Being my first BlackBerry, I was a little excited, but also nervous about being thrown into the world of Smartphones.
Usually reserved for the business types, Orange (other networks are available) have now included the BlackBerry Pearl as part of their PAYG service (however, I am using mine on contract).
The phone is very sturdy, and includes a half-QWERTY keyboard, which takes a little getting used to, but once you start typing, texts become the easiest thing in the world - especially with the use of the SureType system, which intuitively learns your words and suggests words for you - much like a better T9 system.
The screen is a decent size, and the phone itself is really thin and includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, so you can use any headphones to listen to your tunes! It also supports up to 8GB of Micro SD memory, so is a great substitute if you forget your iPod! Unfortunately, the dated software leaves a little to be desired, but this can be overcome, and the media player lists your music by Artist, Genre etc. much like the iPod, also displaying album art through the metadata.
The phone doesn't have 3G, but makes up for this with WiFi hotspot browsing - coupled with the use of applications such as Facebook, MSN and Google Maps, this is a great feature for keeping up to date with your emails and social life!
If you need Internet everywhere, you will need to pay an additional £5 p/m to get unlimited browsing and emails, which may not be uber-speedy with the lack of 3G, but I have yet to test this.
The phone's camera is poor at 2MP, considering many new phones start at around 8MP these days, but this is not a major issue for me - it can also record video and sound, so it's not the end of the world.
All-in-all, this is a really good start for BlackBerry and Smartphone users like myself. The only decision I have now is whether to get an iPhone or a better BlackBerry when my contract expires!
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May 5th, 2009
very helpful by (11%):
helpful by (78%):
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