[slinky#CB]

I've got the Blackberry Curve 8330 from Verizon Wireless. I thought that the trackball was a pretty good idea - until the trackball stopped working and obviously needing cleaning after a few months, just like any rolling mechanical object. But RIM did a stupid thing - they made taking out and replacing the trackball a difficult and delicate task. Bringing it into the store resulted in the top not being put in properly and eventually, the ring that holds the trackball in place was falling out because all of the tiny plastic "grips" were worn out. This led to the trackball falling out and not working.

Unfortunately Verizon does not stock the stores with these "ring" replacements and deems that any problem, no matter how small, requires replacement of the ENTIRE phone. This is not economical for VZW nor is it economical for users. Now comes the time to replace ALL the software on the phone and go through the **** of trying to get serial numbers from the 25 applications I purchased. Other than a select handful of developers, this results in about 2 weeks worth of emailing back and forth and wondering where you go to do this - Handango? Directly to an email address if there is one on the developers web site? Happy, happy, joy, joy.

Plus there is still the memory deletion issue since VZW doesn't officially support OS 4.5. So that leaves me with just 2 potential Blackberry options - the Bold on AT&T and the Storm which may come out and might not be able to be obtained. So I'm hoping to hear from you guys how you've handled this:

(1) Have you been able to successfully deal with that plastic ring around the Curves and World phones for the long run? It just doesn't seem to be built for it.

(2) Is the Bold built any differently? Is the ring the same type of construction? I'm guessing it is. Then there is the question of having AT&T and GSM in New York City and the American version of GSM is the wrong frequency for effectiveness in NYC and explains so many of the frustrated iPhone and T-Mo customers.

(3) Is the Storm worth waiting for? I saw the video and I was not impressed at all. If typing with a real keyboard requires the phone to be used sideways then that isn't a practical solution for anyone who uses email regularly. If the keyboard is that horrible bastardized two letter per key Pearl touch then it too seems like a major burden to type on coming from a full keyboard. Nobody I know who has the Pearl likes it unless they are concerned about the phone size. I was also not very impressed by the way the phone works and seems like an awkward iPhone.

I'd enjoy hearing your input.

[rryoung]

Its not worth purchasing a whole new phone just because the trackball broke, the curve is a great phone, and if I were you I would stick with it. You can by all new trackballs (ring and all) everywhere for like $12.

try looking at blackberrytrackballs.com or cnn.cn

[asp13]

I bought a couple of extra trackball and ring repacements from amazon for $7.50 apiece. Switching them out is extremely easy.

[swamp_water]

You could do like my brother used to do and steal one from a busy vendor... or not. Why he collected them I'll never know.

[asp13]

One thing you can also do is some stores might let you jack one from an insurance claim before they send it off. But purchasing them is better because it is new and it will last longer than an already used one.

[wirelesswizard]

There is a store in Los Angeles that does BlackBerry trackball repair really fast and cheap. We have a few BlackBerry phones for work and these guys fix them in 5 minutes. If you are in Los Angeles give them a try. They are called Wireless Waves and their number is 323-655-5005.

[slinky#CB]

Thanks guys! Verizon has decided to swap the phone for me for no cost. The real pain is having to get all new serial numbers for every application. It will be beastly but I guess it has to be done. The alternative is to take the trackball and ring out of the new phone and put it in this one!! But after spending 2 days with the mechanism open, I'm probably much better just getting the refurbished phone and calling it a day.

The Curve is an OK phone but just too slow. Web browsing sucks (don't even talk to me about EVDO) and I'm guessing it's the browser and slow processor. The screen resolution doesn't help either. But I guess for now it will do but even OS 4.5 doesn't overcome the hardware limtattions...

[luvitlo]

go to eBay type in blackberry trackball find a U.S. seller I scored two for 13 bucks free shipping from New York it is the Trackball and ring I have took mine out of my Pearl myself all the trackballs are the same can swap out you can change it your self if you goood with taking stuff apart like me just use a very small knife I got a little pen knife for the job start at the top where there are no tabs and gently pop it up working your way around and avoid contact with the blade and tabs. then it just lays in press down after its lined up and it clicks in place don't swap phones until you need to.