Many have heard the nickname “Crackberry.” I was surprised I didn’t hop on this addiction train immediately. All of the risk factors were there. I have multiple email addresses that I feel the need to check compulsively. I have a daily commute that leaves me disconnected from the internet for roughly three hours per day. They intrigued me, but the price was a big deterrent when these phones debuted in the few hundred dollar range.
My first experience with a BlackBerry was while working for a Presidential campaign. The high stress and time sensitive nature of any job with that type of organization required me to be connected at all times. Somehow I found this giant phone that buzzed beside my head at 3am to be charming. I considered buying one for personal use, but I just couldn’t justify the purchase for that price.
I hadn’t used my last cell phone upgrade under Verizon’s “New Every Two” plan in anticipation of my now-husband and I combining our mobile bills after the wedding. I started a new job a little more than a month before our wedding, and we decided to switch the bills early so I could get a new cell phone for my longer commute, without two trips to Verizon. When I saw the less expensive, smaller version of the BlackBerry, I was sold. We purchased my new
BlackBerry Curve. I love it!
Design of the Phone The
BlackBerry Curve is significantly smaller than previous models in the line. It measure 4.49 inches long by 2.28 inches wide by 0.77 inches deep. It’s only slightly larger (length and width-wise) than a deck of cards, but thinner. At the time of purchase, I had the option of choosing between this phone and the Pearl. I felt the BlackBerry Pearl was too small for me. Despite having small hands, I felt like the larger phone is more comfortable to hold. I also preferred the full size QWERTY keyboard feature on this phone. The buttons are smaller than the previous BlackBerry I used, but they are large enough to accommodate my small finger tips and nails. I am able to type well on the keyboard.
The phone manages to look sleek, but emphasis was equally distributed between style and functionality. The buttons are well and intuitively placed. The side wheel has now been replaced with a small mouse-like ball, located in the center, under the screen.
The
BlackBerry Curve’s screen is relatively large for a phone (2.5 inches) and quite bright. Brightness can be adjusted to your liking. I keep mine at 100% as I’d rather have a brighter screen than better battery life, since I charge mine daily. The screen is sharp, especially for a cell phone. I believe this is the reason this is the first phone I’ve obsessed over wallpapers for. I enjoy seeing my seasonal wallpapers on the screen. Good thing because the preloaded ones are quite boring!
This phone comes in a number of colors. While pink isn’t usually my style, I liked the shade offered for this phone and purchased it. My coworkers have them in red and silver.
The Phone My older BlackBerry was very weak as a mobile phone. It seems that has been corrected with the
Curve. I felt like my previous model had a very low max volume, while this one has a significantly louder maximum volume. The microphone has been improved as well, since I have not experienced as many problems with callers having trouble hearing me. The speakerphone is sufficiently loud and easy to activate during a call. Most functions of the phone are available and easy to access during a call.
The phone offers a Bluetooth connection for use with accessories such as a wireless earpiece. I’ve always found wireless earpieces to be uncomfortable so I avoid using them.
The phone’s address book is intuitive and easy to use. It offers a very complete source of information, allowing you to input as much information as you could want or need. Each entry has a section for first and last name, a picture, company name, job title, email, work numbers, home numbers, mobile number, pager number, fax number, other number, PIN, full business and home addresses, birthday, anniversary, webpages, and more. The smart phone functions allow you to easily call and save numbers from internet sources and emails.
The phone's ringtone options are a bit boring, so I use my own. It rings very loud, even on the lower settings. I keep it on vibrate most often for the sake of being polite.
Email One of the biggest selling points with this phone is the ability to be connected at all times. Setting up your email accounts to sync with the
BlackBerry is very easy. I had no problem hooking up all five of my most often used email addresses. The phone will support up to ten email addresses. Each one is given its own folder. Upon receiving a message, a red notation is placed above the email folder that received the message. A notation also appears over the message folder, which shows messages from all emails in addition to SMS text messages. I really like this system, as it gives me options depending on my mood. If I’m feeling lazy, I can simply click the message folder and see what I’m looking for in one place. In some cases, I’ll look for something specific and like that I don’t have to sort through the one giant folder of all my messages.
Often I find my
BlackBerry receives my new messages before my computer does. I’ve found that different email addresses works differently in conjunction with the phone. My AOL email accounts sync up so that if I’ve read an email, it shows up as “old mail” when opened in my web browser. In my gmail accounts, new messages stay bolded like new messages, regardless of whether or not I view them on my phone. I far prefer the latter method, as it keeps me from forgetting to respond to messages that I leave for later.
The phone allows you to send messages under any email address tied to the phone as well. The only thing I don’t like about the email communication on the phone is the lack of automatic email address capture. Unlike an actual email application, it does not save email addresses you send messages too. The convenience of it recognizing an email address I’ve contacted previously, from the first few letters of the address, would have been greatly appreciated.
Web Browser The
BlackBerry browser is useful when no other internet connection is helpful. It is very slow and quite stripped down from a normal browser. Pages often load distorted and it works best with mobile pages, which more and more sites are making. I use the browser most often as a substitute for calling information. I can simply move my cursor to a number on a webpage and select the option for the phone to call that number.
On both
BlackBerrys I’ve used, a problem eventually occurs that prevents the phone from opening the browser. Taking it to the provider for a quick reset always fixes the problem, but considering I experienced this with two models, I’m thinking it’s no coincidence.
Other Features The
BlackBerry Curve boasts every other feature you can imagine as well. Like most phones today, it has a built in camera and camcorder. I was actually surprised at the quality of both, especially the 2 megapixel camera. It has a flash, which is quite strong for a little phone. This camera won’t be replacing my digital SLR anytime soon, but of the cell phone cameras I’ve used, it blows every other one out of the water. The phone also has the ability to play mp3s, though I haven’t used this function much as I always carry my
iPod on me and wouldn’t want to waste the battery life on my phone on a function I have a dedicated device for. These media functions could obviously hog a lot of the phone’s storage space. The phone has a microSD slot, capable of holding up to an 8 gigabyte memory card. Since I don’t use the multimedia functions very often, I used the
512 megabyte card from my last cell phone and it has proved to be more than sufficient.
Any feature you find in Microsoft Outlook is also on the
BlackBerry, making it an all-around mobile office appliance. There is an application for notes (both post it and voice recorded) and a calendar, both of which can be synced with Outlook.
There phone has the capability to serve as a GPS (with added service) and comes with a built in “Maps” application that works a lot like google maps. I’ve never had to use the latter option for anything important, though it’s fun to play around with. It would be very useful in an unfamiliar area. I do not take advantage of the GPS function for the same reason I haven’t used the mp3 playing capability; I have a GPS.
The BlackBerry Messenger application serves as a mobile instant messenger for
BlackBerry users. My coworkers and I use it at work. It is sent and received faster than an SMS text message. Obviously it has limited applications, however, due to it being a
BlackBerry application.
The phone has other capabilities like an alarm clock (which I use daily and found to be very reliable), a password keeper, and a facebook application for social networking on the go. One of my favorite function is a game called “Brick Breaker” that was included in previous versions of the phone. It keeps me entertained in doctors’ waiting rooms quite often!
Usage As I’ve stated earlier, the
BlackBerry Curve is easy to use and intuitively designed. Even my first one had a very small learning curve. The software and manual could walk new users through usage very easily. It is easy to connect to the computer via the included USB cable.
I really like the level of control I have over the organization of my
BlackBerry. I am able to customize my desktop, hiding icons that I don’t use often (like the map feature and password keeper) to keep my menu uncluttered. I only keep the applications I need to view and access often on the desktop. Upon locking the phone, which I do often for both security and to prevent unintentional calls, the icons disappear. A banner can be set for when the phone is locked. I use this feature to put my first name and home phone number, so the phone could be returned if lost, without compromising my address book and private information.
The only complaint I have about the usage of my phone (though this is minor) is that it interferes with many electronics. When placed next to my desktop, it makes my speakers buzz when it received an email. Phones get static-y when it is transferring data nearby. It’s a minor inconvenience that I only experience occasionally when I’m absentminded about where I position my phone.
Battery Life My
BlackBerry Curve has the best battery life of any phone I have owned to date. I can go days without charging it (usually three to four). According to the specifications, it is rated to last up to 260 minutes of talk time or 264 hours in standby. With previous cell phones, an hour of talk time, a few messages, and a few hours of talk time were enough to leave my phone beeping from the low battery indicator. This phone receives my emails all day, is constantly sending and receiving all types of messages, and allows me to make 3-4 average length calls without more than a tiny dip in the battery indicator. On our honeymoon, I charged it only twice.
Durability This phone is extremely durable. Though I never recommend dropping a phone, this one is unlikely to get damaged if you do. I dropped it from 4 feet up onto pavement and it only suffered a little scuff on the rubber edge. A friend/coworker was involved in an unfortunate incident where her
Curve was smashed against a hardwood floor. Her phone disassembled into three pieces, but once put back together, still worked!
Just in case, I recommend using a case. Mine came with a little slip cover and I purchased an additional leather case with a magnetic clip. This not only serves the function of securing the phone but the magnet locks the phone.
In The Box
BlackBerry Curve 8330 Smartphone
Lithium Ion Battery (1150 mAh)
USB Data Cable
BlackBerry Pocket (no warranty)
BlackBerry Home Charger
3.5 mm 4 Pole Stereo Headset
Documentation Kit (including BlackBerry Tools CD)
Quick Reference Guide
Price We are Verizon Wireless customers, though this phone is available on multiple carriers. It did require the addition of a $29.99 data plan to our wireless account. The phone was $89.99 after a mail-in-rebate.
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