I personally do not think there is any contest between these two types of mobile. Myself and many of my friends have chosen the blackberry curve!
The actual handset:
The durability of the curve is much better in my opinion, I have dropped the phone a few times and it now has a couple scratches whereas a few people have told me that the pearl type blackberry has turned off when dropped and takes a while to turn back on.
I like the fascia of the curve as it is much more attractive than the pearl, the buttons do not look as 'all over the place' as the pearl.
However, the thing I do like about the pearl phone is that you can have many different colors of it!
One thing I would say, and this goes for all BlackBerrys … I have experienced very poor battery life. Due to the many applications available for them. If your phone is going off a lot and you have many friends texting you, BlackBerry messaging you, etc. then the battery life runs down quite quickly and has to be charged daily in my case.
I like how BlackBerrys have the menu options instead of having to click through one thing to get to where you want to go to.
I personally have the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and love it !! I find it so simple to use and txt etc. I think the pearl buttons are extremely close together and quite personally think it is an ugly phone. The Facebook app is a favorite, as it is for most people, a simple way of talking to mates and seeing whats going on with people you may have not seen for a while.
The curve tends to be a bit bigger than the pearl, whether thats a good thing or not im not too sure.
On all BlackBerrys I like the fact that they have a led light to let you know if you have a text or a missed call, as well as having the standard vibrate or tone mode.
The camera on my phone is 3.2 megapixel, there are many ways to customize photos and applications that can be downloaded to do so.
Just veering off from the comparison for a moment, one of the games iv found myself addicted to is 'pixelated'. This game annoys me to death as I feel I am about to complete it, and one move later it's game over. Very fun and something to do whilst traveling or just generally being bored.
BlackBerry Messenger is a very good idea of the BlackBerry! Easier than msn to use and obviously for the phone. Its free and an easier way to talk than texting. Everyone with a BlackBerry can get the messenger and its used a lot more than ringing / texting. You can add a photo of yourself to it and update your status as you choose to. PING your friends if they dont reply or tell them to go away if you're at work.
Overall I give the curve 4 out of 5 and the pearl a 2/5.
The applications available and the overall BlackBerry concept I give a 4/5 also.