Why bother with the Curve?

If you go through Amazon, the Bold 9700 was $49 with contract, and it has the higher rez 480 x 320 screen.

There aren't any BB's with truly high end spec's - like 1ghz processors, hd camera's etc.

But I was able - admittedly with some difficulty, to get the BB from Amazon and still have them apply the corporate discount available for tmobile.

I had to call 3 times, to talk with different people because Amazon does auto activate the phone - before they ship it - and I waited for the phone to arrive before calling tmobile.

so if your discount must be applied at activation - you'll go through hoops trying to get them to apply it. Just do not wait for the phone to arrive - the same day you order from Amazon, also call tmobile.

In the end I got the best blackberry - and all the discounts I expected.

Now - as a person who has both used iPhone and Android I can tell you BB OS 5 is junk.
You get used to it after a while, but it is never as good.

But the screen on the Bold 9700 isn't bad - you eventually get used to to trackpad, which eventually lessens some of the frustration with it. You get better with the keyboard, even though it's not so great to have a tiny physical keyboard.

The camera works so-so. The battery isn't bad, I've had no problems with that.

It stores my music and movies, and it does have a replaceable battery and microSD expandability.

all-in-all I find it to be an OK phone. I mostly just use it because it is one of the least expensive options to have tethering - and it's allowed, not a hack - not something some people have done, but is officially frowned upon - it's actually part of the service. No surprise bills later.