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| Home >> Handheld & PDA Reviews: BlackBerry Curve 8320 Smartphone Titanium (T-Mobile) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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User Submitted BlackBerry Curve 8320 Smartphone Titanium (T-Mobile) Reviews (cont...)Date: 2008-04-13 Strongly recommended! This is an almost perfect phone. It's rare these days to have an electronic device perform as it has been expected to, but this is one of them. It does everything well that it is supposed to do. The UMA wifi technology works flawlessly with T-mobile's service. I did not obtain one of t-mobile's routers, and I had no trouble with connecting whatsoever. I have a Buffalo WHR-G54 and did not have to change any of its settings to get it to work. My friend has a newer Netgear router and I was able to connect to it with any trouble or settings changes either. It picks up UMA when I'm near a Starbuck's hotspot (that service will soon be dropped). When I make a call at home on UMA and then leave the house, the call switches over transparently 9 times out of 10. The build quality is excellent and the phone is solid. The speaker can be VERY loud or soft, which is a huge plus. This phone has superb audio quality for both voice and ear. It has the best microphone/speech audio quality and best hearing audio quality of any phone I have had for the past 15 years. This phone is my first Blackberry and I've been extremely impressed with the software that makes it a Blackberry. Writing SMS, MMS, and Email is extremely easy, and it's really nice to have the autotext feature. I have mine set up with three email accounts: one is through gmail and one is through Outlook Web Access from work. I was really surprised that the OWA would work with the Blackberry system - I'm even able to send messages out from it! I never thought I would want or care about push email, but it is really fantastic. I strongly recommend downloading the Google Maps application. Though this phone does not have GPS, Google Maps is able to determine where you are within 1000 feet or so based on your signals with the cell towers. It really works well, and the search and find features are extremely useful. I use my Blackberry's media features to listen to music and also to watch videos. It does not have the H.264 codec, but it will play other video files - you can find information on-line on how to convert videos into playable files on the Blackberry. It's rumoured that the next OS will have this capability, along with the ability to create video from the handheld. It currently only has a camera, not a camcorder feature. The camera works well and takes good pictures for a phone. I have had an LG and a Samsung phone with cameras and the Curve is 10x better in camera quality. I also recommend downloading the Opera Mini web browser to use instead of the default Blackberry browser. OM is much better. My only real complaint with my Blackberry Curve is that it only comes with one alarm. I have used the multiple alarm features in my previous phones extensively, and this is the only thing I view as a step back with this phone. I was able to purchase an application called Mobylo Multi-alarm which has so far worked flawlessly and gives me 5 alarms, but it was almost $30, which is over-priced. The Curve comes with its own "holster" which is made of leather and is attractive and useful. It has a magnet in it which the unit uses to determine if it's holstered. This has been an extremely useful feature. As a result, you do not need to purchase any other cover or container for it. However, don't let it set next to your credit cards. I haven't had any erased, but it the holster is definitely magnetic. The Curve has AMAZING bluetooth. Paired with a good headset, it has a long range and the connection quality is superb. The Curve also has a very sensitive radio/antenna for both Wifi and GSM, and is better than any phone I've ever had since my Nokia 8200 (a long time ago!) People who say that LG or Samsung or Motorola phones have good connection quality have no idea what it's like to use a phone like the Blackberry Curve - I will never be able to go back. The synchronization feature of the Curve works very well with Outlook on my computer. It is also able to synch with Yahoo, though this is more primitive. Using the Blackberry Desktop Manager that comes with the phone, you can also completely 100% back up your phone so that you can reinstall things or have your data if the phone is lost. The Curve handset also has the ability to lock and encrypt data so that no one else can use it. I have had the Desktop Manager crash on me several times. It has a conflict with the Tivo 2.3a software - I have to disable to the Tivo software to use the Blackberry manager. The Blackberry charges with a mini-usb connection, which means that you can charge it using your computer. I also have a bluetooth headset that charges usb, so both chargers work with both units - very nice. Finally, T-Mobile (and only T-Mobile) will allow you to "tether" your Blackberry to your laptop. Thus, while I'm on the road I can connect my computer to T-Mobile's network for an internet connection. It connects at 115kbps, which is pretty good for getting things done. Tech-heads complain that TMO's network is too slow, that it needs to be 3G, but I've been happy so far. I strongly recommend this phone. It is worth every penny! Date: 2008-04-09 Could do better... I owned this for exactly one week before returning it and canceling service. I will say of this phone that I liked the interface and the little trackball, and I didn't have any problems with the keypad. Sound quality on calls was fine. My issues were: 1) I could never get the wifi to connect to anything, not even once, not even while standing in the middle of T-Mobile hotspots. 2) I couldn't receive text messages from anyone not using T-Mobile, and a solid week of calls to T-Mobile could not resolve the issue. 3) They signed me up under the wrong name and the wrong billing plan - a minor issue compared to the phone not working right, but I was not going to risk going through two whole years of nonsense. Date: 2008-04-09 You could do a lot worse The title is a joke; right now I love my phone. Okay so let's start with the confession: I'm a serial gadget lover but I don't need to be the first or own the most expensive thing out there. A phone is a just a tool, not a social or fashion statement. I felt the Berrys were overpriced and was quite hesitant to go lemming and buy one. However, I wanted to retire my prepaid Sidekick and my contract Nokia 5300, the latter mostly because while I could hear people if I strained - missing every nuance of their tone, sometimes to my deep detriment - they often complained about not being able to hear me. That's just annoying and really unnecessary. Most of the phones I see in the stores are overpriced cheap plastic things that will not stand the test of time. The Curve keys are pure plastic but the unit itself felt solid and the screen is bright and lovely. I was kind of boxed in on that front because I want a browser I can actually see, not a teeny square to squint at. Please. I was all for the Pearl (so small and pretty! and on sale!) but the swervy keyboard gave me motion sickness and I didn't even want to try Suretype. I have enough stress in my life, thank you very much. I want a real keyboard, like my Sidekick has. Enter the Curve. Handset is darn expensive if you are re-upping BUT T-Mobile's great service and really friendly 24/7 customer service is really hard to beat so I am staying with them for now. Tried out the Curve keyboard in the store - easy peasy, even with my redeculous long nails - and finally gave it a go. So far the Curve seems worth the investment. In the past, when I've switched phones, along with the painful learning curve was a period of mostly using the old phone while figuring out the new one and feeling, um, slow. This meant two phones for two weeks. This time, it took ... exactly one day. And I never cracked the manual. That's just not for me. (If I can't figure most things out on my own, I don't need the phone.) The calls are clear and I can make them LOUD. I can hear the enthusiasm or the hesitancy, not just the words. The speakerphone is simply phenomenal. I don't need a bluetooth hedset in my car because I just mute the radio and use that and leave the phone in the console. No pairing. No fiddling. No drug dealer ear jewelry. Perfect. I wanted a Wi-Fi phone this time. The Wi-Fi connections are blazing fast for surfing, erm, I mean, checking a site. Bing, the page is up. Edge surfing is fine too ... but of course not as fast. However, you can get to what you need to. I won't talk about e-mail; it's been done to death, except to say it is too easy to set up and you get it all, right on your phone. Ugh. As many as ten accounts, if you are a dedicated masochist. (I stopped at five. Enough.) So now I am thoroughly in touch, for better or worse. Do note that the phone DOES NOT show you your HTML mail with picture links; just the mail and gibberish links you must visit, and you are on your own after that. Thank goodness. The music player sounds as good as my Nokia Music express. Pretty impressive. Photo storage is only limited by your memory. The camera takes decent shots, at least on the screen. Again, note: There is a learning curve, no pun intended, and there are MANY MANY menus and submenus. Bring stale popcorn if you have it. The pound key is NOWHERE NEAR where it should be, and all of the keys are Lilliputian. You will lose your way in the beginning. But this is why the device is small and light in your pocket, and I think the tradeoff is more than worth it. Also, the ringtones are quite lame, but you can use any song you like so that's not a deal breaker. I'm not a gamer especially on a mobile so don't go there because I just don't know. I do know that this is one of the few phones you can use with Hotspot at Home, and also as a modem for your laptop, although I do not use this feature. I don't miss my old phones and that's a very strange thing for me. I have moved on, happily. Take a look; it may work for you, too. Check out the bright, clear widescreen display. Niiice! Date: 2008-04-02 Not a Fan The functionality of this phone is amazing (i.e., WiFi, Calendar, Email, Camera, ect). However, I have found a number of these features to be very sporadic. I have been through two of these phones now, as I sent the first one back assuming there were some connectivity issues. The phone would have difficulty connecting to a WiFi network even if it was placed directly in front of the wireless router. After receiving my second phone I continued to have the same problems, but now the new phone's camera won't zoom. Furthermore, sometimes the handheld does not want to sink to my laptop. Even after making numerous changes to my calendar, contacts and notes, the sync program will simply show that there are no items to be transferred. Finally, the ability to grab and hold a signal is not very impressive. This is the first "high-end" phone I have purchased, and my other phones would get reception/better reception than the BlackBerry. This was my first BlackBerry, and will likely be my last. Date: 2008-03-26 Great Phone! - (from previous Treo owner) I've been a happy Treo 650 owner for the past several years. But the phone has become dated and slow for my needs and my att contract was up so I started the search for a new smartphone several months ago. Nothing out there was doing it for me and I almost settled for a Treo 755p from Sprint, though it was just a faster version of the same old palm OS. I wanted wifi, but ATT doesnt offer much there. Love the iphone but its not ready for business use yet, nor is it 3g. I've never owned a blackberry and have never liked the ones I've played with. Nor have I ever used t-mobile...always thought they sucked. But after playing around with my neighbors Curve with wifi I hit the buy button. He's a global marketing guy and travels all the time without any T-mobile reception issues. What a great phone! I paid about $100 dollars and the phone was delivered in 2 days. Setup with T-Mobile was easy. The wifi works great with my existing linksys and the airports at work - no hassles. The trackball is a little weird, but you can adjust the sensitivity to your needs. Everything on this phone is adjustable and you can hide features and icons you dont use. Using email on a blackberry is sooo much easier. YIM and AOLIM set up was easy to. Call quality is great through the cell network, not so great through wifi but still good. Internet speed is as good as I've seen. Ordering through amazon is easy and I figure I saved about $150 versus going to the store, plus amazon usually makes it right if the order goes bad. I only gave it 4 stars because unlike the Treo, the construction is a bit flimsy and plastic. My treo went through the wash machine OK- i doubt the Curve would. I bought a $10 skin for it and that helps.
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