54%5.4out of 10

Well the only thing I really like about this phone is the QWERTY board. Also the trackball (the white white center ball) makes easy navigatioon around the menu. It is a little large in size, but still fits in my pocket. I also like all the different themes, but it's chunky. Also it's made of all plastic so if you drop it there's gonna be a scratch. Also also the screen scratched really easy. OVERALL - THE PHONE IS AWESOME ON THE INSIDE CHEAP AND PLASTIC ON THE OUTSIDE!

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4. I'm sad....

26 Apr 2008 by BooHoo

48%4.8out of 10

I got a great deal on this phone through Wirefly.com. Didn't cost me a penny. I was so excited to get this phone and after three days of owning it, I sent it back!
The sound quality of this phone is great. The problem that I had with it is that anytime I tried to get my emails or enter the Web, it just kept on showing that hourglass timer and it would never connect. Taking pictures was fairly easy, but deleting them was a chore. You had to go through the menu and find the delete function. PITA!!! And the voice activiated dialing was amusing at first, but it kept dialing the wrong number if the names were similiar (ke: kim vs. jim).
The phone is attractive but just not for me. I hope you have better luck with it.

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5. not worth it

30 Dec 2007 by sam

64%6.4out of 10

this phone is a good looking phone however the different plans u need for it is not worth it.within the first month of having this phone the navagational ball fell out when i called to have it fixed they said they would repair it for 180.00 or replace it for 230.00 dollars.i just bought it a month ago i hear this is an issue that alot of these pearls have. i also had some software issues with it at first.

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6. Nothing Better

24 Dec 2007 by mikeyp

98%9.8out of 10

i love this phone and everything id does, even with the spotty tmobile coverage i get sometimes at my friends house i love what it can do and i love how well you can talk on it. the suretyupe needs to be harnessed other than that its easy and fun

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7.

4 Nov 2007 by friend helper

100%10out of 10

my friend is having a problem with the camera when he trys to take a picture it says system adminastrator does not allow and he dosnt know what to do please e-mail me asap

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8. I'm an average joe and I love it

22 Oct 2007 by M.G.

86%8.6out of 10

I'm no corporate suit walking around with my face constantly glued to my blackberry. I got a great deal on the phone, so to be honest if you think it's to costly then you bought it from the wrong place. That's your mistake. As a phone it works great, good sound, no echo, etc. I have the unlimited data plan for $19.99/mo which is really nice to have. I get all my email on it. I use the maps all the time. The applications are pretty intuitive and easy to find. It takes a few minutes of to get used to where everything is, but it overall there is a very small learning curve. The trackball is such a beautiful thing, it really speeds up navigation through the browser or phonebook.
There are only two problems I have with it.
1. It scratches pretty easy. After a week of owning it I decided to go buy an invisibleSHIELD kit. Highly recommended. It cost me $20.
2. It's got some issues with video. Videos have to be in H.263 format to work. So a lot of online videos won't work on it. There is 3rd party software that helps with this though.
I've owned the phone for two months now, and still really like it. I don't regret my purchase one bit.

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9. BlackBerry 8100 Pearl

15 Sep 2007 by nicod8

100%10out of 10

This is THE phone! it's got everything, it's amazing and easy to use. Best smartphone ever. And also GPS, you can't imagine its applications, they are the best, BlackBerry 8100 ROCKS!!!

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10. Amazing smartphone!

3 Aug 2007 by Dan

100%10out of 10

The pearl is amazing. I wanted a smartphone but nothing too big like the regular blackberrys or n61i. The pearl does pretty much about everything and it is very user friendly. The keyboard is easy to learn and the trackball is amazing.
The only thing lacking is wifi otherwise great phone!

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