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Anyone tried the bb bold 9700?

QCassidy352

QCassidy352

macrumors G5
Original poster
Mar 20, 2003
12,169
6,294
Bay Area
I got to play with one today. I'm not a big fan of bb, but I have to carry one for work, so I've toyed with the idea of a 9700 + iPod touch rather than my current setup of 3GS + curve 8320.

The 9700 actually impressed me, which is not usually the reaction I have to blackberries. Unfortunately, I thought it was really weak in surprising area - the keyboard. There were both a bold 9000 and a curve 8900 on display next to the 9700, and the 9700's keyboard was easily the hardest to use of the 3 (the 9000's keyboard is by far the best physical kb I've ever used on a phone, and the 8900's is pretty good but not equal to the bold 1). In fact, it was really pretty uncomfortable. Disappointing, given the phone it's replacing. But I guess that's how they got the bold down to a curve-esque form factor rather than the very wide form of the first bold.

So even tho the bold 2 is otherwise my favorite bb yet (touchpad is a HUGE improvement over the ball), the kb is a dealbreaker for me. I'll stick with my 3gs/curve and hope someday I can use an iPhone at work.

Anyone else get a chance to check out the bold 2 yet?
 
QCassidy352 said:
I got to play with one today. I'm not a big fan of bb, but I have to carry one for work, so I've toyed with the idea of a 9700 + iPod touch rather than my current setup of 3GS + curve 8320.

The 9700 actually impressed me, which is not usually the reaction I have to blackberries. Unfortunately, I thought it was really weak in surprising area - the keyboard. There were both a bold 9000 and a curve 8900 on display next to the 9700, and the 9700's keyboard was easily the hardest to use of the 3 (the 9000's keyboard is by far the best physical kb I've ever used on a phone, and the 8900's is pretty good but not equal to the bold 1). In fact, it was really pretty uncomfortable. Disappointing, given the phone it's replacing. But I guess that's how they got the bold down to a curve-esque form factor rather than the very wide form of the first bold.

So even tho the bold 2 is otherwise my favorite bb yet (touchpad is a HUGE improvement over the ball), the kb is a dealbreaker for me. I'll stick with my 3gs/curve and hope someday I can use an iPhone at work.

Anyone else get a chance to check out the bold 2 yet?
Click to expand...

Frankly, I've been getting less impressed with the Blackberry after the release of the Curve. I can understand that Apple and, in some ways, the Android Coalition forced them into a corner and relinquish their "purely business" mentality, but a lot of their late design compromises have really been making the compromises apparent.

I tried a Curve for two weeks while my 8700 was down. I was thoroughly unimpressed; the keyboard was a notable step backwards and the trackball was nowhere near as efficient (for that operating system) as a clickwheel. Worse, their OS is still designed as if it were accommodating to that design idea!

It's the best device out there for email and business productivity, but the advancements Apple has been making with the iPhone have been doing well to mitigate that title.
 
cnunez1987 said:
Frankly, I've been getting less impressed with the Blackberry after the release of the Curve. I can understand that Apple and, in some ways, the Android Coalition forced them into a corner and relinquish their "purely business" mentality, but a lot of their late design compromises have really been making the compromises apparent.

I tried a Curve for two weeks while my 8700 was down. I was thoroughly unimpressed; the keyboard was a notable step backwards and the trackball was nowhere near as efficient (for that operating system) as a clickwheel. Worse, their OS is still designed as if it were accommodating to that design idea!

It's the best device out there for email and business productivity, but the advancements Apple has been making with the iPhone have been doing well to mitigate that title.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. I had an 8700 before this curve, and although it was a beast in terms of size, it was in many ways a better device (sturdier, better keys, more responsive UI).

I think RIM has just kept adding on to their old designs and technologies rather than designing something new. The storm is the best (worst) example of this. But that said, I think the curve/pearl lines are a low point. The bold and tour are both well made phones.
 
Love my 9700. It is pretty much the perfect qwerty BlackBerry.. if you're into the whole BlackBerry thing of course. One thing to note, it has remarkable battery life even on 3G. The keyboard has been great for me, I find it easier to type on than the Bold after a couple of days of adjusting since the keys are closer together, especially one handed.

Also, I'm glad to be rid of AT&T. T-Mo 3G in the LA area is great, and UMA works wonders when you're indoors. Included tethering too!
 
I have respect for RIM and like the BB 9700. I have never owned one, and am happy with my iPhone, I am impressed that RIM has Mac sync software which you can't find with an Andriod phone, or a Palm. But to those BB owners, I read something today the the browsing experience on the 9700 isn't that good. Why is that, if true?
 
It sucks. Especially when you compare to Safari. But it gets the job done in the end. I'm almost glad it sucks, because then you go to the mobile or text only websites and it flies through that stuff and most of the time the text is all you need. It just has trouble with javascript.

There's third party browsers such as Opera and Bolt to cater to your desktop-like browsing needs though.

Whatever the case, browsing is not the reason you go BlackBerry :)
 
PeterKG said:
I have respect for RIM and like the BB 9700. I have never owned one, and am happy with my iPhone, I am impressed that RIM has Mac sync software which you can't find with an Andriod phone, or a Palm. But to those BB owners, I read something today the the browsing experience on the 9700 isn't that good. Why is that, if true?
Click to expand...

because its a blackberry! Although i love the phone and looking at getting myself one.
 
I just switched from a 3GS and to the new Bold on AT&T and I actually really like it. Of course it can't do as much as the iPhone, and the browser isn't that good, but I love having chat rooms with my friends on BBM.

To fill my iPhone void, I will get an iPod Touch.

And when the new iPhone comes out, I will probably switch back to it if there is a new design and some new features. I'd also like to see them add a feature similar to BBM, so that you can have chat rooms with your friends who have iPhones.
 
I have both an iPhone 3GS, and a Blackberry 9700. The blackberry is an amazing phone, but the iPhone 3GS is a great media player, and the only reason im keeping it over the iPod touch is, I love the constant internet connection.
 
Whorehay said:
The keyboard has been great for me, I find it easier to type on than the Bold after a couple of days of adjusting since the keys are closer together, especially one handed.
Click to expand...

Wow, high praise. I found the raised keys on the 9700 very hard to use that close together. OTHO, the same keys on the more spacious 9000 are amazing. I was surprised it was such a difference, but I had a lot of trouble typing on the 9700.

it's cool that it has such good battery life. That's definitely something the iPhone could do better.
 
Whorehay said:
I'm almost glad it sucks, because then you go to the mobile or text only websites and it flies through that stuff and most of the time the text is all you need. It just has trouble with javascript.

There's third party browsers such as Opera and Bolt to cater to your desktop-like browsing needs though.

Whatever the case, browsing is not the reason you go BlackBerry :)
Click to expand...

Thats like saying, you're glad you came in 3rd place in a race because you don't want to be in the spotlight by winning first place. Lets face it, we all wish the BB browser isn't a POS.

The 9700 is a nice device having owned the Bold, but regardless of how they dress up the hardware, its still essentially the same aged OS they're running and its getting old. And I say this when my current device is the Tour and it sucks. RIM needs to seriously do a little bit of a revamp rather than patch.
 
I received a Bold 9700 to test today at work. My thoughts below.........

1. Not yet sure I like the trackpad. Seems overly sensitive and not as accurate as the trackball
2. After using the iPhone as my primary device for so long, having to switch back to a phone was such a tiny screen is very difficult
3. The OS still needs a major upgrade
4. Web browsing is still awful
 
I though about trying out the 9700 but its crap browser and lack of touchscreen (honestly, I can type as fast if not faster than a physical keyboard) made me lose interest quick.
 
how is the music experience on the 9700.

I am planning to upgrade my plan and i am eligible for both bb 9700 or the iphone.

the plus on bb is the bbm
and the ping on iphone doesnt look so impressive

also the lack of google voice and ability to test for free also attracts me to bb>iphone.

the i phone looks great as a media phone.. but if i am just using it as a mp3 player.. would it make a difference...

i dont really care that much about the apps... but i've heard bb has its own share of good useful apps....

please correct me if i am wrong... and give your opinions
 
Whorehay said:
It sucks. Especially when you compare to Safari. But it gets the job done in the end. I'm almost glad it sucks, because then you go to the mobile or text only websites and it flies through that stuff and most of the time the text is all you need. It just has trouble with javascript.

There's third party browsers such as Opera and Bolt to cater to your desktop-like browsing needs though.

Whatever the case, browsing is not the reason you go BlackBerry :)
Click to expand...

...browsing's actually one of the primary reasons I left BlackBerry. Loved everything else about the Bold (9000), but the browsing was horrible (and mine had a tendency to hang arbitrarily on random sites, making it that much worse). The fact that I could sell the Bold and my 16GB Touch and more than recoup the subsidized cost of the 32GB 3GS was what pushed me completely over the edge. :)
 
I have gone from iphone to bold 9700. the battery life is about triple. the service is significantly better, mainly due the blackberries ability to detect the best tower to use (3g, edge, gsm). it is much better as an actual phone.

keeping my iphone though. still use it for apps, weekends, vacations, whatever.

but the bold is pretty nice overall. best bb so far.
 
pepe8714 said:
I have gone from iphone to bold 9700. the battery life is about triple. the service is significantly better, mainly due the blackberries ability to detect the best tower to use (3g, edge, gsm). it is much better as an actual phone.

keeping my iphone though. still use it for apps, weekends, vacations, whatever.

but the bold is pretty nice overall. best bb so far.
Click to expand...

how are you liking the keyboard?
 
I have both. Safari browser far surpasses the BB browser. Personal choice for me is keyboard over touchscreen, and the 9700 is fine. Trackpad is much better than trackball, I have turned the sensitivity down on mine and it is great.

I use the iphone as a touch, with 24/7 net access. So basically as a media player, with web browsing and news.

Killer app for me is BBM, as I have a lot of family in the US, and we can chat all day long, and it is different to the type of stuff you'd take the time to email, and they don't use other messengers. The always on of BBM is a big benefit to us.

Unfortunately, there is no ideal, hence having both :rolleyes:
 
the keyboard is great. no issues.

i love the dial from home screen. so many blackberry shortcuts i forgot about.

that being said, i wish i had shazam and some other apps at my use all the time.

however... im very happy w both the iphone and berry... but at the current moment the berry wins...

during the weekdays heh heh heh

there is no comparison to web browsing to that of the iphone but to be frank i didnt use it that much anyway. i use a phone for call, email, text. BBM is actually incredibly useful in that i have many intl friends and as long as we are BBM friends we can group chat, voice, pic, video etc and its free.

not a bad perk
 
I've owned literally every model of blackberry made since the 957 ...

I bought my iPhone the day it was released and kept upgrading it when I could, now I have the 3GS 32gb and hadn't used a blackberry since I retired my 8900 in the spring.

Reading about the new 9700 I had to buy one, so I did and paid the full / no contract price. Reason I wanted a BB again was my thinking that BB is better for email, text message notification and business in general.

I've had it about three weeks now, I'm disappointed with it and wish I never wasted the money. I'm actually as fast if not faster typing on my iPhone and I had mostly bought the BB thinking it was better for typing ... I guess I've become good on my iphone with practice ... I don't really like the new trackpad, screen is small, feels light and cheap in the hand ...

Same as the other comments here, software seems old/stale, web sucks, no touchscreen ... this 9700 is now for sale and I'm back full time with my iPhone ... much better than carrying two phones too.

It will take a hell of a blackberry to get me to go back ... out of curiosity I'd like to try a google phone but I'll wait until I can get a hold of the new phone soon to be available here.

It's funny, RIM world Headquarters is 20 minutes from my house ... RIM executives live in our neighborhood area, LOL.
 
I agree the Blackberry browser is total s***. Downloading Opera or Bolt make browsing a little less painful.

However, for those wanting an iPhone like browser experience on their berries,the time is near....

RIM have teamed up with Torch to develop a WebKit browser for Blackberry... exciting times ahead.:D

For the record, Yes I own a Berry. A Storm 2 infact:p reason I went for the Storm, is mainly because I like the iPhone but I wanted to retain the functionality of my berry...BBM etc...

So for me, it was a no brainer... RIM have rectified a lot of the faults with the new storm, plus it has the new screen tech, so I made the jump from my Curve 8900. A little weird going from keyboard to touch, but im quickly adjusting. Oh and plus the plan is way cheaper than an iPhone plan.:p
 
I tried it, and returned it to get my 3GS back. The only thing I liked about was BBM and the awesome battery life. They keyboard was cramped and keys were small, and I just got bored with it after a while. If I HAD to have a BlackBerry though, it would definitely be the Bold 2/9700.

I hope Apple includes something similar to BBM for us iPhone users in the future.
 
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