I needed a new cellphone...

[Jon Liu]

Well, the time finally came. My RAZR had finally had enough. Oddly enough, the RAZR was one of the nicest phones I had and I seemed to have dropped it the most. Anyway, so after cruel thrashings and beatings, my RAZR decided to start working intermittently over the past two weeks. Sometimes it wouldn't turn on. Well, yesterday it wouldn't turn on at all. Bummer. The RAZR was a fantastic phone and was built very well! The amount of times I dropped it, it doesn't look like it, and I was surprised it lasted this long!!

Anyway, so I had looked at some possibilities and decided to go with the relatively new Blackberry Pearl!

I had never really liked the Blackberry's just because they were too big and bulky. Not to mention, most of them looked pretty funky to me. But, recent models have changed that and now finally they introduced the Pearl!

Here are some shots of it:




















It's a fantastic phone overall with so many features just at your fingertips! Surfing the web, 1.3MP Camera (WITH a flash!), a pretty nice google maps feature, media player, voice dialing, and a fantastic feeling scroll-wheel, are some of the cool features of this phone.

All this within the confines of phone about the size of the RAZR!

[D_Litch]

I agree with you about the RAZRs, they are well built. I dropped mine out in my front yard and it sat overnight, still worked the next day though. New phone looks nice, I'll probably upgrade when the iPhone or LG's iPhone duplicate comes out.

Fun fact:The iPhone actually ripped off the LG phone.

[dmiller68]

I loved and miss my blackberry... My windows mobile experience has been horrible. Congrats on the new phone.

[Quo]

I too had a horrendous experience with a Windows-based phone a couple of years ago. Lockups, inconsistent syncing, and dang was it sloooooooooowww. I've been eyeing the blackberry devices but I've been a little timid about taking the plunge. Looks like I may be looking further into it now! Let us know what you think of it still in a couple of months...

Which reminds me, I need to ask Zoom if he is still digging his Sleep Number bed...

[ZoomZoom71]

Originally Posted by Quo

Which reminds me, I need to ask Zoom if he is still digging his Sleep Number bed...

Yep, still diggin' my Sleep Number bed. It's very comfortable and I don't have the sore back issues I used to have from sleeping on a standard mattress. I have back issues from time to time, just becuase of the little bit of extra weight I'm carrying up front. But, honestly, sleeping on this bed seems to help relieve the pressure during the night, and my back feels relaxed. I'm definitely getting a better night's sleep, as well.

[Quo]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoom71

Yep, still diggin' my Sleep Number bed. It's very comfortable and I don't have the sore back issues I used to have from sleeping on a standard mattress. I have back issues from time to time, just becuase of the little bit of extra weight I'm carrying up front. But, honestly, sleeping on this bed seems to help relieve the pressure during the night, and my back feels relaxed. I'm definitely getting a better night's sleep, as well.

Cool. I may be taking this plunge soon. Sorry for the keezination...

please continue... I believe the subject was phones...

[Peench]

I switched from the Blackberry 7100t to the MDA (which is windows mobile 5 based). I think the new Blackberry pearl has loads of good things going for it and wished they would have had it when I switched. I've had problems with these multifunction devices since I started using them. The phone aspect usually sucks while everything else is cool. I think the manufacturers are starting to get to the point where they can put a decent phone into the phone and still retain the rest of the features. I think the Pearl is one and the phones along the lines of the Q are others.

I'm still digging my Windows Mobile MDA tho. It is waaaaay too bulky and I'll be upgrading it probably later this year, but so far aside from the random problems that seemed to work themselves out with a software upgrade, it has been decent.

[Jon Liu]

Peench, I agree that the phone aspects for the multifunctional phones suck pretty badly, overall. I used to also own the HP iPaq phone for TMobile and while it was a fantastic PDA, the phone aspect blew pretty badly comparison. The couple days I've used it thus far, it works a lot better than the iPaq I had before.

One of the things I was very hesitant on was the volume while on the phone. Blackberry phones in the past have been pretty bad but, it seems this time around they got it right! I also noticed more with this phone that the gap between multifunctioning handheld and phone has been closed quite a bit! That's the problem I had with the iPaq. It was a PDA first and foremost and second it was a phone.

I'll keep you guys updated on how I like it but, so far it seems to be the best phone I've had yet.

It's also nice, if you renew two more years on your contract, you can get it for 200 bucks and that's while you're already mid-contract. If you're contract has already lapsed and you want to start a fresh contract with them for two years, they have an additional $50 mail-in rebate to make the price $150 only! Fantastic deal for this phone, if you ask me!

[grife]

i have had a great experience with windows mobile, i had a terrible experience with Palm however. if you think that windows mobile is poor for constantly locking up you should see palm.

[ZoomZoom71]

I have the Cingular 8125, which is Windows Mobile 5 based. I've been very pleased with it. I did have a battery issue early on, but I got a free replacement phone, just to be safe, and a new battery (free, too). I like the qwerty keyboard.

[Jon Liu]

Yeah, I had to adjust back to having a qwerty keyboard on the Blackberry. I had grown so accustom to the 3 letters to a number deal.

Although the keyboard is small and is actually a qwerty hybrid, it works fantastically well!

[D_Litch]

BTW, did you get a manicure, Jon?

[Fatal Foto]

For those of us that really enjoy XBox Live, Microsoft has shown to select people a Live Anywhere client that will run on Windows Mobile. So anybody looking at a new phone should consider this if you think this might be important down the road if it is ever released too.

But I have had several Blackberry's they are nice if you have it syncing with a Blackberry server. If you do not sync with a BIS server then I would suggest people look at other brands of phones.

Just my two cents.

[Jon Liu]

D_Litch, you're just jealous your hands can't look as good as mine!

And no, I didn't get a manicure, never have, likely never will.

[dmiller68]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoom71

I have the Cingular 8125, which is Windows Mobile 5 based. I've been very pleased with it. I did have a battery issue early on, but I got a free replacement phone, just to be safe, and a new battery (free, too). I like the qwerty keyboard.

What is your battery life now? Mine has really sucked.

[D_Litch]

Originally Posted by Jon Liu

D_Litch, you're just jealous your hands can't look as good as mine!

And no, I didn't get a manicure, never have, likely never will.

Yes, I am jealous. You have very pretty hands, you must lotion them often.