So you’re in the market for a smartphone, and you’ve finally decided to take the plunge, and you’ve got two great deals: the Blackberry Pearl, or the newer, slimmer Blackberry 8800. Which one will follow your needs and personality best? A quick comparison will tell the story.
Blackberry Basics
First impressions are often the most important, and at a glance, these two Blackberries are quite similar. Both the Blackberry Pearl and Blackberry 8800 feature the distinctive RIM Blackberry candy bar design, with smooth, rounded edges and chrome accents. The Blackberry Pearl is slightly narrower than the 8800, although the Blackberry 8800 has a slightly slimmer profile. Both smartphones are equipped with a keyboard, although the 8800 is a full-size QWERTY keyboard, compared to the Pearl’s truncated (but fully functional) SureType keyboard. Both feature a 240 x 260 pixel, 65,000 color screen and the new Blackberry navigation trackball (compared to the jog dial on older Blackberry models).
Blackberry Pearl: superior messaging, superior style
Both the Blackberry 8800 and Blackberry Pearl feature mobile web browsing, with full HTML and one-touch access, as well as multimedia messaging (with an optional add-on plan). Text/SMS messaging and email are also fully supported by Blackberry. The Blackberry 8800 features RIM’s trademark real-time “push” email and has the ability to integrate with up to ten POP, IMAP or SMTP accounts. As for instant messaging, the Blackberry 8800 comes with Blackberry Messenger, while the Pearl adds Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk preloaded with the smartphone. If you are a heavy user of Google Talk or Yahoo! Messenger, this gives the Blackberry Pearl a definite advantage. The Blackberry Pearl also earns style points, as it comes in several distinctive colors, including black, white, and a vibrant red.
The GPS Advantage: Blackberry 8800
In terms of office capabilities, both the Blackberry Pearl and Blackberry 8800 can open Word and Excel documents, PDFs, and PowerPoint presentations that are attached to emails. Both cell phones come with full Bluetooth hands-free support and are data capable, meaning either cell phone can be used as a wireless modem.
Now that we’ve firmly established that these two Blackberries have a lot in common, let’s talk about where they part ways. The Blackberry Pearl’s most immediate advantage over the 8800 would have to be the built-in digital camera. The Pearl’s built-in camera phone is 1.3 megapixels, with a maximum resolution of 1280 x 1040, built-in flash and 5x digital zoom.
However, the Pearl lacks a built-in GPS solution, which is where the Blackberry 8800 really shines. While the Blackberry Pearl can be made GPS-enabled with a separate TeleNav GPS receiver, the Blackberry 8800 comes with GPS built right into the phone. intelligent. The 8800 requires no additional equipment, just access to a location-based service like TeleNav GPS Navigator. The Blackberry 8800 also features color maps and voice or text-guided driving directions right on the cell phone, making it invaluable for travelers. (The service has an extra cost, $9.99 per month or $5.99 for 10 trips).
If you plan to use your Blackberry to listen to music, you’ll find that either model suits your needs. The Blackberry 8800 and Blackberry Pearl play music and video files, and support MPEG4, H.263, MP3 and AAC (iTunes Music Store) video formats. Note that while the 8800 will play video files, it can’t actually capture any; If you want to watch videos on your Blackberry, you can use a MicroSD or USB 2.0 memory card to transfer files to it.
The smart option (phone)
Clearly, both BlackBerrys have a lot to offer the business or casual user. The inclusion of a digital camera on the Blackberry Pearl points a bit more towards everyday use, while the GPS capabilities of the Blackberry 8800 make it the perfect choice for someone who travels a lot. The Blackberry 8800 is also ideal if your workplace prohibits the use of camera phones. However, with the rich features available on both models, they are both great options.