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Introduction
I am a 1st time Blackberry user. Initially, I had itched for the Storm, however I could not acclimate to typing on the click screen. Glowing blue does not help since my thumbs are highly opaque; Apple probably copyrighted the technique to make the letters appear above your typing digits.
I decided to wait out the Curve 8900 and don't even mind that it cost me $100 to switch from Telus to Rogers four months early. I am elated that I did because this little gem of techno savvy is going to shed five pounds of Macbook on my shoulder and ease the strain on the threads of my flown-in-from-Hong-had-b4-anyone-else-in-Canada fashion friendly hemp Adidas bag.
Man I love Christkwanzakkuh season!
My first impressions
Size was the first thing I noticed after opening the box the eager sales clerk had provided myself. I put it beside a Curve 8320 and saw how much closer the keys were to the polished silver looking bezel. The 8900 slimmed its elder sibling's muffin top edges in favour of a slender and tight physique; no flashy colours to cover up inappropriate and flabby girth.
The 480 x 360 pixel screen is just as tack sharp as the Bold. The 8900 comes with a John Mayer video installed and I was very impressed with the fluid detail of the video. When I saw how the YouTube videos streamed cleaner and with more detail (albeit on a Bold) than the glue factory bound 83xx and Hearl, I knew I had removed any doubts about choosing the 8900 as my holiday present.
Hardware
I like the small form appeal that literally fits in just the palm of my hand. As well, the trackball on the new Curve feels much sturdier and flowing than the previous generation's choppier counterpart.
The buttons are very sturdy and are a pleasure to type on. I am typing this review on a trial version of Word To Go Premium edition and could not imagine doing this on a Storm. Oy vey I would have pressed a hole in the touchscreen in pure frustration.
Oh yeah, did I mention this thing is an amazing phone ??? I say this because I mentioned to a friend of mine that she was on speakerphone and she could not tell the difference. Wow! Reception quality is crystal clear, which is ironic, since this is a huge reason why I left Rogers six years ago.
The external speaker on this phone can get quite loud without becoming crackly and treble saturated. I actually have to turn it down at night sometimes when watching YouTube videos. RIM did an amazing job with this aspect of the BB.
The voice command feature is quite advanced from what I remember on other people's phones. You would have to record your voice and assign the name to a number, every one(hundred) of them. If your vocal inflexion was a different pitch than what you recorded, it would not call the number you assigned, let' s say, "Kathrin" to.
Not so with this badboy.
After pressing the vocal command button on the left, all I need do is say the contact's name as it appears (yes that means last names if you programmed them in) and it intuitively locates it. The speech recognition works great for names that have lots of consonants and are native to the English language. If you were to say Al Capone, it would find it usually on the first try. If you were to say his modern day replacement, Rod Blagojevich, you would get a list of possible matches or none at all. If you are in the middle of an application, it can also give you one touch vocally commanded status on your signal, coverage, and battery status without having to hit the Blackberry key. Very convenient feature indeed.
The camera takes decent enough pictures for profile pics and randoms. I can make out detail many times better than on my old Samsung flip. Still, the pics are not as detailed as ones I have seen come off a phone equipped with a Sony Cybershot/Carl Zeiss setup.
I was a little miffed about my Bluetooth experience. I tried for an hour trying to send a pic from my Macbook to the phone. The phone paired with the laptop but would not connect no matter how I tried to configure the software on both ends. In the end I just sent it to my new Blackberry address. I would have saved 59 minutes and 58 seconds if I had did that first.
I am lacking regrets also in part due to the inclusion of Wi Fi. Since Rogers and "unlimited" mix like hicks and Hoegaarden, I was ok with 500 mb of data per month. I've heard from my Toronto friend that 3G on his iPhone is not always stable and 4G apparently is on the way, so I care not that it's missing from the Curve.
Lastly, I like how sheer and hidden the unlock key is at the top left corner of this thing. When I first used the phone, I saw that the unlock icon appeared directly over the call end button. I kept pressing the wrong button until I sniffed around and saw where it is.
Software
The word of the day? Intuitive. As soon as I learned to hit the Blackberry key navigating became a breeze in various apps such as Word To Go and the internet browser.
As a student soon to become professional I fully appreciate how Outlook and Entourage personal organizer and email client can help streamline doubt, amalgamate multiple accounts that require one click to check, remind you, plan ahead, etc. Having all that available to me on Smartphone makes travel much lighter. I recently downloaded PocketMac and am mostly pleased with its sync capabilities. My only gripes are: it synced junk mail and deleted items into my messages icon, it did not sync my Safari bookmarks despite checking that option, and sometimes the sync stalls so you need to double check whatever new stuff was input after the last sync. However, this is a 3rd party app and does not reflect on RIM. Still, this makes a Blackberry that much more productive.
Internet browsing is satisfactory and easy to learn. Again, the Blackberry key is your friend and I would advise newbies like me to click on the Help icon and learn the shortcut keys. Webpage loading is prompt (for a phone) and Facebook and Youtube mobile are easy to navigate. I fully appreciate web pages designed for mobile browsing like The New York Times and CNN vs. my local newspaper.
Ending off software, it is quick like cellular software should be. Application switching is painless and did I mention this smart phone can use a decades old feature known as "cut and paste?"
Conclusions and Potpourri
One quirky observation I noted was the paradoxical zoom shortcuts. The letter "I" is for zoom in despite having a minus sign as its symbol function. The letter "O" zooms out despite having a plus sign above it. Once you get used to it, the shortcut is fine, but I find it takes a little away from its intuitive design. This would be best left as an incremental upgrade for the next Curve 89xx I suppose.
I have been typing and taking pics of this thing for about a total of 3 1/2 hours and it has been fully charged since last night with a handful of calls. My BB tells me, literally, I have medium battery strength. Pretty impressive from a productivity standpoint I would say.
All this talk of functionality and I glossed over the bling factor of this thing. I wear fitted jeans and this sits comfortably in my front pocket, which is testament to its small form factor and why I passed on the Bold. I agree with the colour scheme integration and the screen really is pimp.
I am certain that if I had waited a few more weeks before writing, this review would be much longer. Despite having this Berry for only 2+ days, I am extremely satisfied with my purchase.
Pros and Cons
+ves
-small form factor that easily fits into your front pocket
-call quality is superb
-imporved trackball design from its predecessor
-auto focus 3.2 mp camera takes pictures that can be easily viewed not just on the phone’s screen
-Wifi, long battery life, unlock button is nice and hidden,
-screen is tack sharp and Youtube videos are watchable now like on the Bold
-voice command feature works very well and is intuitive
-cut and paste
-ves
-screen icons are dull and monotone.
-syncing with Bluetooth mac was a hassle and a half. Just as fast sending attachments via email.
-cannot find a way to set different tones when a text is received. Can only change just the telephone ringer.
-Lacks 3G???? Not for a con for me, I get along just fine with Wi Fi and EDGE. However, keep an eye on your battery as WiFi noticeably drains your battery faster.Last edited by nursegogoplata; 01-01-09 at 12:16 PM.
01-01-09 11:54 AMLike 0 -
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Here are some more pics taken with my Nikon pocket cam.Last edited by nursegogoplata; 01-01-09 at 05:43 PM.
01-01-09 05:31 PMLike 0 -
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Great review. I ordered mine from Rogers 2 days ago as an upgrade from my current Samsung slider. I can't wait to receive it! It'll be my first blackberry as well. I also went with the 500 MB data plan, and the lack of 3G doesn't bother me at all.01-01-09 10:13 PMLike 0 -
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John YesterRetired Superstaru can change notifications under SMS same place where you changed the ringer....
Great review thanks!01-01-09 10:19 PMLike 0 -
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02-08-09 10:41 AMLike 0 -
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Amazing blackberry. Actually I was first in line at the TMobile store the day it came out. Got it for $300 and will get an extra $100 back for signing another 2 yr contract. The phone is significantly faster than my old 8320. Especially when using BBM. Everything flows smoothly on the layout and the keys are not as hard on my fingertips like the 8320. The screen is excellent and I can see everything much clearer. Despite it not having 3G it is pretty fast over the network. And because it has wifi it is even faster. Camera quality is also excellent. I would def recommend this phone to anyone who has a curve, you will see the difference. The only downside I would say is the battery life is a little bit shorter and that it does not have 3G.02-13-09 03:25 PMLike 0 -
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Hey I have had my 8900 for a little while and I love it. I would say all the same positives as been already said. So I will spare you and point out a few draw backs(not quite negative).
1. The first is the charging plug location. I often do some work on my phone as it is charging or connected. The jack is located on the right side. And is completely in the way when typing and hard to work around. 2. The second is the cheap battery door that slides back and forth
3. The next is the keyboard all the keys slide around slightly which just feels cheap.
4. The last one was a little picky but this one is a bigger deal to me. In order to push the main line keys (send, menu, back, send end) you have to be very careful to reach over the letter keys in order to press cleanly. I often end up pressing the q or p or o instead of the end or send.
5. There are a couple of software issue far as the operation. The first is the night time mode of the clock it does not constantly work.
6. The next is the stand by mode which doesn't seem to be any thing different then key lock I personally don't see how it could be saving battery02-23-09 12:00 AMLike 0 -
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Well I'm giving my Bold a rest and trying out an unlocked 8900 on AT&T's network. I find that Edge or 2g coverage adequate for what I need it to do but I do miss the Bold's 3g capability when talking on the phone & texting at the same time or IM etc.
I do like the size of the 8900 but the keyboard does not feel as solid or stable as the Bold's. One thing I really like about the 8900 over the Bold is the trackball. It is much smoother and easier to use in my opinion.
Screen resolution is awesome like the Bold and overall I really like it. Tethered it to my macbook via bluetooth with ease.
I will probably end up going back to my Bold and selling the 8900 but I really want to give it a fair trial for now.02-23-09 12:22 AMLike 0 -
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Curve 8900 review
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