Bold in the USA
If the Bold works, don't fix it. AT&T has mostly done well by following that advice for its version of RIM's BlackBerry Bold 9000, which is very similar to the Bold model for Canada's Rogers Wireless. This is an excellent executive smart phone with a gorgeous screen, reliable e-mail, MS Office document editing, and a terrific media player. But we wish AT&T had worked on the troubled Web browser, which still struggles to load pages that contain JavaScript.
At 4.5 by 2.6 by 0.6 inches (HWD). the 4.8-ounce device feels solid in your hand. Although the keys are slippery the keyboard is roomier than others and easy to use. This phone has the best-looking screen
(320 by 480 pixels) I've ever seen on a mobile device; I just wish the display were a bit larger (it's 2.6 inches, compared with the iPhone's 3.5).
The Bold features a 624-MHz Marvell Tavor CPU, which is a little bit faster than the iPhone's proces-sor. BlackBerry handhelds are typically very responsive. and I found the Bold to be snappy except for its Web browser, which was often sluggish. This phone did not drop calls during testing, and it transitioned between 2G and 3G networks seamlessly. But our Bold had t rouble connecting calls in areas with weak 2G signal. Its battery life— 4 hours 28 minutes—is about the same as that of of her 3G smartphones but will disappoint BlackBerry loyalists. The iPhone has a better Web browser, but the decision really comes down to what you prefer—a keyboard or a touch screen.-Sascha Segan and PC Jacobowitz
PC Media January 2009
RIM BLACKBERRY BOLD 9000
BLACKBERRY PEARL FLIP 8220 (T-MOBILE)
Don't Flip Yet—This BlackBerry's Still in Beta
A rare misstep for RIM, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 combines interesting new hardware with software that's a bit underbaked. Hold off on buying a Flip until there are software revisions to fix the many bugs I encountered on my early review unit.
I question the reason for the 8220's very existence. but RIM execs insist that there are a lot of people out there who won't buy a phone that doesn't flip. So the first clamshell BlackBerry device was born. When it's closed, the Flip is about the size of a BlackBerry Pearl 8120, with a handsome black face and deep red body. There's a big external screen and a camera on the front, and various buttons and ports on the sides (including the useful BlackBerry mute button). The microSD card slot on the side even accepted the latest 16GB SanDisk card without a problem.
The crisp 2.3-inch, 320-by-240-pixel screen and a hybrid SureType keyboard were both a pleasure to use. But in terms of software, my 8220 was so buggy that it felt as if it had been released too soon. On the first call I made from a Bluetooth headset after a cold reboot, when I flipped the phone closed, a garbage message briefly appeared on the external display. When I played music, closed the flip, and hit the up and down volume buttons quickly in sequence, the external display went wacky. And at one point, the external screen clock just vanished—I could bring it back only with a cold reboot. But the biggest problem, by far, was with the Web browser, which struggled with JavaScript and loaded pages at a painfully slow pace. Wi-Fi wasn't much better. Overall, RIM has built some solid hardware here. But I can't recommend a phone that's this buggy until the kinks have been worked out,—SS
PC Magazine January 2009
T-MOBILE G1
A Solid First Try for Google Android
The first-ever Google Android smartphone is a respectable initial effort that. given an open development platform. willgrow with time. It's missing a bunch of key features, such as a decent mediaplayer and support for corporate e-mail. But the G1, manufactured by HTC. is a quality phone with few bugs.I'm confident that more features are on the way.
The 5.6-ounce Cl looks like a grown-up Sidekick. It has a big 3.2-inch. 320-by-480-pixel touch screen that's bright and responsive. Volume and camera controls are on the sides oft he handset, and the 3-megapixel camera is on the back. Slide the screen up to reveal a comfortable little QWERTY keyboard. You get about 60MB of available space for apps and data, as well as a slot for a microSD memory card.
A quad-band EDGE. dual-band HSDPA phone (1,700/2,100 ). the GI works on T.Mobile's 2G and 3G
networks in the U.S. and on high-speed networks overseas. We achieved 6004-to-700-kilobit-per-sec-
ond speeds in the GI's browser on the 3G network which is fairly typical for a 3G phone. We also con-
nected to our WPA2-secured 802.1Ig wireless network without a problem.
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Calls on the GI sound terrific, at least to the user, the person on the other end may hear background noise. E-mail reads well, but attachment support is poor. As you might expect fro m a Google phone, the GI has one of the best Web browsers around. There are holes in the phone's media capabilities: There's no video player or video camera, for example. Nonetheless, the Cl is a phone with a bright future that's worth checking out.-Saseha San
PC Magazine January 2009
