You get a standing ovation and an AMEN from me on this comment!

Guess I found another friend

I'd like to officially state that the best Blackberry is always the one that's in my pocket.

Being a BES Admin for the 5000+ user company I can say I have had every single BlackBerry released, all the way back to the 850

I am not a holster-type IT guy; I like a device that fits well in my pocket. When I tried the 8800 I was using a Pearl. The size alone killed it for me. The only redeeming quality for me on the 8800 was the GPS. When I stopped to think about how often I would actually use the GPS, I decided to give it to somoene else in my company. The 8800 was just too damn big to go in a pocket. Other than that, it performed like any other 8xxx series device. The keyboard was a bit too cramped as well, but it was do-able.

I received the 8300 day after launch and I am pretty impressed. As I said before, the thing that matters most to ME is the ability for it to fit comfortably in my pocket. The 8300 is on the borderline. It fits, but its still a smidge too big. But the new features like full screen video, spell check, 3.5MM headset/headphone jack, and better camera make me try a little harder to make it work.

I still may go back to the Pearl for its size (I have no problems with SureType), but the 8300 definitely works for me as well.

Hope this helps,
Greg

I have the Curve and the 8800, and I like the both of them! Both are great devices, the Curve just feels great in the hand, and yea it's got the camera and some other bells and whistles that the 8800 doesn't! But it depends on preference at this point, especially with at&t offering so many devices to choose from now! While the 8800 is a great device, squeaks are annoying for something that is in your hands throughout the day, I heard they fixed them by the way. And the Curve, especially early units, will have some issues too (mine did). I returned the first Curve I got yesterday for a new one, and so far so good! If I had to pick, I'd say the Curves form factor wins me over! Really fits like a glove

I'll second that! The 8800 owners that detract from the 8300 are just mad that a newer model came out so soon after they paid so much for an 8800. Luckily- I was still within the 30 day exchange period and now have a flawless Curve to pocket.!!!

I just bought a 8300 and I am really impressed! It's not a problem for me, but the only problem I could see with the 8300 is that the keyboard keys are much smaller than previous BBs, and people with massive fingers might fat-finger a bunch of stuff. Otherwise, it's gorgeous and leagues better than the 8800 for my needs.

I really like my 8300 Curve and have no problems with it...I do miss my Pearl and I still have it..I'll just switch back and forth

actually, now that I'm a curve owner, the 8800 looks even worse than when I had it. And I didn't have a problem with my 8800.

I've had every QWERTY BB since the 6230, and I despise the 8800 the most. The 8300 is perfect for me. I'm not saying the 8800 isn't good, it just isn't for me.

Eddie.

Like I said in a previous post - I am coming from an 8700 to the Curve that I picked up on Saturday and I may very well be in love.

I don't care what version you have, it's what your doing with it that matters at the end of the day.

Well Welcome to the Forum! But on here people (myself included) are pretty into what Version of a Blackberry there using! You'll see over time!

This title is hilarous, you make it sound like every Curve owner was bad mouthing the 8800.

You showed them!!!

I bought two Curves, loved them both dearly. They were the perfect fit for me. The keyboard was wonderful. The form factor was exactly what I was looking for. And, the overall device experience (once I purged all of the preloaded AT&T crud) was really quite good. (Save for the camera, which seemed a little blurry... almost to the extent that it wasn't truly 2Mp, and was perhaps upscaling a lower quality image.)

Regrettably, I didn't have nearly as much luck as some others with getting them to properly do things on T-Mobile's network. Yes, they are unsupported at present... however others seemed to have better luck getting certain WAP settings sent OTA and could launch a browser. I couldn't. Opera Mini works a treat, but doesn't support OTA installs... it just hands the URL off to the BlackBerry Browser, which politely barfs - and then crashes with an uncaught exception.

I love my 8700, but can't intuitively use it any more because I've been spoiled by the trackball. The trackwheel now feels alien to me in a strange sense.

So, wanting to gradually ease myself back to a QWERTY device, I purchased an 8800 from T-Mobile in a retail store. (And got raped... $469 on a 2 year extension is way steep, given that I bought a Curve for $449 with no contract.) [The retail store was the only in this area to have one.]

The device is seriously a brick. It feels insanely solid. But, after a mere 12 hours of usage, the side rails are already starting to squeak. The trackball is very crisp, but the side convenience button is not. It feels almost like it is stuck and gives no feedback. I threw a skin on it, and that made me stop noticing the rails squeaking.

However... the one thing I can't look past is the keyboard. It really could use a serious amount of improvement. I could practically type blindly on my 8700 and 8100, and so too on the 8300. On this one, I was constantly making mistakes. It doesn't feel like a BlackBerry keyboard to me. It just feels strange.

Therefore, I've decided to return it and get a newer 8100. My current 8100 is scratched to all hell.

The 8800 is a great device and as most have confirmed, it is solid, has a good weight, and the GPS is a nice addition. But, it's just not for me.

I guess the moral of the story here (at least from my point of view) -- having the latest and greatest isn't always a smooth experience.

No switching for me. I couldn't be happier with the 8300.

I have an 8830 and the 8300 and I just love the 8300. Ain't no turning back for me. I'm also very happy with at&t's service. They actually have better service in my house than Verizon did.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8300/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

Old or new the BB is an awesome product. It has come a long way from its paging days and continues to evolve to meet the demands of an ever increasing user base. I went from the 8703 to the 8100 and now to the 8800. For me the 8300 is a combo of the 8100 and 8700. For every need there is a BB. It is an individual preference which device will be the right "fit."

Interesting point Gregg. Can you comment on why you'd prefer to 8700 model? I'm looking at all the devices myself.

Also, separately, does anyone one of a good after market company that can modify the housing of a blackberry with a better quality casing? I'm looking for something metallic and strong. The plastic feel of the blackberry device really does detract from its appeal. Something resembling the earlier palm models or perhaps the iPod video casing. Ideally I'd want a vertu-inspired blackberry. That's the goal.

If not, any ideas how to manufacture one and whether there is an identifiable market for it? Given the steep price and abundant uses for a blackberry devices you would think that they could design something of significantly higher quality.

I've seen it stated many times that the 8300 keyboard is better than the 8800 keyboard, and with that many people saying it there isn't much chance it's a coincidence. I tried out an 8800 at a store and the keyboard was horrid, just terrible. That fact alone has been the single knock I have against the 8800 and the only thing stopping me from getting one. Sure I want the 8300's camera and MP3 support and definately the 3.5mm jack... but in the end the one with the better keyboard will get my purchase. With any luck that will be the 8300 sometime in the near future.