[SaintThomasAquinas]

I am thinking about getting a Pearl 8120 or 9100. I plan on using it on AT&T prepaid for calls, bbm, SMS, and email (get my Hotmail and sync my hotmail calendar). I don't care about web or apps or GPS or maps. I can fix Blackberries myself so I am not concerned about future need to repair.

Work insists I carry their Samsung Galaxy S III so if I need web or GPS or Apps I will be fine. Please tell me why one over the other. Also can anybody confirm or deny whether I can get my hotmail on either of these devices?

[Meok]

Get the 9100. That's a pretty decent device.

Posted via CB10

[joeldf]

I can give you an opinion based on hanging around here for over 4 years, and having had the generation 81xx before the 8120. I had the first Pearl - the 8100 on AT&T.

I wanted to get the 9100, but AT&T took so long to get it, and then priced it way too high once they did get it.

So I went for the Torch 9800 instead - a refurb for 1 cent. Lasted me 3 years. Still works, but I now have the Z10.

Point is, I kept up with the 9100 for a while on the forums in anticipation of getting it (even though that never happened).

I would definitely suggest the 9100 over the 8120. If I'm not mistaken, the 8120 only has WiFi added over the base 8100. That's a nice addition, but the 2G is like watching paint dry when loading a Web page. The 9100 has much more with 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS. Plus a higher res screen.

Though, to be honest, 3G is not that great with these BBs in general since everything still runs through the BIS. But that may not be that big a deal based on what you say you need.

But the doubled processor power of the 9100 is nice, as is ability to have OS 6 loaded (even though AT&T is still only offering OS 5 to this day - it's easy to get OS 6 on it). The 8120 is stuck at OS 4.5 and can't get a newer OS than that because of the memory limitation (a whopping 64MB vs. the 9100 with 256MB).

Interface-wise, the 9100 has a trackpad instead of the 8120's trackball.

The trackball is a mess. Lint gets in it making it stick. It can be cleaned out, and I cleaned mine out constantly. Replacements are easy to get and easy to swap out, but still a constant pain to deal with. I never changed mine, only cleaned it. Which was fine until it got to the point where the ball wore down smooth. Too smooth to grip the wheels inside the trackball assembly.

The track pad is much better. My 9800 has one, and to this day has not given me problems.

The keyboard used on both phones was great. Because it's condensed with each key holding two letters, it seems like it would be confusing, but it's easier to work with than you would think. I started out in multi-tap mode for the first year I had the 8100. Then I switched to SureType. Once I got used to ignoring the initial suggestions that pop up and finish out what I was typing, it all worked out. Only a few fixes where needed.

Someone else will have to tell you about Hotmail integration. I think the BIS can handle it well, but I've no experience with that. Just regular pop3 mail and OWA for exchange mail.

Posted via CB10

[MexicoMennonite]

Go with the 9100. I still miss mine. It was an excellent messaging phone, in many ways better than my q10, especially in contact management. As the above poster said, the 8120 is a nice phone too, but you will appreciate the better speed and clarity of screen in the 9100. The form factor of both is hard to beat, in my opinion.

[stlabrat]

9100. Keyboards might take a bit to get use to. Otherwise, good enough for majority of the tasks. Candy bar format is sweet.

Posted via CB10

[Denise in Los Angeles]

I had both the 8100 and 9100. Loved them both, but recommend the 9100 for more memory and 3G.

Posted via the Diva's BlackBerry Z10.