New 7100T Released (almost) - Will you buy it?
 

I was wondering if anyone will be buying this "charm" when it is released.

**Updates**

I for one have ordered it:

1. Bluetooth (hoping it will be hacked to support more devices and not just headsets.)
2. Better phone design
3. Better rate plan (69.99 for 1000 minutes and unlimited email) (Not $59.99 like previously thought) - according to the MSNBC review I read this am. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5934021/)

The 7100t is $299.00 with a $100 MIR for a final price of $199.00 + TAX

The plan includes no nights, weekends or mobile to mobile minutes.

I am the ultimate gadget junkie...and this looks like a heck of a gadget. I just hope the keyboard really is as good as RIM claims.

I wouldn't mind giving it a whirl but t-mobile is horrid in my area so I'm out of luck.

Doesn't T-Mobile offer a "no long distance no roaming" type of plan? If you got the 7100t with such a plan, and simply spent the entire time roaming on whatever network works in your area, wouldn't that work for you?

The 7100 will eventually be available for other carriers as well. :D

I want it, but I think I am going to pass on it. Not only is it a GPRS device, which here in Canada, all GPRS providers have crappy plans and service, I think I will stick with my 7750 and purchase some slim and sexy Telus phone (once one comes out :P) for use @ clubs and such.

Tried it when I had my sidekick last week - I wanted to try it out so I went in and signed up for it - because of the fact I was roaming 100% of the time, I dont' see much of a point to it.

I think he meant his tmoblie coverage is bad, and if it's bad, you can guess that AT&T and Cingular probably isn't real hot either...

I am considering it.. I am a nextel user and I love my unlimited everything plan and I don't know if I could get enough minutes with T-Mo.... We'll see though, if I like it enough, I'll make it work. =)

Without a doubt. I not only want one, I NEED it :)

Actually ATT wasn't that bad and Cingular is quote good, which works out with the coming merger. I was with Verizon from 97-03 (When it was originaly PrimeCo) and the Nextel for a year and now ATTWS.

Will have to use it before knowing for sure, but i cant imagine liking the keyboard as much as i do my 7510.

I can't wait to have mine. I've typed on one and the keyboard is really cool. It seems wierd but if you just type like a regular keyborad and forget it has 2 letters per key it works great and I can type faster. I'm begging my T-Mobiel rep for it daily.

If you don't watch the screen, and just hit the keys you want, magically the correct word appears. :P

It's quite amazing how it works, very easy to use, and surprisingly accurate.

Sure, I'd like to have one. I'm just patiently waiting for ATT to get them. I assume they will, eventually.

FYI..

Just heard from RIM they will be hitting the streets through TMO Oct 1. Nextel will be the next carrier to get them.

Guress,

Do you mean crappy service by Rogers CSR (I can agree), or do you mean crappy reception? (I will disagree)

This isn't the case anymore, Southern Ontario has excellent GPRS reception now since the new deployment in November 2003.

There is excellent 850 Mhz GPRS coverage in Southern Ontario right now, provided you use an 850 MHz cellphone to take advantage of the new network Rogers deployed in November 2003 and completed over the early months of 2004.

Many places improved from 1 bar strength to 4 bars, and other places that had no reception now has 2 or so bars reception. (like 2 levels underground parking garages). This year, I got nonstop reception on a train from Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City, and from Ontario-Toronto-Niagara Falls. So I would have to say that provided you use an 850 Mhz phone, the GPRS reception in Ontario is excellent. Sometimes I get better GPRS reception than Bell Mobility reception (however, Bell Mobility is better in other areas). Telus roms on Bell Mobility to my knowledge.

There are many shocking "Rogers reception has improved by a shocking amount" type of testimonials: Just did a search of HowardForums and came up with many ...

"...Well, being in BC with the new 850 out last year, I was blown away. Hooked..." (Former Fido!)
"...I noticed that after getting my Nokia 3595 with 850band that its working better at school in places that weren't..."
"...850 makes a big difference in residences and down near the water (I'm on Stuart St.)..."
"...850 has made a big difference at york i get reception just about everywhere now..."
"...UTM campus has superb coverage with 850! Even downstairs in the libary!..."
"...Brock is covered pretty well both in and outside...go 850!..."
"...I like the 850 mhz and called today to sign up a contract with out loosing my nice number..." (Former Bell!)
"...as long as your phone uses GSM850 band, you'll be a happy camper..."
"...but there are PLENTY of places in the city that Rogers has VERY good coverage now that they didn't have before and Fido still doesn't have..."
"...I just had a great situation happen to test GSM850. Was in Dominion in downtown Toronto (Gould and Church) and the parking garage is wel-below ground and completely concrete..."
"...GSM850 strikes gold again. It never ceases to amaze me..."
"...yep huge difference RIDICOLS 850 power..."
"...850 makes a difference. end of story!..."
"...Rogers V60g in my basement, rogers V300 in my basement. V60 0 bars, V300 3 bars. V60, wont send or receive calls, V300 NO PROBLEM..." (V300 works perfect because it has 850Mhz GSM)
"...any phone that has GSM850 in VX's place works amazing. no errors, no dropped calls..."

(All copy and pasted phrases, unedited. Let me know if you want me to include the links to the original posts too; it's a lot of work copying and pasting from dozens of posts.)

Many of these are former Telus, Bell Mobility, and Fido customers who are impressed (and SHOCKED) at Roger's massive reception improvement with the 850 Mhz GSM/GPRS network. For my BlackBerry 7280, it truly makes the vast majority of South Ontario behave like one gigantic WiFi hotspot. You do NEED a new phone to benefit from the Rogers improvements though.

I concur with my BlackBerry 7280 -- the new Rogers 850 network made an amazing improvement in reception compared to Roger's past reception!

However...

Now... If you were talking about customer service, no contest -- I'll agree with you there. Rogers customer service CAN be decidedly be in the same league as doing your taxes. Rogers customer service can be a headache at times, although fortunately, I have been able to get problems fixed eventually in less than three phone calls (like a mis-registered Rogers HDTV cable box). There are occasionally exceptions like this, but you must call Customer Relations instead of Customer Service :D

Wasn't the oct 1 mentioned it the announcement articles last week? Also, I think you must have misunderstood about nextel, they won't be next since its a gprs device, maybe they meant that the next network type to get charm would be nextel.

Since RIM usually releases multiple different devices in the same form factor (7750 CDMA versus 7780 GPRS) I'm curious if there's going to be a 7100n (Nextel version of 7100)

If the gprs versions are as popular as they hope then you'd expect cdma and iden versions to show up at some point if the networks ask for them, but you'd think they'll be too busy making all the gprs ones to do any others in the near future.

Not sure I like the form factor of the 7100. I had the Kyocera Smartphones (6035 and 7135) and while i did like them, I grew tired of the size.

Jeff

The 7100 clearly won't be for everyone, but then again rim still sell 72xx and 77xx devices so theres something for everyone. ;)

7100?
 

It all looks great, but my concern is going to be the keyboard. you know the story.. old dog, new tricks! 8)

Yeah -- or in my case, old dog, ahhh, old dog :(

But I think there is hope for this new keyboard design. A new article in the Blackberry In The News forum describes predictive text really nicely, and the combination of far fewer letters per key than a regular phone, better predictive software and access to all of your contacts (and Calendar, I think) for word sources (and also a growing user defined library), may make this actually work. I will definitely try one out as soon as I can.

have a question for you gurus. Say i buy a 7100t through TMoble when it is avail. and start a plan, then verizon brings it over, will i be able to take the 7100t from TMo over to Verizon and use it on their network??

TIA

The 7100t will most likely be SIM locked to T-Mobile. If T-Mobile keeps to their old ways, then after 60 or 90 days of use, assuming you have a contract in place and are in good standing, they will provide you with the unlock code upon request. You will then be able to cancel your contract (and pay the early termination fee), and, at least in theory, move over to Verizon and run it on their network.

thanks for the response. i just found out about this new device about 4 hours ago, and now i really want one. now if i can convince my work to let me put it on their BES. :wink:

I'm holding out for the 7290. I've heard it might come out as early as October, and probably before Christmas. I'm hoping it'll have the same features as the 7100, with the form factor of the 7230.

Any news on the 7290?

Isn't verizon a totally different type of network from gsm/gprs?

The details I have been told are, its quadband with bluetooth and a 7700 backlight in a form factor that is a tad thicker than a 7230, its running 3.8 like the 7100, the obvious absence is the unneeded suretype software and theres no speakerphone on it either.

On my way home I got a call from a number I didn't recognize. I answered it and it was my T-mobile rep at our local branch. He said the 7100t jsut arrived at his store would I like to reserve one? Heck ya I do! He told me he can't sell them until the 30th due to the Universal rollout by Tmo but they open at 10:00. I of course told him I would be there at 9:59 waiting for him to unlock the doors.

So to answer the question will I buy it. Of course! Only 7 more days of waiting!

Man, I can't wait. I need to buy one for myself, one for my boss, and one for one of my employees. I wonder what the best route is to get these as soon as possible...via the TMO website or local outlet?

I would call a Tmo outlet and "reserve" one like I did.

Does anyone know the price for current customers? The T-Mobile upgrade policy has always confused me. If I renew my contract, I can get it for $199 right? If I don't renew my contract, how much are we talking?

Anyone wanna buy a brand new VZW 7750 ;)

I have head it is $199 after rebates for any customer who extends or starts a new contract for a 1 year.

I just recently purchased my BB7230 from TMO and have a new contract that's only a couple months old. Who knows how much the phone will cost without new activation?

Also - are you saying that if I extend my 1-yr contract to 2-yrs, I'll potentially be able to get it for the $199 price too?

I have 3 reserved at my local store, so hopefully there won't be any allocation issues.

7100t in Houston
 

I have been trying to find a demo unit to play with, but none of the stores in Houston, Texas have one. I just wonder if these stores are going to get the 7100 before the release date. Well I can't wait until I can get my hands on one.

[quote="Fireproof"]
Also - are you saying that if I extend my 1-yr contract to 2-yrs, I'll potentially be able to get it for the $199 price too?

quote]

That is exactly what I was told by the Tmo rep. Hopefully his info is correct.

7100t in tmobile stores?
 

Has anyone else except BHsalzer heard of any tmobile store having the 7100t in yet? I just wonder if most store will have it in by the Sept. 30th release date.

I would buy the 7100t but not the 7100v. I'm pleased as punch that the 7100t is the one that will be readily available to me. So I voted YES :)


TM

Re: New 7100T Released (almost) - Will you buy it?
 

According to Contacts at tmobile, it is due in mid-october. I am planning on purchasing it but for Hard Core BlackBerry Users (Email more than phone use), I have my doubts about the design of the keyboard-this will decrease use of the device due to wear and tear--

Please advise.

amukhey> It is slated for release September 30/October 1 (not mid-October).

I spoke to our tmobile regional manager and we will be available to our side during that time. For now, i am just awaiting the test unit.

Looks to be a few words missing in your response...but it sounds like your T-Mo manager might be a little behind the times ;)

A few typo's which happens at times- Tmo Manager is not behind the times but there is a lot of buzz in the ny area about this device and i had mistyped the month. Our test unit is due soon but the unit will be available to corp customers before it is released to the general public :wink:

Guess we shall see :)