BlackBerry Curve 8310 Phone, Titanium (AT&T)

More than just business October 12, 2007

Reviewer:  AreYouKidding? 

Like most tech-savvy professionals, I use and rely on a BlackBerry at work. In fact, I've been an addict for quite some time. I recently updated from an 8700 to this amazing phone. The email, calendar and address book are all what you expect and are accustomed to from BlackBerry. There are a ton of great improvements and I've outlined my likes and dislikes below.

Pros:

* The screen appears to be the same 320x240 screen that is found on the older 8700. It's outstanding and flat out huge. There are various levels of backlighting and there is a handy auto-DIM feature that adjusts the backlight according to room lighting conditions.
* The rollerball took a little getting used to, but after less than a day, I'm an expert. OK, not quite an expert, but I dialed in the sensitivity to suit my needs. I also turned off that annoying clicking sound. I guess that was supposed to simulate the audible "click" you would get from the old wheel.
* The keyboard is perfect. I was really scared about going to something new but the spacing and texture are dead-on. Typing is a breeze.
* Spell-Check; a warm welcome to something that has been missing for a LONG time. It's also super-easy to use. I get a prompt right before I send an email asking me to approve typos. Great job BlackBerry!
* The multimedia software is excellent; both on the device and on the desktop. You can watch movies, listen to MP3s and check out your photos on the handset. The Music software is not as good as what's on the Sony Walkman w580i phone, but it gets the job done. The Roxio-powered Media Manager software for the desktop offers super-easy drag and drop of MP3s and movies. It even converts files on the fly so they work with the Curve. This is one of the best additions to BlackBerry. The easy to use interface really turns this into a multimedia device.
* The camera is pretty good too. The LED flash is very bright and allows for a decent photo in low light. Full Screen view finder is a nice plus. There is even a little mirror on the back for self portraits.
* 3.5mm Stereo/Audio Jack is built-in. No adapter needed. Amen BlackBerry! Just plug my Shure buds in and I'm in audio bliss.
* Real GPS! This is awesome. I've just started to tinker with the TeleNav software. I don't like the fact there is a monthly fee, but the turn-by-turn directions rival standalone navigation systems I've used. It's awesome but pricey. I'll start hunting for alternative navigation software.

Cons:

* Doesn't record video
* No 3G or Wi-Fi
* Monthly fees associated with true turn-by-turn navigation software. The GPS does work great with BlackBerry Maps and Google Maps for location. Not quite the same as Telenav.
* Memory card is located under the battery. I find it very annoying that I have to power down the phone to remove and replace the card. Hey, at least it's MicroSD.
* It's a fingerprint magnet. Not iPod bad, but visible enough that I keep wiping down the body.
* No playlist support for the music software.

All in, this is the best BlackBerry I've ever owned. Highly recommended.

Didn't fully meet my expectations.. November 18, 2007

Reviewer:  GDV  (Bay Area, California) -

I'm coming from a palm treo 650..I actually was pretty happy with it, but unfortunatly I lost it..So in my search for a new phone, I had narrowed it down to the iphone, palm treo 680 and the blackberry curve..After reading reviews and playing around with each phone (except the treo 680), I decided to go with the curve, my first blackberry.
Upon first recieving it, I absolutly loved the size and style as well as the keyboard. I wanted to like it so bad but unfortunatly after 30 days, I don't and will be going back to a treo.
Here's how I came to this decision..
TEXT MESSAGING: Coming from the treo which organizes your text conversations into a chat window, I hate the fact that on the curve each text is listed individually, and by the end of the day I have a long list of texts from so many different people, it's hard to keep track of each conversation or go back to a certain message without having to scroll all the way down and look for it.
CALLING OUT: Almost imposible while driving unless it's a speed dial (which isn't always responsive)The numbers are so small and navigating through the address book with that little ball is a pain, then you have to select whether you would like to dial home mobile or work..by the time I've done all this I'm suprised I haven't rear-ended the car in front of me! The treos huge touch screen dial pad and one tap address book is way more user friendly in my opinion.
INSTANT MESSAGING: Doesn't have aim, had to dl it from jivetalk for $20..happy with the way it works once I did so.
KEYBOARD: Probably one of my favorite things about this phone..makes text and im a one handed breeze!
CAMERA: Ok, better than the treo's and picture messaging is fast and easy with the curve. Nice that is has flash (although blinding at times).
PICTURE MESSAGING: Fast and easy sending/recieving, way better than the treo, which sometimes I would have a hard time opening pm as the touch screen wouldnt respond sometimes when I would tap on the link.
CALENDER: Probably my biggest pet pieve with the curve. Setting appointments, reminders and navigating through the calender with the treo was a breeze. The curve seems limited in it's reminder capabilities. Takes a lot longer to navigate through and actually make and appoinment..This is one of my main uses for the phone and is the main reason why I'm choosing to bring it back.
TASKS: Horrible reminder capabilities! Reminds you once and that's it! You're on your own after that! The treo would display tasks on the home screen at the start of that day and would keep reminding you until you physically check it off as done. I need that because I have so many things going on I need constant reminders or I will forget to do something.
CALCULATOR: Confusing and a little time consuming to use, the treos large touch screen calculator is like having an actual calculator in your hand.
EMAIL: Hands down the best feature of the bb curve. Emails arrive as they are sent, which is something the treo lacked. My emails would only arrive at scheduled intrevals, if they came at all. Emailing is not however something I use alot, but someone who does will love this phone.
WEB BROWSING: Slow, scrolling takes forever on a long page, most pages won't open completley..Also for frequent myspace users..you cannot reply to myspace emails from the curve for some reason. Maybe I just haven't figured it out yet, but I've never been able too. Basically using the bb curve as a web browser is useless, as it is with the treo as well..The only phone I've used with awesome web browsing is the iphone and the treo 750.
CALL/SOUND QUALITY/SPEAKERPHONE: All awesome, reception is great, call volume is nice and loud and speakerphone is the best I've experienced from a cell phone yet. I can set the phone on my center console in my car and speak with the window open and the radio on and my callers can still hear me perfectly.
BATTERY: SUCKS! I have to recharge daily, and if the battery is really low, you cannot even use the phone at all even if it is plugged into the charger, unlike most phones where even if the phone is dead, once you plug it into the charger you can still use it..Really inconvienient, especially in an emergency!

Conclusion..
PROS: Keyboard, camera, call sound/quality/speakerphone
CONS: Battery, calender, placing a call while driving, texting, web browsing
I'll admit there are alot of things I do like about the curve, but unfortunatly it's just not going to work for me for what I need it for. BB seems a little behind the times when it comes to certain things and hopefully in the future the technology will become better and the kinks will be ironed out. Imagine a bb with a touch screen, better time managment applications, chat style texting, video, and faster internet.. they would shut the other pda companies down! But until then I'm going back to my treo.

No problem with rebate as an existing customer....I'm in love! November 10, 2007

Reviewer:  BoomerGal50 "BoomerGal50"  (Chesapeake Bay) -

This is my first Blackberry. Two years ago I bought a Razr (Cingular) on Amazon, my two year contract had been fulfilled and I was on a month to month. I was concerned about the "fine print" in Amazon's description and read other postings online from folks wondering if they would qualify. I emailed Amazon as well as AT&T and received confirmation that yes, I would qualify if I renewed a two year contract. So, having been hesitant about giving up my beloved Razr, I went for the Blackberry. And am I happy about that decision! The first few days I couldn't receive email (there was a glitch on the Blackberry end) but the wonderful customer service people at AT&T helped me resolve it. (Prior to the Razr, I had been a Verizon customer for many years, I totally think that Cingular/AT&T service is a kazillion times better). I have downloaded a great free ringtone from www.crackberry.com, transferred some music files (it sounds great, and I'm a 57 year old female addicted to my iPod); the voice sound quality is much better on the phone than the Razr. I was concerned I would have to pull out my reading glasses every time I got an email but I reset the typeface to a larger font and hey, "no problemo". I also transferred all of my Outlook Contacts and Calendar and it's convenient having that info handy. I also like the voice dialing, which is useful when you're driving, plus it will auto dial a number plus the extension. So, if it sounds like I'm having a love affair, I am! I am totally enamored with my new Blackberry. Hope I am still into gadgets when I'm 90! Kudos to Amazon and Cingular/AT&T.

Best Smartphone on the Market October 27, 2007

Reviewer:  Reader of History  (New York, NY) -

This device does it all. It is robust, has a great keyboard, bright screen and is intuitive. It is a productivity machine, but also thin and sports both GPS and a 2MP camera. I initially wanted the iPhone, but after trying both out, the keyboard on the 8310 is far superior. Also, the push email system is more advanced, and with removable battery, SIM card, storage, it is more flexible.

Indispensable March 1, 2008

Reviewer:  JAD "TechMan"  (On Airplanes) -

What can I say - the Blackberry 8310 (my fourth BB) continues to be an absolutely indispensable tool for a professional on the go. My productivity remains super high because the BB integrates so well with both my lifestyle and workstyle and I have so much more flexibility to live and work where and how I want to. Some high points for this particular model:

1. Its slim and light. Smaller and lighter than an iPhone. No burden at all
2. Great Battery life. Runs well through a full day of calls and email.
3. Internet. Provides web access when you need it. [Need AT&T to get G3 on this device!]
4. Easy to use. Keyboard is very workable for even those lengthy, from the field reports.
5. Attachments. Big screen makes it easy to work with docs - even pdfs.
6. GPS. A good backup when you need to know where you area.
7. Audio Quality. Phone and Speakerphone are excellent
8. Bright Screen. Use it anywhere
9. Camera. Comes in handy for quick snapshots that you want to email on the fly
10. Email. The best, most reliable mobile email out there.

Blackberry knows its target customers - mobile professionals. they do a great job of steering clear of the consumer bells and whistles and have stayed on track with delivering a product that fits the way we work.

A review from a devoted blackberry user December 26, 2007

Reviewer:  Nicoletta Carlone "Nicoletta Carlone"  (Los Angeles) -

The 8310 is my third Blackberry, before this one I had the 8300, and got this one because it has a better screen and GPS. Blackberry is not fancy like the iphone, but it is easy to use and pretty self explainitory. Blackberries are great for people who are professionals, or even students. This a wonderful phone, everything is very organized and easy to understand, unlike the 8300, this has clearer, brighter more varied colors. The track ball is easy to use, and the full qwerty keyboard coming in handy for writing e-mails or texts. It offers the setup wizard which well easily help you set up the phone including linking it to your e-mail, it was very easy to link my yahoo mail onto this and check it in one click. The camera is pretty good, but not as good as something like the iphone, but cameras arn't really what people buy blackberries for.

Generally excellent December 21, 2007

Reviewer:  Cousinbrucie  (Long Island, NY) -

This is my first time with a PDA/phone and find it to be extremely useful. Great sound quality on calls, no more dropped calls, and easy switching from application to application. Easy retrival of email. It's there already!! The music player sound is as good as my ipod, although Itunes software is far superior to Roxio. I bought this model to have access to its GPS capability. From that respect, I am disappointed. The Tel-Nav system leaves an awful lot to be desired. Too many times it took me off a highway only to put me right back on. It has no clue as to traffic conditions. Many times it wanted to re-route me because of "heavy traffic ahead" and fortunately I ignored the advice and continued on at the posted speed limit throughout my trip. This is not a hit on the phone itself but it is to say that if you are thinking about buying this phone for this feature, you should think twice.

business powerhouse - needs 3G November 4, 2007

Reviewer:  volsfan "volsfan"  (South Jersey) -

I have had mine for 6 months now and still love it. I travel extensively for business, so this review comes from a consultant that wails on it hard, has used it in most airports across the US, traveled in Mexico and Europe with it along with 'casual' use. I was on VZW and had two WinBlowz(R) Mobile devices - both sucked. Three (3) Moto Q's died on me (known issue) and I had a Treo 700wx that VZW offered as a replacement device. It was a battery guzzling brick which I hated - wouldn't make it through an entire day. Terrified to switch to Cingular/ATT from previous horror stories, I took the plunge anyway. Could not be happier. Call quality is good/very good and reception generally very good. Battery life outstanding. I'm emailing all day, generally spend an hour or more talking and still haven't had it die on me yet. With more 'normal' usage, I'll get through 2 days without recharging, if not more. Onboard GPS is awesome - I took this over battery guzzling Wi-Fi on TMOb (both have advantages & disadvantages). Get the rental, fire up TeleNav, you're off. Media works fine, not my primary concern. EDGE is slow, but it works. Next-gen will be 3G so that'll be a plus. OS stability has been flawless - Blackberries just flat out work which explains why they're such an overwhelming favorite among business professionals who demand results, not another crappy product from MS. Build quality has become slightly suspect - the bottom 'chin' panel is starting to feel a little loose, nothing that has impacted performance. You have to use a BB for a little to truly appreciate it - the holster has a magnet which puts the device in 'standby' mode (saves power). You set the profiles so that (in my case) holster is vibrate for everything. Never worry about having your cell phone ring in a meeting again, since mine stays in my holster 99% of the time, it never interrupts loudly. I wish regular keyboards had as many usefull shortcuts (instead of having to type a period then space for the next sentance, just hit the space bar twice). Spell checking - duh? Wonderful. 3rd party apps available for anything you want, it supports hi-cap next-gen SD cards - up to 16GB currently. New battery costs $25 and you can change it yourself in 30 seconds or less. Try that with an iPhone. Gripes? Trackball can collect lint & fail (holster helps a lot in preventing that). Speakerphone nothing to write home about. Camera not great, doesn't shoot video yet (next OS is going to fix that). Deperately needs 3G, apparently all ATT phones will be such by 3Q 2008 (gee, little late guys?). Anyway, I'm a Crackberry convert and have not found a better phone for my uses yet. Can't wait for the 9000 or whatever is down the road.

GPS Tracking from BlackBerry® Enterprise Server February 16, 2008

Reviewer:  Bill Shen  (Randolph, NJ United States) -

As the title suggests, it's about location tracking from the GPS feature on the device. That is, tracking your location by someone else.

From BB8310 User Guide (SWDT203041-203041-05302007-001): "If your BlackBerry® device is associated with an email account that uses a BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, your system administrator might be able to track the location of your device". It followed by instructions to turn it off from the device: Options - Advanced Options - GPS - Location Tracking - No. The problem is that there is no "Location Tracking" under GPS.

After spending hours with Tech Supports from AT&T & BlackBerry, and Googling, here is what I can report.

*** From BlackBerry® knowledge base:
http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/dynamickc.do?externalId=KB14430&sliceId=SAL_Public&command=show&forward=nonthreadedKC&kcId=KB14430. In part it reads:
"The BlackBerry Enterprise Server includes options to allow the BlackBerry Enterprise Server administrator to control the GPS feature and the location-based services on supported BlackBerry smartphones that use the feature". In other words, someone else has control over monitoring your location.

*** Advices I received from ATT/BB/Others:
"You can turn off GPS" (yeah, well, can I have a $100 rebate? Besides, I don't see how); "it's not that easy to query location from BES" (give me the admin rights - Joe, looks like 9:36:51 last night you were at...); "well if you don't have anything to hide" (heard this one before, how about the government records you phone calls whenever it wants); "you can file a suggestion to BB" (obviously they already knew but it'd be good to know before I buy it); etc etc.

So my conclusion is, if you are ok with all of this, or at least can "live" with it, it's a pretty good device otherwise. If not, either disable BES support, or get another device.

I Love this Phone November 20, 2008

Reviewer:  D. Mills "dmills1555"  (Anchorage, AK USA) -

First, let me say that I am a neophyte when it comes to technology. I used to be very technology savvy. Now I am one of the people who I used to talk badly about. I can generally figure things out, but I am not a geek by any stretch of the imagination. That being said, this is a GREAT phone and I think anyone else who is in my class of users will love it too. Let me list the things I love about it:

Size: The phone is the perfect size. It fits easily in your pocket (guys) - even with the protective sleeve. You don't have to look like one of those geeky people with the pocket protector. It has a smooth feel that just feels comfortable in the palm of your hand.

Phone quality: The phone quality is great! I have a slight hearing impairment, so it is important for the phone volume to be loud enough for me to actually hear - especially in noisy surroundings. This phone passes the test with flying colors. I usually only have the phone at 3/4 volume. I have never been able to do that with any other cell phone. The speaker phone also is the best quality I have seen.

GPS - This is a great feature. I thought I would not use it since you have to pay extra for telenav. I already wasn't happy about paying $30 extra for unlimited data, so I definitely wasn't going to pay for the gps. Then I read here that you can download google mobile maps for free. DO IT!!! I know my own city pretty well, so it is only a novelty right now, but it will definitely come in handy when I travel. All you have to do is put in the location of where you want to go, then have the phone track your own location. You can literally watch yourself moving toward your destination - regardless of whether you have asked it to map your route or not. Have you ever been in the vicinity of a destination, but not been able to figure out where it is at exactly (or not sure which way to turn)? Never again.

Voice Dialing - With a blue tooth headset, you can just push a button on your headset and give a verbal command (i.e. "call john," or "dial 555-555). It will ask you which # (mobile, work, home, etc.). Once you respond, it will dial automoatically.

Battery Life: This is one of the reasons I chose the curve over the iPhone. The batterylife is great. I generally charge my phone everyday, but I also use it quite a bit too. I have only had it go down to 50% once, and that was when I left the GPS in tracking mode for several hours. You can change the battery yourself, as opposed to having to have someone else do it for you.

e-mail: Right now, I have only my personal account set-up on the phone, but you can have up to ten e-mail accounts on it at one time. I get e-mails automatically. I can also delete e-mails from both my handheld and from my account with just the push of a button. I wish it would let me delete ultiple e-mails at one time. Better yet, let me get rid of some of that spam all together, but that is a different story.

Camera - I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of the pictures. It has a built in flash and takes awesome pictures. Also, by putting a microSD card in the phone, you can literally store all your pictures on your blackberry. I was able to get a 4gb card, which I am told that some phones do not support.

Keyboard - This is another reason I chose the Curve over the iPhone. You geet a full qwerty keyboard. I have somewhat large fingers, but am able to manipulate the keys fairly easily. It helps if I use my fingernails rather than the pads of my fingers/thumbs.

Music - Like the camera, you can put quite a bit of music on your Curve if you use a microSD card. The sound is great.

Protective Sleeve: A protective sleeve comes with the Curve. When you put the phone in the sleeve, it automatically goes into power save mode - not to mention the fact that it protects your screen from unnecessary scratches. Someone said you can actually change the screen, but I haven't figured out how yet.

Password keeper - No more keeping that password list under your keyboard. You can put all of your passwords into the Blackberry (and can even mask them from prying eyes - although it appears to only keep honest people away from them. Its not that hard to unmask). The nice thing is that your passwords are password protected, so theoretically, they're safe.

Attachments - You can open Microsoft Office files, as well as .pdf's. I understand you can also open up .wmv files, although I haven't done it yet.

There are just a couple things I do not care for:

Manuverability - I still find myself pressing a lot of different buttons to get to the screen I want - especially as I switch back and forth between the "full menu" and the "express menu" (I'm not sure what you really call them. Maybe it will just take me getting used to some of the buttons. Even getting to my address book can be a challenge sometimes.

Internet - This is an area where I think the iPhone might be better. The internet capability is a bit slow, and you don't always get the full content of page like you would on a pc. On the fly, it is good to have though.

All in all, this was a great purchase. I wondered if I would regret getting this phone over the iPhone. So far, I haven't. I highly recommend it.