I bought this on the recommendation of the T-Mobile salesperson; ignoring my wife's advice. Three days later the salesperson was telling me "to be patient" and that I would "get used to it". Since then, the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 Frost has only given me problems. There were long delays in doing simple things like making calls and texting. Going through the menus was a nightmare; they are like trying to find your way through Alice's Wonderland. Soon, the phone started to have glitches- it would freeze, strange error messages would appear, etc. I could no longer depend on the alarm function- I lost my job because the alarm failed to go off entirely during a difficult time at my former company. I spent a great deal of time trying to get the device to work only to have it malfunction again and again. I contacted RIM/BlackBerry and repeatedly had my messages refused. When I finally was able to get one through, I never received a response. I ended up sending the device back through T-Mobile's warranty exchange. I was only able to get the same product, and the new BlackBerry is doing the same things as the previous one. The only difference- this time the "2" button sticks.
This phone is so easy to use, it offers a lot of functionality. With the new os 4.5 software its even better. Like being able to see html email and youtube videos. This phone is not fragile at all. If you aren't clumsy or dirty you shouldn't have any problems with the phone. The wifi option allows you to surf the web at fast speeds and the opera mini web browser is fenomenal. I upgraded from an 8100, I like the new keyboard with its bigger buttons, and the bigger headphone jack (it's now a standard normal jack). Its too bad that t-mobile doesn't have a 3g pearl yet. But this will do for now, as my experience with t-mobile's 3g network has not been too great. A gps feature would have been nice as well. But I like this phone.
First of all, to have your phone break 4 times, you must be a klutz. Its not the phone, its the person using the phone.
I owned a BB Pearl 8100, and upgraded to the 8120. I havent dropped it 4 times, and purchased an aftermarket case that could withstand many pounds of abuse, in order to protect the phone.
The microsd slot is quite readily accessible, (pro), and it has a better camera than its predecessor, and also features a videorecorder as well. It also has bluetooth and wifi capabilities, enabling the user to switch automatically from the network to wifi, (pro), which is the main reason I purchased the phone. It will support up to 16Gb microsd, (if you are running 4.5 RimOS, (the latest versions, please see Blackberry Forums for further info along this line).
If i were any buyer thinking about buying this phone i would recomend that you do not buy it. I had this phone and it brook severel severl times, and i had to get new ones about 4 times. it is not relable, and if you drop it just once from 4 inches it is brooke forever!
dont get it is a waist of money!