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9
stars
Overall, a great product
by simtiaz
on
November 26, 2005
Pros: stable OS, quick response on web due to EDGE
Cons: keys are too close together, a little pricy
Summary: I went from a Treo 650 to a BlackBerry 7290 to now a Blackberry 8700c and I can honestly say that this handheld is amazing. The Treo is deceiving because ...
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Summary: I went from a Treo 650 to a BlackBerry 7290 to now a Blackberry 8700c and I can honestly say that this handheld is amazing. The Treo is deceiving because although it has all kinds of gizmos and extras, the phone quality is terrible plus its operating system is quite clumsy and freezes up more often than anyone should have to tolerate (even though there have been multiple firmware updates). It just seems that PALM tried to incorporate too many good ideas without really planning them for compatibility. WHen I got fed up with the Treo, I switched to the BB 7290 which was much more stable, the keys were easier to use, it was cheaper, and for the most part, did almost everything the Treo did. In addition, the BB devices are more IT Helpdesk friendly than the Treos because they don't require Provisioning.
Today I just picked up my BB 8700 and it truly seems like it was sent from above. It has the stability and simplicity of the 7290 plus the additional perks that the Treo was supposed to have been known for such as great resolution (320 x 240 on 8700c), ability to send multiple SMS messages, seperate talk/end buttons, 2 customizable keys, and automatic backlight that turns on as it senses darkness. The only downside I see to the BB 8700c is that the keys are a little too close together (not as good as the 7290 but not as bad as the Treo 650) and the device is a little pricy. I was expecting to pay about $300 - $350 but right now it is going for $450 (no contract committment). Other than those two minor details, I absolutely love it.
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87 out
of 88 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
Great PDA/phone
by dferguson
on
December 1, 2005
Pros: Fast browsing, acceptable phone
Cons: Still BIG, still shaped like a PDA instead of a phone
Summary: I returned my 7100g within Cingular's 30-day buyer remorse period to get the 8700c. I was happy with the 7100g (I'd rate it a 7), but this is ...
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Summary: I returned my 7100g within Cingular's 30-day buyer remorse period to get the 8700c. I was happy with the 7100g (I'd rate it a 7), but this is far better. Web browsing is now fast enough to be useful. I haven't noticed some of the audio problems I found with the 7100, but I expect I'll still be using a Bluetooth handsfree quite often. I've noticed several welcome incremental improvements over the 7100: larger SEND and END keys, 2 programmable convenience keys, *optional* (as opposed to unavoidable) annoying blinking LED (no need to cover it with electrical tape like on the 7100). All in all, I REALLY like having a full QWERTY keyboard, the screen is great, browsing is quick (especially for WML pages), and I expect I'll be happy with this device for the next several years. Price might be an issue for some people - not the purchase price but the data plan price (I think I'm paying ~$40/month for unlimited data). I have zero serious complaints thus far with the device and just one with the service provider (Cingular). I was left on hold for 1 hr 40 mins before my call was dropped when their customer service call center closed for the evening.
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37 out
of 38 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
Truly a business phone!
by digijoe
on
December 3, 2005
Pros: Speed, ease of use, one hand operation, screen, size
Cons: not much noise cancelation
Summary: I have had approx 10 phones in the past year, from sprint, verizon and Cingular and I do not buy cheap phones, all windows based or palm. I truly love ...
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Summary: I have had approx 10 phones in the past year, from sprint, verizon and Cingular and I do not buy cheap phones, all windows based or palm. I truly love this phone, the size and the speed are truly amazing, not to mention the screen resolution. The bluetooth works so awesome, it works without static and it works well. I had a ppc-6700 and it is like a brick and it was pretty quick but it is cumbersome putting info in and making appointments on the fly. No sliding keyboard to fuss with and no hard to type keys. I am truly impressed with this Blackberry and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a true business tool, not a video player or junk camera.
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33 out
of 36 users found this user opinion helpful.
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6
stars
Great for email, and internet, just don't rely on it for a phone.
by lepere
on
December 16, 2005
Pros: Great Email service. Smooth operating system, easy to use and quite stable. Great display - bright when it needed to be (the automatic dimming feature is really nice too).
Cons: Weak address book. The phone quality was horrible! I had multiple people ask me to call them back from a land line.
Summary: Sadly, I had to return this phone. I rely on my cell phone for a lot of different things (no land line, and lots of business and personal calls). I ...
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Summary: Sadly, I had to return this phone. I rely on my cell phone for a lot of different things (no land line, and lots of business and personal calls). I really liked the email and internet functionality of this phone but I had two major problems that led me to return the BB8700c.
First, the address book. I come from the palm world of smart phones, which has a pretty darn nice phone book, in my opinion. The palm address book is really easy to use, you can categorize your contacts and easily sift through your categories with the touch of a button. With the blackberry you can categorize your contacts but you must use there filter in order to view only those names whom you've specified to be in a particular category, which removes 90% of the convenience of having categories in the first place. Another thing, when you are looking at all your entries in your phone book, they aren't that easy to read. Palm does a nice thing by highlighting every other line in grey. I also like seeing a phone number or email address next to the name of the person when I'm browsing my address book. And finally, there was no quick way of calling anyone using the phone book (unless you use the quick dialing which I used for certain numbers but obviously not everyone in my phone book). So now that you have finally found the name of the person you'd like to call in your address book (if you have over 200 contacts in your book, it's not a quick process) now you must click the wheel and scroll down to "call John Smith's mobile" and then click again. It doesn't sound that bad on paper, but when you are driving it's a real pain. Again the palm has a cool feature where you can specify the default or main number as the one to dial automatically. If these were the only problems with the phone, I would have kept it because honestly they are all very minor points. But there was another, much bigger issue...
The phone quality SUCKED! The microphone was way too sensitive. It picked up every single ounce of background noise. It picked up background noise that I didn't even hear myself. It seamed to me that for some reason the engineers at RIM decided that they didn't need any kind of filter for their microphone. In fact it sounded as if the amplifiers they were using weren't even optamized for voice (i.e. they were amplifying the background, low or high frequency noise just as much if not more than the voice frequencies). It's not hard to do this, cell phone companies have been doing this since the beginning of time! RIM needs to hire a few more cell phone oriented electronics engineers to get this right. Also, the speaker was crappy as well. Everyone I spoke sounded like they were calling from a tin can (it was a very hollow sound). It was hard for me to recognize and differentiate peoples voices. I couldn't take this at all. The sad thing is that I doubt that these problems can't be fixed. I'm sure RIM will release an update to the phone that will address these issues, but I couldn't take another minute of it. So until they fix this, I'm staying far away from this device (I can't even call it a phone).
Honestly, it was very hard returning that device. I liked it a lot. It was a tolerable size and it did everything I wanted it to do. I even liked the calendar program - I thought it was thoughtfully laid out. Interfacing with the control panel was easy with that scroll wheel and escape key - I liked that a lot. It had a speaker phone too (but no voice dial). It looked sleek too. The keyboard was easy to type on. I didn't think the keys were too close together at all. Oh and the best part was that it is cheap - don't settle for anything less than $150. I was able to bargain with the cingular people to this price point. I think they wanted to charge me $350 (they said, ?it's regularly $450, but you get $100 off for starting a new contract with us?). Check Amazon and some of the other vendors on this website that advertise it for $149. Either buy it through them or do what I did and print out the Amazon website and make the cingular guy meet the price.
Bottom line, if you already have a cell phone and are looking for just an email/internet/organizer gadget - this device is amazing! But if you are planning on using it for voice as well, you might want to wait and see if they can fix the noise problem. That's what I'm going to do.
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15 out
of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.
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8
stars
One Step Closer
by calancaster
on
December 8, 2005
Pros: Size, Screen Resolution, Edge
Cons: No Carrier Support for Ringtones & Themes
Summary: I've been using a BlackBerry for 2 years and I support over 1200 BlackBerrys within my company. I've gone from a 6230 to a 7230 to a 7100 ...
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Summary: I've been using a BlackBerry for 2 years and I support over 1200 BlackBerrys within my company. I've gone from a 6230 to a 7230 to a 7100 to a 7290 and FINALLY the 8700.
The smaller size (smaller than the 7290 but bigger than the 7100 series) is a definite plus and so is the improved screen resolution. And even though the keyboard is slightly smaller, typing is not a problem for me even with fairly large fingers. All in all it handles corporate email as well as its predecessors, but now in a more elegant and user friendly package. The extra features such as the auto backlight, programmable buttons and MP3 ringtones just make it a much nicer all around device. And with EDGE, surfing the net is much more tolerable.
RIM took a VERY GOOD product and by listening to it's user base improved upon it. For the time being, I think this is a GREAT device. Will other devices come along that are better? Absolutely, but that's evolution. I would definitely recommend this device to any business person looking for an email-centric phone. I would rate this device an 8.
P.S. If Cingular's MEdia Net and mMode would support included features such as ringtones & themes I'd give it a 9.
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11 out
of 11 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
Absolutely the Best Phone I've used.
by bkmccann
on
December 30, 2005
Pros: Best intuitive options and use with excellant phone qualities.
Cons: I have not foudn any.
Summary: I've used ever possible phone ont he market and have had all the services and I always stayed away from BlackBerry because many people said it was a great ...
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Summary: I've used ever possible phone ont he market and have had all the services and I always stayed away from BlackBerry because many people said it was a great tool for email but poor for phone use. Well this new 8700c is the very best phone I've used PERIOD! The quality I find exceptional and I would highly recommend it for business or personal use. I love it!
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8 out
of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
Solid Performance - Actual Owner and user for 7 months
by bmushrush
on
July 28, 2006
Pros: Call quality, battery life, text input, nice screen
Cons: Browser has issues with frames, other web pages display content in one column
Summary: I got tired of carrying a PDA and mobile phone so in May 05 decided to get a PDA phone. In the time between May 05 and Dec 05, I ...
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Summary: I got tired of carrying a PDA and mobile phone so in May 05 decided to get a PDA phone. In the time between May 05 and Dec 05, I went through 3 PDA phones. I was about to give up when I spoke to a coworker about her BlackBerry. I never thought about BB. All I wanted was a solid phone, a place to keep contacts, calendar, and notes. Web would be great but not required.
Dumped Verizon switched to Cingular and bought the 8700c. It?s been 7 months and I am still enjoying this phone. The phone coverage is great, and I was very surprised by the web browsing capabilities.
I travel a lot for work and I?ve been in Europe since January with a couple of trips back to the States. The reason I mention this is that I have limited experience using this phone in other parts of the country. I assume it will be fine and have had no issues in New York and Houston. I have had great service in southern California where I live.
In Europe, I?ve been using the Web a lot. The download speed here seems to be a little faster but I cannot prove that?.just seems that pages load quicker. I did have a couple of times in Paris and rural Poland where I didn?t have EDGE coverage.
There are 2 issues when using the web browser capabilities:
1. When viewing pages with frames; it displays a page so you can choose which frame you want to view. A little annoying but not a show stopper.
2. Other pages (like cnn.com) display in 1 column. So when you take a link to a specific story, you will have to scroll down quite a bit before getting to your content. There are also keyboard short cuts for top and bottom of page and this help somewhat
Text entry is nicer (IMO) than the Treo, although I?ve dropped it a couple of times because it sits kinda high in my hands so my thumbs can hit the keys. I wouldn?t want to change this because I think it would come at a cost to the screen size.
Display is nice and bright but the auto bright feature bugs me. I haven?t looked into this but when using the phone, web, or games; you can press a button that cycles through 3 screen settings; bright, normal, and off. When I need the extra brightness, I?ll press this button to make it bright then a few minutes later, it goes to normal. Again, not a show stopper and maybe there is a setting someplace for default brightness. I just haven?t had the desire to look.
Speaker allows good quality and the roller button on the side operates the volume for both the regular speaker and the speaker phone. Speaker phone is also clear and I can usually hear the other end in a busy office.
Battery life is good but I am not using it as a phone very much while in Europe. I downloaded an application that allows instant messaging thorough Yahoo, MSN, and others. This seems to drain the battery sooner. Maybe this is the constant polling for any new IM?s. I normally have to recharge every 2-3 days.
I was looking for a solid phone with PDA capabilities and got what I wanted in the 8700 along with a couple of happy surprises.
Hope this was helpful?I?m not that technical and tried to be as clear as possible.
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6 out
of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
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5
stars
If PDA'S Didn't Have To Have MP3 Players or Cameras The BB would be the winner
by A. Are
on
January 15, 2006
Pros: Ease Of Use and Functionality Unparalleled
Cons: No MP3 Player, No Camera
Summary: This device grows on you. It endears itself to you especially if you've never owned a Blackberry. The functionality is unparalleled. Ask yourself the following question. Why do you ...
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Summary: This device grows on you. It endears itself to you especially if you've never owned a Blackberry. The functionality is unparalleled. Ask yourself the following question. Why do you need a PDA? My answer is for the calendar, reviewing and responding to my e-mail, making and or returning phone calls, listening to voice e-mail attachments, the address book, internet browsing and utilizing a capable world phone. I give this phone a 5/10. The Treo 650 still comes in a close first at 6/10. Why? Because the Blackberry still doesn't come with an MP3 player or digital camera. By the way even without the camera the Blakberry will assume it's place as best of the best but only when an MP3 player is available. So why you ask doesn't it come with an MP3 player? Your guess is as good as mine. Once you get used to using this device you'll become addicted. The phrase "Crackberry" isn't a surprise. The operating system is stable. Reviewing, sending and or replying to your e-mail is incredibly easy once you become adept at using the track-wheel. It took me less than 24 hours to get used to using the device. I feel like I've owned it for several years. Sometimes I wonder how I got bye without it. Not so with my Treo 650. Syncing your e-mail via pop-3 access is fast and reliable. I fought purchasing the Blackberry despite my colleagues, sister and brother's comments to the contrary. In the end when Palm introduced the dissapointing windows based 700w I purchased the Blackberry 8700r or for my friends accross the border the 8700c. The phone functionality is also pertinent. No other device works as well as this. Believe me I have owned at least (2) windows based pda's, (2) Treo's in addition to the very old Qualcom and Samsung black and white palm based pda's. For most the MP-3 player may be irrelevant. However for business users that need to review voice e-mail attachments when on the go an MP-3 player is paramount. It is therefore my hope that Blackberry will rectify this situation as soon as possible and assume the position of best of the best in pda devices available today.
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8 out
of 11 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
Absolutley love it - better than the Trio
by dfulton5
on
December 25, 2005
Pros: High-speed, wireless Internet, improved Add To section in email, easy downloading (ring tunes, themes, etc.)
Cons: Tight keys, expensive, and they put the Symbol key where the Shift used to be!!!
Summary: Overall - best investment I have made. For the first time ever, I actually have wireless high-speed Internet now - and use it everywhere. I helped a friend find a ...
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Summary: Overall - best investment I have made. For the first time ever, I actually have wireless high-speed Internet now - and use it everywhere. I helped a friend find a house online while we were at a pub the other night! It is that quick. Phone is great. Improved email functionality makes it more like Outlook - type a few letters and the name you are looking for appears. No more *add to* buttons required, the system defaults to the next *To* line as soon as you enter an address. Buy this!!
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6 out
of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
Best Smartphone on the market
by cellard00r
on
May 20, 2006
Pros: Powerful, feature-rich phone, 320x240 display, improved email interface, great data quality, FAST
Cons: Bluetooth functionality is not as flexible as other devices, Yahoo IM service only works with Sprint/Nextel
Summary: I'm not sure why everyone is dogging the 8700c. Maybe it's just not cool anymore to acknowledge RIM products? I was upgrading from the 7290 which I used ...
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Summary: I'm not sure why everyone is dogging the 8700c. Maybe it's just not cool anymore to acknowledge RIM products? I was upgrading from the 7290 which I used for data and voice. There were definitely some great things about the 7290 least of which being dependable and extremely durable but wasn't nearly as fast or extendible as the Treo 650 line. I wanted something with faster data access and upgraded phone capabilities.
I was going to go with the Treo 700p version once it was announced however once I got my hands on the 8700c I was astonished at the new features and functionality they had added.
Phone:
- Speaker phone built in
- Single mute button located at the top
- Calls are CRYSTAL clear using bluetooth or the phone
- Address book is now integrated wirelessly with Outlook and now interfaces better with the overall phone
- Major battery-life improvements
Data:
- Built in RSS feeder
- Yahoo IM integration (only with Sprint/Nextel )
- FAST data access using Cingular's EDGE network, web pages render perfectly
- Better wireless synchronization features, message are more easily managed
- Ability to view, pdf, doc, xls, ppt, image, and more file types and attachments
Unit:
- Fantastic 320x240 display resolution
- Much better interface, the backlight now has three modes that adjust automatically to outdoors to indoors. First display that actually works outside
- Themes allow you to change from the default 'Icons' to a more menu driven interface where you can sort your programs by functionality
- the 8700c looks AWSOME, previously I really didn't need a phone to look good because more phones that did what I needed them to were quite ugly. The 8700c however is a fantastically sleek looking device, everyone stops me and asks me 'what phone is that', 'that's really cool'
Overall this phone/pda combo is outstanding and I have NO regrets. Going to the Treo 700p would have made me switch provides and have to license the 'good link' software. The 8700c made it an easy decision to stick with Cingular and use my exsisting blackberry software
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4 out
of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
HP Thin Client with AMD Sempron $499
RIM BlackBerry 8700c (AT&T)
