sweet. this is the answer ive been looking for. i was about to bite on the mpx220. however with all the discourse about it, i was having 2nd thoughts. in comes the 7100g. im not new to BBs so i know what to expect. good build quality and rock solid OS.

my concerns:

1.will cingular disable the HTML browser like they did with the 7290 blackberry?

2. will u still have to pay the $49.99 ultd BB data, or will they let the $24.99 ultd data plan fly under their new febuary data plans?

If you haven't noticed it yet, Cinguar has *completely* adopted AT&T Business department. The Blackberry prices have already skyrocketed. We were getting our 7290's for $150 on a 2 year agreement, now they are trying to get us to buy them for $299 on a 2yr agreement. So, to answer your quetsions:

1) Probably

2) I'll almost guarantee you'll be paying the old data plan price. AFAIK the cost is $44.95 WITH a voice plan, $49.95 without

Can Cingular even get the 7100g to us? I went by my Cingular store to shop 7100g, which they did not have (as I expected), and which they knew nothing about (as I suspected would be the case). However, they told me they couldn't even order it for me, after they called Cingular's central sales center. (What?) The most I got from my local Cingular office was that I should order the 7100g from a third party vendor. Yet, there's bids for them on ebay for $500. What's going on?

Can I get one cheaper, without a network connection, and should I then walk it in to my store and get it connected there?

BTW, I've been messing with an MPX 220 for the last week, and it looks like a toy next to my 7290. The Berry looks and feels "industrial grade", compared to the smart phones, in my estimation.

The 7100g is on cingulars website - order one.

actually, its on and off on Cingular's site and you can't get it sometimes. All orders seemed to have been placed on back order.

I recommend going to eAccess and ordeirng one, thats what I had to do. So far no crippling of any sort however I do have to pay the 49.99 blackberry data plan.