I can’t believe I just bought a Blackberry !
Last week, I returned the
AT&T Tilt (with Windows Mobile 6) basically because I have no 3G coverage
at home (you can read more details here).Prior to the return, while in the Verizon store to get ported back and return to my cluncky Samsung i-730, I spot the Pearl 8130. What a gem!
Long story short, to go back to “the V” I had to do a 1-year contract, so thought I should get something for it. (i.e. a phone subsidy)
So, I went for the 8130.
I’ve done the Symbian thing, lived with a Palm OS Treo, done Windows Mobile 2003, 5 and tried 6. And now Backberry completes my tour of operating systems.
I had turned my nose up at Blackberries for years:
They were too wide, obliged you to buy their server service
Well, the 8130 has none of these drawbacks.
Here is my initial reaction:
Pluses:
- Cool trackball
- Sleek size and weight: don't need a
holster any more; no more geek factor
- Tablet form-factor: eliminate
thickness and moving parts, keyboard more at the ready
- Standard mini-USB charge plug can
also be plugged into any PC for a charge
- 3.5mm standard audio out plug
- Camera has flash !
- Great screen resolution
- Voice Signal included, don’t have to
train for each contact
- Headset and holster included
- Can get up to 10 mail accounts pushed
to the phone
- Screen adjusts to the ambient light !
- Communications log can integrate all
message types, calls
- The phone starts up in a second,
unlike Windows Mobile
- Speedy surfing: looks like this
device is EvDo Rev A, although there is no such documentation. I got 1.6mb/s in my initial tests!
- TheStreamCenter doesn’t work because there is no Windows Media Player support in the stock media player
- Cannot download podcasts/mp3 files from a web site or as a mail attachment. Could mp3 files be blocked my the Blackberry proxy server?
- No music player equalizer (is one
available?)
- Can’t seem to toggle the flash on/off
in the camera app where I need to; have to go to settings
- Menus don’t wrap
- Only 2 programmable buttons
- GPS is not working out of the box
- The phone is almost as slippery as a bar of soap
I'd be curious to know which OS you prefer.
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Yeah, you will have to get used to the fact that Blackberry has less 3rd party software available, and is often forgotten by developers. But that is changing...
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There are other streaming options; Pocket Streamer, VideoForBlackberry...but yeah, WM just does it.
The music player actually sound really good, and I think there might be some tone adjustment in the Desktop Mgr (?).
The menus and other stuff may be fixed with an OS update...4.5 is due soon.
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