BlackBerry Woes

This is my rant about BlackBerry's. I have had one for about 4 months now and I have to say I am not impressed in the least bit with it. I was due for a new phone and my family had all already switched over to the smart phones and I was the only one left with "outdated" technology. I had the EnV Touch and I couldn't rave more about that phone. Although I couldn't check my e-mail, browse the internet, or download apps, I think it was the greatest phone. The quality was about as top notch as you can get for a mass produced phone. It texted wonderfully with the roomy keypad and the touch screen was just fine for me. It took clear, quality pictures and the sound quality on it was fantastic.
So I'm standing in the Verizon store and I am literally able to get whatever phone my little heart desires. My sister and dad already had the droid and really liked it however, I wasn't sure about the all touch screen factor. For me, I needed some buttons. I had been eyeing up the BlackBerry Tour which seemed to me like it would be a great phone. I would say about 90% of my friends already had either the BlackBerry or the iPhone (which wasn't an option since I have Verizon) so I was settled on getting the Tour.
Low and behold, the salesman comes over to discourage me from purchasing the Tour because he says the little ball that is used to control the phone breaks very easily and it takes a while to order a new one. So I asked about my other options and he sent me to the Curve 2 (a.k.a the BlackBerry Curve 8530). In my opinion, it was not as sleek and stylish and the Tour and it felt so light weight and cheap to me that I had a hard time taking his word on it. He explained that the Curve 2 had updated software and everything that the Tour offered except world-wide capabilities. So, all in all I finally settled to get the Curve 2. Taking the knowledgeable sales person's word. Especially because the Curve 2 was almost half of the tour's price, I just figured why would he try and sell me something cheaper if I was going to purchase something twice the price.
The Cons: So fast forward to right now. I've had this phone for 4 months and I absolutely detest it. The camera on it is AWFUL. It takes very pixelated, low quality pictures (as most of you have witnessed.. see below for the outfit of the day)
As you can seen, and as you have seen in past posts, the color and resolution of the camera is just horrible. Also, when I am on a phone call it is hard to hear people and people sometimes have a hard time hearing me. It has volume and I turn it all of the way up, but I am unimpressed. Also, unless you talk directly into the mouth of the phone, no one will be able to hear you at all. As for the internet browser, for 3G I wouldn't consider it fast by any means. Unlike the iPhone, you can only have one internet page opened at a time. Another bad thing is that when you are texting the buttons click so loudly compared to any other phone I've ever seen. So whenever I am somewhere I shouldn't be texting (I don't do it that often, I swear!!!) everyone can hear me clicking away on my phone! I think the noisy buttons are because the phone is made of cheap-y plastic. When I hold it, I can just feel that it is "Made in China". Not to mention, the Facebook app is terrible! I know that is not Blackberry's issue, but the app really stinks!
Now for the pros.. and there are not many.. There is a pretty wide variety of apps available. I love the Twitter App, the Weather channel app, and the Pandora app...especially because you can plug your BlackBerry right into any sound dock system or even into your car and you can have Pandora run through any speakers! It's especially great if you are heading to the gym and you forget your iPod because then you can just listen to your BlackBerry. The e-mailing feature works very well, I'm not impressed, but I don't have anything negative to say about that. Also the speaker phone is great. Unlike a regular phone call, a phone call with speaker is clear and crisp. Plus the little pad instead of the track ball is a lot better.
All in all I understand that BlackBerry's are for the "executive" type and that they are not really meant to be a "social" phone. However, in my opinion, for anyone looking for a good phone, the BlackBerry Curve 2 (BlackBerry 8530) is not a good choice at all.

Sorry for the novel of a post but here is my question for all of you. If you have this BlackBerry, do you like it? Also, if you have any tips or suggestions or things I may not know about this BlackBerry please comment or e-mail me and let me know! Also if you have the BlackBerry Tour, do you like it? Should I have gone with my instincts and purchased the Tour instead? Others that do not have any of the phones I mentioned what is your favorite Smart Phone besides the iPhone (that is for SURE what I am going to get when my next contract with Verizon expires). Have a fabulous day!
Yours,
sCe