I own a Blackberry Curve 8520 and it's made me want to change over to a different brand. The trackpad stopped working and still hasn't been repaired- 5 weeks later. I'm not saying the phone is all bad but it certainly has it's moments.

The Curve 8520 became very popular as it has BBM- an instant messaging service, free internet(if you pay your BIS which is around R60 per month) and it can download loads of free apps, take pretty decent quality photos and the sound quality is quite good. Your emails can be set up to come directly to your phone and the QWERTY keyboard is easy to use, especially for typing emails, etc.

That's where it ends.

Unfortunately the Curve only has EDGE. If your phone goes onto GSM(Global System for Mobile Communications) you can only sms and make and receive calls. Which sucks as the phone pretty much relies on internet for everything. The trackpad also eventually gives out. Most people I know have had to send their phone in for repairs or get completely new ones. The Blackberry Curve 8520 is also quite slow when it comes to using the internet, sometimes it doesn't load the sites at all. The more apps you have, the slower your phone is. I find I have to restart my phone (pull the battery out) at least once a day, just so that it will work and my BBM messages will go through.

I won't say don't ever get a Blackberry because they really are a brilliant invention, but rather go for one of the more recent models- they have the later operating systems (the Blackberry Curve 8520 won't let you upgrade to later software!) which work faster and are more efficient.