http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/ Engadget Mobile Comments for Why the BlackBerry Pearl keys suck http://www.engadgetmobile.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadgetmobile.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 10:08AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 10:18AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 10:32AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Your pictures are actually impressive if you can pull a key that far out and it doesn't break off. ]]>Sep 25th 2006 10:54AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 11:23AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 11:27AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 11:33AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 11:34AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 11:40AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 11:42AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 11:59AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 12:21PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 12:31PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/The best one I have seen is the HTC Excalibur.... this is a really nice device with very high quality... not like this....]]>Sep 25th 2006 12:36PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 12:38PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 2:40PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 2:44PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/
Older models use a thin sheet of plastic formed into the keys that sits on top of a set of plastic stubs embedded into rubber membrane, pretty much the same as every membrane keyboard out there these days. take apart most of the keyboards shipping today and you'll see something similar unless it's one of those retro buckling spring deals.

The 8100's tight on space so they probably skipped the separate layer for the keys this time.

As your pictures seem to show, even when goughed with a large flathead screwdriver the key is still attached, so do you have a complaint besides the mushy feel?]]>Sep 25th 2006 2:46PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 3:59PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 4:01PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 4:07PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/
I won't bash the E62. I have one and think it's pretty sweet. But it's a tad slow and until I figure out how to simultaneously and regularly pull down email from 5 accounts and have it delivered to a single inbox, I'm sticking with my 8700. I'm not saying I won't switch...just saying I haven't figured it out yet. The E62 is a good devide that I think is worthy of consideration by anyone looking into smartphones, esp WM ones. (Had an MDA/8125/K-Jam and hated it.)]]>Sep 25th 2006 5:32PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 5:50PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 6:26PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 10:06PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 25th 2006 10:09PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/
I like the way the keys feel on the pearl. It's hard to press hard buttons on such a small device, so I welcome the floating nature and soft press of the 8100 keys. The keys still engage positively, and that's what matters to me. Everyone is reporting that the exact same thing happens with other BB models, this is not something exclusive to the 8100.

Second thing is that this seems to be more of a two sides of the fence thing. Basically, there are a large percentage of BB users who hate what the Pearl stands for. The Pearl is the first device to bridge the gap between the business market and consumer market. For those of us who need a great phone and PDA, that will fit in your pocket, this is it. So my point is, there are some people who are not going to accept the 8100 or other future non QWERTY blackberries. Those people seem to be hunting down things to rag on the 8100 about. Personally, I have not had any lockups, OS crashes, button problems, etc. I've loaded about 8 apps so far, and have had zero problems. Sure, I'm not the most powerful user, but I am not just using it to make calls and check email. I don't doubt there are some problems, but I feel they have been grossly overhyped/or affect a very small percentage of users.

Just my 2 cents.]]>Sep 26th 2006 10:09AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 26th 2006 10:37AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 26th 2006 12:15PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/
Besides, the way your are treating your 8100, it will fall apart on you!]]>Sep 27th 2006 12:59PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Sep 29th 2006 1:34PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Oct 22nd 2006 7:52PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Oct 24th 2006 8:17PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Nov 13th 2006 3:10PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/
I tried the Pearl and wanted to love it. Voice-activated calling was really lacking on all the Blackberries. But the keyboard was not good for me. I've grown up on SureType, esp with the 7100, but the Pearl keys seem more wobbly, less flush. I found myself hitting the wrong key often. It seemed OK to type a few sentences but became a chore, as compared to the elegance and ease of the 8700.

I tried the T-Mobile Dash (same form factor and software as the Moto Q). Looked silly at first, but really an elegant device. Push technology was great. Multimedia and richness completely beat out anything else on the market, period. (Higher resolution than even Pocket PC). Voicetags are great. Audible Air, lovely. Bluecasting of live radio--wow. However a few issues really got me upset. 1. contacts took a while to come up (Blackberry is super fast by comparison) 2. can't search contact by name AND company and 3. I can't receive email on one email account and forward via another account (say you don't want to send email via a work account). Then there is a complete lack of autotext and email filtering.

So, in summary, the 8700 is the best pure-play email device on the market. Can't beat it. Dash/Q is the best email-light/smartphone on the market.

Now if I could get voice-tags or voice calling on the 8700 I would be all set. It forces me to consider the Pearl (voice calling) but can't lose the full keyboard.]]>Nov 16th 2006 11:36PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Dec 2nd 2006 11:41PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Jul 8th 2007 1:54AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Dec 14th 2007 9:58AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/
My service is with ATT (yes they are back…YUCK) and I had a warranty on her account for over a year and they are saying that Blackberries' are not covered. Blackberry has no workmanship warranty on their hand held devices, so basically they want $195 to repair the phone or ATT wants $250 to exchange it. Both companies have horrible customer service, and outside the convenience of email Blackberry is more like a “Dingleberry” as they are often referred to. Who in their right mind would format a cell phone keyboard after a traditional computer keyboard, that’s ludicrous do they think a person is going to use two hands?
To top it off they wouldn't even send me the one little button to fix it myself. BAD BUSINESS!
]]>Feb 7th 2008 4:07PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/
And btw, I have owned a treo 650, but while it was nice, the pearl is much more of a daily phone and media/productivity device that overall is much sexier than anything else out there... besides the iphone]]>Jun 13th 2008 9:11PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2006/09/25/why-the-blackberry-pearl-keys-suck/Nov 13th 2008 9:12PM