I've been using this phone for about 3 days now. My regular phone is a Curve 8900. The display quality is way better in the 8900, this one seems pretty basic. The camera is the only problem I found, 2mp now a days is nothing for this phone, minimum I would suggest a 3.2 to get average quality pictures, also the lack of flash doesn't help either. The only improvement in this phone compared to my 8900 is the trackpad (fails less than the trackball) and also it has 3G speed, which the 8900 only runs in EDGE and GPRS. EDGE is pretty good but doesn't satisfy my expectations. The perfect phone I could have is my 8900 with 3G Speed and maybe a trackpad.. I'm still deciding which one I like better, the ball hasn't given me any problems yet so I'm happy with my purchase. The Curve 8530 is a good phone, but definitely NOT WORTH full price, if you buy it with Sprint and pay 299-399$ (whatever the price is without a contract) I would NOT recommend it. Overall its a good phone, fast with texts, music, etc... I give it a rating of Good.Read full review
Verizon offers the smartphone in black or smoky violet and ships with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a software CD, and reference material. For more add-ons, please check our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page. Features Despite being more of an entry-level device, the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530 comes with a good set of features, more so than its T-Mobile counterpart. As a phone, it offers a speakerphone, voice-activated dialing, smart dialing, conference calling, speed dial, and text and multimedia messaging with threaded chat view. You can also add Verizon's Visual Voice Mail service for an additional $2.99 per month. There's also a link to MyVerizon to get information about your account, such as voice and data usage, account balance, and features. Other Verizon services available on the Curve 8530 include VZ Navigator, V Cast Music, and VZ Navigator. The phone's address book is only limited by the available memory and has room in each contact file for multiple numbers, e-mail addresses, work and home addresses, and more. For caller ID purposes, you can assign a photo, group ID, and/or custom ringtone. A shortcut to VzwTones is loaded on the device so you can download more ringtones to your device. Aside from the address book, other personal information management tools available on the Curve 8530 include a calendar, a task list, a memo pad, a voice recorder, and a calculator. The Curve 8530 is Bluetooth-friendly with support for mono and stereo Bluetooth headsets, hands-free kits, audio/video remote, serial port, and dial-up networking. Unlike the T-Mobile version, the Curve 8530 has GPS/A-GPS, 3G, and Wi-Fi. We're certainly happy to see Verizon bringing more Wi-Fi-equipped devices to its lineup as it provides another way of getting online. Now, if only RIM would release a better BlackBerry browser with easier navigation and more features to complete the package. The smartphone is running BlackBerry OS 5.0, however, so there are some slight improvements to the browser, such as quicker page rendering and speed improvements because of faster JavaScript and CSS processing. As with all BlackBerry models, messaging is the Curve 8530's strongpoint. It can sync with your company's BlackBerry Enterprise server, offering support for Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, or Novell GroupWise, to deliver corporate e-mail in real time. With BlackBerry Internet Service, you can also access up to 10 personal/business POP3 or IMAP4 e-mail accounts. The smartphone also comes preloaded with several instant-messaging clients, including Yahoo, AIM, Windows Live, Google Talk, and BlackBerry MessengerRead full review
I love how easy this phone is to use, while still being a great smartphone. The ability to link your phone to your social accounts (facebook, myspace) is great. I also use this phone for chatting via yahoo messenger, and that is great; many more options make it like chatting on a computer instead of a phone. The email feature is good too; the only improvement I would make is the ability to see ALL mail, not just what has been newly sent to you. TONS of free applications on BlackBerry App World make this phone a great buy. The only thing I dislike about it is that there is no way to "lock" the alt key for typing in numbers nor is there a way to "lock" the uppercase key for typing in all capitals. The battery could last a little longer, i.e. had half a battery and it only lasted about 4 hours, and was hardly using the phone. I decided to buy this phone because I wanted something more advanced, that wasn't a touchscreen. Also wanted something that could handle having a drug handbook (epcrates) on it.Read full review
I had Palm phones for years (had a palm pilot before they branched into forms) and loved their highly functional devices, especially for business use. However, when the switched to web os, the two phones they introduced just didn't work for me. I moved to Android and that is so NOT a business phone. Hated it! I'm sure there are some people who love the bells and whistles, but it doesn't work if you need FUNCTIONAL. I was leaning toward Blackberry and wish I had done that with my upgrade, but since I lost my upgrade, I got the 8530 curve from ebay. Love it! It is highly functional and works very well, easily integrates with my office, home, and web email that I use strictly for purchases. It has a few bells and whistles of its own, but I'm not going that way again -- I NEED FUNCTION! I would have given it an excellent but there are a couple of things that take too many clicks to complete. If i'm in the phone ap and select a contact, and I don't want be given texting options -- I would have chosen text for that! Also, there should be more options available for snoozing an appointment, similar to outlook. 5 minute increments up to 2 weeks would be optimal. If you have are in an environment where your workload is CONSTANTLY being piled on so that you have to sometimes select to put something on the back-burner, you should be able to snooze for more than 30 minutes! This is really a pet peeve for me; I have to end up opening the appointment, which I'm not always in a position to do. Other than that, I love the other options on this phone. OH, and gthe speaker is so good that I use it for music without headphones, for radio, and for podcast listening. As for blue tooth, was shocked that when I paired it with my car's bluetooth, it automatically uploaded my contacts! That was really a pleasant surprise.Read full review
The BlackBerry 8530 is a great value for the price. I went from a contract plan to a prepaid plan to save money, but I was resigned to the fact that I was going to lose a lot of features I loved - BUT I DIDN'T! This phone has GPS navigation, is an MP3 player, shoots and plays video with a high quality camera, and the BlackBerry apps - many which are free - give me everything I want and more such as weather, Amazon music store, Pandora radio. I also love the touch trackball that allows you to move around the screen and select items and the flexibility to move folders and shortcuts around on your homescreen is good. I also like that you can have all your emails and texts feed into a single folder for easy viewing, or not, the choice is yours. The WiFi connectively is appreciated, too, because it's often a faster connection than your phone's data stream. Never tried BlackBerry but they have a new loyal customer. Great phone that doesn't break the bank.Read full review
I used to have T-Mobile, but needed to downsize my phone expenses. When I found out about Virgin's $25 for unlimited messaging & data & 300 minutes of calls, I pricked up my ears - I haven't needed thousands of minutes of talk time in over a year, communicate mostly with text messages, & WANTED a data plan but it was always too expensive before. Since I had a Blackberry 8320 before, & the reveiws for the 8530 were good, I went for that. I like the trackpad better than the trackball, which had started malfunctioning from getting squished in my back pocket (oops). The QWERTY keyboard is fine & feels good, though if you get a hard cover like I did you'll find it a bit difficult to press the outside buttons. The screen looks great, nice & bright. If you don't like the theme you can check online for free alternatives - I downloaded Skylark :) The Blackberry software neatly transferred all my contact info to my new phone, plus I have a 2gb card (that's PLENTY of room). When I plug it in to charge, i get an analog clock screen saver (can be changed to digital) - looks kind of like an Omega. 2mg camera, no flash (nuts) but the pictures look fine, plus I have 5 different light settings, which eases the pain a bit. The touchpad zooms in & out with no glitches. Lots of features - video cam with sound! Notepad, calender, alarm, different tones...I've heard that you can't make your own ringtones from sound clips because Virgin wants you to buy downloaded tones, but that's not a big deal to me, I just WON'T. And HEY, I never had a data plan before! I have Internet, & mapping! The GPS seems to work OK - I haven't used it much yet. There are lots of apps to download from App World, many of them free. What I DON'T like is the way the Blackberry site keeps ending the session before I've had time to do much more than find ONE thing that sounds interesting - seriously, folks, eBay lets me stay logged in for a whole day, & even my bank at least ASKS me if I want to continue my session. Sheesh, What I also wasn't counting on was that I HAD to pay the extra $10/mo. for the Blackberry email features, which is really just a collator for your various email accounts. So instead of $25/mo I'm paying $35/mo (not including taxes etc) :/ I like the email feature, but not sure I like it $10/mo worth, so now I wish I'd gone for an Android phone. That said, if you're a Blackberry fan, this phone keep you happy & Virgin's plan will save you money. NO the coverage probably isn't as good as Verizon, but it's as good as T-Mobile (looks like I left just in time, as they just got eaten by ATT - poor T-Mobile, I really liked your service & you were good to me!). It's not like I NEED to have phone access while 10 miles offshore on Lake Michigan. I get signal pretty much everywhere I need it. Oh, and call quality is fine too, and the battery is good for...I don't know, all day or so depending on what I'm doing; I usually plug it in when I got to bed & there's always at least 50% left. Absolutely no complaints about this phone, it was a good deal.Read full review
The BlackBerry 8530 Curve 2 replaced my aging BlackBerry 8830. Technically this is a downgrade, seeing how the Curve is a inferior product to the higher end BlackBerry models. However since this new Curve 2 is so far more advanced then my 3 year old phone, it was definitely an upgrade. The 8530's wifi and bluetooth work great. Browsing the web on my phone while inside my house using my broadband wifi is lightening fast. The new touchpad that replaces the old "ball" is a HUGE improvement. The LCD screen is the same size, however much brighter and highly quality. No more stuck ball from getting lint and dust beneath it. The latest OS is very slick, looks nice, and intuitive. I don't like how it employs many folders and hides apps inside them. I ended up moving everything I normally use to the home screen. Overall the phone's interface and interaction is faster and reliable then my previous phone which matters more then anything else.Read full review
The new blackberry curve has some improvements to the last model and some qualities that aren't so good. It does have stand alone wifi which is a very nice feature the last models lacked. They took out the trackball and have a sort of scanner thing in the middle instead, which time will tell if its an improvement or not. I used to not like the trackballs until I figured out how inexpensive and easy to replace them it was. The new sensor no doubt is a more complicated item to fix, so hopefully it will hold up! The display is lovely but the plastics on the face seem cheap and flimsy compared to the last model. Overall honestly I like the feel and ease of use of the older curve better, if only it had stand alone wifi.
I love this phone. I learn how to do a new thing with it everyday. I've downloaded several apps and they range from fun to very helpful. The BOOST Mobile Network is 20X more reliable then the Comcast connection we have in our home which is utterly terrible (always getting kicked off and having to fight our way back on!)! I'm going to order a 16 gigabyte memory card from Ebay for Xmas and then I'll be able to teach myself how to do even more fun things with the Blackberry Curve like putting music and TV shows on the thing so my iPod will be come pretty much useless except for DRM protected files I bought from iTunes Store. The only problem with this phone isn't a problem with a phone at all. The thing is, if you're going to buy the Blackberry Curve, don't buy the one that's for BOOST subscribers, especially if you live in the rural NJ area!! I have to go outside just to maybe get ONE BAR!! I should have suspected that this would happen because my last BOOST phone was the same way, but a lot of people told me that much of the time it's not the service, it's the handset. They turned out to be 100 percent WRONG!! The service still sucks just as bad using a $200 BOOST handset as it did when I was using a cheap $30 handset I got from BEST BUY!! Don't let them fool you! I don't understand how BOOST's Mobile Network for using the wireless internet can work in my home pretty much from an area where I'm near a window, but I have to go outside and practically climb on to the damn roof just to get one bar if I want to call somebody. But then again, I have never had a phone that has had good reception in this area. Not Verizon or T-Mobile has been any better. Omnipoint was even worse but that was a decade ago. From what I understand AT&T works wonders, but I don't have good enough credit anymore so I'm screwed unless I switch to CRICKET, but then I'll have to buy a new phone again!Read full review
About the phone. The curve is a rock solid product. They work and generally work very well. Remember that this is not the most modern phone but rather the first on Crickets smartphones. The gps will work in non assisted mode which is a big plus. Browser works well considering its bbOS 5. Email works extremely well. The screen could be a bit sharper. Its not awful or unusable but on web pages it could be a bit sharper. If on Wifi you will crash the phone. This is a common problem on Blackberrys and waiting for Rim to fix it. Crickets network is after all a limiting factor. They don't support BES, only BIS. BES is when you have your blackberry server, Bis is ones that cricket has. BES is better for Corporates, BIS is for small entities.
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