Ratings and Reviews
BlackBerry Pearl 8130 by RIM
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Make uploads, downloads and everything in between happen at the speed of light with Sprint Mobile Broadband. Our BlackBerry Pearl Smartphone is the fastest available today because it's rated for SprintSpeed™. Highlights include: 2MP Camera with Media Player, Slim and Fashionable Design, Speakerphone, Web and Email Capable, Bluetooth Wireless Technology, External display, GPS enabled, Expandable memory card slot, Voice-activated dialing.
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User Reviews
At first I loved the phone also. then i started dropping calls not receiving calls etc... I then found out the downloading music part or streaming is only allowed from sprints website and you have to pay for some of those? At first I loved the phone also. then i started dropping calls not receiving calls etc... I then found out the downloading music part or streaming is only allowed from sprints website and you have to pay for some of those?
I have also had problems with software, the trackball and all the other BS mentioned in the other reviews. As dor the comments that I am stupid for not taking the phone back to Sprint. WELL I HAVE!!! Every time get talked into keeping the phone; if anything proves stupidity its me staying with the phone.
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Get with it Sprint...no MMS?! Worse yet is that the Sprint sales rep lied to me about it; otherwise I would have never bought the phone. I would seriously consider your needs before purchasing this phone. It also freezes up a .... Get with it Sprint...no MMS?! Worse yet is that the Sprint sales rep lied to me about it; otherwise I would have never bought the phone. I would seriously consider your needs before purchasing this phone. It also freezes up a lot and has poor battery life. The factory default mobile network is set to automatic...for me that meant a $300 phone bill the first month. Needless to say, it is likely I won't be a Sprint customer after this contract is up.
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Once I finally figured out how to properly use this phone I was ok with it. I found most of the reviews on here talk about people having issues with messages disappearing or poor battery life. Now the battery does not last as .... Once I finally figured out how to properly use this phone I was ok with it. I found most of the reviews on here talk about people having issues with messages disappearing or poor battery life. Now the battery does not last as long as any other phone I have had but you have to remember this is a SmartPhone or essentially a mini computer and therefore uses more power then a regular phone. Also if you keep apps running and aren't regularly cleaning the memory you are going to start loosing things like texts and emails and have less battery life. Just because you don't see a program on your screen does not necessarily mean it isn't running. You have to make sure you are going to menu and then close to fully and properly close a program. Just hitting end or the back button will not close it and therefore it uses all your memory and then your messages will be erased or not come to your phone at all. While I don't think I will purchase another Blackberry in the future it seems most don't even know how to use it and therefore is giving it bad reviews. I highly recommend going to the Sprint store and talking to them if you are interested in buying this phone that way you can get the proper information and you can learn the correct way of using this phone. Also be aware that Sprint has failed to properly update their network so you cannot use MMS (picture mail) on this phone. That I think is the one thing that upset me the most. Overall it is a decent phone, but if you don't need all the extra stuff you could do better.
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I was so excited when I first got this phone. But now... I am a little discouraged. The battery life is ridiculous. And for some odd reason, it decides when it wants to erase my call log. And I don't receive all my text when .... I was so excited when I first got this phone. But now... I am a little discouraged. The battery life is ridiculous. And for some odd reason, it decides when it wants to erase my call log. And I don't receive all my text when all systems show that I should be receiving them. For the price of this phone and the plan, I feel very cheated and shouldn't be having these types of issues.
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Overall it's a good phone. It's easy to use, but you have to have a bit of a growth with your fingernails to navigate the bottoms while texting. Overall it's a good phone. It's easy to use, but you have to have a bit of a growth with your fingernails to navigate the bottoms while texting.
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This is by far the worst phone that I have had with Sprint. I thought the last phone could never be outdone (motoKrzr), but all I have had are problems with this blackberry. The only thing going for this phone is the look .... This is by far the worst phone that I have had with Sprint. I thought the last phone could never be outdone (motoKrzr), but all I have had are problems with this blackberry. The only thing going for this phone is the look and feel of it. My text messages, emails and call logs are constantly being erased. The phone freezes up constantly while using an application (ie: navigation), and once it freezes up, the only way to reset it is by removing the battery. While resetting the phone it takes easily 5 minutes to re-boot. Just a huge hassle! I thought I was the only one having these issues with the phone, but after reading the reviews on this site, it seems like a problem with nearly 50% of the 8130's out there. It is truly a disgrace to both Sprint and Blackberry that they have not worked out the bugs on this phone. Retail price for this phone was $400 - an outrageous amount for a phone that doesn't work half the time. I have talked several times to both Sprint and Blackberry, but they have yet to find a solution to the problems that my phone are having. I DO NOT recommend this phone to anyone!!!
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Near perfect smart phone. The pearl handles all of my business and personal needs. Everything from email to watching episodes of downloaded tv shows, works seamlessly on this device. Great GPS features like Live Search and .... Near perfect smart phone. The pearl handles all of my business and personal needs. Everything from email to watching episodes of downloaded tv shows, works seamlessly on this device. Great GPS features like Live Search and Sprint Nav and Great Media options like Sprint Music and Stereo Bluetooth. The only con is that it doesn't handle HTML emails, which is ridiculous because every email I get is in HTML. RIM says that they are going to offer HTML email by years end, but that may perhaps be two late. I am also disappointed that the phone can't handle streaming internet radio in mp3 or wmv formats. Great phone, a must buy for multimedia lovers.
Side note: A phone isn't awful if you get a defective one and you are two stupid or lazy to return it to the store and exchange it for a new one. You are awful.
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This phone is only good for skeet shooting. This phone is only good for skeet shooting.
The phone locks up, text messaging stops working because it is always filling up the memory. I have no programs install other than what was pre-installed, but something is filling up the memory. The battery does not hold a charge worth a darn, and this is only having the phone for less then 90 days. The reception is very bad. I live less than one miles as a crow flies from a sprint tower, and my calls cut in and out. I have bad reception is bad even in a major city. Overall, DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE.... IT IS NOT WORTH GETITING FOR FREE OR EVEN PAYING ME TO USE THE PHONE!
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This phone is a great phone to have, if your willing to put time into it. great phone had some problems with it but nothing a little tinkering and research cant fix. mainly the small phone memory causes all the problems .... This phone is a great phone to have, if your willing to put time into it. great phone had some problems with it but nothing a little tinkering and research cant fix. mainly the small phone memory causes all the problems freezes and message history being earased... but freeing up the memorey is easy so in my opion its a perfect phone for the price 10/10!!!
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i bought this phone back in january i believe its the worst one yet!!! everyone that had one said it was a great phone i think they were wrong.T i bought this phone back in january i believe its the worst one yet!!! everyone that had one said it was a great phone i think they were wrong.T
problems: battery life is horrible tends to freeze up alot memory erases it self all the time goes into voice mode by it self there are a couple more things i hate about this phone but i cant really explain it
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OK, initially I loved the phone, pretty easy to learn...the keyboard took a lot of getting used to, but was excited able to get emails, text, etc. Now, the phone is showing it's true glitchy colors...it automatically erases .... OK, initially I loved the phone, pretty easy to learn...the keyboard took a lot of getting used to, but was excited able to get emails, text, etc. Now, the phone is showing it's true glitchy colors...it automatically erases ALL your text messages, call logs and even emails!!!!!!! I am in a position where I need this information for record keeping and it just dissappears -- frequently (1-3 a week!), it hasn't even been 3 months! The functions will also freeze and the I would have to power the phone off and take out the battery to get it back operating normally. I'm very dissappointed with the phone and no one's willingness to take responsiblity for this ineffective product...WOW...thanks SPRINT and BLACKBERRY (by the way you can't even get in touch with BLACKBERRY unless you PAY to talk to them)!
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First the bad news... the battery life isn't all that great... it's good, but it's not great. Especially if you're using the phone to the best of it's advantage, by using all of it's WONDERFUL features! The software gets .... First the bad news... the battery life isn't all that great... it's good, but it's not great. Especially if you're using the phone to the best of it's advantage, by using all of it's WONDERFUL features! The software gets laggy sometimes, and takes a few seconds to catch up, but it's still great.
The good news, it's a WONDERFUL phone and has all the bells and whistles anyone could ask for... except for WiFi.
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Although I have had several PDA phones I like this one the best so far. Although I have had several PDA phones I like this one the best so far.
Pros - 1) There are almost no limitations to what can be done with this phone if you have some time to do some research. 2) The amount of software and features that come with the phone from Sprint is awesome including the Navigation. 3) Form factor and weight is very nice. 4) Very slick predictive text 5) After you learn several of the shortcuts to various functions, it is amazing at how fast you can move around. 6) Many more features that I have yet to tap into. Cons - 1) Although it is a "QWERTY" keyboard layout, many keys are shared. This makes it difficult to do some functions that need special characters when it does not display your entry - IE: a password entry field in some browser web pages. 2) I had a Blackjack before this and I really like the "soft" feel of the exterior instead of the "slick" exterior on this one. 3) The size of the screen - but that is what you get when you want a smaller phone. I highly recommend this phone to anyone with a little bit of techie in them that does not mind spending a little extra time getting to know all of the cool things this little phone can do.
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This is by far the easiest to use, as well as the most capable phone I have ever used. It takes no time to learn the simple fuctions of the phone, and it offers more features than phones that are priced hundreds of dollars .... This is by far the easiest to use, as well as the most capable phone I have ever used. It takes no time to learn the simple fuctions of the phone, and it offers more features than phones that are priced hundreds of dollars more. What I enjoy most is that the phone allows me to send emails and text messages, going back and forth between the two, seamlessly. The buttons, while small and not set up for average keypad users, is easy to read and very fuctional.
However, until you figure out that in order to use the phone in a normal, 8-10 hour day away from home, the battery will die constantly. I had to shorten the time the backlight was lit, then remember to place the phone on standby in order to have enough battery life to make it home. There are times where the trackball won't respond and this will lead to commands being entered twice.This generally happens while surfing the net, so I am not sure if it is the phone or the Internet server. Messages, email and text, tend to delete themselves randomly as well. While having a spirited back and forth via text, my messages were being sent, but I could not receive any. The new message indicator would light, but there would be no message there. This happens way too much to be a minor inconvience, but reconciling seems to fix the prblem right up. The camera and recorder are good, but I have had instances where the recorded events had 'errors' playing back when prompted. If you simply need to use it to take quick, memorable pics and are unconcerned with professional quality, this is an above-average camera for a phone. Pictures are clear and can be zoomed as well as used with a flash. Just don't expect to send picture messages. Unless you send them to an email address. While the batery life can be suspect, the phone goes from dead to fully charged in less than 1.5 hours, which is ridiculous. That is the best thing about the battery: You don't have to wait long for it to be at full capacity. Overall, the phone is above average as far as multi-tasking goes. It handles the fuctions it provides fairly well and does not leave you in a position to not be part of the "in-crowd" which is the very reason we buy new phones in the first place.
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the only reason i got this phone was because my motorola q decided to kick the bucket on me after two years of flawless service (other than the fact that it couldn't send any pictures, which i thought was kind of lame). .... the only reason i got this phone was because my motorola q decided to kick the bucket on me after two years of flawless service (other than the fact that it couldn't send any pictures, which i thought was kind of lame). everything was pretty straight forward as far as general everyday features go. then i get this thing...it looks pretty cool, but that's about it. it's nothing short of an adventure to attempt to navigate through the menus to find exactly what you're looking for. it's no wonder certain states are making it against the law to drive and operate a cell phone without a hands free device. this phone, you literally have to sit down for hours just to do something simple like send a text message. speaking of which, that suretype thing that's on there is garbage. i spend more time correcting it than i do just typing the message. as soon as i figure out how to turn that off, i can forget that it's even on there. it's such a pain to spend ten minutes trying to get that thing to predict what word i want to type. it's so much faster to just spell everything out word for word. i swear i texted a lot faster when i had my first cell phone with the letters on it like a standard house phone. and just to end my rant, why can't we send any pictures in a text message with this phone? most of the other phones sprint carries can, so why can't these? what's the point in having a camera on the phone if you can't send any pictures? i've done a little bit of research and RIM has MMS built in but access to it is blocked. i want the MMS feature. i can send text messages. what's gained by not allowing this and similar phones to send pictures through texts? i'll tell you. nothing. unless you count a disgruntled customer or two...
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I shoul have purchased the regular size blackberry becasue using this phone is like having sandbags tied to your feet and told to run. It looks great, has great voice quality and has some good features. Hard to use and and .... I shoul have purchased the regular size blackberry becasue using this phone is like having sandbags tied to your feet and told to run. It looks great, has great voice quality and has some good features. Hard to use and and the keyboard is so small. This phone is a "No buy".
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Overall all this is a pretty flexible phone with lots of smart features. It's pretty sturdy. I like the email capabilities. It great for someone who functions with email everyday. I like the central location to review call .... Overall all this is a pretty flexible phone with lots of smart features. It's pretty sturdy. I like the email capabilities. It great for someone who functions with email everyday. I like the central location to review call history, emails and SMS. My only gripe is that the bluetooth will deactivate on the phone when the earpiece goes into sleep mode or is out of range. I would have to manually reactivate the bluetooth on the phone to make it work. It's a headache. Bluetooth should be on standby when you're ready to use it. I would like to be able to set up multiple alarms for different occasions; however, this one only have one alarm to set.
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When i first got the blackberry pearl it was good but the battery life kept dieing out and sometimes my phone line would get disconnected when talking to someone because its downloading some security thing or freeze up the is .... When i first got the blackberry pearl it was good but the battery life kept dieing out and sometimes my phone line would get disconnected when talking to someone because its downloading some security thing or freeze up the is the the cons and also mms is not supported. other then that this phone can be helpful but im not complaining as of yet.
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This phone trumps Windows Mobile devices in so many ways. Coming from a Moto Q, I couldn't be happier. This phone does require an additional $30/month that other smart/non-bb phones don't, but you do get unlimited text and .... This phone trumps Windows Mobile devices in so many ways. Coming from a Moto Q, I couldn't be happier. This phone does require an additional $30/month that other smart/non-bb phones don't, but you do get unlimited text and gps with the push email, so it's really not so bad. Although it does make me want to look for a different phone. Additionally, why Sprint still doesn't allow MMS on these phones is beyond ridiculous. Get with it Sprint. We are asking for MMS, not for hologram caller IDs. This is 2008. I was sending picture mail 5 years ago. I will probably switch to the Instinct when it comes out, because of those two issues (no MMS/extra money for the plan).
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This phone doesnt perform basic functions... can not send bulk text to more than one person at a time... can not send a pic to a cell only to an email address... the Blue tooth disconnects itself for no appearent reason... it .... This phone doesnt perform basic functions... can not send bulk text to more than one person at a time... can not send a pic to a cell only to an email address... the Blue tooth disconnects itself for no appearent reason... it only opens pix when it want to... a majot headache so far... and just after my 30 days... its going to be a loooong 2 yrs!
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The keyboard is terrible and I have to reset the phone occasionally to get it to stay in the numeric mode when calling out. I should have purchased the full size keyboard. This phone is fair, I do not recommend. I tried to .... The keyboard is terrible and I have to reset the phone occasionally to get it to stay in the numeric mode when calling out. I should have purchased the full size keyboard. This phone is fair, I do not recommend. I tried to switch to the full size keyboard only after 2 weeks of my 30 day satisfaction period, but Sprint denied my request. Where is the customer service?
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This phone is very difficult to use if you are used to being able to see the keyboard and the numbers! It is very small, hard to read the keyboard and hard to text. The buttons are so close together and tiny that they are .... This phone is very difficult to use if you are used to being able to see the keyboard and the numbers! It is very small, hard to read the keyboard and hard to text. The buttons are so close together and tiny that they are hard to hit one without hitting the one next to it. I'm returning mine for a different phone!
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After having this a month, I'm ready to say that it's a fantastic phone. Reading previous reviews, it's obvious that some people don't take the time to learn their phone before they use it, or don't know how to tell the .... After having this a month, I'm ready to say that it's a fantastic phone. Reading previous reviews, it's obvious that some people don't take the time to learn their phone before they use it, or don't know how to tell the difference between phone issues and carrier issues.
It definitely takes a little time to learn everything, but the phone came with plenty of documentation both on paper and in the phone. It's versatility is stunning. I can watch movies or TV, listen to music, keep up with my appointments and email, find turn by turn GPS directions (an awesome, well delivered featre); I can even remote into my home PC from this phone with third party software. The amount of software that's out there for this phone is incredible. The keyboard takes a little getting used to but SureType is well executed and I was tapping away with confidence after just about two days. I would rate the battery life lower, but it's just a matter of not being lazy and leaving a bunch of programs running. Anyone with half a brain knows that will in almost all cases affect performance, and in some cases, the battery as well. The Pearl is well designed with 2 programmable convenience keys and an extremely cool trackball, which I have had zero problems with after 1 month of extremely heavy use (I'm practically on this thing 19 hours per day). I'm still finding new features with the phone after a month. For instance, today I discovered that the phone interacts with the magnet in the blackberry holster and goes into "holster mode" automatically, reverting to different notification profiles, etc. Voice dialing capabilities are amazing, and need no programming. The email push feature means I almost never check my email on a computer anymore. In fact this phone is so versatile, that I actually find myself resenting the fact that I have to use a big old clunky laptop occasionally. ha! There's a lot too this phone and I could go on a long time. Suffice it to say that this is truly a very smart phone.
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good phone.some fix need to be made.. call log erase and text message also..thats the sorry thing about it.sometimes i loose my call log and my texts good phone.some fix need to be made.. call log erase and text message also..thats the sorry thing about it.sometimes i loose my call log and my texts
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LOVE LOVE LOVE!! I originally bought the Mogul and quickly switch to the Blackberry 8130. The phone is durable, slim, light, easy to use and fun. The camera take great quality pictures ( for a phone ). The only thing I would .... LOVE LOVE LOVE!! I originally bought the Mogul and quickly switch to the Blackberry 8130. The phone is durable, slim, light, easy to use and fun. The camera take great quality pictures ( for a phone ). The only thing I would change is I would like to have more than one alarm. However there are many programs you can get for free that have up to 12 alarms.. I bought this same phone for my girl friend and she loves it too. I have never had any trouble syncing the phone to other electronics like my laptop or Garmin Nuvi 360... GREAT PHONE!!!! the predictive text takes some getting used to but it is really accurate and if you just trust it you'll be fine..
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This is my first BB. had to have a camerea.. Takes GREAT pics. Very easy to use.. Ive had it for about 3 1/2 months, ony problem is the zoom on cam has stuck twice. for about a week, then seems to work again. Of course tech .... |