I wish They'd put 8700 into 7290 body
 

I love the 8700, but I dearly miss the keyboard of the 72xx series!!! so I am back to using the 7290 and 7230. Please RIM!!!!8-)

I think the 8700 is much more stylish than the 7290. It doesn't look like any new devices are going to revert back to the old style keyboard.

I love putting my Pentium 4 into my old IBM PS/2 case.. sweet..

I know it would be nice the 7290 form factor is more functional to me. Keypad anyway

It takes some time to get used to the 8700's keyboard for most people coming from a 72xx device.

i have not received my 8700c yet and posts like this make me worried..

is there a way to disable the full QWERTY keyboard on the 8700 so its just like the 7290 where i complete my own words ??

also what about the new 8700 dont you like??? the keyboard layout seems different but functionality seems to be the same, not like other BB's where 2 letters are on one keypad

:smile: the 7290 keypad payout. the 8700 doesnt fit into my hands as nice as the 7290, really a personal preference!

1.Nothing to worry about really, these are personal opinions which may not bother you. Return it if you decide you don't like it.

2.I think the poster meant the form of the 72xx keypad. it had flatter, softer keys. Unless you are talking about SureType, which isn't available on full QWERTY BB's.

3. I LOVE the 8700c I have. It's definitely the better (came from 7250 on Verizon). The Front Convenience Key and Left Convenience key's (as well as the Send/End Phone Keys) are my favorite feature (in terms of physical), I have the Left one assigned as a Shortcut to my Address Book and the Front one set as Lock. 2 Icons I can hide/move to the bottom! The only thing I hate is the price. I got insurance on my line, because $2.99/month definitely pays itself off in the event I do what I do best. :)

thanks for the replies, i can type very fast on the 7290 and i guess ill have to wait and see how the 8700 feels. based on pictures it looks like the layout is similar and thats what i was hoping for

Yes I love the 8700 for its awesome screen, speaker phone and loads of other features. Nothing against it still use it but the 7290 form factor just feels better to use to me.

I could type fast on the 7290 and it took about a day or two to get used to the 8700, which I type on just as fast as I did on the 7290. It's weird now for me to use the 7290, everything seems far apart.

thats great news it only took you that long to adjust.. people think im nuts for typing as fast as i do on the bb lol

You took the words right out of my mouth. I have been working with my new 8700 nearly a month and I am very unhappy with the keyboard and the shape of the keys.

All of this is my fault because I heard so many good things about the 8700 that I ordered one from my carrier sight unseen. I will never do that again.

It's the only BB with keys that are vertically oriented and smaller than the keys on my 7130c. In addition the top surface of the keys is smaller than any other BB as they "Styled" the keyboard along with the overall unit to look newer. It's the only device I've seen where the keys are part of the styling cues. They taper on the inside edge which is why they are hard to use.

However in fairness, I handle a lot of email each day and I'm used to typing really quickly. For those users that handle less mail (I do 50-90 per day) the keyboard is probably just fine. If the 8700 had conventional style keys all would be fine for me. I really like everything else about the 8700 except the terrible keyboard.

I'm selling mine as I can type faster with only one thumb on my 7130c. Then when the 8800 comes out I am going to get one of those. Based on the pictures I have seen they have returned to normal keys that are designed for fast typing.

i went from a sidekick and a treo to the 8700 series.. after a few days of getting use to it, I personally don't mind the 8700 series at all... plus there are so many pros to the blackberry that it overshadows any pain in getting use to the keys

i wish the 8800 had the wheel on the side... im afraid i wont like the 8700 and will just got back to the 7290

jetspeedz, I have a question:
Since I only tried a 7290 and have not owned one, is the screen dim as I have seen a few reports about being dim?

The only reason I'm not going back to a 7290 is the lack of edge, however I'm thinking hard about that. Perhaps I could give up edge as the keyboard is so important to me. I think the 7290 is by far the best BB when it comes to the keyboard and handling email as well as having a phone.

I am going to try and wait until the 8800 is here to see if that will work for me. However that said, the intial reports that I have seen indicate that the overall width is even less than the 8700c, so the prospects of a comfortable keyboard seem rather distant, and keyshape will play a huge roll in the useability of the keyboard.

Time will tell if
A) I can be patient, not buy a 7290 and just wait
B) The 8800 does indeed have a decent useable keyboard.

Cheers...

Awesome and hilarious statement!

I think the 7290 is ugly next to an 8700. I also like he keyboard on the 8700 better.

What model BB are you using?

archer sorry for the late reply, the screen on the 7290 is not that brigh and the quality of pictures on the screen is nothing compared to the pictures ive seen on my friends 8700, however like you said the functionality of the keyboard is the most important thing to me who replies to a lot of emails on a daily basis...

gprs is slow but ive learned to tolerate it.