In this article Girish G of DotGiri shares his thoughts on his new BlackBerry Curve 8310. This is not a comparison of BlackBerry Storm with any other PDA’s. If you are a regular cell phone user and planning to upgrade to blackberry, yes this article is for you. A Proud BlackBerry user himself, Girish writes about the good and bad about his BlackBerry.

Till last year it was on my plans and dreams to have a BlackBerry and now I own a BlackBerry Curve 8310 with Airtel Connection. When I first took my BlackBerry out of box and started using it, I was really fed up with its non-user friendliness. It took two full weeks to get comfortable with its menu and scrolling through different options. This phone (I don’t know whether I can call it as a ‘phone’) is sexy and stylish. Be warned: You will soon get addicted to it!

I bought it for Rs. 24K+ (around $500) and it was not available on open market at that time. This means we need to buy Blackberry from the service providers. This is yet another business trick (trap). The service providers network-lock the product at the time of import., so if you plan to import your BlackBerry make sure you are able to plug-in to your network.

What’s Hot in a Black Berry Curve?

When I talk about BlackBerry I should shout about its key features:

• QWERTY keyboard which saves valuable ‘text’-ing time.
• GPS so that you are never lost
• E-mail integration – Push technology
• Quick battery charging

What’s ‘Not’ in the Curve?

Few of the things which I found missing in BlackBerry Curve 8310:

• Touch screen (BlackBerry Bold have touch screen)
• Carry Case
• Power off / Restart button

Nokia Fan? Think Twice

If you are a Nokia fan and if you are a student I bet BlackBerry is not your choice. Why?

• Size: It can’t squeeze into your tight jeans!
• Price: BlackBerry does not come cheap
• Usability: Never put a Nokia and a BlackBerry on a speed test.
• SMS: No more quick back-bench text messages in your math class.

BlackBerry is over sized for a college student, it is over prized for a regular user , It is not as user friendly as Nokia or Samsung or Sony if you compare the common features such as taking snaps and storing/sharing it, storing/sharing music, sending SMS ,storing phone numbers etc.

I know a BlackBerry has to be compared with PDA’s of its kind. If you are a business user who needs to be online with emails and chat, yes BlackBerry Curve is for you. Go get it!

BlackBerry Curve 8310 Quick Review

This is how I Rate my Black Berry Curve 8310 Smartphone

• Value for money
• Quality of product
• Appearance
• Voice Clarity
• Internet Speed
• Overall

BlackBerry Usage Tips and Tricks

BlackBerry PIN and IMEI

Press ALT + CAP + H on your BlackBerry keyboard and a screen will show up showing you your PIN, your IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity), signal strength and battery levels, it will also give you some usage stats.

Switch to another program

Hold the Alt key and press the Escape button. Continue to hold the Alt key and select a program. Release the Alt key to switch to that program.

Inserting the at sign (@) and periods in an Email field

Press the Space key while the curser is in that field.

Selecting a line of text

Press the Shift key and roll the trackball / track wheel.

Move down a screen (Page Down)

Press the Space key.

This article was written by Girish G. Check out his blog, DotGiri where he writes about IT How-To’s, SEO and Relevant General Articles. If you wish to write similar a Guest Article, you can do so here.

Sourced from: Million Clues! | Follow on Twitter | Fan on Facebook

Leave a Comment: BlackBerry Curve 8310 : PDA Review and Tips and Tricks