IMO this is poor design. The USB connector is soldered onto the main borad and is very weak. I have repaired two of these s far.
It is a shame because RIM have built a far better solution into all their phones. At the back of the phone there are two gold contacts. These are for battery charging. They also make a cradle that charges the phone through these contacts. I just bought this one
OEM Blackberry CURVE 8300 8310 8320 Charging Pod Stand on eBay, also, Cell Phone PDA Accessories, Cell Phones PDAs (end time 04-May-08 20:31:32 BST).
It is a great shame that RIM do not include this accessory in teh box with all new phones as do many other makers of high end phones. It would not eliminate this problem but it would at least cut it in half. To eliminate the problem comlpletely RIM would need to put a further 3 contacts on the back of the phone to duplicate, not eliminate, the USB port.