I have a RIM Blackberry Pearl that is probably a year old now. It’s a red model that I never used for email or text. For some reason the “smart” suretype keyboard and I never were able to get along. The only reason I kept it was because I absolutely loved the fact I had a small, slim phone with a decent camera and usable address book.

Although it wasn’t necessarily rugged, I could slip it my pocket and go. Until today, that is.

I happened to check it for missed calls today and for some reason it was off. I knew the battery was charged, because I had charged it with my wall charger this morning. I tried turning it on, but it wouldn’t power up so I opened the battery compartment, removed and replaced the battery, then turned it on. It came on, but immediately complained of a low battery then shut off.

Thinking I would just have to charge it again, I just left it off and set it down. Fortunately, I picked it up a moment later to be sure I put the battery cover on securely. The bottom of the phone was overheating! It wasn’t hot enough to burn me yet, but it was extremely warm to the touch and had reached that temperature in less than a minute. I did manage to hold the battery in place and connect it to my computer long enough to copy the pictures off and back it up one last time.(the pucker-factor included with that was pretty high too, considering something was shorting in the phone)

Each time I reconnect the battery, it starts overheating, so I’ve finally resigned myself to the fact my Pearl is no more. Long story short, I’d stay away from the Blackberry Pearl in future purchases unless you are in need of a blister.

I’ve seen some other stories about this in a few forums. A few said a new battery didn’t fix the problem, so I guess a circuit inside is the likely culprit. If you’ve encountered it, let me know the outcome. I doubt I have the receipt, so I’m open to tinkering with it if that’s what it takes. Has anyone seen any instances of a blackberry pearl catching on fire?