[Boy Genius]

Very bad analogy...Range was 80k...Good try tho...really great efforts...

[justin.culp]

Suddenly, today....quite a noticible amount of dispersed dust under my screen....

[saldous]

How easy are these to open up and clean the dust out with compressed air?

[rbsti]

This is all releative, the people who think THIS is silly would rail to the high heavens against things that offend there sensibilities, those like me who think this is a design flaw in a great but not that well constructed device will continue to fight the good fight.

[Talldog]

Originally Posted by takeshi

But a poor analogy...

Why is it a poor analogy? After all, paint is basically cosmetic. I mean, sure the car might rust, but I see rust buckets on the road every day, doing their jobs just fine.

Originally Posted by gregg

Range Rover = $50k

8700 = $299 (free cause my company buys it)

So what? I guess by this logic, anyone who buys anything that doesn't cost an arm and a leg has no right to complain about a poorly made product. And poorly made is the right term, because the industry figured this dust thing out at least three years ago.

[greggebhardt]

TO me the whole point is that dust was under mine in only a few days. In a year it would be a mess in there and that would not be acceptable. Right now many have their 8700 with a 30 day trial. I liked the 8700 but not that much and dumped it to go back to the 7520. After holding the 8700 for a week and then picking up the 7520, there is little doubt as to which is going to last longer.

Wish they would have just came out with the 8700 in the same form factor/case as my 7520 without the antenna. Now that would be sweet.

The build quality of the 8700 is horrible compared to the older Blackberrys. Reminds me of the 7100 series. I know this will tick some off but the 8700 feels like a toy ready to break!

[MegaBit]

Originally Posted by saldous

How easy are these to open up and clean the dust out with compressed air?

I don't know but if anyone opens it up for a cleaning, please be sure to get pictures. Maybe we can compare a unit with dust and another without dust to see if there are any gasket materials missing.

I'm surprised no one on engadget has dissected an 8700 yet.

[Stinsonddog]

Please post some pictures.

[justin.culp]

I imagine that opening the BB up would void any kind of warranty...so why would someone do this and risk not being able to return it when they could just return it?

BTW....My 8700 died today and has not come back up....it's been a little more than an hour of spinning hourglass. Reboots, battery pulling...nothing is helping..on the line with Cingular now...hopefully getting a new unit.

[KonTiki]

Originally Posted by justin.culp

I imagine that opening the BB up would void any kind of warranty...so why would someone do this and risk not being able to return it when they could just return it?

BTW....My 8700 died today and has not come back up....it's been a little more than an hour of spinning hourglass. Reboots, battery pulling...nothing is helping..on the line with Cingular now...hopefully getting a new unit.

You could do a javaloader wipe and reload the OS but if you do not have a backup to restore from you will loose all the data, and you will have to reload any OTA software.

[pavirginia]

Originally Posted by takeshi

But a poor analogy...

Then at what price point do you believe it acceptable to complain about cosmetic issues? If I were to buy a canalli suit I would expect no fabric snags or runs. Is this exceptable? It's a completely valid point acceptable analogy.

[MegaBit]

Originally Posted by justin.culp

I imagine that opening the BB up would void any kind of warranty...so why would someone do this and risk not being able to return it when they could just return it?

BTW....My 8700 died today and has not come back up....it's been a little more than an hour of spinning hourglass. Reboots, battery pulling...nothing is helping..on the line with Cingular now...hopefully getting a new unit.

Because some on this board have already reported opening theirs up to clean the screen-- I guess they don't worry about the warranty. I do, so I won't open mine, yet.

[Boy Genius]

your talking about a $6,000 suit minimum and a $299 phone...suck it up or return it simple as that. Who cares there is DUST I cannot believe this is such an issue. By the way some of the most expensive items don't necessarily have the best build quality...

[ceebz]

Originally Posted by boygenius

your talking about a $6,000 suit minimum and a $299 phone...suck it up or return it simple as that. Who cares there is DUST I cannot believe this is such an issue. By the way some of the most expensive items don't necessarily have the best build quality...

You can buy $30 Moto's that don't get dust under the screen, why can't that same build quality be expected out of a $450 device?

Seriously, we all get that you feel it's silly to not want dust underneath the screen. You don't need to keep repeating it ad nauseam.

[barjohn]

Listen guys, the company is ware of the problem and their engineers are looking for a solution. Neither is as easy a task as you might think. A solution you could come up with for a single unit might not work on a production line and that is what they need. They have told me that they will solve the problem and make good any defective units. What more can one expect. It isn't like they are telling you to go f off. Give them a chance to fix the problem. And those of you talking or thinking about law suits obviously don't know what one entails. $6K would be just starters to get someone to take the case and it would keep going from there. Then taking into account that this is a contract issue you are only entitled to actual cash damages, i.e. what you paid for the unit. Start a class action you say? Well you will make the lawyes rich since now we are talking about $60K+ to start and guess what you will get, yes you guessed it $300.

RIM has acknowledged the problem. They are working on the problem. Let's give them time to fix it. Reasonable time is 60 days. Then you have a legitimate excuse to raise hell. Just my $0.02.

[ceebz]

Originally Posted by barjohn

Listen guys, the company is ware of the problem and their engineers are looking for a solution. Neither is as easy a task as you might think. A solution you could come up with for a single unit might not work on a production line and that is what they need. They have told me that they will solve the problem and make good any defective units. What more can one expect. It isn't like they are telling you to go f off. Give them a chance to fix the problem. And those of you talking or thinking about law suits obviously don't know what one entails. $6K would be just starters to get someone to take the case and it would keep going from there. Then taking into account that this is a contract issue you are only entitled to actual cash damages, i.e. what you paid for the unit. Start a class action you say? Well you will make the lawyes rich since now we are talking about $60K+ to start and guess what you will get, yes you guessed it $300.

RIM has acknowledged the problem. They are working on the problem. Let's give them time to fix it. Reasonable time is 60 days. Then you have a legitimate excuse to raise hell. Just my $0.02.

I thibk some people are just worried that the longer they wait, Cingular will turn around and tell them it's "normal wear and tear". (Believe me, I've been told crazier things by Cingular)

A friend of mine who's still with Cingular, had 1/4 of his screen covered with dust in just a matter of days. I've finally convinced him to try out the 7130e.

[barjohn]

Both Cingular and RIM management assured me that they want to be known for producing a quality product. It is a new device going through a few teething bugs. Overall, It is far and away the best BB RIM has produced in my opinion, even with its shortcomings. Can it be made better? Absolutely! Is there anything better on the market today? Absolutely not and I buy or play with them all though not to the extend BG does. I think both compaines will stand behind this product.

[VidGameKing]

Originally Posted by barjohn

Both Cingular and RIM management assured me that they want to be known for producing a quality product. It is a new device going through a few teething bugs. Overall, It is far and away the best BB RIM has produced in my opinion, even with its shortcomings. Can it be made better? Absolutely! Is there anything better on the market today? Absolutely not and I buy or play with them all though not to the extend BG does. I think both compaines will stand behind this product.

I could really do with the screen on the 8700 being more like the screen on my 7290, that being when the backlight is off completely the brighter the sun is, the better the screen looks! With the 8700 I have to have the backlight on to see the screen in daylight! That was one of the cool things I showed off with my 7290...

[bweppner]

Two days of ownership and two big dust particles under the screen. I can live with a little dust (just like scratches), but how much will ultimately accumulate under the screen?

Quick review:
Web - blazingly fast.
Dedicated Send and End keys, great - but I still find myself hitting the Escape Key.
Display - I like the increase resolution, but prefer the "always on" screen of the 7290.
Keypad - a bit cramped (also prefer the 7290) and I have a bad "N" Key - only recognizes about 25% of the time.
Bluetooth - great, no issues.
Desktop software v4.1 - crashed my laptop everytime - still running the original 4.0 that came with my 7290.

I've got 30 days and I'm wavering on the 7290 vs 8700c. Ergonomically, I prefer the 7290 while the 8700c has the cool bells and whistles. However, I'm a road-warrior and for now, the 7290 may suit me better.

[wangta01]

Originally Posted by ceebz

Seriously, we all get that you feel it's silly to not want dust underneath the screen. You don't need to keep repeating it ad nauseam.

I agree, its obvious that people feel differently about this issue.

I hadthe 7100T and while I loved that phone, i found it a minor annoyance that dust accumulated in the screen. I never returned it, but am surprised that RIM didn't address this with this new, flagship blackberry.

While I don't think its a non-starter, I can see how it could be a major annoyance to some people. Especially for people coming from the 7290s or 7250s.

If people are unhappy with their blackberrys accumulating dust, they should be able to replace them until they get one that satisfies them. Problem is, I'm not sure that you'll ever get one that will meet these conditions. So it might not be worth the trouble. A friend of mine traded in his 7100T 5 times, and every single one had dust problems.

On this same topic, I'm testing out the 7130e from Verizon. I can confirm that it has a MUCH more solid build than the 7100T or 7105t (and I'm guessing the other 7100s). It has a really solid feel to it and I cannot envision any dust beeing an issue. But I've only had it 10 days, so we'll see. Too bad its a bit more bulky then the 7100.