I need help…my contract w/ Cingular is up and I need to get a BB for work. I’m debating on staying with Cingular and buying the 8700c or moving to T-Mobile and getting the 8700g.

Here are my questions:
1. Which BB is better 8700g or 8700c and why?
2. I travel a lot international, who do you think is a better provider Cingular or T-Mobile? I haven’t had any issues w/ Cingular local or international.
3. Is the key board for the 8700g bad for typing? I read a post that said the 8700c has a better keyboard then the 8700g.

Please help me decide whether to stay with Cingular or move to T-Mobile.

Thanks for your help!!!

1. They are the same device. Don't make your decision on which wireless provider to choose based on the device.

2. Both are GSM and will allow you to use the phone overseas.

3. The keyboards are the same.

Don't make your decision based on the device. That's the worst thing you can do. Choose a wireless provider based on which one has the best coverage in the areas you most frequent.

i think the t mobile unit looks much better

and t-mobile is much cheaper than cingular.

if you get t-mobile reception in your are then i say go with it.

plus their spokes person is HOT

Adding to what lgreenberg said, buy based on home coverage. Which carrier works best at your home, at work and where you commute/travel. Their international roaming agreements are very similar - not identical, but similar.

I've had both the 8700g and the 8700c. I can't honestly tell you which one is "better" since they both worked perfectly for me. I am a T-Mobile customer, so I use the 8700g, which they support and warranty.

And yes, T-Mobile is cheaper on a monthly basis.

What is said here should be the ultimate decision maker. Some times paying less with less coverage is not worth it. I would say that the OP, since (s)he has been happy and had no problems with Cingular , should stick with is known to be best. I for one had Tmobile and was very happy with them for years (since the days of Omni Point) But in the past year their network degraded in the area that I use most and nothing has been done. I gave it a try with 8700g for 2 weeks and it ended up to be a no go so I stayed with the Cingular 8700c with Cingular and let go of my T Mobile account for good.

I just switched to tmobile from cingular
Mainly due to price

To add, a lot of people use pre paid SIM's when traveling internationally so either TMO or Xing would come out the same in that catagory.

check out compass.t-mobile dot com for coverage on tmobile. That site includes an icon for new towers added recently.

The 8700c keyboard is easier to use, especially for the keys on the edges (Q, A, P, delete, enter, etc). The g version has the edges of the body come up to meet the keys, making it harder to press.

The above post is THE most important difference between the c and g versions. I've used an unlocked c on Tmo, but ended up with a g because I do like the dark color housing than the silver one, but the keys on the g are harder to use than the c.

I plan on getting an unlocked c again in a couple of weeks, and sell my g.

But then again, I'm hearing good things about the soon to be available Motorola Q, albeit for CDMA first, but GSM/Edge cannot be far behind.

Must be nice to have loot like that!