1. LDubs's Avatar
    so I currently have a Pearl and am not digging the suretype, small memory, and having hardware envy... and am thinking about switching to the Tour. I'm not eligible to upgrade on my 1 year until next month, so I wandered into the Verizon store yesterday to test drive it. It looks super sleek, light, and FAST, but the keys seemed TINY compared to my Pearl, even more squashed together than my wife's Curve. I had a hard time typing on it.

    So my question is, anyone else switching or switched from a Pearl? If so how was the transition from suretype to full keyboard, and how was the transition on typing?

    I am pretty sure I would eventually get used to it, but it was pretty frustrating.
    07-20-09 09:25 AM
  2. jcotter's Avatar
    I also have a pearl and im in the same situation. I called sprint to figure out when my contract was up after I heard the Tour came out. They told me it was up since Feb... I was caught off guard. None the less, I had been thinking about upgrading to the curve because I really need a full keyboard and larger screen. After reading reviews about the Tour I decided to say #!@$!^ it and get it. I ordered it over the phone after antagonizing the rep that I was going to leave and grab the iphone. (I have been a premier customer @ sprint for 10 years). They ended up giving me the Tour for $99 and it should arrive to my place tomorrow.

    Im super excited and the small keys are the only thing that has me worried. But I figure Ill get used to it sooner or later... Ill let you know what i think when it arrives

    07-20-09 09:32 AM
  3. _StephenBB81's Avatar
    I run a Tour and a Curve, and I have a Pearl flip not active, I like the tours Keyboard the best of all, though the keys LOOK more cramped then those on the Curve, (8330) I find they are easier to hit with single hand typing, the feedback form them isn't as pronounced as it is on the curve which makes one handed typing a little more challenging, but then again I've been a heavy user on the curve for a Long time, and the tour not even a week
    07-20-09 09:35 AM
  4. ryanfisher101's Avatar
    I switched from a Pearl. I was excited about not having to deal with SureType any more. The full keyboard was one of the main reasons for switching. So far, I have really enjoyed the full keyboard. Getting used to the smaller buttons was not that big of an issue. And if I'm not mistaken, the buttons on the Tour are bigger than the buttons on the Curve, they are just nudged together, more like an actual computer keyboard.

    Don't let the keyboard be the reason you are hesitant about switching devices. The Tour is great, and so much more usable than the Pearl.
    07-20-09 09:39 AM
  5. jconley's Avatar
    I crossed over from Pearl to Tour and am absolutely loving the full QWERTY and landscape screen. I use mine almost exclusively for email/SMS for work, and the Pearl was not cutting it. I could have saved a few bucks by going with the Curve, but opted for the Tour. My NE2 was not until January, but I went head with the purchase now and dropped the ~$200 (270-70). After a week... I'm very happy with the decision.
    07-20-09 09:40 AM
  6. sna77's Avatar
    I've been a Pearl user for the past 2+ years... I'm hating the keyboard on my Tour so far... I could type on my Pearl w/o looking at the screen... Hoping a new non-flip Pearl comes out eventually with 4.6 - 5.0 software on it...
    07-20-09 09:45 AM
  7. tjgrey's Avatar
    I had a Pearl for the first few months, switched to the Curve, then to the Storm, BACK to the Pearl, and now to the Tour. The Tour is by far the best keyboard of all of them, and as said above, maybe even the easiest to type with one hand (taking into the fact that the Pearl had SureType).
    Last edited by tjgrey; 07-20-09 at 10:29 AM. Reason: additions
    07-20-09 10:27 AM
  8. Scout_313's Avatar
    I, too, came from a Pearl 8130 and can say that I'm adapting to the keyboard on the Tour. I know a lot of people don't like the SureType on the Pearl, but I could type extremely quickly on it. I'm not quite as fast on the Tour yet, but I'm getting quicker. The one thing that I do like about the Tour is that you never have to worry about SureType not knowing the word or having to add a custom word to the dictionary. However, I do think that if they came out with a new Pearl that had the hardware specs of the Tour and the size of the 8130, I'd sell my Tour and go back to a smaller phone.
    07-20-09 10:32 AM
  9. Grizzld's Avatar
    I really miss SureType. The full QWERTY is more accurate, but it's a lot easier to "fat finger" a word. I find myself screwing up a lot more. I was much faster with SuerType.

    I will say I'm getting much better using the QWERTY, however.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    07-20-09 10:33 AM
  10. 134k's Avatar
    i came from a pearl as well. yeah the keyboard is a little hard to get used to, and i miss suretype. it's been a week and i'm slowly getting used to it. i can't type as fast on the tour, but again i'm still getting accustomed to the new keyboard layout.
    07-20-09 10:39 AM
  11. shalea#IM's Avatar
    I currently have the Pearl and am swtching on 8/4 to the Tour. I checked out the Tour @ the Verizon kiosk in BJs n go super excited. I will just have to deal w/the keyboard change, because I'm definitely making the switch. I did a few text messages and dialing and felt comfortable w/my fingers (the spacing) on the keys.
    07-20-09 11:03 AM
  12. dirtyjersey's Avatar
    I had a pearl, then went to the storm. Unlike most people, i love SureType. Having SureType on my Storm in portrait view was a huge selling point for me. I'm just done with the Storm being soooo slow and freezing up all the time. My tour arrives today. I'm pretty excited about it, but it will be awesome when OS 5.0 comes out. Then we will have SureType on the qwerty. Hopefully that doesnt take too long to be leaked.
    07-20-09 11:22 AM
  13. toekneetehtiger's Avatar
    I have been a pearl user for 2 years and just went to the tour. All last week ive been sucking horribly with the keys. but this week has been a bit better. the learning curve is a bit steep but its well worth it because you don thave to deal with suretype anymore
    07-20-09 12:07 PM
  14. simbany1's Avatar
    I've had the pearl for over a year. Had the storm for less then a month. I tried out the pearl flip and actually liked the bigger keys on it, but the phone and software really wasn't much of an upgrade from the pearl so I returned it and got the tour. While I was really fast using Suretype, I couldn't stand when it finished words for me incorrectly. I'm definitely getting used to the tour's keyboard and will be just as fast on it as I was with the pearl. I just love the full qwerty and being able to fully control what I type. I am making more mistakes but that will change over time.
    07-20-09 12:40 PM
  15. LDubs's Avatar
    thanks for all the responses everyone, this pretty much confirmed what I had thought. I'm pretty sure I'll give the Tour a whirl - goodbye suretype, goodbye having to check my file free memory all the time, goodbye not being able to fit enough cool apps, HELLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOO Tour.
    07-20-09 01:53 PM
  16. Iceman0803's Avatar
    I came from the pearl and couldn't be happier. As far as the keyboard being more cramped than the pearl I have to say that I don't agree. I'm with you on not digging surtype so making the switch to full qwerty was great. Just give it about a day or so and you'll be used to the tour keyboard.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    07-20-09 02:12 PM
  17. BlackBerry Guy's Avatar
    I can type faster with SureType, but I'd gladly give up a little bit of speed for the accuracy of a full keyboard.

    SureType was great for 95% of the typing I did, but it was extremely frustrating for words that it was not familiar with.
    07-20-09 10:59 PM
  18. Ningai's Avatar
    I like my Pearl but have been thinking about getting a qwerty BB and threads like these are a great help in convincing me to do it. That and I don't want to upgrade if no Pearl user likes the Tour. Thanks for the posts!
    08-14-09 12:27 PM
  19. zelda26's Avatar
    I just switched to the Tour from my Pearl. I love the Tour, but Im finding out that the keypad is somewhat difficult to text and such. Im 100x faster to text on my Pearl. However, I dont have that anymore, so its going to take a bit to get used to the smaller keys on the keypad.
    Overall this is one h3ll of a device. I love it!
    08-14-09 12:35 PM
  20. Pro9Chance's Avatar
    so I currently have a Pearl and am not digging the suretype, small memory, and having hardware envy... and am thinking about switching to the Tour. I'm not eligible to upgrade on my 1 year until next month, so I wandered into the Verizon store yesterday to test drive it. It looks super sleek, light, and FAST, but the keys seemed TINY compared to my Pearl, even more squashed together than my wife's Curve. I had a hard time typing on it.

    So my question is, anyone else switching or switched from a Pearl? If so how was the transition from suretype to full keyboard, and how was the transition on typing?

    I am pretty sure I would eventually get used to it, but it was pretty frustrating.
    I was disappointed at first but I eventually got use to it. The only thing I miss about my Pearl 8130 is the "decent" size keys, other than that, my Tour is phenomenal!!! Phenomenal like Hillary Clinton Also, I did a lot of texting while driving if you will... When I had my Pearl, I could easily text with one hand, now that I have my Tour, two hands are almost always required. I really wish I could have a device like the tour with the Pearl 8130 buttons'... Trust me, the transition will be smooth for you.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    08-17-09 01:31 AM
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