BlackBerry Pearl 8100c Smartphone Slate Grey (AT&T)
See it at Amazon.com for $499.99Average Customer Rating
(3.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First
(5 out of 5)Almost Perfect but (All interested buys must read).
Okay, this phone does everything.
Programs-The reason I included this first is because all Cingular Users need to be aware of this. This phone is capable of AIM, Yahoo messanger, ect... but you must download an additional program. On Tmobile AIM is availible from the start, but Cingular does not provide any Apps for this. This link will provide you with programs to use instant chat services for this phone. I use Rambal, a free program for AIM and it works flawlessly. Second note-Instant messanging with programs such as this counts as general Data, not messanging. So, all owners must have (I have the $40 unlimited DATA plan, but plans start in the $20s) data plans, not SMS messaging plans to use this. Use this link to find aftermarket messaging programs that you require.
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Screen-Outstanding, very sharp, great color saturation, great shape. The colors stand out more than on the screen of a 5.5G Ipod, its fantastic.
Sound Quality/ Call Quality-Decent, not outstanding, far better than your average Razr or of the like, but this phone is $499 without contract and there are phones with better Sound/ Call Quality. Note: You must by an adaptor to use headphones if you intend to listen to music as this uses a very small mic. jack. You can purchase one for about $15 on everything [...]
Suretype-This is better than Qwartry, my friend has one for her business and this is far superior. It takes about 2 hours to really master, but its outstanding. I can type much faster than she can, even though the Pearl does not have a regular Qwartry keyboard.
Memory-The phone has enough memory on board if you only plan on using it as a phone. But, if you want to use that camera or recieve emails you need to buy MicroSD, Scandisk makes up to 2 gig capacity. I highly recomend at LEAST 1 gig because of all the features of this phone, if you buy this phone with Data, GET 2 Gigs ($70 on amazon about). It is not a hassle to access the memory behind the battery, given the size of SDMicro (about the size of a thumdnail) I am glad to know it is safely enclosed behind the battery panel.
Email-When you get this phone, you can easily send all your email to this phone.
Currently I am sending my Gmail, .Mac, and Aol email to my Blackberry. All three have their own message boxes on my blackberry interface, but all emails are also shown in my blackberrys general mailbox which is convienent and works similiarly to Enterage.
Microsoft Office programs-Opens powerpoint, word, excel, PDF...ect flawlessly, just like you would expect with images and all sharply displayed.
Music/ Camera- This phone can play everything, MP3s, MPG4s, AACs, ect. Just note to all Itunes users-IT CANNOT PLAY MUSIC BOUGHT FROM ITUNES. Remember that Itunes music is encryped with protected AAC so you must convert your music to MP3s for it to work. The Camera is decent, images are grainy, I would compare picture quality to Isight. Only drawback is that it cannot record Video, a feature I am sure the next iteration will entail.
Syncing-Has problems with Bluetooth syncing with Apple computers. I have found though that using Pocketmac (google it, RIM bought Pocketmac so while it is free you cannot download it from Pocketmac anymore, and instead must go to a RIM webpage). Pocketmac lets you sync countless programs, including almost all OSX programs, office mail programs, and even Lotus notes. Remember for Pocketmac though, you have to OPEN THE PROGRAM FIRST THEN ATTACH YOUR BLACKBERRY USING USB, OTHERWISE THE PROGRAM WILL HAVE A SYNCING ERROR.
No Wifi is a drawback, but for Data, Cingulars network is actually very fast, it does take about 10 minutes for all my emails to appear on my blackberry.
Overall-Best phone I have ever owned.
If it synced better with my mac, had video capture, had Wifi, and played all my tunes along with a regular headphone port, I would be VERY happy. Also, it is too bad Cingualr doesnt provide IM support out of the box, but reseaarch and 3rd party developers firxed that.
(3 out of 5)Porting fees
A previous user stated that there is a $250 "porting" fee, and in effect, there is. If you order from AMZN, you DO save the phone cost BUT since it comes to you "hot" (that is with a pre-assigned Cingular number), when you go to port and change that number, Cingular will charge AMZN, who in turn, will bill you for $250. "New" to AMZN has what seems to be a very narrow definition, they mean (apparently) "new" to cell phones (unlikely).
3 stars for AMZN not being as forthright as one might hope
(5 out of 5)Sweet!
I have waited long enough. Being a techie and carrying a $20 (free) phone for over 3 years just didn't seem right. So my change of job prompted me to look for a phone which also has web/email capabilities. I considered strongly the Samsung Blackjack and the Blackberries. The blackjack's look, while cool from a distance, had keys that looked like left-over chicken-pox blisters. The much raved about Blackberry email push technology finally won me over. I had to decide between the pearl and the bigger versions. I read the 8700g and other blackberries are a bit too big for the pocket. So I chose the Pearl. Here's my take:
What I love:
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- Form factor: It is beautiful, it is cute and catchy! It turns heads. Enough said.
- Size: Size is one of the strongest points considering all it does. It neatly slips into a shirt pocket or sits well on the belt.
- Keys: Could be a bit small but I could use it pretty easily though my fingers are bordering on 'butterfingers'.
- Trackball: Awesome! Just don't press it too hard while using it. Just 'roll-it'!. It is great while you have to move around the screen from control to control
- Voice-dialing: Has worked for me very well the 10 or so times I have tried in my van on the road and off. You have to first choose the voice dialing option from the list of icons on the main menu. I read you can assign a menu item to a key; this would eliminate some of the fumbling while driving.
- Screen: Not too big and not too small! This will be a key factor in you choosing between a bigger blackberry and this one. I found the size good enough for me. The fonts display the content sharply enough to read easily. It is bright while viewing; goes off after a few seconds of inactivity to save power.
- Videos: I found the video that comes along very good! The graphics very sharp and quite well paced. Need to try more of this later. But I don't watch videos on my cell phone and hence it isn't that much of a selling-point for me.
- Camera: Now, who needs a sophisticated camera on a cell phone? These are frills if you use the device as a phone and an email device. But, it took great pictures. I could easily email the photo to my wife with a few click (I had her email in my contacts already).
- Applications: Google maps is cool - much cooler on the samll screen with turn by turn directions easy to read. The default cingular media-net browser is so-so. Download the Opera-mini. Love browsing on the phone.
- Audio: Call quality has been outstanding so far. The music files, though, when played left more to be desired. Not your iPod substitution this device.
- Outlook sync: Worked like a charm. Now, I love to have all my contact information in this small hand-held.
- The push-to-talk feature hasn't worked for me so far. Maybe it is a area-specific availability issue; need to follow up.
- By far the best feature, is the RIM email push feature. I easily hooked up all my personal email accounts and feel thrilled when the berry flashes a red light whenever I have an email. This eliminates the need and a lot of time for me to login to my email accounts on the computer. Replying to an email may not be so easy given the size; but viewing - works great.
- Battery: Has been great so far. With my constant use of the device for email and trying the web, the battery lasted me more than 2 days w/o re-charging.
- Miscellaneous: I haven't had the berry hang-up as I read of other windows based phones. It did freeze a couple of times, but given that I have the phone for over a week, it isn't much of a bother. This freezing was mostly while on the web, so it could have been connectivity also.
What better?
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- Size: If you usage is email heavy and you need to reply quite often, I suggest you get the bigger berries.
- Audio: If you rely on your cell phone to listen to music as well, I find the audio quality a bit lacking.
Overall, I am very happy with the phone. If you are on the line, I suggest you go for it!
(1 out of 5)beware of fine print in amazon's cingular phone promotion
read the fine print!!!! amazon really tried to pull one over on you with this promotion. it happend to me.
they don't allow you to port your cell phone to this phone without a $250 fee!!! how ridiculous! everyone ports numbers these days...it's such a common practice. this process doesn't hurt anyone - cingular still gets the business and amazon still gets their money. why they don't let you port - and it's hidden in the fine print...is beyond me.
(5 out of 5)T-Mobile 8100 vs. Cingular 8100
If coverage or plans are not an issue there are two reasons to choose the T-Mobile over the Cingular Pearl. 1) T-mobile plan pricing is *a lot* cheaper than Cingular -- 1000 minutes and unlimited internet for $59 TMO compared with $79 plus at Cingular... 2) The TMO interface is much nicer to look at and play with.