As I'm winding down my week of using the Treo 680 (final impressions going up later today or tomorrow Monday), Dieter over at WMExperts.com has posted his Initial Impressions of the BlackBerry Curve 8310.
Dieter is an all-around smartphone expert, EXCEPT when it comes to the BlackBerry. He had never used one before, so he came into the Curve as a slightly skeptical blank slate. He even shows his newbie status by writing the plural of BlackBerry as "BlackBerries" vs. the more accepted and in-the-know "BlackBerrys" (if you've ever wondered about this check out our piece on the Great Plural BlackBerry Debate).
Dieter's basic take on the Curve? I'd sum it up by saying he loved the hardware (but prefers the Treo's keyboard), grew to like the OS (but think it lacks compared to others), and appreciated the email capabilities (but did have some issues with it).
Go take a read and let Dieter know how he did! Was he fair? On the money? Totally out to lunch? Remember, a logged-in comment/forum post will get you a chance to win a new Smartphone in our Smartphone Round Robin contest! Read Dieter's First Impressions >>
Reader comments
Smartphone Round Robin: A Skeptic's First Impressions of the BlackBerry Curve 8310
Dieter actually left very little to comment on, I agree with everything that he stated in the article lol, even the things he would consider "bad" in the BB Devices.
Next time I'll leave you a bigger opening! ;)
I'm guessing your media experience will be that opening.
I think Dieter did a great job on his initial review of the 8310. It was very unbiased and fair.
I actually really like Dieter's review, it points out all the plus' and minus' of the BBOS perfectly for a 4 day old virgin. I like the way this round robin's going and have started pointing alot of clients to the individual participants websites to let them see what a 'newbie' thinks of making the switch to each individual device.
nice phone
Two weeks in.
1. UMA - works well as long as you have a free and clear wireless land connection. There is no QoS when you go WLAN.
2. Just switch from Sprint Treo ... have to admit, in the Seattle area, call quality on CDMA/Sprint is better bar none. I don't know if it's T-Mobile or the phone or what, but the call quality is defintely not as good as Sprint ... on a Treo 650. I used to be able to drive from home to work and hold a call the entire way ... now I drop twice ... even on this new device.
3. Media player could be better. Doesn't play as many mp3 types as I would expect a modern mp3 player should.
I just realized why I like the Curve keypad so much. He talked about how "clacky" it is. I love that. I still have a IBM Model M buckling-spring keyboard from 1987 that I use.
I like the "clacky" too, allows me to type without looking, but still know i'm hitting keys.
I don't see why Dieter must consider the clack as such a big issue, other points though were quite valid.
I'm a new user. So, I really appreciate the review and and the helpful comments.
Simple is usually better isn't it
Although I am not a huge fan of the windows mobile applications, I still would have thought Dieter may have mentioned the usability of the BB OS versus some of the Windows components. Windows mobile is too clunky and difficult to navigate versus the BB OS. Yes, no?
Dieter must have read your post 'cause I just read his first impressions for the first time and it's been changed from "blackberries" to "blackberrys" LOL. At least he took the time to do it :-D