BlackBerry Curve 8310 and 8320

If you want to know the differences are between RIM's BlackBerry Curve 8310 and 8320 models then you'll struggle to tell just by looking. At first glance they are identical but the 8320 has Wi-Fi and the 8310 has GPS. If you want both though, you're out of luck. The similarities though mean that we can look at both handsets in one hit.

Each features the full QWERTY keyboard, trackball, camera and memory card slot of the original Curve; they're both in the same lightweight but chunky case, and neither looks as stylish as the sleek Pearl; but by the same token they're not as slab like as the 8820.

The design of the Curve 8300 enabled RIM to fit in a full size QWERTY keyboard and provide enough space for a large enough battery to deliver the excellent longevity BlackBerry users are accustomed to, while still producing something small enough to carry everywhere with you. Adding an extra radio for GPS or Wi-Fi on these devices means even more options but has RIM managed to keep the impressive battery life as well?

Where are we?

The GPS equipped 8310 comes with RIM's own basic Maps application. As on previous models, this can take an exceptionally long time to acquire a GPS fix - even if you've just been using GPS with another tool. You get free maps and directions, from or to your location, an address you type in or an address from your contacts, but you can't search for a business or point of interest. You can send location details or - particularly usefully - directions by email, text or straight to another BlackBerry with RIM's PIN messaging service.

Different operators also have their own navigation offerings for the 8310; Vodafone's is from Telmap and costs £4.99 per month. You need to download the application, which takes several minutes, and acquiring a satellite fix takes quite a while as well; over a minute in several cases. The 8310 had no difficulty getting a fix inside a car at least. The interface is designed to be simple and sometimes it's rather too simple, offering the equivalent of a dialog box with no options - you need to press the menu button and then choose Yes or No, OK or Cancel.

Maps and Points of Interest download over the air when you search for a place or request a route; again this takes some time. For drivers there's a spoken notification when the route is ready and the app goes straight into turn-by-turn directions. The route overview is a map although you can get a list of turns; again, designed for drivers rather than passengers and zooming into the map means another download to wait for. You get spoken warnings for turns one mile, a quarter of a mile or 500 yards ahead depending on the distance between junctions, but the instructions are just the direction of the turn, not the name of the road. If you're watching the screen, red bars at the side of the screen count down to the next turn.

You do get street names if you choose walking modes, but this is a sequence of static maps that you have to page through (and the numbers marked on screen may work on a phone with a numeric keypad but they do nothing on a BlackBerry). There's also a low-contrast night mode and the main screen shows the direction you're travelling in. The POI search is reasonable but does best with distinctive names; the application suggests you only need to type a few letters but this means 'pet' finds petrol stations not pet shops.