View Full Version : Blackberry 8700
Hi guys,
thinking of changing my LG flip phone (currently with 3) to a Blackberry 8700. I was wondering how many people had this and what the phone was like? Any hidden charges ? I was thinking of going with T-Mobile, don't think 3 do this phone. Kryten, do you have this model or have you now changed to the Nokia ?
cheers guys
W
I have the older BB still, at the moment I'm trying to decide between the 8707 (the 3G version of the 8700 which has just come out on Voda but waiting for T-Mobile) or the E61 Nokia (also has BB installed).
As for the hidden charges, presuming that you are connecting to a POP service its 10GBP/month plus data I think. T-Mobile (http://www.thedvdforums.com/jump2.php?url=http://valuemobiles.at/thedvdforums) website has most of the info I think.
3 do not have a contract with RIM so you cannot use BB on 3.
I would recommend Scancom though for sales, they know a lot about the BB (and have the E61 too at the moment!) and have been helpful for me.
maledave
16-06-2006, 15:17
They are very very nice devices, easily the best Blackberry so far. The screen is excellent however prone to scratching and it's not as solid as previous versions (based on 7230 and 7290's).
They run version 4.1 of the firmware and due to the new processor it really flies. For comparison most of the older Blackberry's won't be able to run this version of the firmware (and presumably future versions).
Ours are run through a Blackberry Enterprise Server and are on an unlimited data package. Can't really comment on consumer packages but we are paying about £21 a month unlimited with a free handset and cashback from Vodaphone (although this was heavily negotiated).
Dave
Thanks guys, will check it out further. I'd be using it for personal use only so it might not be suitable. looks a good bit of kit. Also considering the O2 Exec model.
simonmac
18-06-2006, 19:14
On my 2nd 8700 after losing the first! They are great devices, the TFT is cristal clear and quite fast while surfing t'interweb. However the battery life sucks and the standard case is rubbish, i would really recomend getting a different one if you get an 8700.
maledave are you the BES admin? How many units are you running to get it at that price. (I'm thinking I could get massive brownie points from the managment if i can get our monthly cost that low)
Be careful with the Nokias... we tried a 6822 and it was Pants! But I love the 9300.
The E61 is just like a blackberry in design: http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,82900,00.html which is why I'm interested. T-Mobile think they are getting them early July
Does it run Blackberry Connect or Client?
BB Connect. Not used that myself but from what I understand its no real difference? Only the SK65 has BB built-in that I know of.
I was thinking of the E61 but it doesnt have a scroll wheel!! which is a bit annoying!
the 8700 is a great device, and a lot faster than any of the other blackberries. The phone is decent enough, and you can also use bluetooth headset.
The lack of scroll is what is putting me off just ordering one before I can actually use one somewhere. The 8707 look perfect because it adds 3G to the 8700. Only downside is that only Voda have it at the moment :(
I like the look of the sony one, and that has a scroll wheel.
The t-mob 3g 8707 is out in late july early/ early aug. So a little bit of a wait.
I'll just use my 8700 till then.
Essexboy
19-06-2006, 10:46
Sorry to butt in, but i have a similar decision. Mine's between the 8700, E61, and the Jasjar/O2 Exec etc.
I like the idea of the jasjar because of the design, but is it a bit large as a phone? The firmware can apparently be upgraded to allow push email.
I don't think that the O2 Exec can do BlackBerry though, only MS Push mail? The XDA IIx can do BB Connect though.
ganan: Thanks for the info, I can wait until late July happily for the 8707 :thumbs:
Essexboy
19-06-2006, 11:24
According to the blackberry website the 8707 is a vodafone exclusive in the UK????
Kryten: My mistake....i'm more interested in the push email side of things than the blackberry, as I have an exchange 2003 server.
The 8707v is the Voda version, as with most of these Voda get them first and exclusive for a few months then the others get them. I really hope this happens with the 8707 as I really want 3G for use in Japan.
As for push mail, if you have Exchange 2k3 SP2 then the )2 Exec should be fine. I still think that the Blackberry's are the best to use from an e-mail point of view (the actualy device rather than the server side software)
Essexboy
19-06-2006, 11:47
What about the jasjar - any advantage in having windows?
Advantage of Windows comes when you want to use MS push mail etc and the fact that pocket outlook (or mobile outlook or whatever they call it now) is quite nice to use. Downside is as they are more PDA than phone the batter is not that good AFAIK? I do think that Windows Mobile is slightly better to use than Symbian OS on the Nokia's though.
Essexboy
19-06-2006, 12:09
That's enough to swing it for me. As a Microsoft partner I should at least show willing to use their products!
I was looking around the net last night and could only find tmobile and O2 offering Blackberry in the UK. Tmobile seems to be the cheapest option. I understand that I have to pay £10 extra a month for e-mail on top of the talk plan I choose. Does this include web browsing or is that on top of the talk plan, email etc ? If so this could get quite costly and might have to go for the Nokia E61!!!
maledave
22-06-2006, 13:45
maledave are you the BES admin? How many units are you running to get it at that price. (I'm thinking I could get massive brownie points from the managment if i can get our monthly cost that low)
Yes, i'm the BES admin. We currently have about 110 devices although i don't know if that price has any bearing on the amount of devices we have. It was negotiated by our IT director and we now get them direct from Vodaphone. We were paying about £28 a month previously (with voice included)
T-mobile offered us a similar deal recently (or rather tried to matched the Vodaphone deal) but we weren't entirely confident about their service coverage.
cocacola
22-06-2006, 13:51
That's enough to swing it for me. As a Microsoft partner I should at least show willing to use their products!
got an spv m5000 if anyones interested brand new boxed unwanted upgrade from orange
I was looking around the net last night and could only find tmobile and O2 offering Blackberry in the UK. Tmobile seems to be the cheapest option. I understand that I have to pay £10 extra a month for e-mail on top of the talk plan I choose. Does this include web browsing or is that on top of the talk plan, email etc ? If so this could get quite costly and might have to go for the Nokia E61!!!
Web is on top as is excessive BB usage I think (I think you only get ~5MB/month - although that's a lot of mails!)
Voda also do them though and if you can get voda service then this may be the way to go.
Kryten, is there any way of finding out usage in MB? I've looked around our BES but can't seem to find anything. Only the number of messages.
Nope, I had to contact the service provider and look at the monthly bills to work it out.
Thanks Kryten,
just been on the phone to T-Mobile and they don't support web n walk with the 8700 ? I can only get email !!
What? Not sure that is true as the 8700 has a built-in browser so its just GPRS data which should fall under the web-n-walk (although e-mail data will not be allowed under that as they have to pay RIM for that too!).
I found it a little strange too. I might try and ring again later and see what they say ! I think my email is by POP3 and not IMAP so there might be a delay in getting my emails or have I confused that with the Nokia E61 ? ! The problem I have is I like the look of both phones !! E61 might be the way to go as I won't have to pay for Blackberry email at £10 a month - decisions for a non mobile techno is a nightmare !!!!
For blackberry services from POP it will be a slight delay as the service has to poll the mail server (the service provided by T-Mobile, not the handheld), this is the same on both the E61 and the 8700.
The E61 will still be chargable for 10/month if you want e-mail delivered via BlackBerry, but it does also have other ways of getting mail that the 8700 doesn't so may work out cheaper especially with the cheap web-n-walk option where you have a fixed monthly fee anyway!
simonmac
23-06-2006, 13:20
Yes, i'm the BES admin. We currently have about 110 devices although i don't know if that price has any bearing on the amount of devices we have. It was negotiated by our IT director and we now get them direct from Vodaphone. We were paying about £28 a month previously (with voice included)
T-mobile offered us a similar deal recently (or rather tried to matched the Vodaphone deal) but we weren't entirely confident about their service coverage.
I;m looking after 2700 so I think I might have to have a word in our Service Providers ear for a better discount.
jimmyjammy
10-07-2006, 23:46
Whats this like as a kinda diary/organiser?
Also whats it like with just pop/imap emails?
As a diary its great, just like Outlook's diary really. As a a pop/imap client its good too I think and is seemless as to how youare using it (although I use with BES so not 100% sure but have friends with them on POP and no complaints).
As an email device I think that the BlackBerry cannot be beat. I was looking at the Nokia E61 but it just is missing some of the nicec features that the BB has for handling e-mail
jimmyjammy
11-07-2006, 07:43
Kryten - what kind of features do you think its missing?
The E61 doesn't vibrate on e-mail alert (just flashing light :| ) and doesn't auto-read email when taken out of holster. Two things the BB does well and are pretty essential (especially the vibrate on e-mail).
i just got an 02 xda exec brand new from 02. All i can say is reading the spec, the blackberry and it seem equally matched bar certain functions. I am selling my XDA EXEC on the forums here and put that money toward a blackberry as its size is smaller...well a bit...
I've got an 8700 and an E61 at the moment. I have to say that whilst I was very much looking forward to trying the new nokia out, the blackberry still wins for me.
The blackberry connect software that runs on the E61 to communicate with the BES does a pretty good job, but it lacks synchronisation of contacts. It also feels slower in operation than equivalent functions on the blackberry. Furthermore, the amount of clicks required to reach email composition was far higher than on the blackberry. Finally, I have to say that I really didn't get on with the joystick and found myself longing for the scroll wheel again!
Keep in mind that I only use the device as an email and business device. There are many other features the E61 has (like cisco callmanager integration with WiFi as well) that are really quite cool.
For what its worth, I have no ties to either company, and have had both devices for.a couple of weeks now.
Thanks
Sam
i went into an tmobile shop and checked out this blackberry - heres the lowdown
1) Excellent Size, formfactor compared to XDA EXEC
2) Push Email, a wonderful thing when set up.
3) Tmobile's web and walk means for £7.50 a month you get unlimited internet.
4) PROBLEM WITH ALL BLACKBERRY'S (even this one): when looking at attachments, blackberries dont do as well as Windows based PDA's. The attachments on emails from blackberry often come out as crap. This was told to me by the manager of the local phone shop who used this same model for month before goin with the XDA Exec.
Personally, Im selling my brand new, still sealed XDA EXEC on these forums since I dont like its bigger form factor AND attachments arent important to me.
I have no issue with attachments on my old BB, works fine for most things but to be honest I rarely use attachements on them anyway.
simonmac
27-07-2006, 21:51
Attachments can be a bit of a pain, especially Excel documents, but for thesize of the device they are perfectly adequate.
Finally got an 8700 (8700c from US). Seems so much faster than the old 7280! Now need to figure out where to get good ringtones and themes from etc.
Brozyniak
07-10-2006, 16:10
Finally got an 8700 (8700c from US). Seems so much faster than the old 7280! Now need to figure out where to get good ringtones and themes from etc.
I just got my new 8700 and have been playing around.
Quick tips:
New wallpaper - email them to yourself as attachements then open and save. They will be available in the pictures folder.
Ringtones - This was a bit of pain but works nicely now. Edit an MP3 down to a decent size say <100kbs with a low bit rate say 16 max 32. Upload it to your webspace and then link to the mp3 using the BB browser. You can then save it and it will be in your ringtone options. If you get a browser error message sayinbg the file is too large to access, well then it is even though it may be waaay smaller than the the pictures you just emailed yourself :oh-hum:
:D enjoy
simonmac
07-10-2006, 16:18
Ringtone file size can be upto 200kb, another option is to just post them in a Yahoo Group and email a link to yourself.
simonmac
07-10-2006, 16:20
Visit blackberryforums.com and they have loads of ringtones/themes
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