[lexcoupe2100]

Has anyone upgraded to the curve 8330 from the instinct and what are your results? I like the yahoo IM, AIM, web browsing and text. curve 8330 or pearl?

[mrkhone]

i just did

[lexcoupe2100]

Have you had it long enough to say that is was worth it? My wife did and she hates it, battery dies fast.

[xliderider]

i just did

Wow, that was helpful.

Pearl vs. Curve is a matter of personal preference. Go down to a store and play around with both, as the main differences are keyboard/screen size.

The Curve 8330 also has 1.5x more memory installed (96MB vs. 64MB).

[MrWheelMan]

I did just over three weeks ago, and I love it! I liked the Instinct, but what I enjoy most about the Curve is the customizability. I can change the appearance, add functionality, the keyboard is better than the touchscreen one (even though I liked the touchscreen one over typing on a standard cellphone keypad), and the BlackBerry makes managing email much easier and efficient. I never used/needed PDA functionality before, or so I thought, but the Curve has become my constant companion now.

[lexcoupe2100]

Oh ok.., because I have the Instant messenging on the instinct from sprint and I really like it on the instict and didnt know if it was good or any better on the curve, I do like the fact that screen is bigger and keypad on the curve thats a plus for me. Can you logged in multiple apps at a time? Thanks guys for all your replies.

[freeop]

Oh ok.., because I have the Instant messenging on the instinct from sprint and I really like it on the instict and didnt know if it was good or any better on the curve, I do like the fact that screen is bigger and keypad on the curve thats a plus for me. Can you logged in multiple apps at a time? Thanks guys for all your replies.

Yes you can log onto more than one app at a time, of course limited to how much memory have have left.

At times I have 6 to 8 apps running at a time, and why, I have no idea, but it is possible. Like Email, SMS app, some 3rd party apps, like SocialScope, Leave it on, Sensobi, and the standard ones normally running in the background, Phone, BlackBerry Browser, Blackberry Messages, Home, Call Log.

But to answer your question, Yes you can have more than one app running in the background.

Hope this helps...

[MrWheelMan]

Can you logged in multiple apps at a time?

Yes, the BlackBerry is essentially a mini computer, so multitasking is one of its strong suits. It can eat up memory and probably drain battery faster, so for best performance on the Curve, you might want to go easy on the multitasking.

As for the battery drain your wife experienced, a BlackBerry is a smartphone, with much more functionality and power needs than a standard phone. There are tips on how to get the most out of battery life, and there are a few people who have had problems with their battery which is not the norm. But it really starts with what your wife considers bad battery life? If she's using the BlackBerry a lot daily, and/or has one or more applications besides the usual five or six running constantly in the background, the battery isn't going to last as long. BlackBerries are really designed to be charged often because they are designed to stay on all the time.

[xliderider]

Have you had it long enough to say that is was worth it? My wife did and she hates it, battery dies fast.

The Blackberry is always connected to the RIM servers, or push email will not work. The constant data connection does take a toll on the battery.

Charge nightly, or even more frequently to prevent getting into a low battery situation.

[lexcoupe2100]

Wow you guys just filled me in with good info, I'm almost sold.., LOL, i think the only thing really stoping me is the battery issue and screen size. mrwheelman my wife really dont do much or nothing on it, all she does is text a few and thats it, shes not a multimedia person like I am.

[MrWheelMan]

Yes, but what does your wife consider bad battery life? How long did her battery last before needing a charge? We can at least then tell you whether what she experienced was normal or not for a BlackBerry.

[freeop]

If I am messing around with the browser and watching a few movies/videos, my battery lasts about 6-8 hours. But if I am doing just phone/SMS it can last at least 12-16 hours.

And the browser and data transfers are the items that eat up more of your battery life, from what I understand.

[lexcoupe2100]

She puts it to charge at night, and unplugs it in the morning at 8:15 and while at work she sends like 3-4 txts and 2 calls maybe 15 min total, by the end of the day at 5:00 she has a 1/4 left or less

[MrWheelMan]

Sounds like she's got something running in the background. Does she use anything like Facebook or anything? Has she installed any third party apps? Does she receive or send lots of email? One thing about the BlackBerry is that you have to properly close apps when done using them or they will just keep running in the background. Also if the phone is having trouble connecting to the network, that will drain the battery too. But 3-4 texts and a couple of calls alone shouldn't drain the battery that much.

[lexcoupe2100]

We found that the hard way that we had to close the apps, like she had left pandora running and then we closed out of it and she was kicked out of facebook since battery was being drained by pandora, but then after leaving those 2 apps closed all day she didnt see much improvement, as far as the email I didnt know you had to close that? What app ususally stays running on background from factory? I have installed facebook and pandora so far.

[plunkingtom]

Press your alt and menu key and it will show you which apps are running. 4 or 5 from the factory phone bb messenger, browser, maybe messages. Some programs like sprint nav will eat battery if left on. Also signal strength could affect the battery since the bb could be searching for a low or weak signal. My bb lasts all day and that is with me playing solitaire forever on it....

[MrWheelMan]

I didn't say you had to (or could) close email/messages. But if she were receiving lots of messages throughout the day, I can see that being somewhat of an extra battery drain. You say she has Pandora and Facebook, but you didn't say how often she runs them during a typical day? They would both drain the battery faster when used because of all the downloading they do. I mean, if she's using them for hours at a time, that would very much drain the battery, even if she closes them when done.