[frosties]

I agree by the picture that this is the best Blackberry yet. It has the strong looks of BB7290 and adds the phone of 7100. I'm looking forward to the release and owning one piece of it. Great news!

[mriff]

The new blackberry. Rumors. Oh well.

A newbie question for the group. What are your thoughts on the recent pictures? Are they real? And how did they get out to the outside world, were they leaked (maybe purposely)? If so, how prevalent is this? How much stock can we put in their authenticity? The picture with the silver BB that circulated (that was quite ugly), what was up with that? Was it a test model? Anyway, sorry for so many questions.

I'll just continue to use my tired old 7280 blue blackberry. With the old faded out screen. Not that I would do anything else. I'll just hide it on the plane while most everyone else is looking at their 7290's.

I'm taking the advise of NJ and will wait until the 8700 clears for about a month. Then pounce.

[LovaDaBB]

Originally Posted by allenranger2

Where can you buy it for $140? I'd definitely return mine (which i got for $315). Please PIN me hehe. I'll go right away .

Go to ebay. Last night somebody dumped a buch of new in the box blackberries.

this one went for $130 shipped:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MEWA:IT

This one went for around $164 shipped:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MEWA:IT

[allenranger2]

Thanks . I wonder if T-Mobile will allow me to stilll have insurance ($5/mo) on the phone...

[Mark Rejhon]

Originally Posted by allenranger2

Thanks . I wonder if T-Mobile will allow me to stilll have insurance ($5/mo) on the phone...

If $315 is without a contract, keep it. The insurance is well worth it for portable devices such as cellphones, if the insurance covers cracked screens. Even though most BlackBerry models are pretty durable.

You won't get insurance if you get a used BlackBerry for under $200. It's only worth it if you do "no-contract", which would give you the flexibility to switch or cancel service.

There are excellent prices on eBay to be had on BlackBerries, as long as you know what you're doing and don't fall into the trap of a "locked" device on the wrong carrier.

[Dawg]

I actually put insurance on one of our phones taht i bought off ebay and nextel replaced it with out so much as a question

[allenranger2]

Well, i had a Sidekick II, and with this blueberry, I guess I extended my contract for 1 year. I'm definitely with you Mark, with the insurance. It's worth it I think. But the price difference is whew...a big one.

Thanks everyone for being so friendly.

[whsbuss]

Quote from BusinessWeek article (http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...0915_tc024.htm)

What's got RIM brimming with optimism? For one, it's planning a slew of new products. RIM is expected to launch a new device, code-named Electron, that will run on the so-called EDGE network of wireless carriers, including Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. mobile-phone company. It's also set to unveil versions of its popular 7100 device for use on the networks operated by Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel.


Guess we won't see the 8700 on Verizon for awhile, maybe 2Q-06?

[csorensen]

I just finished a road show by RIM and the presenter had an 8700c on his hip. It is fast, bright (oustide even!), good sound quality, and an easy trade from my 7100. I've attached another look at it.

[barjohn]

Why grey here and black in the other images? Also, how about a real photo rather than something that appears computer generated? Did you take an actual picture of the device, especially a picture comparing it against your current 7100 unit?

How is this classified info from Cingular? If Corey is right, and he may be, it will be available in November from Cingular which means they will announce it proably 1-2 weeks ahead of availablility if past experience is any guide.

Any way , just wondering about the attempt to manipulate the market I am smelling on these carefully crafted teaser releases that offer many hints and few facts. If it is an attempt to create market buzz that affects their stock value they could find themselves in trouble with the SEC.

[mike_187]

there will be a few different housing models for 8700. just like with the 7100. diffrent plastic and software yet the same hardware. different providers will get different housing shapes and colors. oo and software as well.

the cingular picture that the person posted is the kind i've seen from a engineer that came to my school.(im in collage).

both are real, same hardware diff look.

[Skive]

Originally Posted by NJBlackBerry

OMG - rumors on the Internet didn't pan out.

Expect to see the 8700 in Q1, 2006.

More likely that since the 8700 is going ot be an exclusive to one carrier for a period of time, they want to keep the other carriers happy by not announcing for a few more weeks until its ready to ship.

[Skive]

Originally Posted by mriff

A newbie question for the group. What are your thoughts on the recent pictures? Are they real? And how did they get out to the outside world, were they leaked (maybe purposely)? If so, how prevalent is this? How much stock can we put in their authenticity? The picture with the silver BB that circulated (that was quite ugly), what was up with that? Was it a test model?

With the amount of photos of the prototype versions that have been floating around, it might be the case that rim have allowed pictures of a device with finalised (or closer to finalised) plastics to leak out.

As far as the earlier pictures, it still had the same basic shape as these new pictures, but it was clearly non-final hardware, which is to be expected with any new product.

[mriff]

Originally Posted by Skive

With the amount of photos of the prototype versions that have been floating around, it might be the case that rim have allowed pictures of a device with finalised (or closer to finalised) plastics to leak out.

As far as the earlier pictures, it still had the same basic shape as these new pictures, but it was clearly non-final hardware, which is to be expected with any new product.

Thanks Skive. It seems so spun. Like an election or something. Purposeful leaks, etc. I guess I shouldn't be so skeptical. This probably happened with the 7100 series too. All I want is a black 8700 from Cingular.

[Skive]

Personally, I don't think the earlier pictures would have had anything to do with rim, its clearly not in their best interests to let pictures of beta hardware in non-final plastic to leak out.

These later ones I am less ure about, if they are launching within a month their internal testers probably don't even have final plastics since the internal hardware of a device would be finished well before the plastics and thus there would be less of these new ones floating around, maybe its somebody from the carrier that has leaked.

[Jagga]

Originally Posted by Mark Rejhon

If $315 is without a contract, keep it. The insurance is well worth it for portable devices such as cellphones, if the insurance covers cracked screens. Even though most BlackBerry models are pretty durable.

You won't get insurance if you get a used BlackBerry for under $200. It's only worth it if you do "no-contract", which would give you the flexibility to switch or cancel service.

There are excellent prices on eBay to be had on BlackBerries, as long as you know what you're doing and don't fall into the trap of a "locked" device on the wrong carrier.

Dude, so what ya saying, you getting one of these 8700's if Rogers releases it? Oh yeah they must 1st provide you with the ultimate, truely unlimited & unrestricted data option. Currently right now I'm using an unlocked Rogers 6620 (Symbian OS) with Fido's $50 unlimited option >> truely unlimited (data on phone or tethered to windows) and whenever an 850Mhz EDGE tower is available or within range, when I request data I notice the speeds. But using this BB 8700 in this way takes away from the email & html importance to corporate users like yourself.

Question >> Can blackberry's be sim locked just like other phones? And will upgrading the firmware not unlock the sim-lock??

sorry everyone if off topic >> can anyone knowledgeable pm me the answer to the above 2 questions thanks.

Man I gotta have this phone!! With the availability of Java apps, I'm starting to question if a closed smartphone is what I need. Camera on the 6620 is useless, but I'd like the option of a better cam on a BB (still dreaming). I like Mark's idea of a seperate wireless phone devision for just such an implementation.

[shadowbox]

the new 8700 looks awesome, but if you have say a 7290 already and you are with Rogers, don't bother upgrading until Rogers changes their retarded bandwidth limit. The overages they charge will kill you. I have basically stopped using my 7290 for a number of things i need to do because I can't afford the overages. Just because they mention "excess bandwidth will be charged at C$7/MB" doesn't mean it's not a ripoff.

[Skive]

Originally Posted by Jagga

Question >> Can blackberry's be sim locked just like other phones? And will upgrading the firmware not unlock the sim-lock??

They can be unlocked, but upgrading the firmware will not unlock or affect the sim-lock.