[arronc]

My Pearl has taken many a beating.

Swan dove from on top of my car to the pavement. No scratches or problems.

Swan dove from my lap into a puddle face down. No scratches or problems.

Fell of a chair and threw it across cement sidewalk. No scratches or problems.

Fallen a million different times and ways. No scratches or problems.

And my Pearl has no sort of skin, case, or cover.

The only damage done to my Pearl occurred less than 30 minutes after I first bought it, when I had it in my hand, and was stretching, and slammed the top of the phone into a glass light fixture, which slightly scuffed the top of the phone.

SO the moral of the story is that the Blackberry Pearl is remarkably well-built for its size and weight, just don't run into glass light fixtures.

[clouseau21]

I too have dropped mine a couple of times with no ill effect. I did, however break
the little clip on the inside bottom of the battery cover. It was always a little hard to get off. I guess I gave it just a bit too much "oomph" one time. But I keep it in a belt holster so it's not that big of a deal.

[clouseau21]

I too have dropped mine with no ill effect. I did, however, break of the little clip on the inside bottom of the battery cover. It was a little hard to get off and I guess I gave just a bit too much "oomph". But I keep it in an open faced belt holster most of the time so it's not that big of a deal.

[lithic]

Hmm, so no response on the sub-par battery cover? Thats a huge factor in durabillity. Has RIM fixed that in newer models?

And also realize, the person posting the thread isnt talking about wireless device efficianado's, hes talking about relasing a device for employees of his organization.

Id never relealse the pearl for that audience. The 8800, or 8300 yes. But most people who dont frequent black berry forums throw their phones into a purse, or breife case unprotected. I personally dont feel that the pearl can stand up to that abuse for 2 reasons.

1. Poor battery cover design. Really poor.
2. Track ball. Less of a issue. Weve issued 15+ 8300 world phones from verizon. Havent had any complaints yet on this, but its only been a couple of months.

Dont get me wrong, i love my 8100, but I also baby it, almost never carry it with out a holster. Lint, and flimsy back latch are big enemies of this device.

PS. the OEM battery cover popped off rutinely. The silver latch sticks out like a hangnail waiting to get caught on a pocket.

The replacement i got with a extened battery is much more secure. And have zero proplems with it. However, I also dont have to pull the battery to reset it, so never have to fitz with it due to 3rd party software.