This will be my first blackberry. My treo doesnt use the push technology and I need it for email at work. I also really want the GPS service. These devices seem comparable to the untrained treo eye. What in your opinion would be the advantages of one over the other? I am in no hurry and would wait on both devices (and I use Sprint).

To me the biggest difference between the 7100 and any other BlackBerry, is the keyboard. The 8700 is said to have a full QWERTY keyboard like all BlackBerrys except for the 7100, which has two letters per key and uses suretype technology to essentially guess what word you are typing. (There are some words that use the same keys, like see and are, that it will not be able to guess).

I adapted to the 7100 and like it a lot. I am able to bang out emails just as quickly on the 7100 as I was on my old 7230 and I consider the 7100 a far superior phone, which is a necessity for my job. (I've never had the problems that many have had with sound quality on the 7100).

All that being said, I will be the first one to jump on an 8700 because I like to have the newest toys and I'm ready to go back to a full QWERTY keyboard.

I could not agree with you more. The words like "are" and "see" can be a pain at times. I miss the ability to type without worrying about what word I did not mean to use, etc.

Since I am using the phone almost always with Bluetooth earpiece, I think the 8700 is the way to go.

Wanted a better phone so gave up my 7280 for the 7100 and now what I miss the most are the SHORTCUTS. Check out my Big Shortcut posting in these forums.

http://www.blackberryforums.com/showthread.php?t=4823

The calendar and refresh browser shortcuts are some of the key ones missing that I want back so bad.

I think add bluetooth (love my Plantronics v510) and the 8700 will be great.

no can do. i am used to the full keyboard and that is far too slow. anyway now that rim and treo have decided to make my treo 650 work with the blackberry connect software i wont be changing phones anyway.

Here's another: get and hey. I use 'hey' as an email greeting all the time and the phone almost always got this one wrong. I switched to a Treo 650 but am considering the 8700...

TM

I've used both the 7290 and the 7100r. As I mainly use the blackberry for emails first, phone second, I'm am anxiously waiting for the 8700. The 7100 has an amazing screen, but as other posters have said, I miss the little things from the 7200 series. The suretype works well for the most part, but the words that use the same keys are annoying. The main thing I miss though, is the shortcuts off of the main screen.
In short, if you are mainly an email user and phone user second, then I'd wait for the 8700, but if you just need to read emails and use the phone primarily, then I'd recommend the 7100. But, Stinsonddog is right, if you are just using a headset, then I guess it doesn't matter.