Preface: I am a gadget guy and a cell phone hound. I typically get a new phone every 4-6 months. I've also pretty much been on every type of network. Currently I work at a T-Mobile store and pulled this phone out of inventory to use as my demo line.

I had been using a Nokia 6682(also reviewed) on Cingular before I switched to the Pearl on T-Mobile.

I had done a lot of research on this phone before I picked it up to know what I was getting into. I have to say also, this is the first phone I've ever had to join a forum to understand how to use everything. There are so many hidden features and shortcuts you won't find otherwise. The user manual that comes with the phone is a joke and just an overview. You have to go to Blackberry.com to download the full 250 page manual for the phone.

The original software that came with the phone had several bugs. The most annoying was the ringer would silent if the trackball was moved at all. So much for carrying it in your pocket, you'd never hear calls come in. Other slight issues ensued. Finally T-Mobile released the update and its now on my phone which Ill continue the review with (considering all new phones come with update now).

First off, who redesigns a pda type phone for the mass-market to include a camera finally but doesn't have any video capability? To play any type of video, I had to download a converter (also found on the forum) so that I could play any videos. The 1.3mp camera is extremely lousy as well. I thought the VGA camera on my old Razr was actually better. Anything but a stone steady hand produces blurry shots and forget about any true color rendering.

Adding email to the phone was very easy. I have two accounts on my phone now (yahoo and work). Both actually register emails before my computer does so that's really nice. I have yet to have any patience to figure out how to view attachments. It just doesn't work well on the phone for me. I do mostly texts and average about 2000+ a month. The keypad took some getting used to but after a while I was able to be very fast. The only thing is it still brings up the wrong words in predictive style. My old Nokia and even the Motorola would bring up the most often used (which makes more sense when you say the same things over and over). Sometimes trying to add symbols or other things can get tedious. I never was slow on a normal keypad and I feel I could be faster on this one but the programming holds me back.

The Bluetooth in the phone is a bit tricky. With my headset, I only get a beep in it when I have an incoming call. This is annoying because I have separate ring tones for callers and I can't hear them through the earpiece; I have to take out my phone to hear it. My Nokia would play the tone through the earpiece. I also don't hear any notification through the earpiece when I have a text or email message. This is another annoying setback. The other Bluetooth annoyance is sending or receiving from another phone. You actually have to go directly to the folder where you're sending or receiving from otherwise it won't work. You can't just click on a picture and hit send. Why not RIM?

Sound quality is marginal. Lots of people report hearing the same echo as I do. Sometimes it takes up to 3 seconds for the caller to hear you when first answering. If you have the speakerphone on, anyone on the other end will have a fit trying to understand you. I've also noticed this phone has a bar less reception than any other phone on the same network in the same place. I stuck a piece of silver foil over the battery as a trick to help efficiency (forum trick).

I've found several applications that download and work very well with the phone. Synching up to my computer with the desktop software was very simple also. In a matter of minutes I had all my Outlook information in my phone.

Lately I have been having additional issues creeping up. Ill get voicemail indications and the phone never rang. I get error codes when trying to retrieve emails and the phone will lock up. This I can only undo by removing the battery and rebooting. Another thing that has actually been happening since the phone was new is loss of signal. The phone will literally drop signal, search for network, and then find full strength in about 1 minute.

I will add that the battery life is very good with all the heavy usage I'm putting it through. I do have a clip that puts it into sleep mode which saves battery life considerably. I have Bluetooth on all day long, read about 60+ emails a day and do about 2000 texts a month. At the end of the day I have only used about 3-4 bars out of 10. Without using the clip and sleep mode Ive noticed that it uses about 7-8 bars for the day. I put the phone on the charger when I go to sleep at night and take it off when I wake up every morning. Its also suggested that you have the phone automatically turn off and then back on at some point(mine is set for 4 and then 7) so that it acclimates itself to the towers.

All that being said, I am having a new phone shipped out to me under warranty. However, I like a phone I don't have to have so many issues with so I ordered a new Nokia Nseries. Sometimes you just have to stick with what you know is reliable.