I am a long time Blackberry user (7230) who is finally completely fed up with the dark ugly screen so I am looking to get a new one. Although I am a Tmobile customer I am willing to switch to Cingular if the 8700 series is worth it. Though I am not sure their plans are international and I must have international as I travel a great deal).

Anyway, I am looking for advice. What Blackberry should I get? Bright screen, light in weight and long battery life are most important to me. Though I wouldn't mind be able to play MP3 and I definitely want one of the ones that you can use as a modem or your laptop.

Any advice?

To be very honest, I don't think that the 8700 has been out long enough to compare them quite yet. The 8700 is a really nice device (from the pics and specs that I've seen).

I believe teathering is more carrier specific which means stay away from Cingular if you plan to use you BB to connect your puter.

To me the keyboard is the BIG difference. I tried the 71XX series and could not adapt to the SureType keyboard. I have been using the 7520 with full QWERTY keyboard too long. The 8700 has the same screen type as the 71XX series with the QWERTY keyboard.

Even I a long time Nextel user am looking closely at the 8700c for my phone and BB service.

Ok my first bb was the 7520 and yes the full qwerty keyboard was great...now i own a 7105t and i got used to the suretype and the not so full qwerty keyboard but like anything else you get used to it and adapt....Now on the 8700 it hasnt been out yet to actually compare both devices yea by the specs and the pics it seems to be a great device but i am not willing ot switch to a company just for a phone......i would just wait til either tmo gets it or you see more reviews of the 8700 or you can get a 8700 unlocked to work on tmo