There are so many great things about the Curve that it's hard to start naming them off. You've got RIM's quality communication and business tools, the fantastic handling of e-mail it provides, a decent application base that, until Apple came along, was unlike anything anyone else had ever offered (even Palm...gasp).

But there are things that can drive a cellphone user up the wall, and just when you think you've found the phone you are not going to hate, you're wrong. The Curve 8330 (the CDMA rendition of the 83xx series) has particular problems dealing with Java apps that run in the background. Apps like Twibble and some IRC clients tend to bog it down so much that a battery pull is required. Until I uninstalled Twibble, I was doing a battery pull 3-6 times a day (and I've had plenty of similar experiences with other apps).

On a good note, at least on my carrier (US Cellular in northeast Oklahoma) the Curve performs fantastically. I've dropped two calls in a year while I was driving in the middle of nowhere, and they were both within the same mile. The data connection is fantastic, not anything like you see on something like the iPhone 3GS, but very good, still.

But my favorite thing about the Curve is how it fits in your hand. The device is made for the palm. It seems RIM knows a thing or two about designing devices meant to be used for extended periods of time. It's almost form-fitting to the curves of your hand (I wonder about the name sometimes. Was it purposeful?). I had no trouble typing after 4 hrs of owning it. More to that story: this was my first smart phone and first QWERTY keyboard on a phone.

Terrific, flawed as any device is, but overall a great buy. Worth the $99 most places are charging for it these days.