Just thought some of you may be interested in seeing the 8830 with black keys. Bought at cnn.cn for $5.99.

Looks Good, what theme are you using? I know it is some form of iPhone, but I haven't been able to locate one that looks as good as that one.

Thanks!

Theme is from eveek.com. I just don't like the battery and signal indicators.

Very cool!

Any idea if you can buy other parts for the 8800 and "transpose" them on the 8830? I'd love to buy that black OEM housing and put it on a silver 8830 Verizon version. I know many people like the silver, but i personally really don't care for it.

How tough was the install of the keyboard?

cnn.cn sells the black face and back also but it's a little pricy--$55 or so. That's why I went for just the keyboard. Easy to do--4 screws under the battery cover and pry (gently) off the sides--the front of the case will lift up and you just pop in the keyboard.

That is pretty slick looking. Nice work.

One other advantage I didn't think about... I'm assuming the black keys might me a bit more readable at night backlit than that nasty silver/blue combination is?

I think the black keys are 50% more readable--under some lighting conditions I couldn't see the silver keys without turning the phone to different angles.

looks good i like the theme too

I enjoy my black keys too. Reading the keys is soooo much easier. I bought a black case so my phone is all black. Much cheaper than spending the $60 for a full housing. Eveek has some good themes. I have the one pictured and a few other "black" themes. Awesome stuff.

I checked out the cnn.cn website. Cool place to buy spare parts but what I really wanted was an all black 8800/8830 oem front bottom cover. Mine says Sprint on it but I want a plain black one. The one they sell on the site says "Orange" (never heard of that).

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry7130e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

Orange is a GSM provider in Europe. Having an Orange badge on a US CDMA 8830 would actually be quite funny

I just ordered the black keyboard, thanks for the tip! Do you just have to remove the four screws under the battery cover to get to the keyboard, or do you have to do the full disassembly as outlined in the link above?

Orange is basically AT&T for Europe.

I installed my black keyboard today. WOW what a difference. I can actually read the keyboard on all light conditions now. I don't know why Verizon pulled such a bonehead move like that silver and blue keyboard.

Installation was very easy and only required removing 4 screws and the side rails. Then you can lift the printed circuit board away from the front panel and remove the silver keyboard. It took about 15 minutes. One note - the sticky at the top calls out at T-6 torx driver, but it actually takes a T-5 for the 8830.

Hi Everyone.
I currently have an 8830 and I just bought one for my gf and noticed that the feel of my black keyboard is different than hers. I took a look at the VZ 8800 BB and her keyboard feels more like that model. It seems like the round part of the keys are more rised so you can feel every key much better. Also the "click" sound is differen. Have you guys noticed the difference when you went from the silver to the black keyboard. I bought my BB about 2 months ego and my keys are much more smooth. I'm looking to buy the replacement keyboard if they feel more like the VZ version of the keyboard. Any thoughts??

Thanks
FL

Just swapped out my keyboard. A couple notes.

(1) Don't be afraid to yank on those sidebars to break them loose, just be careful not to pull too hard and bend/break before all clips come loose.

(2) Make sure that you get the new keyboard on all of the "posts" that orient it correctly in the device, and check all keys for tactile response before you secure the device back down.

Looks great when you're done. Enjoy!

I really like the look of the black keyboard as well as it's benefits! I checked out that site "cnn.cn" and seems like they're only selling the European and French version for the black keyboard. They have a U.S. version but only in silver. I believe the only difference may be the dollar sign key which in the Euro and French version is a pound sign I believe.

Any thoughts?

P.S. This is my first post! (great site!)

The black US keyboards are on back order from the manufacturer. No known due date at this time. There's an outfit in Texas (don't recall the name) that may still have some in stock, but you'll pay a hefty premium for it.

To to OP. I ordered the entire shell/keyboard package for my 8830. When I started taking it apart, I got as far as removing the front cover. I was tugging on it and trying hard not to break it. Finally, like you, I just slipped the keyboard in and put it back together. Black keyboard, silver body. I left it like that for a week or so, before building up the courage to try the shell again. I did finish the job and now have a black 8830. Looks a lot better in my opinion. But the only thing I could think of with the black key board/silver body was that it looked like a racoon!

I also did the full case mod from the silver VZN 8830 to the black case.
I'm very pwith the result.
yes it took some courage to go through getting the side rails off, as you really had to pry on them.
The full kit, although is a bit expensive, to me was worth teh price as I use it quite heavily. Plus I like that fact that there isnt a badge on it that says "Verizon"

Have any 8820 users installed the silver keyboard and if so do you get the blue back light or do you keep the white back light?

Pretty sure the blue light comes with the silver keyboard. But not sure why you would want to mess up that beautiful phone with anything silver!

Can you please send a pic, I have been thinking about this but was not sure.
Interested to see the black keyboard and silver body & the full black case,

look at WINGR's post in the 'Disassembly' thread at the top of the 8800 page, he has an avatar of a silver 8800 w/black keypad and here's a link of a black conversion.
http://www.rimarkable.com/images/indigo_02.jpg

Ordered new keyboard from cnn - arrived in less than a week. Did not include tools but picked up a T5 and used my fingers and a credit card to spring off the side rails. Looks a bit strange but I can see the keys much better (both day and night). Great fix - thanks!!

Stick a black skin on it,with the silver highlight around the screen and bottom of the keyboard, it looks finished.