so far, the phonebook is what really win me over this phone, big screen, qwerty keyboard, side scroll buttons, etc.

very useful phone especially if you got multiple phone entries for contacts.

Since it's my first "smart phone" of any kind I don't have much to compare it to. I'm a simple person and so I needed a simple phone that is good for text messaging. I purchased this phone for the full keyboard. That was the only reason. So far it has worked perfectly for me. Just remember that this phone is not an MP3 player, it doesn't have a camera and it doesn't have the ability to share data via bluetooth, but it works great for texting, email, and light surfing.

Just got this phone thru Amazon with a Cingular contract. Its really amazing for checking email and for organization of calender and contacts. However, the call quality is very poor for two reasons. The first is that although the call does not drop, the quality of the call often blurs so that you can barely hear what they are saying. Although Cingular brags about calls not dropping, what good is it if you can barely understand the call itself? Kind of sounds like when a walkie talkie cuts on and off. This seems to happen in about half of the calls. The other problem is that the microphone seems to pick up too much extra noise and is horrible if you are walking in the wind or any semi-loud area like a party or bar.

I am now considering either returning this phone for another of the same (maybe it was just this phone...though if you read the previous reviews you will see many complaining of exactly the same problem), returning it and getting the new 8800 (hopefully will have better call quality), or simply keeping it and getting another phone with good quality and just using the blackberry for email purposes. So far from what I've experienced, do NOT get this phone if it will be your primary phone for calling, the quality is a serious problem. Definately DO get this phone if it is going to be a business/email tool. Its really great for that. Best might simply be to try out the new 8800 and see if it has the whole package.

I often hear debates over who has the better smartphone --- Palm or BlackBerry??

I have two lines with Sprint PCS, with my personal line having a Treo 700p and my business line connected to a BlackBerry 8703

First off - I love both phones! However, they are very different, particularly in their strengths and weaknesses --- my review is based upon how well each smartphone handles the following things -

- PHONE FUNCTIONS

- EMAIL

- INTERNET

- PHOTOGRAPHS

- MULTIMEDIA (Music & Movies)

- SPEAKERPHONE

- BLUETOOTH

- COMPUTER SYNCHRONIZATION

- MISC - (Text Messaging, System Stability, PDA Functions)

Okay..... here we go -

1. PHONE FUNCTIONS

For me, the Treo 700p has much better phone functions --- this is mostly because of their touch screen capabilities

When I wanna dial a number off of the Treo, I immediately start spelling the person's name on the keyboard, and I immediately go to my phone book, where I can touch the number I want to dial

The BlackBerry is a bit more complicated, as I cannot touch the screen --- therefore, I'm limited to dialing based upon scrolling to the right name and then pressing the number

Overall, the BlackBerry isn't bad ---- however, I know a lot of people like to use their phone while driving their car (with a bluetooth headset on) or like to use the phone in situations that require a quick reaction.... if you wanna use your phone in the car, then the Treo is the best choice, mainly because the touch screen allows one to go to any name and dial immediately --- as funny as this sounds, you can really only use a BlackBerry, for phone calls, in situations when you can give it total devotion

With that said.... if you are not dialing numbers while driving in the car, then the BlackBerry's phone functions are fine.... they take a bit longer to get going, due to scrolling.... but they get the job done just fine (and yes, you can use the keyboard to look up names in the address book, as well)

2. EMAIL

Okay - this is really the only category where the BlackBerry really beats up the Treo 700 and beats it up GOOD!!!

First off, email on the Treo 700p is no totally useless.... the Treo comes with VersaMail, a program that handles all POP, IMAP, and other email accounts with ease..... there's also a program available called CHATTER EMAIL for the Treo, which makes the Treo's email functions even faster and more versatile

However, the big problem with Treo email is that one has to download the email --- in other words, you have to log onto ChatterMail or VersaMail and wait for a few mins as the program downloads all of the email you've received --- now you can configure a program like ChatterMail to be constantly downloading your email, so one receives it immediately, however this is a BAD choice because such a function basically keeps the Treo on a 'constant' phone call, as it downloads email --- in turn, your cell phone mins get eaten up, battery life goes down quickly, and phone calls are missed do to your phone being occupied on the 'other line'

THe BlackBerry, on the other hand, downloads all of your emails immediately, without draining the battery, without interrupting phone calls, and without eating up your cell phone mins --- my BlackBerry can download my emails more immediately than my own laptop

In addition, the BlackBerry 8703 keyboard is absolutely awesome --- so I much more prefer to write emails over my BlackBerry than I do over my Treo 700p

In summary on this one, the BlackBerry is clearly much better with email.... and if email is the most important thing to you, then go BlackBerry for sure! --- however, the Treo 700p holds its own with email, provided that you are willing to wait and download your emails over something like Chatter or Versamail

3. INTERNET

Both phones handle internet similarly, however, I would give the edge to the Treo 700p mostly because of the TOUCHSCREEN, as it allows one to navigate webpages with more freedom

That said, the BlackBerry is fien too, just a bit more limited

Both phones can connect your laptop to the internet, depending on your cell service --- I've been very pleased with the Treo's ability to connect my laptop to the internet, provided that I use its USB cable with the program USB MODEM ----- I don't have as much experience doing this with my BlackBerry, but I have heard that the results are favorable when doing so

EVDO speeds on both phones are very good

4. PHOTOGRAPHS

If pictures are important, then the Treo 700p is the CLEAR winner

The Treo 700p comes with a great multimedia program, fueld by an embedded Kinoma player, which can allow you to show off pictures with pretty good ease

I'm a Mac user, so I use MarkSpace to get my pics onto my Treo and I'm very pleased with the Treo's ability to show off pictures --- the resolution and quality are shown off very well

I have yet to get pictures onto my BlackBerry though --- I have seen other friends of mine show off pictures on their BlackBerry, but the program does not seem as sophisticated or as user friendly as Palm's

Clearly, the Treo 700p is made to handle pics, whereas the BlackBerry is lagging in this area

5. MULTIMEDIA (Movies/Music)

I am actually DEEPLY impressed with how well the Treo 700p can handle multimedia, both music and movies

I am a filmmaker myself --- with the use of the program, KINOMA PRODUCER, I have compressed many of my short films to small files, for the purposes of showing them off of my Treo to some friends --- the Treo 700p plays the files excellently, with sound coming out of the speakerphone and the resolutions of the films looking excellent!

Even better is that the Treo 700p can handle MP4's and MPEG4's, allowing me to encode the best resolution and best sounding files onto my Treo ---- sadly, the Treo 700p cannot play songs downloaded from the iTunes Music Store, as those are copyright protected, but it will play anything that one encodes with my own devices

The music/mp3 player on the Treo is also excellent, playing tunes through the speakerphone, or through the headphones that the Treo comes with

As far as I can tell, the BlackBerry 8703 does not have any multimedia functions, so good luck getting an MP4 or MPEG4 onto this thing ---- however, Blackberry is working on this, so future BlackBerry's will have this capability --- but if playing movies and music is important to you, then the Treo 700p is the only choice in this department

Lastly - important to include that the Treo 700p also has a built in camera and a built in camcorder --- and the camcorder movies taken on the Treo are actually pretty good quality! --- the BlackBerry 8703 has no camera and no camcorder

6. SPEAKERPHONE

The Speakerphone on both phones is excellent and easy to use, with both being loud and clear

If speakerphone is your main buying point, then you couldn't go wrong with either phone

7. BLUETOOTH

Bluetooth is very solid on both phones

I've been especially pleased with the Treo 700p, whose BlueTooth capabilities are much more solid and stable than the old Treo 650p

The BlackBerry seems to have few problems connecting with my bluetooth headset and other devices ---- I would say that both phones boast great bluetooth capabilities

8. COMPUTER SYNCHRO

It's important to note that I have a MAC and I sync all my phones off of my Mac

For the Treo 700p, I use MarkSpace's Missing Sync, as Palm's software is terrible

For the BlackBerry, BB has launched free Mac-Syncing software, that can be found on their website

Syncing any smartphone off of a Mac is never an easy thing and I've not been too happy with the process

With that said, I'm pleased with MarkSpace's Missing Sync as, for the most part, the program does a good job of syncing my Treo's contacts and calendars, as well as doing photos and music --- unfortunately, the syncing process seems to take forever (usually at least 35 mins) but syncing once a week isn't a big deal

I was pleased with how well the BlackBerry synced to my Mac, however, none of the email addresses for my contacts have transferred --- so there are some kinks to work out, and it could be that I'm just not syncing it right

Main point - both phones sync fine with the Mac, but expect some minor probs --- however, for what its worth, I'm pretty satisified overall

9. MISC - (Text Messaging, System Stability, PDA Functions)

It is important to note that the BlackBerry is MUCH MORE stable than the Treo 700p --- I have had my BlackBerry shut down on me once in the last few months, whereas the Treo 700p probably shuts down once a week

So if stability is important, than the BlackBerry is the way to go

The calendar and address book functions of both phones are excellent, but I would say that the Treo 700p's PDA functions are a 'bit' better

Both phones are fine with text messaging, as well

--- CONCLUSION ---

If I could only use ONE of these phones, then I would definitely pick the Treo 700p --- the reasons why are because the multimedia functions very much impress me, as I like to store some pics and movies on there

In addition, the phone functions are easier to navigate and the touchscreen is something that I couldn't live without on a daily basis --- text messaging, bluetooth, and PDA functions are all excellent, as well, with email being the only thing that lags (but even that's not so bad)

However, I love the BlackBerry's solid system and its excellent email performance

Having one as my personal cellphone and the other as my business setup is the perfect balance --- however, I would give the slight edge to the Treo 700p

With that said --- if you want multimedia and other phone functions, in addition to better phone functions, then the Treo 700p is your phone

If you are all business and clearly value EMAIL over multimedia, then the BlackBerry may be your best bet

Hope that helps

PEACE AND LOVE & HAPPY BUYING!!!!

Muhammad Ali Hasan

If you want good phone capabilities and email, then this is the phone for you. I have had many smart phones which had a camera, MP3 player, ability to do excel, etc and found these phones to be slow and inferior to the Blackberry. While it takes a little while getting used to it, once you do, it is a much faster device than any other phone for emailing and texting.

First I would like to say that i also had the treo 650 and it was a great phone!! But I was sold on the blackberry by a coworker. The Blackberry is everything you need. Email accounts are cool you can link your personal and companies accounts to your phone and blackberry give you a personal email too.Texting and instant messaging are just amazing on this phone, just plain faster.The one thing I would say is buy the phone that fits your needs!!!

I installed couple 3rd party applications I purchased from [...]. After installation, I rebooted the device and it never came back again. The device failed to launch the OS and the screen switching between black and hourglass for two days till now.
I tried to contact rim to get help but they I cannot find their support number on their web site!
This is a really bad experience for me. I have been playing with Microsoft Smarphones from Motorola and different Palm devices, and I never had such problem before.
I would say the Blackberry OS needs a lot more work to make it stable.

I'm absolutely fascinated with my new Blackberry.The sound is outstanding. The prospect of getting on the internet and sending email untethered from my laptop and PC makes me ecstatic.SO glad I've actually done it.

All I can say is how much I love this phone. My dad just placed an order for the 8700g [his company supplies tmobile for free] and my mom just bought the 8700c and my little sister wants to get rid of her v3x and get a blackberry now. blackberrys are the no B.S phone, and it shows

I bought the Blackberry 8700c because I wanted a phone, e-mail client, and organizer in one device. I researched the device and read countless reviews. Everyone was right that the e-mail, organizer, and additional features are spectacular on this device. In fact, my company has a Blackberry Enterprise sever so I actually received e-mail on my Blackberry before I got it on my desktop.

However, I wanted a phone also. The call quality on the 8700c is terrible. There is no filter on the mouthpiece so it picks up a tremendous amount of background noise without picking up the actual speaker's voice. I live in NYC, so I want to make phone calls while walking down the street. Realizing the limitations of the device as a phone early on, I purchased a Bluetooth headset thinking that this would alleviate the problem. However, this still did not improve the call quality. There is still too much background noise the 8700c doesn't filter out. On top of people not being able to hear me, I could not hear them on this device. It's sad to read that this Blackberry is a better phone than the others, because it's pretty terrible. If you plan to use the 8700c as a phone in an environment where there is a lot of background noise, steer clear of purchasing because you will regret it and be left with an expensive non-functional phone.

Three other colleges in my office also got the 8700c with a voice and data plan around the same time as me. They all share the same accolades but also complain that the phone part of the Blackberry is terrible (some have different carriers besides Cingular, so it's not the network). I was fortunate enough to return mine and cancel the plan. I plan to get an 8700c again, but only for data and without all the strings attached that Amazon's contract implies.

I did like the compact size of the 8700c. It fit nicely in my pocket and was not bulky like the older models. Also, the screen is great, especially the auto-adjusting aspect. The browser was not as fast as I would like, but this could be due in part to limitations of the Cingular EDGE network. I would only recommend the 8700c for data.


This is my first blackberry. How I got along without it all this time I have no idea. Earpiece quality sounds great, speaker phone sounds great, microphone sounds great. The overall layout is quite genius. I love all the programmable features and the bluetooth accessories are a must. Web browsing with EDGE technology is surprisingly fast. If you text message often as I do, the keyboard and the "auto-text" features are amazing. I literally send text messages 10 times faster than I used to. If you live by email as I do, (90% of my clients orders are placed through email), receiving them instantly is so important. No more running back to the office or home to check for orders. I highly recommend this product.

Great product, but when I tried to port over a number from a Verizon account, I was informed I would be charged $250. here's the fine print:

"By accepting this Equipment Discount, you agree that for a period of 181 days after your new line of service is activated, you

1. Will pay your balance due to Cingular each month
2. Will not disconnect this Cingular line of service
3. Will not transfer this equipment to another Cingular line of service
4. Will not port an existing phone number to this new line of service
5. Will not change your Cingular service rate plan to a lower monthly service rate
6. Will not use this new line of service to replace an existing account with Cingular

If these conditions are not met, you herein agree to a $250 reimbursement to be paid to this Cingular-authorized agent. This reimbursement of the $250 Equipment Discount will only be charged if the above conditions are not met."

This is my third blackberry, and is proving to be a very nice upgrade. A nice bright color screen, which makes reading long emails easier. A speakerphone, that allows me to do conf calls with a group. While travelling, I dont even open up my laptop, and do most of my email work with this. My wishlist (if RIM guys are listening) is to add an mp3 player, a camera, mpeg capabilities and the ability to feed the powerpoint presentations to a projector directly from the phone. I can then finally get rid of my laptop, while travelling.

Now I know why they call it a "crackberry"
It has to be within my reach at all times, and I can hardly bear to put it down!

I had a palm treo 650 which, in retrospect, STUNK.
Always dropped calls, froze and reset itself all the time.
getting email took a long time and often failed.

The blackberry 8700c is much lighter than the treo 650
the "clickwheel" feature of the blackberry is great -- no stylus to lose, but also no touch screen like the treo. I liked the touch screen feature.

easily syncs with MACS if you get the pocketberry software (free); however, I haven't found a way to load programs onto the blackberry with a MAC -- so I had to install bootcamp and load windows xp on my MAC.

No phone or video on the blackberry -- too bad. But unless u use that feature a lot you won't miss it.

web browsing on the blackberry is FAR SUPERIOR to the palm. in fact, it was difficult to get pages to load on the palm. Blackberry just zips when surfing the web.

There doesn't seem to be as much software available for the blackberry like there is for the treo; however, there are still quite a number of software titles for the bberry (handango.com)

text messaging/SMS is much better on the blackberry, and the keys seem easier to navagate (too close together on the palm).

There are a lot of accessories for the blackberry, but there seems to be even more for the palm -- not a big deal, but if you are into the accessories you should check out both websites.

the speakerphone on the blackberry is FAR superior; you can have entire conversations without interruption. this also applies to bluetooth headsets -- much better connection and reception.

I dont know if it the service or the Phone but I have had the most dropped calls in this last week of owning the device with the Cingular service than I have have ever had in my 6 yrs of using a cellphone. I was with T-Mobile before this and used a $19 phone for the last 2 years and the voice quality was great.

This thing goes back to the seller.


I use amazon.com's reviews for any significant purchase, and so I thought it was my obligation to comment on this recent purchase (and return).

First, there are 3 things to comment on / judge / etc:

1. The phone itself (the blackberry)
2. The Blackberry email (data) service
3. The cellular or phone service (cingular)

Phone itself:

I am a current owner of the Blackberry 7290, provided by my job. I really enjoy this device, and I didn't realize what a solid, well-constructed phone this was until I got the 8700. Everything about the 8700 feels cheaper, and in fact, I don't think the design was as well thought out. Here are some examples:

I. The phone is painted metallic. This means when you drop it, it will scratch and scuff. Or if you put it in a pocket with keys, or anything sharp, say goodbye. My 7290 is black plastic, and looks great, and hides scuffs and scratches very well. A scratched up, beat up phone does not look professional sitting on a desk.

II. The screen is flush with the surface of the blackberry. This means anything will scratch it. The 7290's screen was set back about 2mm, and this made all the difference in the world. Despite not treating my 7290 well, the screen is basically scratch free.

III. One of the nice things about the bbrry 7290 is that you can look at the screen without activating it...in other words, it doesn't need to be awake to see the screen. The 8700 has to be awake (ie, screen on and bright) to see anything, otherwise it turns black to save battery life. This is annoying as I often glance at the bbrry to see the time, or see what emails have come in.

IV. The keyboard is slightly smaller and the keys are in different locations. Not a good idea, and disappointing decision from bbrry.

V. The battery case on the back of the phone did not fit tight. So the case 'wiggled' when you were typing. This should not have passed the basic quality testing.

VI. Summary is that there is a reason why these phones have dropped in price, and it seems to be reflected in the lower build quality. I am going to buy a new 7290 (switching jobs) since I know the quality is there.

2. Blackberry service is incredible, and if you can find the right phone, it will really improve the quality of your life by cutting the cord so you aren't leashed to your desk. For the business traveler, it is a must. Everyone I know that has a treo or Microsoft device has a miserable time with it.

3. Cingular is not a good carrier in terms of quality of the phone service, but they have good pricing, and the GSM network allows me to travel any where in the world and use the phone. Verizon and Sprint are US only. The biggest negative of Cingular is the quality of the phone sound...voices are frequently hard to hear and sound like digital noise. I think the commercials about "Fewest Dropped Calls" is funny because people are probably hanging up themselves before the call can be dropped. I find at least 1 in 10 calls have a problem that requires me to re-start the call. One honest note is that most other people that I know that have Cingular like the service...but I think that is because they haven't heard the higher voice quality of Sprint and Verizon.





I bought my 8700C in April from Amazon and did so because of the rebates. It is now the first week of September and NO rebates. Amazon says online that this "wireless" doesn't qualify. When called, they say the rebate is in progress. This borders on FRAUD.

I simply cannot say enough about what the Blackberry has done for both my business and my ability to parent/work more freely. Imagine that end of year school party--you really, really want to go, but you're waiting on an important offer via email. No longer will you feel chained to your desk, but with a more relaxed attitude can slip away, mid-work day, and be at the party. Or the school play or anything.

Another scenario: it's a business travel day. You could be struggling with wireless at the airport, landing and feeling anxious about everything you're missing. Or...you can simply power up your blackberry and start answering emails while you're stuck on the runway waiting to pull into the gate.

My sales have increased since I got the blackberry, but more than that, my mental health has improved. I utilize those "down moments" far more effectively thanks to the great rolodex feature (which syncs right up with Outlook!) That means time in the car or waiting around, you don't have to call the office to track down someone's number, you can simply hit the tracking wheel, decide if you want to email, phone--and if you want to phone, do you select mobile, office, or home.

I have bought a blackberry for everyone on my staff, that's how much I believe in them! A MUST HAVE.
If I could give six stars, I would!


Great phone for a professional. I would have given this phone 5 stars except I had problems with getting the software to work, and talking into this phone is like talking into a calculator (ergonomically). That is easily fixed with the use of Bluetooth, which I highly recommend. Buttons are extremely small (sacrifice full keyboard for button size). Internet is awesome (for $47 a month I pay, id expect it to be). Not having a camera on the phone, unlike my previous Motorola, makes this phone more business like, and less play. The address book is invaluable. I have around 300 business cards from clients and this phone stores more information than you can find on a business card. The calendar is an organizer and you can program meetings. My only regret was not buying this phone sooner.

I love the product. I have had it for a couple of weeks and everything works even better than I expected. The voice sound quality on the phone is good, and equally as good with the blue tooth headset. It syncs perfectly with MS Outlook, the web browser is great for a wireless device, and my email is easy to read. The Qwerty keyboard is wonderful. A little small, but easy to get used to.

My big complaint is that although it says a rebate is available it is only available if you don't transport your number from your old carrier. Now who doesn't have a cell phone number that they want to keep? A 13 year old who is getting his or her first phone? The buyer is not told about this until the phone arrives.
I tried to post this comment a week ago, but the thought control people here on this site wouldn't publish it. Interesting, no?

So bottom line, buyer beware.

Most descriptions for the 8700c (not 8700g or 8700r) says that the phone supports MMS. It does but Cingular doesn't allow you to receive MMS messages on this device. So the phone doesn't really support MMS.

Cingular's service doesn't support:
- MMS
- Yahoo Messenger
- Blackberry Messenger (but there are workarounds)
- Blackberry Internet Service 2.0

If you have several POP3 or IMAP accounts added on your Blackberry, Cingular's service only allows one from address. So if your from address is addr1 and you receive an email on addr2, when you reply, it will be sent with the from address of addr1.

Beyond that, the device is great. I had a Treo 650 that I synced with Outlook. The Treo would mess up my calendar and address book. It was so bad that I stopped using the Treo and went to a Razr. The blackberry does a great job at syncing. Web browsing doesn't take long. The user interface is very user friendly.

I think this phone is a real good one cuz u can call eny1 with it and talk as long as u want it fits very nice in a jacket and dose not come out as much as the other ones .dileing is a breez to and works just great as well if u want my advize then get it now....

After just 2 months, the 8700c stopped charging and when I opened the back I saw that the battery had leaked all over the phone.

Calls to Cingular were frustrating and pointless. The rep said that "liquid damage" was not covered under their warranty, and didn't seem to care that the damage was the leaked battery itself.

She told me that the insurance that they readily sold me 2 months ago did not apply to the 8700c (be forewarned...they'll sell you the insurance and gladly take the monthly fee but will tell you that insurance is not offered on the 8700c should you ever have a claim).

They told me that as a "courtesy" they would replace the phone for a $50 charge. Likely this is more than the cost of a replacement battery, and bear in mind I bought this phone on Amazon just a couple of months ago. I told them that certainly there must be some minimum warranty on the battery, if only 3 months.

She then suggested that I should try contacting Blackberry directly, and gave me a phone number that had been "disconnected."

I was reasonably satisfied with the phone for the short time that I had it. But the sudden battery leakage is discouraging (I've been mostly using my old cell phone while transitioning to the Blackberry, so there were no unusual circumstances whatsoever for this to have happened to the battery) and now that I need the assistance I get to see first hand how Cingular deals with their customers.

I just picked up my new 8700c at my Cingular store a couple of days ago, and could hardly be much happier thus far. I had a BB 7290c for almost 2 years, and don't see how I could go with another device. Just one note before I get into the device specifically, the Cingular network perfroms capably where I am, and where I commonly use the phone, so that probably has some bearing on my level of satisfaction. Things I like about my 8700c:

(1) Works with BMW bluetooth! This device actually transfers the address book to the car, which is an upgrade over the 7290, which required manual entry of phone numbers in order to dial using the car's audio controls, or to use the phone to dial the contact. Set up was easy, and it works flawlessly.

(2) Smaller footprint than my old 7290, more aesthetic, with bigger/much better screen.

(3) Better phone functionality. It's nice to have the green/red send/end buttons so if someone has to answer your phone for you if your hands are full with something else, they can figure it out. Also, less chance to accidentally end calls by inadvertedly hitting the ESC button.

(4) EDGE - far better browsing speeds.

(5) Still the great BB email client.

(6) Increadibly easy to sync with MS Outlook for contacts and for calendar.

(7) ability to read attachments without 3rd party application.

(8) no camera

Probably my only complaint is that its only enabled BT profile is the handsfree phone one (as far as I can tell). It would b nice to connect with my laptop via Bluetooth.

My advice for anyone who buys one: take some time to learn the device, like how to hide or move icons, edit text efficiently, move around different applications (like messages, address book, calendar) while using the phone, etc. It is a very powerful device, and if you spend some time learning how to use many of its time saving functions, you will be well served.

I've had Treos ever since they first came out, and was a fervent supporter--except for one thing. The products themselves are basically junk. Great interface, great looking, great mix of PDA and phone, but constant headaches. Their upgrade from 600 to 650 was in many ways a mess: lower volume, worse reception, much worse battery power. Out of frustration, tried the Blackberry 8700...and I am a convert. The interface is trickier, at least until you discover all the hidden little shortcuts--dialing from the contact list is a pain in the butt. But other than that, I'm completely sold.

Phone reception is terrific, and the volume is the right level, so you can actually hear! The web browser is astonishingly fast, and it looks great on the bigger Blackberry screen. The battery outlasts the Treo by at least three times. Beats the Treo by a mile. Email is now a pleasure...no more waiting for the satellite connection both on receiving and sending, and you can much more easily browse through your mail. It doesn't lock up, no more of those weekly (or more often) soft resets.

It would be nice if it were cooler looking. And a keyboard lock would be nice; I keep speed-dialing by mistake when I pull it out of my pocket. But finally there is a PDA/phone combo that really puts the Treo to shame.

I want to impart upon readers of this review that this smartphone is the one you have been looking for, whether you are a current BlackBerry user or not. My last phone was the previous BlackBerry version, the 7100, however I have tested a wide range of smartphones over the past 6 years. In my review of the 7100, I told everyone that we were probably a year or so away from a five-star smartphone. That was a year ago. Modesty is not my strong suit.

This is the first smartphone I can wholeheartedly recommend. Palm, Symbian, and Windows Mobile devices are being fully considered when I make this statement. It is hard to express my satisfaction given the amount of time I've waited and researched, going all the way back to the Kyocera 6035 in 2000. The potential of the integrated PDA and cellphone has always made sense to me, but the reality has never matched my expectations - until now.

The BlackBerry 8700c meets and even exceeds my expectations as a true, integrated smartphone. The intuitiveness of the BlackBerry operating system remains excellent, but the phone itself is finally worthy. The volume is loud enough, the signal is strong enough, the unit is light enough, the battery life is long enough, and the integration is nearly perfect. This device is lightweight, intuitive, and reliable.

What most business and power users need is to eliminate having to carry a PDA separate from the phone, and to be able to process our emails. We want to look up a contact and call them. We want to receive our email, then either email or call the sender back without having a complex set of menus to navigate. We want to set reminders and consult our calendars. We want to manage our to-do list. We want to do all this reliably and quickly. For those of you who want a smartphone but think that the answer is a handheld computer running Windows Mobile, my comment to you would be that Windows Mobile smartphones are built to do too many things. This attempt to turn them into spreadsheet editors, cameras, MP3 players, laptop modems, etceteras, causes needless complexity, slows down the machine, and causes frequent freezing and crashing issues. These units are always larger and heavier than I find comfortable to hold, and usually require a stylus to input information. Some, like the one my friend just got six months ago, the top of the line at Cingular, has a pull-out keyboard. We played with his smartphone for hours. He showed off all the great functions, including the ability to use WiFi, the size of his color screen, etceteras. But he is a computer consultant. He tweaks it constantly. I walked away thinking that no one needs that many functions on their phone; that's what a laptop is for. The sound quality when I talk to him is poor. His new BlueTooth headset sounds like crap, and he still cannot get the phone to do some of the things the manual says it can do. The battery life is weak, and he drops calls constantly.

Palm devices were great, back when they invented the PDA category. I bought my first Palm in 1996 and loved the simplicity and power packed into such a small device. However, I have since tested many Palm-based smartphones, from the old Kyoceras, through the Samsungs, all the way to the latest Treos, and they have all fallen far short of my expectations. They have never been fully integrated. In other words, you always have to operate either in phone mode or in PDA mode, and there are differences in how the menus function depending on which mode you are in. Sometimes the screen is a touchscreen, sometimes not. You can't make the phone carrier's network time, which is always accurate, become the phone's system time, you must reset that manually. The touchscreen must be calibrated regularly, or it may get so out of sync that you cannot sync it without a hard reset. The stylus is a pain to use on a phone, yet some functions on a Palm-based smartphone cannot be accessed without removing and using the stylus. They are subject to lockups, followed by soft resets, and occasionally by hard resets, with great frequency. Email does not get pushed to these devices, you must manually go check your email to see if you have any. In Outlook, if you have multiple categories for a contact, only the first one imports to the Palm. In Palm, you cannot have a work and home address for the same contact, you must create a second contact if you happen to need both their addresses. You are limited to only thirty categories. If you try to add another in Outlook, it just overwrites one of the other categories the next time you sync. Palm OS simply hasn't evolved enough to handle the needs of a modern smartphone user, nor have developers found a way to make the integration seamless enough.

I have a friend who just got the new Nokia 9300. This is the one that flips open sideways, with a full keyboard underneath and a big sideways screen. Nokia uses the Symbian OS. He and I demoed it for quite a while. He was trying to show me how easy it was to add my new email address to his database and send me an email. After ten minutes of trying, he gave up and went to the user manual. I pulled out my 8700, updated his email address in my address book, and sent him an email, all within about 30 seconds. I rested my case. Symbian is a loser; the sooner Nokia realizes this the sooner they can start making smartphones that work and stop losing market share.

The BlackBerry OS integrated smartphone is the best balance between usefulness, intuitiveness, and integration. In terms of integration, it is seamless and has been for some time now. The menus are intuitive. Whenever you depress the click wheel, only those menu items which apply to the screen you are on appear. For example, if you are reading an email and you click there, if the person who sent you the email is in your contacts database, you will see an option to call or text message this person, in addition to responding via email. If there is a phone number in the email, you can select that phone number and dial it instantly. If you are looking at the phone screen, a click wheel depression will offer to let you dial from the address book. When looking for a contact, you simply begin typing the first or last name of the contact, or the company name that contact works for, and the list of choices is pared down until you see your contact from among the remaining choices. When you click the wheel on that contact, the menu will show all phone numbers you have for that contact. In other words, if you don't have a cell number for that contact, the choice of calling their cell number is not on the menu.

The new processor is extremely fast. I manage over 5,000 contacts in the company database with ease on this new processor. The older BlackBerries had significant delays searching for contacts, as did all the other devices I have tested, so this is a huge improvement. Syncing to my Outlook database is much faster too. My sync operation went from approximately 5 minutes down to less than a minute when I upgraded to the 8700.

The screen is the best ever for a BlackBerry, and it rivals any other smartphone I have seen. I love how everyone harps on the size of the BlackBerries. The fact is that you can't have a large screen and a keyboard on a phone the size of a matchbook. The size of the unit is about as compact as could possibly be expected for what it does.

The 8700 is much easier to hold and use as a phone than the original BlackBerry. There is no possibility of accidentally hanging up on your call because the side-mounted escape key does not perform that function anymore. This was one of my most severe criticisms of older BlackBerries. Now you have a real dial and hang-up key. Much better. Also the earpiece is natural and the sound is much clearer. Older units were almost impossible to keep centered on your ear and the sound volume rarely was high enough. The sound is also much clearer than the 7100 I owned prior to this, as is the signal strength. I put the two units side by side in an area of low signal strength, and the 7100 had only one bar and difficulty making calls, while the 8700 had nearly full strength and no issues making calls from the same spot.

Now for the negatives. The Bluetooth functionality is still nearly zero. I can't tell you how annoying that is. I keep hearing that they are planning on un-crippling it soon but for now the only thing you can use with it is a wireless headset. The history of this is that so many BlackBerries are used by the government, and security was the primary goal. However I fail to see why the consumer edition cannot offer that functionality. I can use my BlueTooth headset, that's great, but a BlueTooth sync to my laptop would really make my day.

As I've mentioned in previous BlackBerry reviews there are some other things you should know if this will be your first foray into the BlackBerry world. This applies to all BlackBerries not availing themselves of the expensive but excellent BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) software solution: there is no "wireless sync" of your email, even though the option appears on your phone. I cannot understand why they don't grey out the option so that users can avoid spending their precious time trying to chase this handy but unavailable feature. With BES, however, your corporate Exchange Server will be continuously and wirelessly synced with your Outlook. This is the ultimate solution.

Failing BES, which ordinary users without a corporate server will never have, (plus it costs $2500, making it hard for small businesses to afford either - are you listening, RIM?) you can choose to use the Web Server or the Desktop Redirector. I recommend highly that you stick with the Web Server. The Redirector forces you to keep your desktop computer on all the time, and it is annoying even when it is working properly. Web Server is the way to go here.

With the Web Server, your emails come to you realtime, automatically. It's great, and is the key attraction to BlackBerry in the first place. As to the functionality of composing emails, I can only say that the full QWERTY keyboard is superior to the predictive text concept of the 7100. Generally the predictive text works OK, but it is tedious to spell proper names, technical words, etceteras, and there are several very common three and four letter words that it always seemed to guess the opposite of what I wanted, like "see" and "are". You need a little more patience. I definitely recommend the full QWERTY keyboard, regardless of which smartphone you prefer. Anyone who claims that Palm's Graffiti solution can compare to the speed and ease of a keyboard hasn't used both or cannot type.

I found the sync between Outlook and the 8700 to be flawless. MUCH BETTER than Palm OS, and as a longtime Palm user I know what I'm talking about. You can even sync it to multiple address databases (I sync to my personal addresses and my corporate addresses simultaneously) and it does fine with over 5,000 addresses in memory. It has NEVER locked up on me or performed even a soft reboot.

Web surfing on Cingular's EDGE network is MUCH faster than on the older GPRS network. The 8700 takes full advantage of that. It's the first smartphone I can actually use for web surfing without getting impatient. You would still much rather be at your desktop for web surfing, but in a pinch, you can look up stock prices, check the weather, find a restaurant, etceteras, without having to wait too long between screens. I would say that the 8700 refreshes a web page in about 25% of the time needed for its older models.

There are a bunch of ringtones, which I could care less about, but they are polyphonic and very clear. The speakerphone actually works well. The holster on the 8700 is excellent and a huge upgrade versus the soft case of the 7100 and even better than the original BlackBerries. Very useful and well made. I have not seen a better one on any phone, period.

I love this phone. It's the best available, and I say that confidently. I fault the device only for not offering full BlueTooth capability, but I guess perfection might be an unrealistic expectation.

I've had a Blackberry since the first one came out and I *love* the new 8700 series. It's sleeker, faster, and as functional as ever. I recommend the T-Mobile version however because the rate plans are much better at about half what Cingular charges.

I have used the Treo and Blackberry over the years and without a doubt the new Blackberry 8700c is the best PDA on the market. The Intel 312MHZi is very fast and the keyboard is perfect. The only downside to this and most PDA devices is they make better PDA's than Cell Phone. I use my 8700C just for business emails and I love it.

A short review but I must give credit where it is due. The 8700c is my first Blackberry and I truly love it. I develop PDA applications and I also have an iPAQ 2215 and Verizon-Audiovox 6600 pocket pc phone. With the Blackberry I finally have a PDA that does everything I need to do so simply. I can actually enter a memo, event, set and alarm etc. using the PDA much faster than if I used a notepad. Think about this. How often do you write something down on paper only to transfer it to your PDA when you have time?

The Blackberry rules the world of "tools for a task". In other it is designed for communication and it excels way beyond the pocket pc at this. There is no camera or media player etc. and I don't miss them. It's just nice to have an item that actually makes my life easier. The phone is great. I could barely use my 6600 while driving a stick. Even with the wireless headset, try turning on your device, connecting to the phone and bluetooth with your stylus while driving. Almost impossible with the pocket pc. The blackberry scroll wheel is sooooooo much quicker.

The most important thing is that the OS is so stable. I have been using PDA'S and writing apps for them for several years and I thought they all crashed often. Performing a soft reset was just part of it and I grew accustom to it. The Blackberry is so fast and so stable. I can multitask without "interference" from other programs. Performance is never slowed by other apps and I have only reset it twice in almost a month. My PDA needed a daily reset if using the phone with other large apps. Excellent job RIM. Keep it up.


As others have written, the display on this 8700C is gorgeous. On my 7250, I had to strain to see things like my PIN number, and it never seemed quite bright enough. I am very happy with almost everything about the 8700C.

One of the selling points for me was the ability to view message attachments. Image files such as JPEGs look great, but I need to see Acrobat PDF and PowerPoint files as they truly look. The 8700C does not do this -- it converts the text information to fonts that BlackBerry uses, even when the PDF is created with embedded fonts. Embedded graphics do not show up at all.

Now I am considering a subscription for third party software so I can view PDFs and PowerPoint files for $99/year!

If you do not have this concern about attachments, you will love the 8700C.

I am happy with Cingular service so far, too -- setup was easy and mostly automatic.

To all the people who are looking at PDA/Email phones for either your business and or personal I highly recommend this phone. For starters it is easy to use and set up, sync with your PC or Mac (pocketmac.com has been lincensed out by RIM so it is free but you do have to download it), and it has a slim profile to fit nicely in your pocket. The screen is gorgeous and easy to read. BlackBerry email! Just works! Great keyboard feel and scroll wheel is so simple but so powerful.
For all the business men out there, no camera! Which is great for me because I can take my phone with me to work, not have to leave it with security when I go to court, and I can use it at the gym.

But after all the praise why did I give it only 4 stars, well it not so much the phone as the carrier you have to get with it. Cingular has been having recent network failures for one reason or another as of late I it has really made my life difficult. If their consistancy of service does not improve soon I will have to buy another plan from someone else, and unlock this phone.

8700c has been my first BlackBerry. I got it a month ago right in the thick of the lawsuit. Cingular 8125 came out soon after that which really made me to consider if I should go for the WIFI-enabled, full size keyboard and MS Office compatible Windows Mobile phone. In fact, I did exchanged for the Cingular 8125...for ONE DAY...before I ran back to the Cingular store and exchanged again for a BlackBerry 8700c. (I almost cried happy tears to have my beloved BlackBerry back from the angry sale rep who had to deal with me.)

Why the BlackBerry is the BEST communication solution I have ever used:
1. BlackBerry email is incredible. What can I say? I guess it's hard to appreciate its greatness without testing Seven Sea's Xpress mail, GoodLink or Windows Mobiles Patch. After I tried other options, oh man, no solution works better than the BlackBerry. It's indeed second to none! When you read about the "alternative services," believe me, they are not comparable to the reliability and the ease of use from the BES.
2. Reliability of the operating system. I think this is by far the most important factor. Windows Mobile freezes or becomes extremely sluggish about 2/3 of the time I use it. It pratcially is useless. BlackBerry however is always responsive, stable, and most importantly you can MAKE phone call and RECEIVE phone call ANYTIME no matter you are running a Google Map or what not. (This is not possible on Windows Mobile. Whenever I am doing some CPU-intensive task the phone will just freezes for about 30 seconds.)
3. EDGE is real fast. No more do I need to say about this.
4. The keyboard works like a charm. The keyboard is MUCH BETTER THAN THE CINGULAR 8125 full size keyboard. I kid you not. Why? Because you can a. ONE HAND OPERATE and b. use it on the go.
The full size keyboard on 8125 is big indeed, but after using it for one day I realized its uselessness. Since you have to expand the keyboard on the 8125 and use both hands to type, you MUST place that device on a table in order to hold it stll (since both of your hands aren't free) and type. That maens you basically have NO WAY to input anything-name, calendar, task, website address, etc-on the go. And boys, if I don't use cell phone on the go, I don't know why do I use it for. If every time I do the above task I have to sit down in front of a flat surface, why don't I just get a dang laptop??
So don't get fooled into the "sliding full size keyboard myth" because it's plainly meaningless.
5. It's sturdy and it looks really good. 8125 feels awkward on your hand and big/heavy in the pocket. 8700c however is actually quite elegant.
6. The phone quality is by far the best. I talk when I am driving above 75 mph very often. It has been hard for any phone (Samsung or Moto) to be loud enough for me to hear. I remember using speaker phone on my Samsung phones and put it on my ear in order to hear. But with 8700c, not only its reception is super (much better than 8125), its clarity is great, it's over-the-top loud!
7. Intuitive operation. Oh my God, I finally understood the success of BlackBerry in using it operating system-its ease of use with the thumb. You see, Windows Mobile is made by Microsoft which makes GUI OS like Windows. GUI means the need for a mouse. On PDA it means a stylus and many layers of "folders." Guys, it's practically useless on a phone if whatever you need to do with it, you need to hold it with one hand and take out a stylus to scroll/type. Why? How in the world am I going to do that when I am eating, driving, walking, etc, at the same time as operating my phone? Omg, Microsoft is NOT thinking about this. Who uses his/her phone sitting down in front of a desk? Maybe you, but I ALWAYS use it when I am multitasking--walking, listening to speech, driving, drinking, eating dinner, waiting for a table, watching movie, sitting on the toilet, etc, etc. BlackBerry's navigation works way better than any other device method I have ever heard of. It's simply intuitive.
8. The following functions are not only excellent, they set industry standard by going way above and beyond over its competitors:
a. phone logs. It stores unlimited number of events (missed call, dialed call, received call) per the last 20 contacts. Each event includes time and duration. EACH! You simply have over 3~400 events easily.
b. font. It has wide selection of pleasant fonts of different styles and size. They look grrrreeat.
c. screen. 320x240 is really high resolution for a screen this size. You can arrange the folders and icons on the screen by applying theme and manually hide/unhide icon so that you largely have an empty desktop to show your favorite picture!
b. phone. the dailing, the calling features, are all excellent! It's really easy to send SMS, Email or PIN to anyone on your contact. You can right click on the contact and select one of the following functions-view history, SMS this person, email this person, call this person, PIN this person, etc. Once you click on "Call this person" for example, a menu will come up and ask you which number. It's just so simple yet powerful.
c. the categorization of all your messages (sent and received) in one single box differentiated by icon. It's really a smart idea. Windows Mobile gives you an Outlook style menu tree that has over 30 different folders on its tiny screen requires a style to select each time. Think about it, when you are using a phone to read messages, is it more important to organize it clearly in outlook style (which is designed for the use of a mouse) or in a centralized place where you can simply navigate it by one thumb? Oh my, Windows Mobile is not impressive AT ALL. What is Microsoft thinking? Look at how BlackBerry can do the simple task well.
d. the auto dimming works great! Under bright sunlight the screen lights up ultra bright to acomodate the environment. When it's not too bright, the screen brightness decreases and the keyboard turns off (since the ambient light is enough to see the keyboard), when it's completely dark, the keyboard will light up again while the screen stays dim. (Thus at least three different modes.)
e. theme is very, very pretty. Aesthetically pleasing. Much prettier and artistic than Windows Mobile.
f. I like the airplane mode, the alarm clock (finally loud enough for me) and the expansive options for manual modification.
g. You not only are able to customize the profile (ring tone style and volumn) down to every single type per profile (message, level one message, phone, calendar, browser, task, etc), you can also SET MULTIPLE EXCEPTIONS and ACTIVATE EACH EXCEPTION INDEPENDENTLY!! Exception means you can turn off the vibration/sound completely off in a theatre, but unless this number calls in which the phone will use an overriding profile. So if you are waiting for imporatnt phone call, you can definitely let it get thru. It's sort of a "Do-Not-Disturb" guard and "VIP-only" kind of thing.

In conclusion, this phone is powerful and completely designed for business purpose and business people oriented.

I've just replaced my BlackBerry 7290 with an 8700G and had a couple of days to play with it. One word: wow. The difference between the new screen and the old is the difference between HDTV and conventional television: brightness, clarity, and contrast are all so much better that it's just hard to put the differences into words. Suffice it to say that when I showed several folks Google's local mapping application (google.com/glm) running in satellite view, they were stunned at the detail.

Along with the screen, the web browser is equally improved. Pages that refused to render in the 7290 now work fine (e.g., baseball-reference.com) and, of course, the close-to-broadband-speed EDGE network significantly improves the browsing experience. No more surfing to a page and then holstering the device while you wait for it to load. A page that would load in 20-30 seconds before might load now in 2.

The green and red phone buttons provide quick access to phone features, just the way a conventional mobile phone user would expect. For an experienced 7290 user, this is a bit disconcerting, but most will get used to it quickly.

A couple of nits: the dial-by-name feature doesn't work the way it did in the 7290. If you've gone to phone mode and start typing, nothing happens unless you hit numeric keys. And I've not figured out if this is a settable option - needless to say, it's highly annoying. You have to select a menu in order to dial by name.

Battery strength seems a tad weaker than that of the 7290, probably due to the automatically adjusted screen brightness, which always seems to be dialed up.

In short, I had a really good BlackBerry week: I was among the first to get an 8700G in North America and the next day the patent dispute was settled. It doesn't get much better than that for fans of convergence-devices.

I have had this for about 3 weeks now, its my fourth Blackberry. It is by far their best effort. Many highlights here but among them:

1. Screen--amazing!
2. Speakerphone--better than my 7100t
3. Network speed--you can really surf the net now!
4. Form factor--a perfect blend of the 72xx series and the 7100 series, and I had both of them! It feels like a phone more than the 72xx series but gives you a full QWERTY keyboard unlike the 7100. I was originally enthused about the 7100 but after a few months you REALLY get sick of the predictive text typing. Yes I am a heavy user so it matters.

About my only gripes would be that the keys are more "upright" than the 72xx series so it takes a bit more precision to get the right key sometimes. Too bad they haven't added a spell check to these!

One caution--you HAVE to get a screen protector or it will get scratched! I had some old ones for a Palm V that I just cut to fit this screen. You can peel the factor screen protector off and use it as a template to cut a permanent one.

Thanks again RIM--now just settle the dang lawsuit with NTP and we can all be happy for good!


I recieved my new blackberry 8700 today. It was replacing my blackberry 7290. It looked great and i was excited. As i tryed to open back slot to insert my sim card and battery it would not open. i tried gently many, many times no luck, nothing was wrong with it ie. stuck or malfunction of slot. Finally i gave it one more gental try and heard a cracking sound, the front lower part of the key board was now cracked??!! Trust me i'm not Herman Munster ok...i called cingular and they are going to credit me and let me keep my most tresured, strong and reliable blackberry 7290...ok it doesn't have the speaker phone or screen like the 8700, but man does it do the job over and over again...i did originally have the blackberry 7100g with my original cingular plan and had to get three replacements, until they suggested the 7290...i just upgraded on this 8700 and regretably will not be able to see how it works...oh well, at least my 7290 won't wimp on me...let me know if anyone else has or expereienced this problem and thanks...

Went from a 7290 to a 8700. I can't even begin to tell you about all the improvements.

The three things that are the most noticible:

1. The Screen - It's amazing looking.
2. The Speed - Not only the processor but the EDGE data/web browsing is ultra-fast.
3. The Speakerphone - Crystal Clear and Loud!

my Blackberry experenced SUDDEN DEATH after 10 days I love my Treo

The Blackberry 8700 is wonderful! It does a great job of retrieving email from all five of my accounts, and functions well as a phone and PDA. I am thrilled.

Until two weeks ago, I was carrying around a top of the line Dell Axim X30 with 624 MHZ and wireless capability, and a cell phone. I teach at several universities and do consulting work so I have five different email accounts and I'm constantly checking my email at least twice an hour. Prior to getting this Blackberry, I had to find a wireless spot to use my Axim, stay tied to my laptop, or pay out the nose for web access on my cell phone. It was terrible.

Now with the Blackberry, all of my email accounts are programmed in so I'm instantly notified when I get a message. Because I can respond within seconds, I never miss a beat. My students and clients often comment that I respond quickly to their needs, which they love. The 8700 from Cingular has GSM and dual band service so I can be almost anywhere in the world and still receive my email messages instantly. I was in Hong Kong last week and the Blackberry functioned flawlessly. I could use it as a phone in HK and also receive and reply to email.

Additionally, I love the fact that I can synch my MS Outlook calendar, contacts, address book, tasks, etc. to the Blackberry. (It also has the ability to synch with other PIM programs.) I have mine set to sound an alarm 15 mins before I'm due in a meeting or appt and it has been a life saver. When you are always on the go, it's easy to forget stuff. This Blackberry makes it easy to keep everything in one place. Oh, and surfing the web is a breeze. The display is a nice size and it's crisp and clear and shows almost all websites easily.

Lastly, I love the size of the 8700. I thought it would be a bit bulky but it's not. This version is about the same size as the 7290 Blackberry and fits nicely in your hand.

My only two complaints are that some of the buttons and functions are not immediately intuitive, and RIM has yet to come out with an assortment of cases for this version. But, after about 15 mins of playing around, I was able to figure out just about everything (the manual that RIM provides covers only the basics), and I found a great case on eBay.

I only wish I had discovered Blackberry sooner!


Everythings positiv on this excellent device... two small problems (1) the internal sound quality is poor, so, be sure to get a quality earpiece (2) the blackberry has a tendancy to fall out of the included holster when you stand up. Lots of road warrior features (e.g. direct dial from numbers stored with tasks).

I have been using BlackBerry service since the RIM 957 and the Mobitex network. When you combine the speakerphone, bluetooth, EDGE data speeds, and the querty keyboard - you have the most complete mobile email device out there. I actually answer more email from my BlackBerry than from my desk.

My family gave me the 8700c Blackberry for Christmas even though I had a 7290 Blackberry and was very happy with it. However, I am absolutely happy to have this phone. Faster connection to Internet and message receipt, speakerphone, easier to hold, sharper appearance, better screen, etc. What can I say - this phone is a great upgrade for Blackberry users. The 2 user defined buttons make it easy to get to favorite applications and the answer/hang up buttons on the front are superb. Would recommend checking it out if you are into Blackberry.

This might not be as good a deal as it first appears, so watch out! While the phone is cheap, if you buy it from Cingular, you are locked in for 2 years and must have a minimum plan of $40 a month, plus $45 a month in Blackberry service charges. That's $85 a month!

T-mobile offers what appears to me to be a far more competitive plan including voice and Blackberry data for $65. Admittedly, they don't sell or officially support the 8700c, but if you can get an unlocked one, it'll work.

I'm not sure if Cingular offers a service superior enough to justify the additional price, but am currently using T-mobile and considering switching, so I'd appreciate any comments/advice!

I've been using some form of Blackberry ever since the early days of the 950/957. This latest version is a great step up in terms of usability but really no huge functional differences from earlier models.

Recently I swapped my Blackberry 7100i for the 8700C.

If you spend a lot of time using your Blackberry device, then you definitely want to upgrade to the 8700C:

PROS
-Better screen (on par with the 7100)
-Version 4.1 O/S
-Can load MP3 ringtones
-Better call notification settings
-Faster web browsing (though not lightning fast)

CONS
-The data speeds are not lightning fast
-Requires a Blackberry Data Plan (lots of new buyers don't realize that you must have a BB specific plan in addition to your regular phone plan)
-Batter life is just ok
-Some quirkiness in the 4.1 O/S
-Expensive

Overall the bright screen and the slightly faster web browsing make this a really nice upgrade for anyone who is a serious BB user. Currently only one carrier is offering this phone, however search around and you can find services that will allow you to enter a number to open it up to other GSM based carriers (which is what I did) and make full use of their network and your existing plan/sim card.

This is a very good cell phone and Amazon.com gives the best deal. But, you can't transfer your old phone number from different provider to Cingular through Amazon.com. If you transfer your old phone number, you won't get your mail-in rebate. Please read amazon.com mail-in rebate rules carefully!!!
You can read about how to transfer your number through this link : http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/508597/102-6686881-6992121

I have used various phones with small keyboards like the Blackberry. I recently had a Trio (palm based) and thought it was quite good. But the Blackberry 8700c is more powerful and the graphical interface makes more sense to me. From time to time I travel as a passenger (on buses and in cars) and use the time to work before I get to the office, or sometimes after I leave. This help to get work done so the weekends are left to other things.

This phone has been pleasant to use as well as surprising. The buttons are well spaced (as well as they can be for something this small) and the screen is bright and easy to see.

The price is reasonable considering all of the same offerings in the market and the rebate sometimes offered certainly help.

Of all the phones in its class, the 8700c is very good and one that I recommend.

I recently moved up from a Samsung PDA phone and Sprint PCS to the 8700c and Cingular. The Samsung worked well for me for 3 years as a phone and contact manager. However, the 8700c blows it away! The overall look and feel are big wins. It just looks like 'quality'. The screen is bright, the navigation is easy. The phone has excellent sound, particularly as a Speaker phone. I bought a bluetooth headset from Logitech which linked immediately and sounds great both to myself as well as the person on the other end of the line. Also, I've found the small keys very easy to use and have been able to type emails quickly since the first try.

Not having the 'bells and whistles' of a PocketPC or Treo, such as camera, memory slots, and media player are disappointing. Yet everytime I think about it I realize what I really need is the reliable function of instant email, high-quality phone, and internet browsing. I'm hopeful that over time the 8700c will prove more reliable than other handsets of that type because it is focused on the essentials.

Note that my company is a supplier to RIM along with several other mobile phone manufacturers. RIM makes the highest commitment to get what they need and they spend the money to do so. Their facilities are immaculate and all of the people that I've met, particularly engineers and assembly workers, are highly dedicated. This device is not assembled by a bunch of nameless migrant farmers in China, like so many competitive devices are. It's primarily built in North America and finished in Toronto. Proof that we can still manufacture here.

Pretty much the same features as the 7290 but with a great screen and speakerphone.

Pros:

-Screen is perfect.
-Speaker phone is the best I have ever heard.
-Call quality and volume is excellent
-The 2 short cut keys and call keys are a great edition.
-Nice form factor.

Cons:
-Nothing really new added.
-Battery life is crap.
-No "option" for camera
-Internet has EDGE but to be honest there is no noticable diff in speed. Maybe a sec or two. Get EV-DO if you want speed.
-Internet software has problems surfing and opening some links.
-

The case of the 7290 and build quality is in my mind what made it so popular. When they came out with the 7100 series it was a joke. The first of the series anyway. No experience with the newer ones.
The 8700c is well made but has two major problems. One the screen is moved up to the surface of the phone(not indented). The screen also is smoothed out and extends to the top of the phone. Making a nice slick look but easy to scratch in the long run.
The 2nd major build quality issue is the grey casing. Why phone companies do this is a mystery to me. Its not the fact that its grey but the fact that the actual case is black but painted grey. So cany scratch or dent will show black on the grey case. Makes it stand out more. I have dropped and beat up my 7290 so much but none of this really shows. If you are new to blackberry or have to buy another one this 8700c is it. But if you have a working older model its not worth the upgrade.
Also check out the Treo 700w although not sure how the push email compares with blackberry yet.


My sister-in-law called it a CrackBerry when she saw it and she was 100% correct. It's a hard gadget to put down, and probably the most useful one I've ever owned.

There are many great things about this phone... The screen looks great; it's easy to browse the web; there are lots of downloads available; it can integrate with up to 10 pop email accounts; it's got Bluetooth built-in; the EDGE network, while not the fastest thing out, is still plenty fast. Also, the BES service if available to you through your work, functions incredibly well and will give you seamless wireless access to corporate email & calendaring.

I'm still going to rate it 5 stars, I like it that much, but you should know these things going in:
1) The pop email integration works well, but you can only reply from one account. It would be nice if you could choose which account to reply from.
2) There are currently no good screen protectors for the 8700 series. They all seem to be cut to cover the display area of the screen; it would be much better if they covered all of the glass.
3) The keyboard is just a little cramped and I sometimes press more than one key at a time.
4) It has no camera, this may or may not matter to you.
5) The rules that you can write for filtering email could be more complex. You'll end up unsubscribing from email lists you don't read that often.

Just got the 8700c for Christmas to replace my 7520 model. I'm impressed!! The cell phone quality is excellent, the ability to set up your personal email using one icon and your business email using another is wonderful. I like the feel and look of it much better than the 7520 model, although I have no complaints of that model either. Also, the headset that comes with your order thru Cingular works very well. I also ordered a headset from Plantronics, didn't know one was included - I'm sending it back. Also, I received the phone within 3 days from the day I placed the order.

I bought the 7100g from Cingular oblivious of the 8100c. Upon awareness of its existence I immediately returned the 7100g upon its arrival to my home and purchased the 8700c.

I made a wise decision; I am in bliss because I love this phone. Before making either of the purchases I was concerned that neither of the models has a camera, an SD slot or a media player. After mentally reviewing all the other phones that I've owned including the Audiovox 5600, the Motorola Mpx 220 and the Siemens sx66, I realized I didn't use the camera often or the SD slots or the media players. They were nice features but not really that useful for me. I own a D70 Nikon camera that takes much better pictures.

I needed a telephone that makes me aware of emails immediately, a great browser and internet function that operates quickly and excellent sound quality. The 8700c has all of this and much more. It is a beautiful phone aesthetically, the sound quality is excellent, and it is intuitive and easy to operate. The calendar does not feel mechanical; it very much resembles what you see on paper in the daily and monthly modes. There are many options and submenus that are easily accessed at the click of the dial. There are some themes and ring tones that can be downloaded from Blackberry.com via this handheld device. The desktop is designed well, organized and easy to operate. The keypad is much easier to understand and operate than the 7100g. The key pad has many helpful buttons that one can use. There are 2 programmable buttons that you can use for whatever feature you choose to access more rapidly. There is 64 MB of memory vs. 32 MB which makes some adjustment for this model not having a SD slot. The Intel processor adds to the mechanical speed of this device, this is noteworthy. My Sony Ericsson Bluetooth hand free HBH-610 device paired with it immediately... no problems at all in this category; what a relief not to spend time making it work.

Every feature is either a push button or a click away who can ask for more. The screen and the colors displayed are magnificent. The EDGE technology insures everything happens more efficiently and faster. I love it... it is a great business telephone. To make the telephone even more efficient you will need to buy a spellchecker from Handango.com and perhaps a suite of Microsoft e-applications such as word, excel or PowerPoint, etc.

I recommend this telephone to anyone who wants a great business telephone, its wonderful!




I switched from a T-Mobile t68i/t610 to this Blackberry a few weeks ago. At first, I was concerned about ergonomics and the monthly cost for additional data. Since then, i've switched to using my left middle or index finger to do the scrolling and escaping, and that seems to put less stress on my thumbs. The keyboard is a little small, but overall I like the form factor much more than the previous versions that my friends have.

I love having the email access, because it allows me to talk with my friends often. I moved away from my home of 8 years recently, so that's been really important. The mobile web browser with EDGE access has been really nice to have around so far. I've gotten quite a few bits of info on the run, although support for mobile devices varies greatly among the big internet sites.

In terms of interface, this thing is way more snappy and responsive than my Sony Ericsson phones ever were. The attention to detail in terms of shortcut keys and interface tricks, as well as the two customizable buttons are huge. I customized my front button to be a keylock, thus solving my one humongous problem with any non-flip-phone. I LOVE having keylock bound to a physical button. Why don't all phones do that?

For voice connectivity, Cingular has been way better to me up north than T-Mobile. I think T-Mobile is good if you're in socal, but up here it's total junk. Voice calls are pretty good, occasionally i'll get a weird crackle, but they are generally clear enough to carry on conversations. The earpiece is nice, and I like the fact that they use a standard mini-phono plug instead of locking you into something proprietary.

The bluetooth is an essential feature, although i'm waiting to get a PocketMac to sync it with my powerbook. It's a shame that's not yet supported natively, as a lot of web geeks like me love their macs. Pretty soon i'll have that all set up though.

Things I would improve or would have liked to seen: native AIM support (Y! IM is available but costs extra through MEdia?), native Mac bluetooth sync, a tabbed browser (hey, we can dream, right?), and switch the numlock key in the bottom left to auto-numlock instead of requiring an alt-numlock to activate. Minor nits, though.

Overall, the BB8700c and its service are worth the additional cost. I'm now a very happy blackberry user, who has his fingers crossed that anything drastic won't happen in the RIM/NTP case.

There was a huge sigh of relief when 7105t came out supporting all IM clients, and the moment I read about this phone - I assumed it would only be better. Yes it is, I like everything about this phone - the size, color, quality - but why in the world did RIM drop support for IM? That would have made it a megastar.. well a nice cam cant miss the wish list but we can live without those low range cameras. I had to shake my head twice after realizing I couldnt take my messaging to this device, not very thoughtful of RIM.

I switched from a 7100t to this phone. Without a doubt this phone is everything the 7100 isn't. The 8700c phone quality is excellent and the screen is incredible. The phone is faster than the 7100t and it has the full keyboard to actually reply to emails. The condensed 7100t keypad was horrible and I ended up calling people (who could barely hear me) instead on writing emails. With the 8700c the microphone is very sensitive and I don't get complaints about a horrible echo sound. I always had dropped calls but the 8700 seems to do very well (who knows maybe it was the Tmobile network and not the phone). The device is not too big to fit in your hand and talk with - it also fits in your shirt pocket.

My only gripe is that I wish 3rd party software developers would actually write something compatible with the 8700c. This should come over time since Rim started using Intel processors.

I also wish that it had an SD slot for additional storage and a camera. I guess you can't have it all - but overall a very well designed phone.

I've been using the 8700 for about a week and I have to say that I am thoroughly impressed. It is my first blackberry, I had been reluctant to purchase a blackberry in the past because of complaints of poor phone functionality and sound quality. I also could never find a blackberry that had the features I really wanted. The 8700 packs EDGE connectivity, bluetooth, a great speakerphone, and an intuitive interface into a surprisingly small and elegant device. I previously used a Nokia 6620, and the phone quality is a dramatic improvement. I cant say enough good things about this phone. Like I said, I've only been using it for 2 weeks, so I'm interested in how well it will hold up to the abuse I am destined to put it through. Hopefully I wont be let down.

This device is a significant upgrade from my previous 7290. The display is excellent, backlighting vivid and is just faster, not sure if it has a faster processor but I notice a difference. I use the enterprise email feature with my company's blackberry service and support two additional personal email accounts which all work seemlessly. The phone sounds good and people on the other end of the line say the quality is excellent. I love this device, great in the holster for business days or in the pocket when out to play (when you don't want to look like a dweeb with a big phone strapped to your belt).