Pearl vs Tour scenario.

Not a current PDA user, but will be required to go to a Blackberry device in September. Should I go with the Flip Pearl, or Tour? Have always used a flip phone, and just carried it in my pocket. Verizon salesman say's I will notice a big difference in speed.(Tour much faster) I do not have a land line, so all my talking is done on a cell phone. More comfortable to talk on the Pearl? Also, none of the phones in the Verizon store have power where I can actively demo/try any of the phones. Is this just my store, or is that just simply how it is? Appreciate the feedback!

Thanks

Two things to consider: Do you mind the smaller screen size, and will you be patient enough to learn to use SureType.

If you're planning on become a power user, then I'd say go with the Tour. If it's only going to be for phone calls, short emails, and light texting/IMing, then the Pearl may suit you just fine.

I would def go with the Tour. Faster, more memory, nicer/bigger screen, dual band capabilities if you need it, etc. just go to the vzw or bb site and compare both devices. To answer your other question, Corp stores do have fully functional devices on the floor, authorized dealers more times than not, do not, they just have dummy phones.

The Pearl Flip screen is actually fairly big. Tour is bigger, but the Pearl Flip is bigger than the Pearl for example. Nothing beats trying out the phones in the store.

Yes, the Tour is faster. It has a much better screen. It has twice the RAM of the Pearl Flip which allows you a lot more leeway. The Tour has the same amount of app memory as my 8900 does and I haven't had to do one reboot because of lack of memory. The Tour also has a much better way of typing because of the full QWERTY over SureType. The Tour has a better camera. However, you may have a problem adjusting to size of the Tour. But I say the improvements that you get from the Pearl Flip to the Tour is more than enough to sacrifice size for usability.