Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I have had my Blackberry Curve (Red) from Sprint for three weeks now and I have been quite happy with the device so far with only one or two quibbles.
Pros:
Incredible battery life
Very stable operating system
Excellent messaging capabilities
3.5mm standard headphone jack
Easily customized via third party theme packs
Very light compared to the weight of other smartphones
Cons:
Keys could stand to be a bit larger
Finger print magnet
Trackball navigation takes a little getting used to
Long startup times. Very long!
Low screen resolution (320X240)
Very poor documentation
At this point I've gotten fairly comfortable navigating around the phone and it's menu system but it wasn't an easy start requiring more than a little trial and error along with a lot of online reading. However, now that I've gotten the basics down pat as well as some more advanced feature use under my belt I have to say I now see the allure of the Blackberry platform! It just "Works"!
Blackberry's are designed to be left on 24/7 and as such their boot up times make booting up a low end desktop computer running Windows Vista seem fast by comparison. We're talking almost two minutes from pressing the power button (or inserting the battery which turns the device on automatically) to usable phone. Now, with that being said I'd like to take this time to point out I've turned off my phone only twice in three weeks and had to do a reset once (by pulling the battery out for 30 seconds). One of the times I turned the phone off was to restart the device after the installation of some third party themes.
Speaking of themes, there are plenty out there to be found, both free and not free. If you don't like the ones that come stock on the BB Curve 8330 then you won't have a problem finding ones that you do like. One note of interest that I did not find addressed in any documentation that came with the phone is that once you get a theme customized (folders and items moved around) it's only for that theme. You'll have to move everything around again when you switch themes. The upside is that if you switch back to a previous theme you customizations are still there.
One thing I highly recommend to anyone buying this phone is to update the operating system to the new BB OS 4.5. You'll get built in HTML email support and a slightly improved web browser along with MMS support. One problem I ran into was not the fault of RIM though. Do NOT try to update the OS from a PC running Windows 7 Beta! It won't work and you may brick your phone (which can be fixed easily enough so don't panic). The update only works on a Vista or XP machine.
The web browser that comes with the phone is a bit of a mixed bag. It works well enough for me and if you dig into the options you'll see where you can easily switch "modes" to make the browser appear to servers as either the Blackberry Browser, Pocket IE, desktop IE, Open Wave WAP browswer, or desktop Mozilla Firefox browser. Very handy if you want to view the full desktop experience. Again, I did not find any of this in the documentation but through trial and error.
If you get the phone as an upgrade, as I did, then you will have to speak to someone at Sprint to activate the phone. It will not activate online through their ESN switching site. Also, don't forget to head to the Sprint Blackberry Internet Services site to lot in and set up your email accounts, up to ten of them. After you set up the emails (Gmail in my case) you'll also need to send out the service books via the site.
There are lots more things that makes this a very nice smartphone, especially compared to Windows Mobile devices. Just be prepared for a slight learning curve (no pun intended) if you're new to the Blackberry platform. If you are patient and give the platform a chance I think you'll be very happy with this device.
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Adding a fashionable touch to Research in Motion's formidable arsenal of telephonic, PIM, and media tools, the BlackBerry 8330 Curve for Sprint is also the smallest, lightest BlackBerry phone that includes a full QWERTY keyboard. This amalgam of the svelte BlackBerry Pearl and the more business-oriented 8800 combines RIM's long-valued corporate e-mail and messaging platform with a host of advanced multimedia features, including a 2-megapixel camera and stereo Bluetooth (for listening to music via wireless headphones). It also offers GPS navigation capabilities for accessing the optional Sprint Navigation turn-by-turn direction service.
Sprint Service Options Supporting the EV-DO high-speed data standard, this phone enables you to download and stream high-quality video, straight onto your phone. Where coverage is available, EV-DO connectivity provides average download speeds ranging from 400 to 700 Kbps, with peak rates up to 2 Mbps. With Sprint TV, you can make your cell phone your always-on source for news, weather, sports and more. This comprehensive video service combines high-quality streaming audio and video from channels including ABC, The Weather Channel, Fox Sports, E!, CNN, The Discovery Channel, and more.
The Sprint Music Store enables you to buy, download, and then jam out wherever you are with new songs or old favorites. Offering a growing selection of more than 1.6 million songs, the store provides you two copies of each song--one for the phone and another for the PC, as well as the ability to burn songs to a CD using Windows Media Player. Save your songs to a memory card with a capacity that's right for you.
This GPS-enabled phone provides optional access to Sprint Navigation for driving directions on your mobile phone--by voice and onscreen. Along the way, turn-by-turn directions will be announced in a clear voice and displayed on your phone. For example, Sprint Navigation will say, "Go 1.2 miles and turn right on Elm Street." As you approach the turn, you will hear, "Turn right on Elm Street." Sprint Navigation also provides proactive traffic alerts with one click re-routing. And it's easy to find restaurants, banks, cafes, hotels and more from over 10 million points of interest across the U.S.
Staying Connected With BlackBerry's push e-mail technology, your e-mail will find you without having to initiate a connection. BlackBerry devices are designed to remain on and continuously connected to the wireless network, notifying you as new e-mail arrives. In addition to the text, you can also receive and view attachments in a wide range of popular file formats, including Microsoft Office, Corel WordPerfect, and Adobe PDF.
Browse the web with the integrated, full-featured browser, which quickly and efficiently displays HTML pages as well as enables you to set up RSS feeds to stay connected to up-to-the-minute news and blog posts. And keep up with your contacts using a variety of instant message (IM) networks, including the integrated Blackberry Messenger as well as downloadable clients for Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, and Lotus Sametime.
For corporate users, the Curve delivers all the enterprise e-mail and messaging capabilities you've come to expect. It's supported on BlackBerry Internet Service, giving you access to up to 10 work or personal e-mail accounts (including most popular ISP e-mail accounts), as well as BlackBerry Enterprise Server, enabling advanced security and IT administration within IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise environments.
Phone Features The Curve 8330 is fashioned with subtly curving corners and chrome highlights. Measuring 4.2 x 2.4 inches, the Curve is just as slim as the Pearl (0.63 inches) and weighs in at 4 ounces. It features a bright 2.5-inch color TFT screen that provides 65,000 colors and a 320 x 240-pixel resolution, and it includes a light-sensing feature that automatically adjusts backlighting for indoor, outdoor and dark environments. Like the BlackBerry 8800, the Curve includes a trackball navigation system located on the top of the QWERTY keypad, and it also features an integrated spell checker with a customizable dictionary to help maintain accuracy while on the go. It has 96 MB of internal ROM memory, and is expandable using microSD/microSDHC memory cards (up to 8 GB in size).
You can snap vivid photos (though no video) using the 2-megapixel camera on the back of the Curve, which also features a 5x digital zoom, built-in flash, self-portrait mirror and full screen viewfinder. It can capture images in up to three picture quality and size resolutions that can be shared instantly by e-mail, MMS or BlackBerry Messenger, or even uploaded to your Flickr account with the Yahoo! Go service. Photos can also be immediately set as a unique caller ID or Home Screen image. You can edit photos and create albums within the Curve using the PhotoSuite application. Pictures can be cropped, rotated and straightened, and flaws can be fixed by removing redeye or changing the brightness, contrast, and saturation levels.
Listen to your favorite music and watch downloaded videos using the included stereo headset, or use an optional wireless headphone thanks to the Curve's support for the Bluetooth stereo audio profile (A2DP/AVRCP). The Curve is compatible with MP3 and WMA audio files, and dedicated volume controls are conveniently located on the side of the handset.
With the Voice-Activated Dialing (VAD) feature, you can initiate a call just by telling the Curve who to call from your contact list--either via the integrated speakerphone or using an optional Bluetooth wireless headset. Other advanced phone features include advanced sound technology that cancels out background noise and echo, dedicated volume and mute keys, and the ability to customize the Curve with polyphonic and MP3 ringtones.
The BlackBerry Maps application enables you to view maps and driving directions as well as e-mail maps to other BlackBerry users and launch maps from your address book. It also includes a local search capability that allows users to find local businesses, such as banks, hotels and restaurants, within a short driving distance.
Vital Statistics The BlackBerry Curve 8330 weighs 4 ounces and measures 4.2 x 2.4 x 0.63 inches. Its 1150 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5.9 hours of talk time, and up to 264 hours (11 days) of digital standby time. It runs on the 800/1900 CDMA/EV-DO frequencies.
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