Those of you who know me, know I would not have traded my Palm device unless I was really frustrated. Well I was.If you read my previous post “PALM…Get A Clue!!!” you are aware that as of this writing Palm doesn’t support 64 BIT Vista for USB Hot Sync and there is no support in sight. When you are trying to run a business and you cannot keep your PDA up to date it gets very frustrating. I contacted someone I know that works for Palm and got the same answer, “There is no support for hotsyncing with 64 Bit Vista.” After going around and around for what seems like an eternity I headed down to the Verizon Dealer and looked at the Smart Phones that were available.
BlackBerry Curve 8330
I considered getting a Treo that runs Windows Mobile, but the store did not have one. Then I decided that a BlackBerry would be the best bet, it’s close to palm in that you can sync your calendar, contacts and memos to the device, but I also find it is just a little more powerful than the Treo or eve the new Centro. I decided on the Blackberry Curve 8330.
Ive been using the BlackBerry Curve 8330 for approximately 3 months and now is the time to review it. I’m going to discuss each part seperatly.
- Phone — As a phone it works great with or without a headset. I do have a Bluetooth headset that I use with it and the reception without the headset is as clear as it is with the headset.
- Email & IM — E-mail is easy to set up and retrieve. I have both my personal home e-mail and my business e-mail set to be sent to the unit. IM requires a seperate download and that will be reviewed at a later date.
- Built-in GPS Capabilities — I have not had to use this feature as I have a seperate GPS unit that I use. I have used the Maps app that comes on the device but that that does not work like a GPS.
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Picture taken with the BlackBerry Curve 8330
Camera (2.0 MP) — The camera is one of the features I use alot. It is not only a 2.0 MP camera it has 1X, 3X & 5X zoom and a flash. Picture quality is wonderful as you can see by this shot.
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Video Recording — The video recording is as good as any webcam but requires a Micro SD card to use it.
- Multimedia Player — I have not had a chance to use the Multimedia player yet.
- Browser — The browser is alot better than the browser used in the Palm Devices. For a browser used in a handheald device this is one of the best.
I have had no problem syncing to both my desktop computer and my laptop computer. My instant recomendation is if you are looking for a new Smart Phone then you cannot go wrong wiith the BlackBerry Curve 8330.