Lukewarm review of the 8530
 

But is it compatible w/ Windows 7????

The desktop manager works fine with phone off of windows 7. I own the phone and feel it functions better than the reviews and I greatly appreciate the wifi

I ordered mine from sprint and will have it in my hands tomorrow. I think most complaints are with the screen and camera/mostly lack of flash (since some reviews talk about even though its 2.0mp the quality is oddly good). But most people that talk about it outside of a review say it is a solid device.

If you were a happy 83xx or 89xx user, this is your phone

The 8530 is my first bb. I like it so far. But i'm having problems trying to sync my computer calendar to the bb.

I was a happy Pearl user for some time now. Even the native apps are dragging this down so it was time to move up and this is definitely a move up. I will say I know for sure I like this keyboard way better then whats on the Tour. While I do not dislike the Tour keyboard its just too close together, this keyboard feels fluid.

My wife upgraded from 8130 to this phone. I prefer the Tour keyboard over 8530. For whatever reason, you get used to the closeness and your typing is accurate. Yes I do remember the critics of the 88xx keyboards

My first Blackberry was the 8330 CURVE and after getting used to it, I loved it. Before Christmas, right after the 8530 was announced, I thought the faster processer and WiFi would be worthwhile upgrades, so I ordered it online from Sprint and and had it in a couple of days.

At first, I really liked it....but after using it for a few days, I put my phone number back on my CURVE 8330 and will contact Sprint on Monday (tomorrow) to return the new 8530.

My problems:
1. Cannot use a charging pod with this phone. The battery cover is cheap, flimsy plastic with no external contacts.
2. The keyboard is a cheap imitation of my 8330. There is slight tactile feedback on some keys, but not all the keys. On a tiny keyboard like this, without the tactile feedback, I make too many typing errors. This was not an issue on the 8330 which has a wonderful feeling keyboard.
3. The WiFi works well. It is sluggish when connecting, but after figuring out how to do it, I liked it.
4. The Bluetooth interface with my Desktop allows for easy and convenient wireless backup with the BB Desktop Manager. The 8330 also does this, but was more difficult to initiate the first successful 2-way connection.
5. It is a virtual fingerprint magnet !!!

Bottom line...For me, the overall benefit of a newer BB Curve wasn't worth the aggravation and extra cost of the upgrade.

Odd all my buttons click and click well.
The battery door isn't any more flimsy then the others just pressured sealed instead of that little clasp. I haven't tried the bluetooth but my wifi connected quickly and has stayed connected for days now.

I will agree on the fingerprint thing through the glass surface around the trackpad gets smudged quick a screen protector for the rest helped a lot...but hey my computer keyboard and mouse pad isn't exactly shiny and clean all the time either.

Will a Tour user be disappointed? I love the keyboard of the 8330 but may miss OS 5.0 on the Tour as well as the camera quality.

8530 has the official 5.0 OS
As far as the camera goes I'd suggest finding one you can play with either at a store or from someone else. The screen is also a lower resolution so it be a good idea to see if that bothers you. Here is what I said about it on another site.

I was really bothered by the screen resolution and lack of flash when comparing phones. BUT after using them and watching both videos on my phone and taking photos in many lights I gotta say its not really an issue. The screen looks really good they definitely got something working behind the scenes. The pictures look real crisp in many lights; just use the right white balance in darker situations that little camera pulls in a lot of light its rather surprising actually. Like shown in the review on this site the pictures have great color; outside (even when very cloudy) looks great and inside looks good in almost all types of lights; be it back light, over head, incandescent, dim etc. Would it be nice to have a flash? Sure! but for that to be the reason to not get this phone seems odd, for a hundred more bucks you can buy a nice slim camera.

In all honesty unless you REALLY want wifi and can't stand the trackball anymore. I might just suggest sticking with the tour but that is your decision go and play with an 8530.