[bob_az]

hello! i am currently on verizon, and i have the full QWERTY 8703e. i really do love it, but the form factor of the pearl is so extremely enticing. im looking for advice from other pearl users out there.

first off, i want to stay with verizon and i know they are getting the new and improved pearl soon, which is great.

has anyone made the switch from a full QWERTY to the suretype? how was it? that's my overall biggest concern. i LOVE the full QWERTY...i really do. im willing to try anything but am a little nervous about giving it up. id appreciate all the pros and cons about the transition. im more of a recreational BB user - i email friends, do lots of texting, etc. some work emails here and there but primarly recreational as opposed to business oriented.

honesty needed - how easy/difficult of a transition is it to suretype? when i just had a regular cell phone i wasnt a big t9/predictive text fan. is it like that? is it very customizable? please advise!

besides the obvious size and keyboard issues, what are the main differences between a pearl and a regular 8703 blackberry. is functionality, ease of use, etc. the same?

sorry to blab on, but i love my BB - it's my lifeline, and im definitely willing to check it out, but thought id seek advice first. thanks for the help!

[JSanders]

Hey Bob, there are literally hundreds of threads like this, opinions on SureType vs. QWERTY. It is basically all opinion and personal preference. I have used both and gone in both directions. I loved SureType, but I like my qwerty more.

You won't find a more solid BB than the 87xx, and I think easy to type on, as well.

Learning SureType is easy. If you are easy to adapt to change across the board in life, and have a good attitude about it, you will pick it up quickly and painlessly.

[nedzalife]

I started on suretype and it is really really good at predictive input. Compared to T9, there's no comparison. However, my biggest complaint with Suretype is the amount of variations it tries to remember. It slows your typing down a little, and can mess up your messages when you're not paying attention (Suretype gets so good, that you do stop paying attention to what you're typing when you shouldn't, cause there are legitimate english word variations can make your message not make sense at all)

Other than that, Pearl and Suretype are probably the best phone I've ever owned. I have Pearl for personal and 8703e for work. I like full keyboard, been debating the Curve for personal use, but I know I'd miss the form factor of the Pearl... Also, my fav feature of the CDMA Pearls is that they'll have 3.5mm headphone jacks... That's also making me debate going to the Curve. I have a GSM carrier (Rogers) and the only 3.5mm BB are the Curve and 8800 (i think). I have a pair of really nice headphones that I'd love to hook up to my phone for listening to music, movies, etc.

Anyway that's my two cents. Good luck with your decision.

[JSanders]

No BB has Predictive Typing. It's not the same thing as SureType or AutoText.

It does not predict what you are going to type, you have to complete the entire word, and 99.9% of the time, it is correct. I was faster on SureType than I am on a full qwerty device.

They key to ST is NOT to look at each word as you type, look at the keys and make sure you are pressing the correct key. Before you send your message, review it quickly for mistakes or mistaken words that ST got wrong. Or at least only glance at each word after you have typed it and just before you press the space key to accept it.

[nationwide]

I was able to disable sure type through a menu on my Pearl. Now it types like a qwerty keyboard, I just need to double tap to get 1/2 of letters... Easy as pie!

I am on mine right now!

[ShelW]

Originally Posted by nationwide

I was able to disable sure type through a menu on my Pearl. Now it types like a qwerty keyboard, I just need to double tap to get 1/2 of letters... Easy as pie!

I am on mine right now!

Interesting. I'd disable multi-tap, if I could!

(You actually need multi tap when entering phone numbers which are comprised of numbers, such as 800 GO FEDEX...)

Anyways, really love sure type!! As others have mentioned, it's accuracy is almost uncanny. Just use it for a few days, as it does learn your words, and add them to it's word list, so it gets more and more accurate, the more you use it.

[dbabe]

I owned a Sidekick for two years [eek!!], and the QWERTY keyboard was so useful, however when I finally switched over to the Pearl, the SureType did take some getting used to, but after only an hour or so of using it I caught on easily. As mentioned it does learn words you commonly use so that is definitely a plus, but because all my friends make typos like it's their jobs, I had a hard time with SureType giving me misspelled words so I had to disable the automatic word learning from messages. Overall, the Pearl is the best phone I've owned thus far and the SureType keyboard is not a problem at all for me, as long as I keep up with the cleaning of the Custom Wordlist because I do occasionally make typos myself that the BB adds to the list.

My boyfriend also wants to switch from a QWERTY [he has Verizon's 8830] to the Pearl when Verizon releases it, if that helps any!

Good luck!

[obeythelaw]

Is the CDMA Pearl for Verizon still on target for a release on November 1? I really want to see it in the store before I make the decision to buy one.

[dbabe]

Verizon tells us something different every time we go. Half the time they play dumb and say there's no such thing, yet it's on the upcoming releases on their website. I guess we'll know tomorrow though.

[sgtcasey]

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[jeremyckitching]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 8700g: BlackBerry8320/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

I used the Pearl for a little while (I actually had an 8700g before it) and found the Suretype to do its job well. However, I couldn't give up the full QWERTY keypad. SureType is easy enough to get used to, I just prefer the full keypad.