My 8530 Curve Purchase

A sorted history...


I spent a number of years sans smartphone. Couple of reasons...I'd saved up my Best buy bucks / gift cards for an iPod touch a while back, and I attempted to hold out for the end of AT&T's exclusivity deal. I like Verizon, family is on Verizon, and I once spent two hours on the phone trying to get through AT&T's tech support to get a silly DSL line activated. I dislike wasting client time on slow moving tech support.


My brother provided me with his old HTC Touch Pro a number of months ago but my toddler decided she would like to do a drop test onto my hardwood floor.


So, I continued to use my combination cell phone / iPod touch until the Palm Pre caught my eye. The buy one, get one deal seemed appealing and the reviews remained positive. The next day or so I learn that Palm looks to sell all assets to another company. No sense in getting a phone that may never receive another update.


Present day...sort of


At the point I learned of Palm's need to sell, I was stuck on getting some type of smartphone. I noticed the Blackberry deal Verizon had and decided to give it a try.


After a brief scuffle with trying to purchase the phone in-store and being told I would need to pay an early renewal fee, I decided to order online where the fee is waived. I went through the process of saying "no" to adding the kitchen sink accessory package to arrive at a total price of ...$0. Even the rep on the phone seemed surprised, she said it with a degree of trepidation.


So, no early renewal fee and the phone is free. My inner Scrooge responded with a slight decrease in his negative outlook on consumer product pricing.


I've worked with the phone a week and I now realize what I was missing. Earlier today I used my Curve to transfer money between accounts. Something I could only do when I was in WiFi range if I was using my touch.


My only caveat, the poor battery life. The issue solves easily with an extra charger but I already carry around too many cords so it's mildly annoying.


I'll do some follow-ups on the BES capabilities and other "fun" apps but right now my fingers are pooped. I typed the entire post on my Blackberry.