I had an 8100 for about a month, and got an upgrade to an 8120 for WiFi phone service. On my 8100 I had free games and a really cool theme. On my 8120, I have nothing. Blackberry's mobile site says there are no themes available for the 8120. It has only 2 games. There isn't even a startup guide! Its as if RIM doesn't even support the 8120. In fact, the main US Blackberry site only lists the 8100 and 8130. My previous WiFi phone was also a stepchild, a Nokia model sold only in Europe.
From what I have seen the 8120 is currently only available in Europe. I spoke to BB at CES and they had a 8120 on the show floor by accident, there was not even a label for it. He told me it would be coming out in the US market very soon for AT&T. Wi-Fi, external SD card, word completion, larger buttons. I played with it some and am pumped about seeing it here.
What better between the Pearl 8110, 8120 and the 8130? Is it the higher the number the better the phone or is that Blackberrys name for the same phone but tailored to different wireless providers?
Anticipated roll out for the 8120 I have seen is mid February with TMobile. There are notes that there are small carriers doing pre-releases. Looks like you might be a lucky user in the pre-release group. Since the 8120 has not been officially released by a major carrier, RIM has not posted its full suite of information on the device, nor has Tmobile posted ANYTHING about it, since they havent even mentioned anything about the device offically, so you wont find anything at the Tmo site for sure. www engadgetmobile com/2007/12/17/want-a-blackberry-pearl-8120-now-try-suncom/ (notes found here about release) The reason its slated with TMobile is based on the Wi-Fi. Tmo uses UMA (wi-fi access) in the Curve and a few other devices so the device can make/receive calls on the wi-fi networks when cell reception is low.
What better between the Pearl 8110, 8120 and the 8130? Is it the higher the number the better the phone or is that Blackberrys name for the same phone but tailored to different wireless providers?
That's it in a nutshell. Slightly different features but the same unit. And I think anything for the 8100 will work on the 8120 and 8130. I'm sure someone will correct that if it's wrong, but I seem to remember seeing that somewhere.
After I posted the thread I found out that the 8120 is the WiFi and the 8130 is GPS. 8100 has neither. I really like the 8120 better. It has a nicer media player, and the external SD port is sooooo much easier. Hopefully there will be more themes and such available after the Tmobile rollout.
