UK mobile phone reviews - BlackBerry Pearl 8100 Review

Your BlackBerry Pearl 8100 Reviews

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Reviewer: Chris Knight - UK
Date: 13th Mar 2010

The worst phone I have ever had. The features appear to be designed for a teenager & the qwerty keyboard is too small to use. I am going to through it away & get an Apple iphone.

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Reviewer: Andy - UK
Date: 4th Sep 2009

Garbage! The short version is that this phone thinks it knows better than you what you want to do with it.

Want to keep your text messages? No! Pearl knows Best! Pearl will delete them after 30 days.

Want to lock your phone so that it won't ring anyone? No! Pearl knows Best! Pearl will ring the emergency services for you on a single push of that sticking out trackball when the phone is in your pocket. In the UK, making nuisance calls to the emergency services is now a criminal offence.

Want to turn the phone off, say, in a cinema? No! Pearl knows Best! Two modes of standby, both of which equate to ON.

Want to put your contacts on your SIM? No! Pearl knows Best!

I could go on.

I've dug out an old RAZR I used to use & found a new battery for it. A used Pearl will shortly be going on eBay. I will never buy anything from Blackberry ever again.

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Reviewer: Naz - UK
Date: 29th May 2009

Hi, just wondering if anybody can give me some information about the BlackBerry. I am hoping to buy one soon. I wanted to know how well the blackberry communicates with your email account on a desktop. For example if I check an email on my blackberry, will this email be seen as READ or OPENED when I check my email on the desktop. What happens if after reading my email on the blackberry I mark it as unread, does the mail on my desktop also show up as unread.

I just want to know that if someone checked my BlackBerry will they be able to read my emails without me knowing?

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Reviewer: Claire - UK
Date: 16th May 2009

I love this phone but it always deletes my messages & call list. Does anyone know why?

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Reviewer: Victoria - UK
Date: 29th Apr 2009

Hi can anybody tell me why it keeps clearing my conversations from messenger. This is extremely annoying as I cannot remember all the conversations I am having!

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Reviewer: Stephen - UK
Date: 12th Mar 2009

I cannot believe people are saying bad stuff about this phone! It is great! If your trackball gets stuck all you have to do is take of the silver ring with something sharp & flat, ease the trackball out, then get some tissue paper & put some rubbing alcohol on & rub until the trackball moves freely. Place it back in place, then just put the silver ring back on.

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Reviewer: Des - Leamington, UK
Date: 12th Feb 2009

Overall, a poor choice compared to by previous QWERTY keyboard blackberry. Some good features but. The Pearl regularly freezes, & I find I have to remove the battery & reinsert it to get it going again. The roller ball sensitivity becomes poor with age. It doesn't seem to have an auto standby mode so I have to remember to do it after each call. It is a very poor design feature to have the video & the voice dialling buttons on the side which regularly get pressed accidentally.

Overall no better than 5 out of 10.

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Reviewer: Andrew Rice - France
Date: 5th Feb 2009

I hate this phone with vengeance. The keyboard is the worst compromise between a phone keyboard & a QWERTY keyboard. It would be far better if it was a proper phone keyboard. Why is it so difficult to navigate? Where is the one key lock? I was forced to upgrade to it by work. I've taken the SIM out & put it in my old Motorola 3200 brick phone. What a relief.

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Reviewer: Andrea - Bristol, UK
Date: 3rd Feb 2009

I have had this phone 2 weeks now used to be a Sony Ericsson person but WOW now I am converted blackberry are the best phones. If you use it for what it is a phone & organiser at first the menu takes a little time to get used to, but when you do its great easily to use loud. Very sleek looking multifunctional. Battery life if fairly good but you have to remember there is a lot on the phone for the battery to take, so no bad points. The roller ball is so easily to use. I can't wait till I get my upgrade definitely going for blackberry again.

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Reviewer: Katie Loo - London, UK
Date: 2nd Feb 2009

I think this phone is ridiculous for the young generation! It hardly has any memory for text messages, that I always have to delete my text messages to get more. It takes a while to get used to the trackball (pearl). But if you're a young teen who loves all that multimedia, I would even think of buying it! I was given it from my Dad, it's really only good for Business people. Plus, you have to set up the GPRS! It's also a even more pain in doesn't support WMA files to listen to music. It does have a fantastic camera that takes some professional shots considering it's a 2 megapixel camera. The text messaging takes a long time to get used to. The design is good because of the trackball speed, you can set up some things which is good & they're shortcut buttons at the side of the screen. My screen hasn't broken luckily, even though I frequently drop it! It really sucks it doesn't have WAP 2.0 or have a basic video recorder!

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Reviewer: Bill - UK
Date: 14th Jan 2009

Keeps freezing & after only 4 months the screen now also intermittently dies & I have to wait nearly 6 minutes for it to come back on again, frustratingly unreliable now.

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Reviewer: Caroline - UK
Date: 13th Jan 2009

I have had this phone about 3 months now.

At first I didn't like, I had trouble copying my phone numbers from my old Nokia to my Blackberry but in the end I had to save them all individual.

I am on Orange network so I had a few problems with the way my browser was set up.

Cons of this phone.
- Deletes texts & calls! Hardly any memory! & battery life is poor!

Pros.
- It is a great phone for browsing the net! I can spend hours just online on it.
- Great applications, MSN, FaceBook! It's great!
- Texting is VERY easy!
- Looks great!
- Really easy scroll ball to navigate!

I love this phone SO much its fantastic! I think you either love it or hate it!

I found that a lot of people around my age 20 to 25 get on with this phone, with it being easy to go on MSN, facebook & texting & stuff.

Depends on what you want a phone for will be whether it is for you or not.

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Reviewer: Samy - Cyprus
Date: 21st Dec 2008

I can hardly understand all the negative reviews here. I love my Pearl, it's one of the best phones I have ever owned. Stylish, clear calls, easy to use. The only problem for me is that it does not ring loud enough, which is not a major problem.

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Reviewer: Samy - Cyprus
Date: 19th Dec 2008

I can hardly understand people who commented negative about the pearl. Great design, great call quality, interesting menu & cheap price (150 eu in Cyprus). Only down side is that it does not ring loud enough. I love my pearl!

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Reviewer: Dave - UK
Date: 10th Dec 2008

All I can say is after reading some reviews is that some people really need to learn how to use a phone. The Pearl is so easy to use & the features are quality, if the track ball is to fast then go to setting & slow it down it's not that hard. If you don't like the lay out change the theme as there are plenty of styles to choose from.

All in all this is a great phone & very easy to use.

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Reviewer: M Talha Aqeel - Pakistan
Date: 9th Nov 2008

Eh! I am using the phone for about 7 months, I was impressed by its design but deceived by its features, it has not as many features as other handset have.

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Reviewer: Frilto - US
Date: 5th Nov 2008

This is by far the worst phone EVER. It will be the worst phone a man can make, basically every phone is built to call people & receive calls etc.

In the 8100 Pearl there is not shortcut even to access an address book.

The user interface is the worst phone I have used in my 10 years of using mobile phone,
I have used Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung & iPhone, every phone I just get used to it within an hour. But the PEARL its messy even after a week.

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Reviewer: John - London, UK
Date: 29th Oct 2008

I am now on my third phone in as many months & have now been told that it is BER Beyond economical repair, on account of water ingress. All I can say is that I have never used the phone outdoors in the month that I've owned it so that any water must have come from a steamy kettle or bathroom. All I can say is that the phone is unfit for purpose & so sensitive that it cannot tolerate everyday circumstances.

Completely fed up with a phone that I thought would be a great asset to my working life.

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Reviewer: Julia Kovtoun - US
Date: 25th Sep 2008

I really like the way this phone looks & for the most part it has been pretty reliable & useful. But lately, the keyboard has become unresponsive so I can't do anything at all with the phone. The phone is working but I can't use any keys! Its frustrating. It just stops working whenever it feels like it, it seems.

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Reviewer: Jonathan - Doncaster, UK
Date: 21st Sep 2008

I am on my second one now & still not better, it never has a signal & when it does it decides to switch itself off! Always crashes & randomly decide to delete all my messages every so often! (even though it is set not to).

I would never have this phone again, roll on my contract ending so I can swap it! Also the camera isn't the best & it doesn't record video's. My advise don't buy one!

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Reviewer: Iglesia - Springfield, US
Date: 12th Sep 2008

I wish I had read all these reviews before I purchased my Blackberry. I have had my Blackberry about 2 months.

Pros, sleek design, Smartphone, easy to set alarms, the camera takes excellent pictures & it has a flash which is definitely a plus!

Cons, phone only stores about 2 or 3 days worth of phone calls so if you don't save numbers you won't be able to go back & get the number thus causing you to lose the number.

Also there is a delay when answering calls which is very frustrating to have to say hello several times before the person on the other end can hear me. I couldn't transfer the numbers from my phonebook on my old phone. The rolling ball (trackerball I think it's called) gets stuck & won't move. The screen sometimes freezes & I just have to wait it out till the phone unfreezes. The other day the screen was frozen for almost 30 minutes during which that time I couldn't make or receive any calls or do anything with the phone. Seems a lot of people on here are impressed with how long the battery lasts I on the other hand do not think the battery life is impressive at all. I have to charge my phone about every 10 to 12 hours, whereas my previous phone's charge lasted for 2-3 days so that was definitely an adjustment that I don't like. When I try to check my voicemail the phone doesn't automatically dial the voicemail first it asks me if I want to use line 1 or 2 I am not sure why that happens there may be a way to change it in the settings but if there is a way to change it I don't know how. It's not very easy to change ringers. Lastly the volume doesn't go very high for the ringers. In the past I have always kept my phone's ringer at the lowest level but with the blackberry I have the ringer volume set to the highest level & I still have problems hearing it sometimes.

Basically I feel this phone may be great for some people however it's not the phone for me. I would NOT purchase this phone again.

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Reviewer: Mark - Glasgow, UK
Date: 31st Aug 2008

I am now on my fourth Pearl in 2 years & the reliability is shocking. In every handset the trackball has failed to move in at least one direction. Mine is a company phone & they are going to stop using them due to this problem. My colleagues have all experienced the same problem. Very frustrating.

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Reviewer: Li - Tokyo, Japan
Date: 29th Aug 2008

I quite like the phone, my only complaint is that my trackball moves too easily. I have had to pay out 50 yen over 5 months because the trackball kept going on the Internet!

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Reviewer: Hmc - Ireland
Date: 19th Aug 2008

If you are thinking of buying this phone think again. If Blackberry had any sense they would admit to this phone being utterly useless, not fit for the purpose it was sold, which I am sure could be proven if you were given access to the actual failure rate of the phone.

Problems.
- Software takes it upon itself to do whatever it wants.
- Bluetooth will not pair with anything but a headset.
- Trackerball fails most likely within the fist 2 to 3 weeks, starts by being very unresponsive & most likely fails to operate altogether in at least one direction. It then fails to work as a select button.
- Volume button on side fails in also one direction so it either blasts your ear off or you can't hear anything.

All in all, it's about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike!

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Reviewer: Rip - US
Date: 27th Jul 2008

Finally found a place to leave some comments of what I think of this phone. The 8100 trackball freezes all the time. Have to clean it at least once a day. I am not kidding. If you're trying to scroll to your text messages because your trackball won't go from left to right. People look at you like your crazy because they think your playing some sort of phone game. This phone is ridiculously dumb in so many ways.

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Reviewer: Sean - US
Date: 12th Jul 2008

This is the worst phone in the planet. I've had two for about 3 days. I look at the screen & it is either all white or all black. Both of them have done this to me. DO NOT BUY THIS ONE. After paying to unlock & buy the iPhone it's still cheaper. When & if they were to ever break, you just go in & they will give you a new one without asking a question.

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Reviewer: Terry - Shropshire, UK
Date: 10th Jul 2008

They generally only last about 3 months, either the software needs refreshing or buttons fall off or the screen becomes unclear or the Chrome decor falls off. The phone is designed to be left in the office.

The device has two moisture detectors which they use as an excuse to invalidate the warranty. I am afraid it's a rip off. You have to buy four phones a year instead of one.

If you take your phone back within 6 months of issue then the retailer will have to prove physical damage according to the sale of goods act 1979. After 6 months then you have to prove it.

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Reviewer: Sandra - London, UK
Date: 14th Jun 2008

Absolute rubbish, problems after problems. Bluetooth keeps failing, Sat Nav don't work, VERY frustrating. QWERTY keyboard this size is pain.

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Reviewer: Cj - Australia
Date: 14th May 2008

This is the worst phone that I have ever owned I wouldn't recommend this piece of rubbish to anyone. I can't use the blue tooth feature it's never worked, it breaks up when you talk, there's a pause when you answer incoming calls it gives you a delay of about 10 seconds. The video doesn't work this phone is rubbish don't buy it spend your money else were buy a different brand.

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Reviewer: Ian - Melksham, UK
Date: 9th May 2008

Just been forced into having one of these by the company. We did have two devices in my case the Nokia 6230i & an old Blackberry 7230.

The 8100 pearl is a load of rubbish as a phone. There is a total lack of functions on the phone side of it & in my opinion this is a backward step.

Another member of staff keeps missing calls or cutting the callers off we don't yet know how this is happening.

The email side of it is OK as long as you only want to read them trying to use the keyboard is a pain. I am trying to turn off the predictive text at the moment but without success (what a pain in the ass). Much proffered the normal keyboard can't handle having 20 (OK 3) functions for one key life's too short for this device!

The battery has about 1 days use before you have to charge it up.

I have not managed to transfer my phone book from the Nokia to the Blackberry yet as I have far too many numbers to fit on the sim it is proving a problem.

My overall opinion is great looking if you want to appear flash but just a toy in the end with far too many functions.

As a business user I require a good phone & be able to see my emails not interested in all the bolt on's after that.

I did alter the font size so that I could actually see what people were sending me but doing this still does not alter the from the menu font size so it's out with the specs again.

Tried to use the set up wizard but Christmas is coming soon.

Just as a last note I have seen better instruction manuals on how to use a frying pan than came with the Pearl 8100.

I wouldn't know what else to recommend but if you looking for a flash phone forget this one.

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Reviewer: Joe - Devon, UK
Date: 16th Apr 2008

I am now on my third 8100 in the last 12 months. The phone keeps freezing, roller ball stops working quite often, sends blank text messages to people in my address book.

When it works it is really good, but have now had enough of it's problems & I am looking forward to having a new phone.

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Reviewer: David Hoffman - London, UK
Date: 3rd Apr 2008

This is a handset that people prefer as a status symbol. It's great.

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Reviewer: Sharnie - London, UK
Date: 23rd Mar 2008

This phone is a pile of rubbish! It looks good, but that's about it. With my tariff with T mobile I have to pay an extra £10 a month to get the blackberry data package, without it I can't send or receive pic messages, receive Bluetooth items or download ringtones etc from the Internet. Also, people are always texting me & I never receive them!

I hate this phone & am counting down the days till I can get rid!

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Reviewer: Ben - Glasgow, UK
Date: 20th Mar 2008

It was OK. A bit un posh if you ask me I didn't really like it, it needs to be more expensive so I can be posher.

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Reviewer: Alan Dobison - Chathill, UK
Date: 7th Mar 2008

A great compact phone, even a technophobic like me had no trouble steering it up, small & compact it lives up to it's pre launch launch. A must for anybody & everybody.

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Reviewer: Francis - UK
Date: 25th Feb 2008

A great phone. I've been looking to try getting email on my phone but the previous Blackberries were too bulky. This is great for snapping & sending pictures.

It even allows me to open attachements & access Facebook. I saw a review about setting up email which finally convinced me.

Im chuffed I did! Frankie.

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Reviewer: Peter - UK
Date: 22nd Feb 2008

You can now download a patch from Landrover to allow Bluetooth connection to the Freelander2.

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Reviewer: Lily Kinsley - UK
Date: 10th Feb 2008

The WORST PHONE EVER don't BUY IT.

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Reviewer: Keldon - Minneapolis, US
Date: 30th Jan 2008

I absolutely love this phone. I am coming up on a year without any issues other than the need for more memory! I have even completely submerged it on accident (fell in a stream) & it still works fine. Syncing to work & personal email has made life much easier. I can't say enough about this phone.

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Reviewer: Damon Pointon - Birmingham, UK
Date: 21st Jan 2008

I thought it was rubbish, not my phone at all.

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Reviewer: Joseph Thorpe - Spalding, UK
Date: 21st Jan 2008

This phone is very exiting & useful. It does help me with a few of my problems but not all of them.

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Reviewer: Ben - UK
Date: 13th Jan 2008

Not a good phone.

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Reviewer: Siraaj - Netherlands
Date: 30th Dec 2007

I first saw the blackberry phone on an advert on the tube. Thought they portrayed nicely. Always wanted a computer phone. I moved to the Netherlands because of dads job an saw it on contract & so dad said I could get that or the Nokia n73 for a late fourteenth birthday present. I am struggling between the two can anyone help me please. I would be very grateful.

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Reviewer: Paul Jamison - Cardiff, UK
Date: 13th Dec 2007

I was upgrading from a Samsung Z320i to a Blackberry, excellent I thought but nope! Disaster, it started when I found out that I had to upgrade my Hotmail Account to ensure that my Pushed Hotmail E Mails got through, they didn't! My Yahoo & BT Internet accounts worked fine. I then found that Blackberry's Bluetooth is mainly for Headsets only & really does not like my Tom Tom Go 510 Sat Nav Device. Nor did it like connecting with anything other than a Headset. It would Pair with other Bluetooth devices but that's as far as it would go. So all my Photo's, Music etc on the Z3201i could not be transferred without a little bit of effort. I am sorry but this is the 21st Century, life is supposed to be easier than this! The Blackberry just caused too much hassle & went back within 10 days, what to do next? Any suggestions?

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Reviewer: Maria - New Zealand
Date: 13th Dec 2007

I have had to take this phone back three times if happens again they are giving me a new phone. First the screen went out but the phone was still working second time the ball stopped working & would only scroll down left & right & third I turned it off & it wouldn't turn back on & each time they gave me brand new phones. So it wasn't a faulty phone.

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Reviewer: Frank Sullivan - Ireland
Date: 3rd Dec 2007

I have had a problem three times with it dumping data. All non saved data gone, inexplicably. Can be backed up, but you lose some in that process, very annoying. Trackball now won't go up. Now looking for replacement, has anyone else noticed these problems. When it works well, it is great.

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Reviewer: Jeanette - Texas, US
Date: 2nd Dec 2007

It is a nice phone but there a lot of problems the screen will go out, the track ball freezes & will only move the cursor left & right, back falls off easily & it freezes due to actual limited user memory. I am about to receive my fourth battery due to one or several of these problems. My phone has been well taken care of it hasn't been dropped nor has it been wet. I will not replace it with another battery when I upgrade. Haven't had the phone a year yet.

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Reviewer: Founder - Zagreb, Croatia
Date: 26th Nov 2007

After 4 months of using it, only major problem is that it vibrates & then rings. But no vibrate & ring together. Yes, learning curve is steep, there are some problems on BES lookups, but really no major problems.

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Reviewer: Christian - UK
Date: 4th Nov 2007

Without doubt the most unreliable product I have ever used. Shortly will be on my 3rd replacement, problems include.

- No audible ringing tone despite all icons correct.

- Trackerball scrolls down but not back.

- Transmitter automatically switching itself off.

A true lemon of a product in my becoming bitter experience.

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Reviewer: Chris Houghton - Northampton, UK
Date: 25th Oct 2007

A fantastic Smartphone that comes highly recommended. The problems that previous posters have would be solved if they actually knew how to use the thing!
If you are thinking of getting one do so, but learn how to use it properly, consider it more of a computer & less of a phone.

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Reviewer: Gaz - Dublin, Ireland
Date: 23rd Oct 2007

This phone isn't called a smart phone for nothing. Anyone who's used a lot of phones cannot say they've ever seen a phone with so many features & they don't call them crackberry's for nothing. I am addicted to this phone. I even got a free program for creating my own themes. Millions of sites & forums dedicated to this phone where you can download tons of themes, wallpaper, programs. I won't even bring this phone to work with me. Instead I bring my v3x. I love it & anyone who loves technology will love it too. It can also be used as a pda.

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Reviewer: Tine - Kenya
Date: 15th Oct 2007

Why oh why does it not have a radio feature? Looks wise it's cool but it's not easy to navigate through.

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Reviewer: Josh - UK
Date: 1st Oct 2007

It looks cool! It's feature rich but unfortunately vibrates once etc.

As for the comments about people having problems with the lock feature, this is easily overcome by using standby mode which is quicker to activate & deactivate than locking & is a small button on the top of the phone which is unlikely to get accidently pressed whilst in your pocket, meaning the phone will not dial peoples numbers accidently.

The odd keyboard design takes some getting used to but give it a day or two & its natural.

Overall, a great phone. Would highly recommend.

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Reviewer: David - UK
Date: 9th Sep 2007

Had this phone almost a week, & have to say it's the most complete handset I've ever used. I've been through Samsungs, Sonys, Nokias (including the 9500 communicator which is just SLOW) & nothing comes even close. Messaging is top notch, the email facility is just seamless & you'll be up & running in no time, just make sure you get it with a blackberry Internet service, or you'll wonder what all the fuss is about otherwise. Battery life is very good, signal strength is brilliant everywhere. In all the places where I had dead spots with my last 2 phones this keeps signal & even a GPRS link going without a hiccup. The only downside I can think of is that sometimes it could be possible to make an emergency call while the phone is in your pocket, although you'd have to be pretty unlucky to manage it.

All in all it's lightweight, looks neat & sophisticated, & will wow all your friends. Admittedly most will say 'it's a black what? Who makes those? I have shown a few people my handset, & one has even gone out & swapped his Sony P990 for one after 20 minutes of using mine.

If you're thinking of getting one of these phones, get one. You'll never want another phone again after this one, apart from another blackberry maybe in a few years :-)

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Reviewer: Chris - Exeter, UK
Date: 31st Aug 2007

I have really tried hard but I just can't get on with this phone. I run a small business & thought it would be a great asset but I keep missing calls as it doesn't always ring! I have done a reset but can't seem to get control of the damn thing. It is light & quite tough but other than that it rubbish. I have now bought a Qtek9100 a bit big but just what I need.

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Reviewer: William Faulkner - Manchester, UK
Date: 30th Aug 2007

I am astounded at the negative reviews here. I've been using a Pearl for a year & wouldn't contemplate going back to a Windows Mobile or Symbian device.

It's incredibly cheap to run (on BIS) compared to non-RIM devices, & after the initial learning curve quick & easy to use. Almost every single negative thing I've read here is addressed by upgrading to the latest firmware. Only thing it's missing is wireless networking.

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Reviewer: Louise - Birmingham, UK
Date: 30th Aug 2007

I have had this phone for 3 months, & absolutely love it! I'd never had a blackberry before but I found it very easy to set up & to use. I love the menu, & the way it is very customisable. I did notice a slight glitch with the trackball muting the phone from ringing but having lost my pearl & getting a new one on insurance the updated software has fixed this problem. It stores many messages & memory is not a problem because it comes with a memory card & there is a slot for expansion. The trackball makes navigation exceptionally easy & the speaker is of good quality. I am very impressed with the amount of messages the phone stores too! I believe I currently have about 5000 stored & there is plenty of space left. Being able to back up the address book & messages to the computer is very useful; especially when I lost my phone & was able to seamlessly transfer the data that had been on my previous phone to my new one. The security is excellent, I had no worries about people being able to use my data on my old phone as I had it password protected & encrypted. It's sturdy too; I've dropped it numerous times & it still works perfectly. & what's more, it looks beautiful. An AMAZING phone.

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Reviewer: Jimmy - London, UK
Date: 17th Aug 2007

My only real gripe with this phone is that whenever I get an email it unlocks itself. As I get email all day, it is constantly dialing people from my pocket. I like the phone, but beware of this annoyance!

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Reviewer: Justin - UK
Date: 14th Aug 2007

I am on my 4th Pearl in 8 months, the last 3 phones have been replaced due to a combination of errors.

1. Keyboard completely locking up, resetting doesn't resolve the problem.

2. Whilst on charge & untouched, the pearl started randomly dialing numbers from my address book including a work colleagues mobile in Panama!

The phone I am taking back this morning has locked up but only after sending 12 replies to an email I was trying to open before I could rip the battery out of it! A real shame as on paper & when it works well it is a great phone, but the software problems this phone have make it a reliability disaster. Stay well away.

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Reviewer: Ross Dumigan - Cork, Ireland
Date: 21st Jul 2007

This Phone is absolutely RUBBISH! I have always had Nokia phones but felt I need something more advanced & was persuaded to buy this phone. However I found the phone very badly put together in relation to its software & usability. When you use vibrate the phone vibrates for 10 seconds before it rings. Whoever thought this up should be fired as calls are IMPORTANT for the type of people who use this phone. Bottom line I have bought the new Nokia E70 it is an outstanding phone & 1000 times better than the blackberry pearl. Do not buy this phone it you will regret it after a few days. Take my advice go for the Nokia E70 it's a great phone.

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Reviewer: John Paul - US
Date: 16th Jul 2007

I bought this Pearl based on the many positive reviews. It's a pretty good telephone & has some useful features, but if you are going to buy it for PDA features, I would think twice. The device touts 64MB of flash memory. I found in my Pearl that 57MB of the 64MB is full of pre-loaded programs & other worthless junk that can't be deleted. For instance, none of the pre-loaded ring tones can be deleted & there is a bunch of them. Only newly downloaded ring tones can be deleted. That's not all. There are several pre-loaded pictures & a sample video file that can't be deleted. Then there is a sample music file, that can't be deleted. Some of these files are huge. Like I am going to sit around all day & listen to the sample music file & watch the sample video file that is pre-loaded that I can't delete, sure! Here's more: the promo's say you can sync contacts, calendar entries, tasks, & memos. What they don't tell you is you need 3rd party programs, such as Lotus or Outlook, to do that. This is not a Palm that has a very useful desktop manager program that allows you to make entries to any of those programs from your desktop PC & then sync them to your device. The promo material for the Pearl also tells you that you can view Microsoft documents. Sure you can if you subscribe to your carriers data plan & have email capabilities. You can then save any documents that are attached to the email & view them on the Pearl. At present there is no way that I have found to download Microsoft doc's to your Pearl from your PC. Documents-to-Go, a program that allows you to download & edit Microsoft doc's with a Palm, is developing a program for Blackberry. It's not due out until later in 2007, & then it will probably have the $49 price tag, as they do for Palm. Learning curve is quite intense for a novice. Pearl comes with no printed manual. You have to use the.pdf file manual for reference. If you run into a real problem, Blackberry will charge you for tech support. Picture quality with the built in camera falls short as well. All in all the Pearl is a major disappointment for me.

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Reviewer: Helen Booth - North Yorks, UK
Date: 10th Jul 2007

I run my own business & as I have no staff I need a mobile office & this is exactly what the Blackberry Pearl provides.

It is fantastic - allows me to keep in touch with all my customers & suppliers regardless of where I am in the world, couldn't run my business without it.

I have not had any problems with the back falling off or anything being deleted, the trackball makes the phone easy to navigate & a QWERTY keyboard means that it is very quick & easy to write emails.

Only slight problem is the 3 second delay from other mobiles but I have been assured that this is being resolved.

If you need a business tool then this is the best, however, if you want MP3, games etc then maybe this isn't the phone for you.

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Reviewer: Ciaran Nevin - Dublin, Ireland
Date: 10th Jul 2007

There is one problem with the Pearl, the option to keep calendar appointments for your choice of time is not available & when you sync with outlook it will remove all appointments older than 3 months.

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Reviewer: Rubidubi - US
Date: 9th Jul 2007

I've had this phone for about 6 months & the phone is very well made. I have dropped it MANY times & amazingly it still looks good (except I am missing the 2 key) but as for the camera, & MP3, they're good for a blackberry but notice I said 'for a blackberry' because compared to other devices the entertainment features are inferior. But as a blackberry this phone is a revolution. The UI, messaging, & networking capabilities are OUTSTANDING especially for its size. So basically if you see multimedia as a top priority then this phone's not the best choice. But if you want a solid, professional phone with a few added multimedia features then look no further. Did I mention how sleek it looks?

P.S. the info about the phone on this site says it has a video recorder which is DEFINETLY NOT TRUE and the video play back is a joke.

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Reviewer: Phil - Australia
Date: 5th Jul 2007

Hey, I just got my blackberry 8100 pearl 2 days ago. I have already had problems with it. Problems include not being able to transfer data via Bluetooth from other phones. I put in a 256MB SD memory card, & filled it up with pictures & music, the phone seems to not be able to handle it as it freezes up for hours.

I couldn't transfer my address book from my previous phone, & I had over 100 contacts in, so it was a bit of a pain in the neck to put them in manually.

As a modern day phone I don't think this is worthy of the price tag. My brother bought a Nokia N73. The phone works great in all ways. I recommend that phone.

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Reviewer: Steve - London, UK
Date: 30th Jun 2007

Stunning phone. Light, full of features, easy to use, good looking, camera, e-mail. Excellent!

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Reviewer: Ivona - London, UK
Date: 29th Jun 2007

I like this phone its so much fun.

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Reviewer: John - Melbourne, Australia
Date: 16th Jun 2007

I've had my BB since end of March & extremely happy with it. In fact for business use I cannot comprehend most of the negative views here. Once you get the hang of the BB intuitive text you can type up lengthy emails very quickly. Not sure if it would be much quicker on a normal computer. My emails come to the BB before my desktop. For someone who travels or is into customer service you are no longer chained to the desktop. Battery life when you consider what is going on (email, text & phone is not bad). Once you set up the connection with your desktop (supplied USB cable in my case) copied across images is very simple. Setting up the email access to up to 10 accts is child's play. The trackball in the middle of the phone is fabulous.

Only prob I have in the early stages is getting all my Outlook contacts in. I have about 1700. So far it seems to call it a day after the first 700. Not sure if it is a room problem as some of the contacts have a lot of notes on them.

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Reviewer: Ignatius - London, UK
Date: 10th Jun 2007

This phone is so poor & I really regret having got it. It cannot even perform its primary function as a modern phone.

To start off with I couldn't transfer my old phonebook straight from the old phone to the Pearl via Bluetooth. Knowingly a sales man later told me the function is only for connecting the headset & not data transfer. There isn't any infra-red.

There seems to be a delay when you answer a call & I am sick of repeating my greeting around three times before it gets transmitted to a caller.

The phone only stores about 3/4 day's worth of call logs, extremely irritating to lose caller's numbers.

The hands-free (loudspeaker) is so poor I cannot use it in my car.

Each time you get a call while your phone is locked, it unlocks it & you have to re-lock it. Normally this is a simple hard button operation on other phones, but with this smartphone you have to scroll around, find the icon & use it.

When you are on a call you will miss another coming through, & get a visual notification afterward (or voicemail service call). With all my old phones there was a vibration or an audible notification of the extra incoming call.

Not that it matters that much but the audible keytones seem to stop if you key in at a faster rate.

The address book lodges at the last entry accessed, so you have to exit to the start & search from there. Very helpful, as if you will always look for the same number.

Yes it may have good ability for data storage, but so does a £5 flash disk.

If you like to struggle with a mobile phone, get a Blackberry Pearl.

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Reviewer: Steve - Newcastle, UK
Date: 6th Jun 2007

I am one of these people who thinks that I know tech better than I do & with this in mind this is so easy to set up took me an hour for everything & I haven't looked back since.

Please be aware that I use this as only data no phone functions & as such the review is based on that.

As the price is coming down I would advise any one to go for this & not the Sony p990 (which I had post this item) which is so bad.

Fantastic bit of kit takes a bit of getting used to but that is the same as any new phone/pda/comp. But when you do get happy with it is great.

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Reviewer: JP - Manchester, UK
Date: 5th Jun 2007

Had the device for about 5 days & what a piece of kit. It is so useful in the e-mail option & there are some spot on deals out there talk plan wise. Not much more detail from me but I would take issue with some of the people posting negatives about it & talking about it like it is a phone. No point in comparing like for like as it is not a phone & if you had done your research before obtaining one, you would have saved some time. If you want a really easy to use adaptable communicator that works all over the globe then crack on & buy one!

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Reviewer: Aoife - Dublin, Ireland
Date: 4th Jun 2007

I love this phone BUT I am on my third phone since last December.

Problems:- Two of the phones had faulty software & started to delete the emails & text messages. I just received an SMS message five minutes ago & it's already disappeared!

Synchronising:- None of the phones have properly sync'd my address book from Microsoft Outlook. I have approximately 450 contacts & 132 only ever transfer over. I am sick as beta testing this option to see why they won't transfer over & I have had no luck with my Data Support team.

Back cover:- Falls off easily. I nearly died when I read that one of the reviewers were charged over $90 for a new one!

Otherwise, I love everything else about it. However, I am going to upgrade to the 8300 next month!

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Reviewer: Suchet - UK
Date: 3rd Jun 2007

The phone looks beautiful & I was impressed with it for about a day - Once the initial impression of using the pearl controller & the elegant feel of the handset passes over - I found that there wasn't much software available on the phone & it had very limited features.

I downloaded a couple of games & it started to crash - the Internet browser was not very good either but in terms of what it can do I wasn't that impressed anyway. There is no video recording facility on it - the camera on the handset isn't that impressive anyway.

The Push email is nice - but this phone can't compete with the number of elegant looking. I sent the Blackberry Pearl back to Orange & got a beautiful white HTC 3600 (SPV M700) instead.

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Reviewer: Al Hal - London, UK
Date: 31st May 2007

My company got me this as an upgrade from my old Blackberry. What a world of difference! This is like the sleek daughter borne from a bloated, middle-aged business man. It fits in my pocket & I am not actually ashamed to take it out & play with it!

I think many reviewers on this site are used to regular mobile phones & haven't been Blackberry users in the past. Blackberries are very different beasts from your average mobile, but once you learn how to drive them, they deliver unparalleled performance.

Texting is so simple & the predictive text dictionary seems to have infinitely more words that an average mobile's. Also, there are more keys & symbols available on the keypad than an average mobile's.

Emailing is just as easy, although I am sure setting it up is a bit of a pain. Thankfully, my company's IT guy gave it to me completely set-up & ready to roll, so I didn't have to deal with that headache.

As a welcome bonus over old blackberries, the Pearl has a 1.3MP camera. While there are phones out there with 3.2 & even 5MP, this does the job & is more than enough if you're using this phone for business purposes.

It also has MP3 capabilities, which is an improvement to previous Blackberry models. Again, while not as good as an iPod, at least you have the option to play some songs when you're on the train ride back home from a business trip.

Finally, the best thing about the Pearl is the new trackball. Having the ability to scroll left & right as well as up & down makes this much easier to navigate than old Blackberries.

However, as with all Blackberries, menus are not always intuitive to navigate as there are so many functions. On average, it takes me a few minutes at least to figure out how to turn certain functions on & off.

Also, I am still incapable of sending pictures & music via Bluetooth between this & my Samsung U600. It simply will not accept files, even though I have turned the file acceptance option on. After fiddling for over an hour, I've completely given up on this. I used to hate my Blackberry in the past, but the new size, look & features in the Pearl means I no longer leave the office without it.

P.S. I have had no issues whatsoever with the back panel falling off. It seems pretty robust to me!

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Reviewer: Brian - Fremont, Ca, US
Date: 29th May 2007

This phone is a great phone I've had it for 2 months now & I am not sure why so many people have experienced problems with it. The back cover of my phone has never fallen off. It's very convenient to text with because even though you don't get a full keypad like the 8800, wordsmart on the phone guesses words for you, or you can pick which word using the mouse scroll.

It is excellent for media. The phone itself doesn't have much memory, but if you purchase a memory card you can watch movies on it & the quality is very good. For 1.3 mega pixels the pictures are very nice as well. At first it's kind of complicating to figure out, but once you get the hang of it becomes so easy to use. Instantly add/remove videos & pictures & music for example (as long as their in the correct format, provided within the booklet). & YES, you must read the booklet & I suggest you go on blackberry forums online to get the most out of your phone. The only bad thing is that you'd think with a camera phone you could record videos, but you can't & also there isn't a 3.5 mm jack so you need to buy the headset. Also the volume for music & videos can't go very high.

I like the blackberry maps feature. I use it to get directions if I need to. Applications that come in handy are also tasks, calendar, & blackberry messenger. It's cool because it's like a mini computer in a phone. All the applications are so easy to access- you just scroll to it. & doing whatever you want with the phone is quick & easy like texting, taking pictures, looking for contacts.

The only problem I have with the phone is that I am not quite sure what applications you can add to it. The booklet says you can add programs to it, but doesn't say which ones or how to do that, whereas the 8300 enables you to put programs like Microsoft Word on it.

I suggest you buy a case / screen protector for your blackberry since you paid so much for it! They only go for about $5 on eBay.

The phone works great. I've never had a more clear sounding phone than this in my calls it literally sounds like the person's voice that I am hearing in person. There is a keyboard lock to avoid making calls within your pocket too. It took me about 3 weeks to fully understand it & now I am able to use all the features on the phone. It's great! I give it a 9/10.

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Reviewer: Matt Smith - Coventry, UK
Date: 27th May 2007

Why won't it hook up with the new Freelander2. Either Blackberry or Landrover have got this wrong but it is a real downer when you are on the road & have an integrated phone system that you can't use!

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Reviewer: Unhappy User - UK
Date: 25th May 2007

I really can't stand the BlackBerry. I have been forced one by my company & had nightmares ever since. I am in a team of three & all of us have had problems. My center Pearl keeps latching, my bosses' one kept deleting the last numbers & emails & my senior engineers keeps cutting calls as you remove it from the Holster!

AVOID ONE AT ALL COSTS!

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Reviewer: Mwest - UK
Date: 25th May 2007

I have found the BB pearl to be the best of the bunch, easy to use & nice to look at with all the capabilities you need.

There are some drawbacks though:

- Its not as robust as the other BB's
- the back cover is flimsy & falls off easily
- Battery life could be better
- We had problems on the Vodafone network in that you can't hear the first 3 secs of an incoming call

Anyone else experienced this?

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Reviewer: Valerie - Union, US
Date: 17th May 2007

I loved this phone! It was so great. Until I dropped it into water & is now completely useless. You would think that it would be a little more durable for the price. I had a Samsung phone which also fell into water. It was fine the next day & a lot cheaper.

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Reviewer: Lllla - Kent, UK
Date: 13th May 2007

This phone is so rubbish, I don't own one but I work in mobile phone repair centre & the amount we have in is unreal so expensive to repair as well, its £99.88 to have a replacement back cover! Don't buy one you'll regret it!

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Reviewer: Baz - London, UK
Date: 9th May 2007

Can anyone please tell me how can I configrate the Pearl to read & type in Arabic? I have emailed Blackberry but unfortunately they did not email me back!

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Reviewer: Joe - N J, US
Date: 19th Apr 2007

This phone is bad, I can get it to play any video it won't read music off my memory card but when I plug the card into the comp direct the songs are on it. The key board is too small. I am using my 7100 because this phone is so bad.

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Reviewer: Stu - Portola Hills, California, US
Date: 10th Apr 2007

Works well as a phone, also excellent for e-mail. The biggest problem I have found is the lock/un-lock feature where you can inadvertently place an emergency call when trying to remove the phone from its holster. I have had the phone for 2 months & have already made 4 accidental emergency calls. Had I known about this problem ahead of time I wouldn't have purchased it.

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Reviewer: Paul Jennings - Birmingham, UK
Date: 24th Mar 2007

I thought the overall usage & features of the phone were great, this was my first blackberry/smart phone & was I quite impressed, the camera quality could have been better, but with all the other features built in, it is a good compact & stylish phone.

My only problem was I lost it within a couple of days of buying it, good job I took out the insurance, there is some lucky person out there with MY brand new phone.

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Reviewer: Richard Zalan - Melbourne, Australia
Date: 21st Mar 2007

Great phone. I've had the phone for about a week & started to appreciate it more & more. The menu system is a bit different from all other phones, but ones you learn it, it's a breeze. Has everything you need in a smartphone: contacts, calendar, emails, web browsing. Etc.

It makes me angry, when reading so many mobile phone reviews, people like to talk about MP3's, mega pixels, movies. WOW ! Hey, get real, it is a PHONE (you use it to make phone calls), buy a camera if you want, iPod or whatever it would satisfy your 'techno-cratic' expectations.

The Pearl has exactly what you need in a phone. It has some weak points though, the major one is the battery cover - it has a tendency to easily unlock itself & drop off. There are some different types of 'skins' & cases available on the market which can protect the phone & still maintain its usability.

When I bought it first (2 weeks ago) & found out that you need to be on an 'email plan' I've returned it back to the shop, but few days later I have realised that there are no other phones like this one, so I got it again.

Overall score - Pearl has great features, good size, good battery life - all I need from a business phone.

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Reviewer: Stevie - UK
Date: 16th Mar 2007

OK, well I aint really ever owned a smart phone before. I did have a Motorola A100 (bad phone). I actually just purchased a Blackberry pearl, i am looking forward to it. The cons for me would be no Wi-Fi & no 3.5mm headphone jack, which most phone doesn't, so its not really that bad, just that I would have abandoned my sennheisers headphones aside. Well when my one actually arrives, I give another proper review on it.

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Reviewer: Abdulsahin - Yarak Mahalesi, UK
Date: 13th Mar 2007

This phone is rubbish.

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Reviewer: Emma - Newport, Wales, UK
Date: 28th Feb 2007

I have never really been interested in the blackberry series before as I always thought they were big & ugly & not suitable to me but that all changed when I seen the pearl & my what an amazing phone it is too. It slim, sleek & very user friendly.texting on it is an absolute joy as it recognises the strangest words first time. The screen is clear & bright. Sound quality excellent & loud too.

For a 1.3 mega pixel camera I think the shots you get are fairly decent. The emailing facility is amazing & very easy to set up on there, now I can get access to all my emails on the go. The battery life on it is also pretty decent lasting me a good five hours talk time & three days standby which is pretty good compared to most models of phones out at the moment. he only niggle I have is that the fact when you want to remove the memory card it means that you have to switch off the phone & take it out of the back as its stored behind the battery but its not the end of the world.

Overall I absolutely love this phone & its my favorite one I have ever had, also I love the fact that not many people have this phone or have even seen it so when I take it out people comment on it & it always feels like I have a new phone because of the rarity of it. Buy this phone its ace.

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Reviewer: Tony Dodd - Norfolk, UK
Date: 27th Feb 2007

I have only had the phone a week, but the back keeps falling off. How can I stop this happening, the last time it fell off it broke, can I get a replacement, already using adhesive tape to hold it on.

Regards Tony Dodd.

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Reviewer: Maurice Hubert - UK
Date: 21st Feb 2007

Information please, could someone post on the site what sat nav you can get as 02 seem to think the pearl will not allow this?

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Reviewer: Jagjit Galsin - Bedford, UK
Date: 16th Jan 2007

The Blackberry Pearl, is a very versatile device in the sense that its capable of being a Phone, Multimedia player, Messaging ( MMS, SMS & E-mail Both work & personal ) & now with my recent software installation of GPS Navigation, this is an all in one device that negates the need to carry 3 separate items ( Phone, Blackberry & GPS Navigation devices ).

I have been really happy since I have had it as I wanted a smartphone with all these capabilities but none from the major players that actually fit the bill.

The design is supreme, easy to use trackball design & the whole device is slim & very attractive.

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Reviewer: Gareth - UK
Date: 29th Dec 2006

Not quite sure what some of these previous reviewers were on about, or at least, if you are going to say something is 'bad' & that you had to return it within 1 day, SAY WHY!

This was my first foray into BlackBerry territory & I have to say I am very pleased. Yes, it does take a little getting used to (keyboard layout, menu options etc) when compared to a regular mobile phone, but after a couple of days moderate use it really is more than intuitive, especially with the trackball.

On-the-go access to email is great - all I need is the ability to scan through emails, respond etc. I really don't buy anyone wanting to work on full-blown attachments on a handheld device (e.g. XDA) - tiny screen relative to a laptop, ditto for keyboard. My view: if it's that important, do it on your laptop!

Works well with Bluetooth headsets & car kits, syncing with Outlook works - this is a first for me, especially when compared to Windows Mobile devices. Not much more to say really.

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Reviewer: Mohan - Chennai, India
Date: 25th Dec 2006

WANT MMS GPRS SETTINGS FOR THESE MODEL IMMEDIATELY.

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Reviewer: Nikki - UK
Date: 21st Dec 2006

Why would any one in their right mind want to buy this phone, it is bad & ugly & is one of the worst phones ever. I received it as a present & took it back the next day because it was so bad! WHY DOES anyone WANT THIS PHONE! A ANGRY & CONFUSED BUYER!

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Reviewer: Mark - Hull, UK
Date: 4th Dec 2006

Once you get used to the Keyboard layout, then this is one of the best mobile devices you will find. The new trackball feature is excellent, making email & Internet navigation very simple. It is a great upgrade from the other BlackBerry devices which are a little bulky & slow. The camera could have been better but who actually uses the camera after the first week anyway!

Great review btw George, comparing a mobile phone to a BlackBerry. Ah well, I suppose we are all entitled to our own opinion?!

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Reviewer: Anom - Madrid, Spain
Date: 29th Nov 2006

The blackberry pearl 8100 is a sleek & stylish phone. It's incredibly useful in all aspects of the use of a phone. Its camera zoom is handy while being fantastic in its use.

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Reviewer: George - Hull, UK
Date: 27th Nov 2006

The phone is the ugliest phone I have ever seen usability was poor as the when I pressed 1 it came up as 7 so sent it back after one day & went back to my Samsung zm60 which is the best thing ever!



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