I noted the 8700g is on T-Mobile's website. I called the local store and the off the shelf price is $480. I don't want to effect my contract, so not willing to upgrade/trade so as not to lengthen my contract.

I like T-Mobile's service, and was wondering would an 8700c work on T-Mobile's service?

I see some for sale on eBay that are relatively inexpensive, especially when you consider the selling price of T-Mobile's 8700g.

Thanks

As long as the 8700c is unlocked it'll work with T-Mobile.

Plenty of people were using them before the g was available and continue to do so.

Dude..just do the $350 upgrade!
The 8700g is sooooo worth it. Besides, you say you love Tmo so whats 2 more years.

an anyrate the 8700c will cost you $350 locked and $400 - $450 unlocked off ebay. Plus they'll be no warranty and the dire uncertainty that comes with buying a fragile expensive device off ebay. Then you would have it logo'ed with cingular's name and may or may not have unlocked problems.

I would get the 8700g. I had the 8700c with my Tmobile sim card last month and it totally sucked compared to the 8700g...

but do whatever...

If you're month-to-month, you've got some bargaining power.

Just call and ask to be transfered to the cancelation/customer retention department. Explain that you want the 8700 and that Cingular is offering it at a much cheaper rate and that you'd like to switch. You could even reference that it's free (after mail-in rebate) on Amazon.com. Customer Retention is much more empowered to make deals than regular customer service or even the retail stores. Also, don't settle for a 2 year contract. The Amazon deal doesn't require one.

In then end, I think you should get $300-350 after a 1 year commitment.

Totally sucked?

Huh? They are virtually the same device.

its the exact same device u do know right? As far as the network (tmobile) is concerned... it is EXACTLY the same.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

The 8700c is nice but I believe the build quality is different. I've heard and read that the 8700c's accumulate dust behind the screens.

The initial quality of some 8700's was low and some customers experienced dust--not all. I had an original 8700 and dust became an issue. I returned to the store for an exchange without issue. I only know of a small number of people with dust problems. Having seen and used both models I can assure you that the build quality is essentially the same.

Well in that case it should be the same. The only difference is all cosmetic then, color and the trimmings.

All is the same with exceptions of what you said. I had my 8700c since the first day of December and I habd no dust issues yet and hope it stays that way. The G is only 3 days old and will see as it gets put into more use.

Good luck with your g. I am so fond of my c--I was offered a g through the national science foundation (I do research for NSF). I chose to stay with the c. I can't even being to think of of trading this little guy. (holds it close) ;O)

I still have my C and it will remain. The G was brought in fo a family member's use as he uses T Mo. But for now I get to use it oo untill I am ready to hand it over. However, the C is the main one for me.

I've got the -c, like NJBB, have had no dust issues. My -g arrives next week and we'll see how it goes.

Keep in mind we have two Jets fans in here, the one in this thread is not NJBB, it's his fellow fan...

Well, I don't want to get banned again.
But honesty is my weakness.
And I've had alot of blackberry's in my hand and the worst I've dealth with in terms personal problems (my unlocking drama and dealing with cingular) and build quality as well was the 8700c.

And the best I've evr dealth with was the 8700g.
Yes the are the same device, but honestly the 8700c felt as expensive as (and looks like) a $2.99 Walmart pocket calulator...that is not saying its a bad device software-wise.

The 8700g is totally different in quality, appearance and style...
that is not saying the 8700g is a better choice for those who already spent lots of money on the 8700c
...that just saying the 8700g looks way different than the 8700c, and people with t-mobile sim cards should not longer have "8700c" in their vocabulary since the 8700g is clearly a better option for us.

Even my girlfriend, having never owned a BB rim device (she loves her samsung flip phones), remarked that the 8700g was the best looking blackberry she's ever seen and would consider buying one, where as last Fall when she saw the 8700c at it's debut her first impression of it were "geeky". Even back then at it's debut I thought the 8700c was coolest thing until I bought one for myself, tried it for a week and got rid of it.

And my gfriend is an CPA accountant so that speak volumes coming from someone like her.

Inside the 8700g = 8700c (so far), but exterior-wise and style-wise the difference is tremendous and clear to anyone that is not biased towards the 8700c.

lol, not this again. It's a phone! Not life or death.

yes. The bottom line is it is apersonal preference. The balcberry rep at teh cingular store by me basicaly said that it is pure cosmetic adn Cingular users will have an added feature soon that will set the 2 a bit apart. Oh yes, I hope i don't get it as I don't want it. I think this will be an OS upgrade and that is oen of the reasons why Cingular is not on the same page as the others with 284 and so on.

?????
you lost me here.
cingular is upgrading the 8700c OS to prevent 8700c users from switching to the 8700g? or do you mean cingular is supplying their own OS special made for cingluar users who want the 8700g? or do you mean cingular is adding a cosmetic upgrade to software to outdo the 8700g?or do you mean.....

Nope. There is something called PTT which no ooher GSM provider has around here. So for that it sure looks like there would be something comming out for it to be activated on the 8700c. My assesment is that it would be either as a service book or an OS funtion.

I have a 8700g and my business partner has a 8700c. I think they are almost identical. The only differences I can find are in the plastic around the unit and some itty bitty differences in the software.

However my girlfriend too thinks that 8700g is a way cooler device. She likes the dark blue color with the ever so subtle sparkle and the accent of the pink "T" in the TMO logo. And she's an attorney, so she knows what she's talking about. I'm sticking with the 8700g.

The PTT feature is a radio feature like the one Nextel uses that Cingular will be deploying.(No release date for the Blackberry yet) I did a test on a few units for them a while back(not on the 8700c) and the feature seemed to work pretty well. Better than Sprint, or Verizon. I do not think they will be changing the style of the phone since it already has the PTT button on the side that is currently used as shortcut button.