BlackBerry 8830 User Reviews

This a a great. ihad it for so many years and it never gets old. iwould recomend this phone to anyone even though it's discontinued. I have on Verizon, americas most relialabe network , which is true. The phone has gone through mant falls and it is still strong and work good. I love the apps and its neverending. Great Phone!!!!!

Hi We have bought 30 phones from the market for my internal users & found these phones are only compatible with specific service providers only. I have these phones in India but looks like these phones need to throw it away & buy new one. Email download issues where email stopped & I have to reboot hand held in twice or trice a day.

This is literally the perfect phone for me. Before I purchased this one I was using a Motorola Q from Sprint. After I smashed my Q by accident, I bought the 8830 World Edition and I have nothing to complain about. I never used the camera on all my old phones anyway so i could care less about that. It has a nice look to it and fits perfectly right in my pocket and its easy to use. Unlike a windows mobile phone (that's what the Q was), Blackberry OS runs a million times better in my opinion because its of speed and ease of use. it hardly crashes like a windows phone. the internet browser is ok and does what i need it to do, nothing major.One thing i love about this is that Sprint sells the phone already unlocked for worldwide GSM service, another words it has a sim-card slot and you can put a sim card from a local carrier in the country your in, swith the mobile network from "1xEV" to "GSM" and boom... you can use any sim card. I've used this phone in Lebanon and it worked perfectly. Unfortuantely, t-mobile and at&t cards dont work, but if you want to use it for t-mobile, just go and buy the 8820 from them. If you want, you can switch it to "global" mode and activate international roaming. Just think, the BlackBerry Tour 9630 is literally an upgraded version of this phone, plain and simple.To me, the phone is good, ring tones are loud and clear, and i have no problem with service. even when i use it as a modem to provide the internet on my laptop (Sprint Mobile Broadband), i can still text and make a call while it is acting as a modem. Amazing isn't it?As far as programs and applications and menus, etc, it is literally exactly like the BB Curve 8330 just a little bigger, no camera, and one side convenience key. So if you're quite versed with the Curve, figuring this phone out is a cakewalk.

I have the 8830 and boy am I sorry, I never thought I would yearn for my camera I was wrong! Going to Verizon’s website to download a picture message is the worst experience I have ever had every time I have to do it. Then there is the ringer I have had the damn thing right next to me and still missed calls more than once because you cannot hear it. “And while I wear glass’s my hearings fine…smile”
 There are issues with applications the only thing you can save on the memory card are songs and pictures. I have been a happily married man over the past thirty-two years and even I do not have enough pictures that I want to carry with me all the time.  I also do not “listen” to music on my phone I hate to say this but I once owned a Motorola Q that would run circles around this albatross
The one good thing I will say is the battery life is exceptional, However if you need, your cell phone to be everything for you all rolled into a nice little package this isn’t the phone for you
 

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)

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.

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.

I lost my LG flip in Vegas about 6 months ago but had won a ton of money on my trip so I went to the Verizon store there to get a new phone. A few of my buddies had blackberries and they seemed cool so I plunked down $500 or so (forgot exact amount but had to pay full price as I wasn't up for a new phone for another 9 months) for the 8830.

I have not been happy with this phone. First of all, it is ridiculous to have to pay another $30 a month for the data package on this phone even if I don't want to have internet capability. I would use the internet features a lot more if it were a more "real" internet experience like the iphone, but it is not. It is stupid telephone internet with a bigger screen. Websites do not look at all normal and everything is smashed together like on any phone. This is not worth paying the almost as much as I pay for internet at the house. So, after not having been told I would have to pay this extra charge every month, I am stuck with it.

Also, and more importantly, the microphone on this phone picks up EVERYTHING in the background!! I have friends routinely ask me if I'm at the bar or something when I'm just sitting at the house with the tv at a normal or even lower than normal volume. I'm not hard of hearing and do not keep my tv at a loud volume. Even if I am having a conversation and go to the sink and run the water, the person I'm talking to tells me it sounds like a jet is taking off in my house.

Lastly, when someone texts me a picture, I can't even view it on my phone directly. I have to log into the verizon website pixplace or something like that. Honestly, since I am so aggravated with this, I haven't even bothered to find out how to view the pics. Every phone I've had for the last 4 years has been able to view pics the moment I open them. What a bunch of garbage!!

In conclusion, I would not recommend this phone. I have been very disappointed with it and feel hoodwinked by Verizon and RIM.

As a cell phone rep, I have seen all kinds of "new and improved" designs so many times, it will make you sick. I was given the chance to try the 8830 Blackberry for Verizon. I was hesitant because I have been a long-time Palm user. I was simply blown away by the phone. The o.s. has some similarities to Palm, but I was taken aback by the call quality ( as have been using it for over three weeks, and have NOT dropped a SINGLE call!) The menu system is very intuitive and the media player was and added bonus. Syncing to emails was not a big problem, and the Blackberry-based browser was extremely fast. A big plus for the Verizon line-up. Note: Have "retired" my 700p.:(

Jumped from Windows Mobile 5.0 to a Blackberry and will never go back again. Although this device doesn’t have a camera I still feel it is the best phone out right now. Blackberry's reliable operating system along with its beautiful design truly makes this a contender.

10-10-10= 30 Perfect Score!

This is what I was waiting for, after a few years ago having one of
first PDA Phones out, whiched alwas CRASHED. This thing is a JEWEL!
Its sleek, Fast, easy to use, sinks with my WORK EMAIL, what a joy.
SO after almost giving up on the whole PDA/Phone idea, finally
VERIZON makes a smart move. I have to say that i had to first try
my brothers T-mobile Pearl to realize what I could have, and BINGO
Verizon comes through. Now I cant hide even from my work Email, not sure that is good, but oh well, I wont tell them I have a way to read it, as far as they will know, I have a stupid Razor.

This is a must have!
Sincerely,
From Sunny so. Calif.

My dad works at Verizon, he told me they had gotten their display unit. They were required not to put it out yet but I got to play around with it. Amazing. My only complaint is that the keys are rather close so I had some issues with accuracy. Other than that everything went very well. I surfed the internet at as I like to say "iPhone" speeds. The new "Trackball" it feels kinda like its about to fall off, I liked the wheel better. The phone retails from what I am told at $299 with $100 mail-in rebate, might be instant but not sure. The design is very nice, the shell looks really stylish. The phone releases on the 28th of this month (May). The phone as some are confused, it comes with a SIM card, the reason for confusion is no other Verizon phone to my knowledge normally takes a SIM card, you need one though for the international feature. On the 28th, this phone will be with me!