TMO 9700 in Best BB I've had
 

Now, I've only had my 9700 for 1 hour. but it is such a cool device. I picked it up this morning at the local TMO retail store. The device is fast.

Some observation:
The screen seems smaller than my 8900
The battery is different, so no sharing of the battery with my 8900
It does have a "higher" quality feel to it. Can't wait to get my SEIDIO case for it.
You can put in and take out memory card without removing the battery (coolness)


I'll add more observations as they come up. In general though, I am impressed

andrej770

I agree, I got mine Friday and have LOVE every single minute of it. I thought that the 8900 was the best device, not anymore!

Yep, I'm enjoying it too! So far so good, but still feeling it out.

I can not wait till I get home. Wife just picked mine up... Come on 5 o'clock.

+1. Upgraded from a rogers bold (9000). reception is better than it was in other places. and UMA rocks!

I just got mine and love it too. Only thing is my End key seems loose. Anyone else have the same thing? Thanks

Some of my apps from the 9000 don't carry over. some games and the one that hurts the most is gokivo, the GPS app. darn!

duhhhh supposedly it's the best BB ever made - i believe it. it's the 9000 in better form

Another cool feature. Text messages are viewed like an ongoing chat session. Each text or reply is a different color so it looks like a chat session. So cool. No more searching to see what the last reply was. Coolness!

smaller screen? I thought the screen size would be same as 9000. Huh - the 9000's screen is good size and I would hate to go smaller. Might have to try out the Storm. My poor eyes!

T-mobile Phone. Browser issues... It seems I am not alone. Anyone's browser's working? What's your APN setting?

Same problem here.

You know, I was thinking of the same thing. I recently fell in love with the SEIDIO case. Was going to get one for my 8900 but opt out, because the 9700 was coming out and figured save the money get the case for the 9700. But....i've see the SEIDIO case for the 9700, doesn't look too good. Neither does the OEM skin.

I figured skins would be awkward for the 9700 due to its shape. There's no edge to wrap around.

There was a BIS outage, it is not just T-Mobile.
I tried to phone today at the store, honestly it felt a bit cheap. The trackpad seemed to have some kind of play to it, and the buttons to the left and right of it (BB Menu and Back buttons) also had some play to them, not as tight as they are with 8900, probably because on 9700 they rely on a single rocker and there is a bigger gap. Same with the trackpad, it seemed to move about a bit. The phone is also pretty light, which is good for some people. It just feels like 8900 with 3G. That's about all. And it is probably why it's priced very similar to 8900.

It is a shame that with 9700 release there can still be people preferring 9000 over it because of its sturdier, heavier and classier appearance, just like a BOLD supposed to be. I just don't see the boldness on 9700. What I mean is, RIM should have made it much better and should have given anyone a chance to still consider getting 9000 after seeing 9700.

I have been thinking about moving to T-Mobile and join my wife, but I am re-thinking that now. With unlimited plan up to $60+$30 for BB, I would prefer staying with AT&T since I don't even use my 450 minutes each month, and I also get to keep my rollover minutes.

I agree. My seidio belt clip fits the 9700 almost perfect!

I love this this plus running 5.0.0.351 just rocks!

Guys, I know the consensus is that the 9700 is so much better than the Bold, but I really miss the larger screen and roomy keyboard on the Bold. I also found that when the ball was working well, it was better than the new trackpad. Sure the trackpad has a smoother feeling, but I think the ball was much more precise for selecting letters and text for copying and pasting, and frankly I'm considring going back to the Bold, possibly the new white one at AT&T which I think is incredibly sweet, even for a man.

Any thoughts from upgraders?

So, is it really tougher to select letters and text for copying and pasting with the trackpad? I do alot of copying and pasting.

You can go to any T-Mo store and ask for a demo model to play with, they will let you play. I did not have enough time to play with it, but I could at least try Brick Breaker and I can tell you that it is no trackball. On those higher levels, you will most likely miss the ball because it is not as smooth as trackball. Sure it is smooth but when your hands are oily or sweaty or slightly wet, the pad will cause skipping.

Also like I said the trackpad is a bit loose, not completely firm on the hardware.
AT&T, please bring UMA out, PLEASE... So that I have a reason to stay with AT&T and get 9000, even with its crappy camera.

Well that's the rub isn't it? I've gone through 4 Bolds and the trackballs became mierda on each of them within a matter of a few months. I could go on for hours on the frustrations I've gone through with balky balls that refuse to move the cursor in a particular direction on demand. I've tried all the "fixes" recommended on this site, including sending units back, all to no avail.

The only thing worse is the iPhone touch screen -- at least for someone like myself who caresses the device when typing and surfing.

I'll take my chances with the trackpad, but boy do I miss the old reliable trackwheel..

Send me your 9700 when you switch. ;)