Just went from 8330m to the 8530. Great Phone, love it!

Although I'm a huge proponent of the trackpad, the reason I love BlackBerry so much in the first place is their keyboards. The connected Tour/Bold keyboards are way better (imo) than the chicklet-style keys found on Curves. Plus, the Tour has a better resolution. This is certainly a close but an easy call in favor of the Tour.

That said, the Tour2 (9650) should make this discussion heavily one-sided.

I am not a CDMA user but if I was, I would be buying the Tour. It wouldn't be a difficult choice. Better display better camera and, most importantly to me, GSM capabilities make it a no brainer.

the 9650 if i could

The tour cause I use my camera all the time! I'm upgrading feb 3rd from the pink curve 8300

The tour cause I use my camera all the time! I'm upgrading feb 3rd from the pink curve 8300

I would choose the 9630. My reasons are: better camera w/ flash and also the world phone support.

I'd rather have the Curve's trackpad, but the lower display resolution and EV-DO Rel. 0 are showstoppers for me. The Tour's higher resolution display and EV-DO Rev. A overcome the quirks of the Tour's flaky trackball for me.

I am kind of glad that I am not only one who likes the Curve's design better. I have Tour and like it but Curve looks more "fun" - not too professional looking. The resolution difference is so noticeable once you experience 480x360 but the track pad... I am careless for wifi - I don't care what model is. Reliable OS, good resolution screen, 3.2M camera (no need to have 5M, I think), track pad and fun design - it would be my ideal BB!

I chose the tour simply because of the world phone capabilities over the Curve.

I actually just did this last night! I just could not stomach the Droid anymore, I am a Blackberry user!

I selected the Tour.

Here are a few of my reasons:
True world phone
More refined look and feel
Some users are having problems with Curve 8530 build quality
Better screen
Better quick access buttons

Coming from an 8330 I see the Tour as a step up (love the display), but the other features are almost on par. Really do enjoy the keyboard on the 8530 and the tought of not having to clean my ball.
If only the Tour had 3D this wouldn't be such a hard question. Hard to tell how that would affect my decision as there really hasn't been much released for it yet. Going to sit back and watch how it works out as I don't get the opportunity to re-up till May.

If I had to make a choice today, Tour all the way.

I would probably go Curve. I have owned the pearl, original curve, and now the Tour. And out of all 3 phones the most problematic has been the Tour. Now dont get me wrong, there are good things about the phone. But to me as a consumer, i feel the Tour has been in the backburner at Verizon. It has had nothing but issues involving its OS, trackball, battery cover, and other small issues. I feel that with Verizon already coming out with a Tour2 in March, and the original Tour still stuck with an offical 4.7 OS, that says alot about the phone. They are ready to move on and get passed this phone and are ready to bring out the phone the that original Tour was supposed to be. I dont know much about the new curve, but i am sure RIM has advanced the great qualities of the Curve and its an actual upgrade. Where i felt let down by the quality of phone the Tour really was. If anything i would tell anyone wanting to buy a tour to wait for the new one. That phone will be the better phone.

I am a CDMA user and I picked the Tour 9630; My main reason is the connected keyboard for esay typing and Corporate styling.

The Curve 8530 to me is more of a consumer phone while the Tour 9630 is a Business phone.

it has a higher number and cooler name. lol I really wouldnt want either. Happy with my Storm

the Curve's have always felt a bit like a toy to me.

i like the look of the curve, but i love wifi and trackpad, so i would go with the curve untill the tour2 comes out then its not comp

I couldn't give up the higher resolution screen. Also, not possible to take the the Tour2 out of the picture which will likely be a blending of the 8520 superior features (OS 5, WiFi, Trackpad) and add significantly more storage, better resolution, flash, better camera. And there you will have the Tour2. :D

I have had my tour for a couple of months now and the keyboard is just amazing, the camera comes in handy with all the apps that I use, and the curve jus seems to small, the trackpad is a cool feature, but i need more than just a trackpad though

POLL SAYS IT ALL (Tour 72% to Curve 28%)

would make me go for the curve.

a 8530 for my girlfriend while I'm using a 9630. I love her phone! The size is wonderful. I don't use my camera much at all so that doesn't bother me. Of course 5.0 is nice but that little phone is so much faster than my tour. The only thing that gets me is the tour keyboard. it doesn't get much better than that. The screen is obviously better on the tour, but with the aspect of openGL on the curve, I would say that I would buy a 8530 for me today rather than the tour. But hey, essex will be out in a month then we will see.

I would have to go Tour simply for the World Phone capability if nothing else. That would be a little painful as once you get used to the trackpad, the trackball feels like a relic. WiFi is also very welcome. Glad I jumped over to At&t and got a 9700!

I am really feeling torment about this kind of set. And confusion which one should I buy or which one should I leave!!!
http://www.web1media.com

I prefer the Tours screen. And as good as the trackpad may be, I have only known the trackball. So for now its not a huge deal. Although I am aware of the fact that once I go to the trackpad I'll wonder how I managed with the ball.

The resolution on the 8530 is horrible. I was on facebook and couldn't recognize a picture of someone!

I love my Tours screen and looks even better on 5.0 :))

I have a Storm 1, Tour, and my gf has the curve 8530. Shes only had it for just over a month now and shes been asking me if she can have my Tour in exchange for the Curve. We both agree that the keypad is much better for typing fast on the Tour, the higher quality feel, and the cleaner much smoother looking screen resolution. she watches video a lot on her phone, but the tour and storm both look a lot better than the curve (I would always use the storm to watch videos, which is a no-brainer for obvious reasons), but I do like it that she has the wifi capabilities. I dont know if the wifi is enough though to choose the curve over the tour when it comes to overall feel and usability between the two.

I honestly rather keep my tour, at least until the Tour2 comes out and then I'll give her my Tour1. she can keep the curve though, i wont be needing it.

This seems like a no brainer. Yes the trackpad is nice, but the Tour has much more going for it than the Curve

I bought a Tour before the 8530 came out. I like the fact that I can use it internationally. The wife just got a new phone and had to choose between the Tour and 8530. She chose the 8530 for a couple of reasons: 1) The trackball on the Tour SUCKS! 2) WIFI and 3) OS 5.0. The Tour has a nicer feel, but the 8530 has better features for us.

I have no idea why anyone would consider the 8530 when the 9630 is only $20 more. The cheap materials and low-res screen alone are reason enough not to buy the Curve, not to mention that you can only use it in North America and the camera is basically useless.

I think it would be fun to have a "build your own BB" concept like what Dell does to their computers. Each person has different needs and liking - it shouldn't be THAT difficult to do if Dell can do it. No matter what you want, all should be able to be fit in any BB cases. The idea could work as an advantage against iPhones and Android phones!

I would pick neither; CDMA is DEAD!

With HSPA+ rolling out across Canada as we type, why would anyone buy or upgrade to a CDMA BlackBerry!? I'll keep my BB Curve 8330 for now.

Wait another 6 to 12 month's. In a few years CDMA will be switched OFF and you will have to migrate over to HSPA.

I bought one. It was delivered today. Looking forward to playing with it this evening !

Due to the nature of my job, I'm required to test all new smartphones that come out of Verizon's offerings. Although my personal line carries a Blackberry at all times, I've been known to bounce around quite a bit between devices. While I received a Curve 8530 pre-public release, my particular device has a not-so-smooth keyboard that started making button noise (for lack of a better description) from Day One and only got worse. After a week I shipped it back and picked up the Tour again.

While the Tour is not without faults (Think: battery door, no OFFICIAL OS 5.0, no WiFi, etc), it also is a much more pleasing experience for those of us who use the device to its full capabilities. Hope this helps those who are choosing!

-T

Curve all the way....no Wifi and trackball on the Tour...no thank you!

After owning the Tour and all it's problems for the last 6 months I would go with the Curve in a heartbeat.
Curve may feel cheaper but in my opinion it doesn't feel any differntly made than the 8330 and that was a great phone for me. Never had any issues that I didn't cause myself.
I have a few friends with he 8520 and one with an 8530. Not one of them has had any issues or had to return their phone and they are moderate to heavy users.
My self along with 2 friends and 1 colleague have all returned our Tours at least twice sicne we had them. Also I am the only one that bought it the day of release. My colleague bought his just after Christmas and is on his 3rd all ready.

Having said all that.....
If I was going to base it on features and initail feel alone I would definitely choose the Tour over the Curve.