After owning the Blackberry Pearl for nearly two months, I figured I should let you know how Barry, or Bar as he’s most often referred to, is doing.
The transition from my Verizon enV was difficult. I’m a big fan of the QWERTY keypad with one letter per key. The Pearl does that the QWERTY keypad, however the design is a bit funky. It took some time to get used to. The first time I tried texting I swear it took like two minutes to type my email address. It didn’t help that the predictive text was turned on. I am a multi-tap kind of gal. I’ve since gotten used to the keypad, but I suggest if you’re a super big fan of the single letter keys to stick to the Curve or original Blackberry.
A minor drawback is the lack of awesome accessories and tricks available for the 8130. The 8130 Pearl doesn’t have an LED light under the scroll ball so it is unable to change colors like the 8100. This doesn’t affect the function of the phone, I just enjoy extra aesthetics. There aren’t too many cool cases for this model either. You may think it will fit into an 8100’s case, but the cameras line up differently and the 8130 will be blocked.
The Blackberry Browser is pretty good compared to my last one. If you’re not happy with that, you can download Opera Mini for the Blackberry. I tend to use this one more because you can enlarge certain parts of the a website. Again, an aesthetic preference.
I don’t have many extra applications running on my Pearl though I’m sure there are many out there. I have Twitterberry and Facebook on my welcome screen. Oh! And I really enjoy being able to sync up to 10 email addresses. The organizational features are quite awesome as well. I recommend exploring the folders option.
Another cool feature is Blackberry Messenger. It’s texting meets AIM for Blackberry users. The best part is that it’s free! I like it because while I have free texts between Verizon users, I have some friends who don’t use Verizon that I text often. Using the BB messenger helps because I don’t run up my bill.
The camera is pretty sweet. It has a flash and three zoom options. It also lets you crop your photo right on your phone. I haven’t played with all of the camera’s features just yet.
One thing I do not like is the lack of memory. Since it is such a small phone, it can’t be expected to hang onto too much data. If you start losing texts that you know you didn’t delete, first check your settings. You might have it set to erase old things after 30 days. If that setting is not on, your memory could be filling up. It will start kicking out old things to make room for the new eventually. My recommendation is to buy a memory card for your phone. You can find one at your carrier or even online. It’ll help if you keep a lot of old texts, emails, photos and music.
Overall, the Pearl has grown on me. I love the sleek design and cuteness of it. I like being able to fit it into my pocket comfortably, much unlike my enV. I don’t like bulky gadgets. It’s a great phone to use for staying connected. If you’re not a crazy business person who plans to do all their work via phone, I think the Pearl is a good choice. I don’t think it’s a good phone for younger people, meaning the 13-17 group. I do think it suits women better than men though. It just strikes me as a girly phone, especially since it comes in pink. But hey, guys, if you have one, don’t worry! It doesn’t make you any less of a man!!
Cool things:
1. You can make your BB look like the iPhone with the iPhone theme. Be sure to check the requirements before downloading. Certain phones require certain operating systems.
2. Google Maps. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get this to work on the 8130 just yet.
3. Gmail application. It’s not necessary if you plan on syncing your Gmail account to your phone. But it’s pretty amazing. I’m actually considering unsyncing my personal email just so I can use the spiffy gmail application.
Sites to check out:
Blackberrycool
Crackberry
My Blackberry Pearl 8130
