Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 71
 An iPhone killer? October 13, 2007
Larry Levine (Studio City, CA United States)
22 out of 24 found this review helpful
OK - this phone is not perfect. But I am very happy I added two years to my sentence with TMO and upgraded to the curve. Not only has RIM improved on the blackberry interface but the ability to add a microSD card (I added 4gigs) makes it a great media player. Now, I know it does not come close to the interface of an iPod, but seriously who cares! Using Missing Sync I was able to sync a playlist directly from iTunes and a photo book directly from iPhoto! It supports stereo bluetooth (something the iPhone doesn't) and it has an actual keyboard which is something that comes in handy if you type a lot of SMS, emails or use the internet on your phone.
At home the curve connects to my home network and gets me off that painful EDGE network for data and VoIP. This has also come in handy in office buildings where reception on TMO's network was not adequate.
The only thing that really bugs me is that the camera is very slow taking pictures.
I highly recommend this device!
Best Blackberry yet October 7, 2007
Kayli (North Carolina)
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
I was never a blackberry believer until now. I have had both a sidekick II (i'm telling my early 20's age) and a MDA and loved both, but I always need a step up to swtch phones. The blackberry really is a step up from my MDA. I usethis phone for both work and pleasure.
The Camera: Best I've ever had on a cell phone. It takes decent pictures when you are trying to capture the moment, though it does need a lot of light because the flash doesn't do much.
THe phone: the call quatlity is great, especially on the wifi. It's about like calling at home.
The email: unmatched, I guess this is why the blackberry is so well known, the email is litereally instant.
IM: Instant messaging was great, though I was suprised by the size of the keyboard, I am used to a spacious keyboard because of my time with the sidekick and the mda. It took a little getting used to and even though I am a woman with small hands, I still make mistakes which I didn't do on my other two phones.
The only problems I have is that the included memory is extremely small, I have to take pictures off of the camera to make room for new pictures, and t does not have space for even one mp3 so I cannot test that feature until my memory card comes in. I also wish that the phone would come with GPS. I miss that when I am following directions, but the blackberry maps will do. If you r are considering buying, try wirelessbuy.com. It's be free after rebates with 50 dollars out of pocket.
Excellent phone; smaller than expected October 29, 2007
D. Loisel (Chicago, IL United States)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
Been using the phone for 5 days now and I love it. No problems yet. Thus far, I really like:
*very small and light
*excellent call quality (better than my previous Nokia)
*bright, clear screen
*relatively quick navigation between screens
*stereo headphones and carrying case included in package
*excellent T mobile customer service (they helped me fix a problem I had installing the blackberry desktop software)
The only cons I can think of right now are:
*have to buy a microSD card to store media
*sometimes the phone lags between screens (as all computers do)
*battery life may be an issue after busy days
*can't get bluetooth to work with my computer (most likely due to the computer, not the phone)
I was choosing between the iPhone and the curve. After borrowing an iPhone and playing with the Curve in the store, I chose the Curve for it's functionality and lesser price. I'm very happy with the decision.
Best Ever Used!!!!! February 19, 2008
T. Wilson
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
So far I've used the Audiovox SMT5600, Treo 650, Cingular 8125 and most recently the AT&T 8525 and the Curve is hands down the best of all of them. I've never used Blackberry before and its astonishing how simple and ingenious the OS is compared to Windows. Like me, most of us gravitate towards WM because we're used to using Windows on our PCs, but its mind boggling how much more efficient the Blackberry OS is. I wonder if the Mac OS is this much superior to Windows?????
Anyway, its smaller than all the phones above, has better sound and types easier. I was a little concerned about no touchscreen, but in my opinion it actually makes the phone more efficient - instead of always having to reach up to tap the screen you quickly get used to using keyboard shortcuts. The trackball took about 30 minutes to get used to but now its like second nature. Its also much faster between screens than the WM devices, probably because its not bogged down by such a GUI intense OS.
One of the most useful items is the All-in-One inbox - you can view your messages in the program that received them like in windows (ie go into outlook for email, SMS for texts, MMS for picture messages, etc), or use the more paowerful everything inbox that shows every message you receive in a single inbox - Text, MMS, IM, email from all your accounts and even voicemails. And the inbox is activated by the default button on the side so with one press I can see, read, and respond to every message I have received through any service.
The other thing I love is the type from homescreen. I'm not sure what they call it, but from your homescreen you can start typing any number or name and it will automatically look up the contact from your address book or dial if its a new number. The OS automatically decides if it should be numberic or alpha so you don't have to shift to use the number keys on the keyboard or go into your address book to look someone up. Then from there you can call, text, IM, etc. the person.
They've also incorporated a lot of what should be obvious typing features, like recognizing when you're typing a number versus a letter and automatically doing it instead of you having to press the ALT key. Or recognizing you are typing an email address and it does the same thing with the @ symbol so you don't have to look it up. It even has spellcheck for messages. I know these sound like "no-brainers", but the other devices lacked this simplicity.
Email was ridiculously easy to set up and has workied flawlessly from day one. Compared to WM a child could set up their email on this phone!
I saw that some reviews said the camera quality wasn't that great, but mine seems to take great pics, better than my 8525.
I've never written a review before but I'm so excited about this phone I had to speak up. Good luck!
Strongly recommended! April 13, 2008
M. P. Daniels (Denver, CO United States)
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
This is an almost perfect phone. It's rare these days to have an electronic device perform as it has been expected to, but this is one of them. It does everything well that it is supposed to do. The UMA wifi technology works flawlessly with T-mobile's service. I did not obtain one of t-mobile's routers, and I had no trouble with connecting whatsoever. I have a Buffalo WHR-G54 and did not have to change any of its settings to get it to work. My friend has a newer Netgear router and I was able to connect to it with any trouble or settings changes either. It picks up UMA when I'm near a Starbuck's hotspot (that service will soon be dropped). When I make a call at home on UMA and then leave the house, the call switches over transparently 9 times out of 10. The build quality is excellent and the phone is solid. The speaker can be VERY loud or soft, which is a huge plus. This phone has superb audio quality for both voice and ear. It has the best microphone/speech audio quality and best hearing audio quality of any phone I have had for the past 15 years.
This phone is my first Blackberry and I've been extremely impressed with the software that makes it a Blackberry. Writing SMS, MMS, and Email is extremely easy, and it's really nice to have the autotext feature. I have mine set up with three email accounts: one is through gmail and one is through Outlook Web Access from work. I was really surprised that the OWA would work with the Blackberry system - I'm even able to send messages out from it! I never thought I would want or care about push email, but it is really fantastic.
I strongly recommend downloading the Google Maps application. Though this phone does not have GPS, Google Maps is able to determine where you are within 1000 feet or so based on your signals with the cell towers. It really works well, and the search and find features are extremely useful.
I use my Blackberry's media features to listen to music and also to watch videos. It does not have the H.264 codec, but it will play other video files - you can find information on-line on how to convert videos into playable files on the Blackberry. It's rumoured that the next OS will have this capability, along with the ability to create video from the handheld. It currently only has a camera, not a camcorder feature.
The camera works well and takes good pictures for a phone. I have had an LG and a Samsung phone with cameras and the Curve is 10x better in camera quality.
I also recommend downloading the Opera Mini web browser to use instead of the default Blackberry browser. OM is much better.
My only real complaint with my Blackberry Curve is that it only comes with one alarm. I have used the multiple alarm features in my previous phones extensively, and this is the only thing I view as a step back with this phone. I was able to purchase an application called Mobylo Multi-alarm which has so far worked flawlessly and gives me 5 alarms, but it was almost $30, which is over-priced.
The Curve comes with its own "holster" which is made of leather and is attractive and useful. It has a magnet in it which the unit uses to determine if it's holstered. This has been an extremely useful feature. As a result, you do not need to purchase any other cover or container for it. However, don't let it set next to your credit cards. I haven't had any erased, but it the holster is definitely magnetic.
The Curve has AMAZING bluetooth. Paired with a good headset, it has a long range and the connection quality is superb. The Curve also has a very sensitive radio/antenna for both Wifi and GSM, and is better than any phone I've ever had since my Nokia 8200 (a long time ago!) People who say that LG or Samsung or Motorola phones have good connection quality have no idea what it's like to use a phone like the Blackberry Curve - I will never be able to go back.
The synchronization feature of the Curve works very well with Outlook on my computer. It is also able to synch with Yahoo, though this is more primitive. Using the Blackberry Desktop Manager that comes with the phone, you can also completely 100% back up your phone so that you can reinstall things or have your data if the phone is lost. The Curve handset also has the ability to lock and encrypt data so that no one else can use it. I have had the Desktop Manager crash on me several times. It has a conflict with the Tivo 2.3a software - I have to disable to the Tivo software to use the Blackberry manager.
The Blackberry charges with a mini-usb connection, which means that you can charge it using your computer. I also have a bluetooth headset that charges usb, so both chargers work with both units - very nice.
Finally, T-Mobile (and only T-Mobile) will allow you to "tether" your Blackberry to your laptop. Thus, while I'm on the road I can connect my computer to T-Mobile's network for an internet connection. It connects at 115kbps, which is pretty good for getting things done. Tech-heads complain that TMO's network is too slow, that it needs to be 3G, but I've been happy so far.
I strongly recommend this phone. It is worth every penny!
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