RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120

Like many others, I use my phone for more than just calls. Lately, I've been searching for a good combination form, function, and value. Since I don't want to continue the two year contract merry-go-round with my cell carrier, I choose to look to Ebay to find my diamond in the rough. The Blackberry 8530 truly is a diamond, unfortunately its two weaknesses lead me to realize my search is not over.

Don't get me wrong, I love pretty much every aspect of this phone. The qwerty keyboard, love it. I have large hands and for many years thought the small qwerty keyboard would be too much of an obstacle, I was wrong. The App Store,love it. The number of available apps doesn't matter, the number of non-sucking apps do! The video capabilities, love it. Never thought I would be able to watch good looking video on such a small screen, again I was wrong. WiFi, love it. I'm on Sprint so all I can say is it's about time. Assignable buttons, love it, I mean it's my phone right, let me mold it the way I want! Battery life, awesome! So nice to have a smart phone that isn't stupid when it comes to power usage. Standby time does not mean drain the juice as fast as you can, this phone can hold a charge.

With all that said, there are two glaring weaknesses. For some reason, I haven't figured it out yet, Rim felt removing the camera flash was a good idea, NOT! Like all other BB's in this form factor, although you may have 3G or 4G, navigating the web on this device still sucks!!! The screen is just too small for a rich web experience. Maybe one day there will be a light, thin, slider BB that offers a qwerty keyboard, larger screen, and all the goodness of a real BB, no the Storm is not the answer.

If these two features or rather disabilities don't bother you, then run don't walk and pick up this phone!

Blackberry Pearl 8120-Unlocked

This is my first Blackberry. I have had it for about 6 weeks now. My past experience has been with primarily Nokia brand flip phones. It took me a while to get used to the increased size of the Bar type phone and the open keypad. The keyboard is easy to get used to and has a tight feel when typing. Just remember to lock the keypad when you put the phone away, otherwise you might find your phone calling your boss…. Very awkward moment. The phone is packed with menu after menu to do just about anything. Short of a Microsoft based OS it is as close to a PDA as you will find. The video and camera are acceptable and easy to access. I am not using the full capabilities of this phone (I have not subscribed with the Data Plan from T-Mobile) but the remaining features are numerous and work well. The Wi-Fi works great on my home network, but I still have not figured out how to access my e-mail as of yet, but I am sure I will. The online support within the Blackberry community is amazing. As with all phones there are a few downfalls to this phone. The Edge network reception is not the best. Where as my old Nokia's would sometimes only show 3 bars, my Blackberry only shows one bar in the some of the same locations-(work) The Bluetooth is very temperamental when it comes to headsets. I have been though three Bluetooth headsets and found the Motorola brand is the only one that works without lots of static and even that is not perfect. The vibrate is a little less crisp then I am used to and the ring volume seems to be a little soft. Also the phone seems fragile. I hope I never drop it, because I am sure it would “explode” into a dozen pieces. The Blackberry owners manuals are not the best. Blackberry seems to forget that “pictures can be helpful” Blackberry does not use a single picture in all of their owners manuals. So be prepared to experiment with it and get used to its menu subfolders and the way Blackberry navigates. Word of advice, buy a real Blackberry case for this phone. The factory case has a cutout for the trackball and includes the holster activation magnet and is far superior to the after market cases. All in all this is a very good phone with lots of features and I will probably buy another Blackberry in the future.

Beginner's Blackberry

This is my first review. I would give this phone a 3 star rating. To those who wanted to experience Blackberry for the first time, this would be a great phone. One of the major downside is the processor. It lags sometimes, even when i wanted to make a phone cals, the first 3 digits usually appear all 3 at once as the phone process ( if you understand what i mean, it's hard to put it in word ). I would rate it as mediocre, but then, it has some other features that other flip phone might not have - WIFI and UMA. I save a lot of data by using WIFI. I don't really use UMA that much though; in fact I never used this features. the learning curve of using this phone is about 2 - 3 days, it has a very different kind of keypad. I don't really like to use the Dictionary ( auto - text ) as my mother tongue is not english, so i prefer to use the multitap type feature. The first few days, you'll get annoyed with the keypad, but once you've mastered it, it works like a charm.Taking pictures with this phone is not recommended, and there's 2 vertical line on the sides of the screen when in camera mode. The lines are also clearly visible on my friends 8220.

conclusion : It's an "OK" phone, and is recommended for girls as the flip feature makes it easy enough to be stored inside the purse.

Pros : WIFI ( save a lot on data ), battery life is ok compared to other Blackberry Phone, Small compact size, offers most of the features smartphone.

Cons : slow processor leads to lags, low quality pictures from camera, need to spend few days to learn how the keypad functions ( typing ), and the web browser experience too, mainly because of the small LCD.

BB pearl flip 8220 (T-Mobile)

I bought this one used, as a replacement for one that was stolen, since they are no longer made. My 1st order of business was to upgrade the OS to V4.6.0.305 which makes it very stable (available on the Crackberry website, as is the procedure for installing it). This corrects the frequent reboot cycle in earlier OS's like V4.6.0.180, which is the latest T-mobile officially supports.

I especially like how the menus are laid out & the calandar, notes, password Keeper & calculator functions. I've also used the camera features, which are OK, but no substitute for a real point & shoot camera. As a phone, the 8220 is OK, but not excellent. However, I really like the PDA capabilities it has, since I'm a Palm TX refugee. Additionally, this phone is WiFi capable.

Unfortunately, T-mobile will not sell you a new BlackBerry without a data plan. The 8220 flip can hook to the internet via any WiFi network you have regular access to with your computer (with the same restrictions), but without a data plan. We subscribe to the @home service where any WiFi network can be used for calls without impacting your monthly minute allotment [uma connection]. Although you can try to surf the net, real surfing is pretty frustrating since the phone is so slow. Further, most sites that support BB devices do so only with limited functionality with the 8220 flip.

Although I've tried downloading several other apps to increase the phone's functionality, this has not been without frustration. You can try to read an e-book, but the constant scrolling required is a real pain. Further, I've not found a good free PDA reader.

With a bigger microSD card, you can store a lot of mp3 music, extra ringtones & photos. Using the 8220 flip as a mp3 player works OK, but it's no iPOD. Sound quality is very good, but conveniences like playlists take some effort to set up. The battery gets sucked down pretty fast when used in this mode. Fortunately, ringtones are in mp3 format, so it's easy to create some good alternates.

I've found the factory battery life to be barely adequate, but I don't talk on the phone all that much. After a number of years of use, I purchased a factory OE replacement battery from Crackberry for $15. Locally, Batteries + wanted $40 for a "compatible" battery that wouldn't quite fit properly.

Overall, although it's not a great phone, it works well as an all-around device with excellent PDA capabilities. I'd buy another.

Blackberry 8120 cell phone

Hello Ebay,
I decided to purchase a blackberry 8120 smartphone because my LG phone was very ragedy. I had the LG phone for a long time and it had run it's course. I didn't want to go in an AT&T store and purchase a plan so I fiqured I'd get what i wanted at ebay without the commitment of a 2yr agreement plan. I like my phone because for one it works and it's pink..(A pretty color for me)..The only thing I disliked is totally not about the phone and not really about the sender either....I think it had to do with the post office losing my item making me wait extra long for it after immediately paying for it....That was the only negative I can say....A very positive point that I'd also like to make is that the company I purchased it from was very helpful in staying in touch with me to ensure good customer service. We communicated through the email until I got my item.......Thank u very much Ready2Call for a job well done! I recommend U!