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Old 01-10-2009, 10:11 AM   #1
YMark
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Default T-Mobile at the CES, 8900 hands on

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I just returned from the CES in Las Vegas and had a chance to play with the 8900 at the T-Mobile booth. I also got to try it out at RIM's booth.

Here is a quick summary:

- Screen is absolutely gorgeous, best I've ever seen on a phone
- Comes bundled with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for viewing and editing ONLY. You cannot CREATE documents of this type on the 8900
- 4 different games
- 2 themes
- Coming from a Pearl, I found the keyboard a tad small, but something I think I can get used to. The fact that it was tethered didn't help the convenience of trying the keyboard
- The "pearl" seems a little recessed and took a greater amount of force to press. It seemed a little "tight". It is also black.
- Applications took much longer to start-up than I anticipated. I'm talking about 15 seconds to launch the calculator. (more on this below)
- no pricing information, but one representative said that it shouldn't be much more than the current curve, maybe $149 with two year contract. We can only hope.

I then went over to the Blackberry booth, which was very conveniently located near T-Mobile's booth. Here I got to play with another 8900. As a side note, this is the first time RIM was on the showroom floor, they're typically hidden away from the public. The booth was packed, great job by RIM.

- the 8900 I tested at this booth was remarkable fast. Calculator launched immediately. I discussed this with a RIM representative and he said T-Mobile might have different firmware or the phone could just use a battery pull and reboot
- I watched a movie trailer on this 8900 and it looked as though I was watching a show in HD. It was awesome, and no stuttering. No headphones so I could only use the speaker, can't give a review of the sound
- 3.1 MP camera took the best photos I've ever seen from a cell phone
- phone is shipping with earbuds

I then returned to the T-Mobile booth, did the battery pull and again tried launching the calculator. This time the application launched as fast as the 8900 at RIM's booth.d

Bottom line..... this is one beautiful phone, and I will be purchasing it on February 11th.
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Old 01-10-2009, 10:34 AM   #2
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Thanks for the review
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Old 01-10-2009, 10:42 AM   #3
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If you upgrade the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint applications, you can create files on the device, just so you know. See: Documents To Go for BlackBerry Smartphones: Word, Excel and PowerPoint on your BlackBerry Smartphone
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Old 01-10-2009, 10:57 AM   #4
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Wirelessly posted

Thanks for your thoughts on the 8900. Good stuff to know.
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Old 01-10-2009, 12:00 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ifonline View Post
If you upgrade the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint applications, you can create files on the device, just so you know. See: Documents To Go for BlackBerry Smartphones: Word, Excel and PowerPoint on your BlackBerry Smartphone
Of course, you can do it directly from your phone...
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Old 01-10-2009, 12:01 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 341EastOf View Post
Wirelessly posted

Thanks for your thoughts on the 8900. Good stuff to know.
Ditto!
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Old 01-10-2009, 12:49 PM   #7
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I forgot to mention that I also called up a couple of web pages (yahoo and google). Both loaded considerably faster than my Pearl, which kind of surprised me.

Another side note..... I couldn't turn around without seeing someone using a Blackberry. I'll bet I didn't see 5 iPhones in the 2 days I was at the show. I probably saw more Curves than anything else, followed by the Pearl, then the Bold.
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Old 01-10-2009, 01:53 PM   #8
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Thanks for the review. Much appreciated.
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Old 01-10-2009, 01:54 PM   #9
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Nice to know the calculator will start up fast for your 8900.. the one I have with Rogers, it takes 1 second to load... not impressive.
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Old 01-10-2009, 02:13 PM   #10
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OH no! 1 sec to load! :P just bugging, thats fast... thing about it... its a phone... mine takes about a sec as well... nothing you can do to make it faster at this point...
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Old 01-10-2009, 02:18 PM   #11
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no specs? Was hoping maybe the specs are a tad different from what we were hearing so far. I'm really hoping for more memory besides 256!
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Old 01-10-2009, 02:23 PM   #12
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no, they will not change the hardware... the specs will be the same as every other 8900 out there... why more then 256? thats.. i have TONES of apps on my device and i still have 150mbs free... how much more do you need? lol just curious to see what else you would need more for?
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Old 01-10-2009, 03:28 PM   #13
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Default FIRST PLAY on 8900

Hi there all,
Nice to read the LAS VEGAS review.

I got my 8900 today ( in UK) on Vodafone. Hubby has had his BOLD for a week now, and mentioned the audio output (headset) was awesome on the BOLD.

So there I was, in his BMW, plugged a stereo 3.5mm jack into his in car audio system, and wahhheeyyy, WOW, there stereo boost on the 8900 is just AWESOME.

NO MORE CD's or separate IPOD.

Can not control the 8900 from the 3 series M sport Steering wheel command buttons though, like you can for the IPOD.

ps desperate to look for new themes for 8900. Hubby has new theme, which has 6 horizontal icons plus 2 on left, with messages and calender in main window.....
I so would love to have it on the 8900 as well.

Hotbabe72
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Old 01-10-2009, 03:33 PM   #14
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good review
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Old 01-10-2009, 04:07 PM   #15
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hotbabe wait for themes, its still a new device and the theme builder hasnt been released yet to build themes for the storm or the 8900 yet
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Old 01-11-2009, 01:42 PM   #16
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Nice to read those opinions. Sounds like the screen is superb, which is probably the most important item in a smartphone. And faster loading webpages is something I would expect with the faster processor, even on EDGE. It's all about the processor, no matter what people say about 3g. (ask many of the ATT 3g people, they'll tell you about slow 3g web page loading alright). A better camera is something I'll welcome come Feb. 11th. I'll be the first to say that the camera on the 8100 more or less stinks. The Razr camera was way better.
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Old 01-11-2009, 02:37 PM   #17
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Thanks for the review, I am looking forward to getting this BB!
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Old 01-11-2009, 02:38 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cory Scheuer View Post
no, they will not change the hardware... the specs will be the same as every other 8900 out there... why more then 256? thats.. i have TONES of apps on my device and i still have 150mbs free... how much more do you need? lol just curious to see what else you would need more for?
well, I used to think the 64 megs was enough (when I had the 8700g), until I got the curve. Things change, files get bigger, and new things will be coming out. I don't want to be wishing for more onboard memory after owning the Javelin for 6 months.
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Old 01-11-2009, 02:42 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BallHawk3 View Post
well, I used to think the 64 megs was enough (when I had the 8700g), until I got the curve. Things change, files get bigger, and new things will be coming out. I don't want to be wishing for more onboard memory after owning the Javelin for 6 months.
Yes but OS's get better while enhancing memory management. IMO, I think the on-board memory is plenty fine, especially after the 8320...
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Old 01-12-2009, 10:21 PM   #20
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will the 2gig card I have in my Pearl work in this one?
Since my grandson started texting me so much I quickly tired of the sure-type so I'm really salivating for the new CurveII......!
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