RIM BlackBerry 8830

User reviews and rating

Learn how to use a blackberry

18 Apr 2008 by Justin

8.8 out of 10

It seems most of those issues are due to your service from verizon. You were expecting a media phone and not a business phone. there is a reason the white house and congress use blackberry as its official phone. Sprint offers the 30 dollar data pack and includes unlimited text and data as well as telenav gps navigation. there are planty of third party software that enhances this phone tremendously. including a better "real" html email view.

There is a desktop setting on the phone as well that does not "scrunch" up webpages including a mouse pointer weilded by the trackball. Third party browsers are available to view "real internet" and bypass WAP, of course this is with a broadband speed service (Sprint EVDO)

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Rim 8830 - Dont waste your money

27 Mar 2008 by Steve Hayko

5.2 out of 10

Read Miike Myers Review! I agree 100% with every complaint he mentioned as I have the same issues. Not only does the background noise sound like a night club, but the location of the tiny pin hole microphone is positioned at my chin, so if i don't hold it a certain way, it sounds like my head is in a toilet and someone stuffed a towel in the mic.. I think for the cost, you can do a million times better. internet capabilities stink, as mike mentioned, the pix never come through which is annoying to log on to verizon to see a photo that needs to be viewed immediatly (for work). buttons are way too close for texting as i am always hitting the wrong letter and i sound like an uneducated fool. So, if this is supposed to be used for bbusiness as I do, the person they tested this out on had to be a very thin fingered, long, horse headed troll.

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Dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century....

2 Mar 2008 by Jerry Howell

7.6 out of 10

I would like to state that I'm not a tech junkie, or "power" user with a company. I'm a "soccer" dad that was due to get a new phone. But I'm not techo-phobic either......

Like I stated, I was with the wife getting new phones. We were both wanting better phones to text messages to the kids and for receiving pictures as well as taking them and sending them. She settled on the enV. I was wanting a newer designed phone and one to use as a wireless modem for my daughter's laptop she will be getting in June when she graduates from jr high. I also liked to be able to be able to get on the internet when I need to, not when I'm by a computer. So I got the 8830.

I like the keyboard layout and it is a very fast way of inputting/typing. I've read in the internet where this keyboard is too close together and causes mistakes. For a handheld sized device, I think it works great. The keys are raised and my large hands and meaty fingers had no problems with the keyboard. I did a typing test on the 8830, after having it for a week, and I scored the same as a regular sized keyboard. there are shortcuts to help the user with increasing their speed of use on the key board.

I had to disable the side keys. They on getting pressed when I held the 8830, but that is no fault of the 8830. I have had the same issue almost all of my phones with side keys. Large hands and meaty fingers. The rest of the side keys worked well with the layout of the device.

I do not like the media card slot location. It seems like an after thought of the designers. But, after looking at it in a secure operations ways, it does make sense. Your media card is secure, enough, from casual intel theft. And, if you lock the keypad, its hell to get out without "releasing" the card via menu selection. So its not perfect for swapping out cards with G'ma's card reader to show the lastest pics or video of the kids playing dressup, but a better way of securing the data from revial workers.

The 8830 does not have a decent sound, with music or ringtones. The back is large enough for a better speaker, but this is a business device. I couild feel the back cover vibrating when I played my mp3s. The sound was muffled and flat. But the sound is great through even the cheapest ear buds.

I does lack the video and camera. Once again, its for business folks. But as a father, I found the camera a much needed feature for me. And I think the display shows the pictures great. Video, in proper format, was very good also. From music videos to the kids playing softball. But I did wonder way the device did not have a voice recorder. This would seem like a much needed feature for the professional to take quick notes to be inputted later.

The OS was a breeze, even for a noobie smartphone user. I had the device setup and customized in a short time. Its a great tool.

The internet "surfing" was a new experiance. Yes, its not the same as a "real" computer. But mobile friendly sites and opermini helped out. At a event we went to last week, I was able to keep myself entertained by searching for reviews and addons for the 8830. I visited full sites adn wap sites, and they both loaded quickly and performed at about 85% of a computer would. I was quite happy with the performance.

The trackball is thing to have! You can set the sensitivity to your liking. It is a great feature and I would choice it over any touch screen. Its faster and more acurate.

The phone was very good. We live in a rural are, with poor service at time. I have Verizon, and besides the usual quirks that are no fault of the 8830, this performed better than any phone we have had in the past. It does show low bars, but I never lost a call or failed to download anything. It outperformed my wife's enV.

This is a bussiness device. It is for the student who wants a computing smartphone, not as an all-in-one device for when lecture is boring. I would think they should have put a voice recorder feature on it, and maybe a secondary media card slot for easier access. But all it all, I found it a very powerfull machine. Since I had the 8830, I've used it head to head with the HCY VX6800 and found the 8830's trackball, and OS easier and more acurate to use. This would be a great device for any bussiness professional.

BTW.......I traded my 8830 for a Pearl 8130. It has the voice recorder, camera (and a great one), and the video recorder. The hybrid keyboard is a trade off, but its pretty easy to get the hang of. I would love to get the Curve that Verizon is coming out with by 4th 1/4, but I don't want to wait and gamble if my local store will have it in. The Curve's great camera and video recorder is the only reasons I would choose it over this 8830.

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