[BeeRad]

Blackberry 9700 Isn't All That Bold by PC World: Yahoo! Tech

?????????

Do they not understand that sometimes all it takes is incremental improvements to an already superior phone? It doesn't have to be some new radical off the wall design. The Bold 9700 is the ultimate traditional BlackBerry. (preaching to the choir, I know)

[AngryChineseDriver]

Now I know why Yahoo! slipped from 1st place to...who cares?

[infamyx]

This is just echoing what a lot of dissapointed current Bold are saying to be honest. The original Bold simply crushed the Blackberry Standard (cheap plastic to metal, ****ty screen to gorgeous, and the OS as well didn't look like it was drawn together by a crayon, oh and it was fast). And for every person who cried about it being too big, there were ten who loved the fact you didn't need to have fingers like a 13 year old girl to use it.

The above set the standard for the Bold. The 9700 fails on improving performance immensely (leap from the 8800 to the 9000) and they decided to cater to the one person who cried about the phone being too big and made it smaller (huge selling point for Bold owners).

While this phone won't be a big deal (really it's coming Down to an OS battle now and everyone but RIM has stepped up, 5.0 doesn't cut the cake. maybe when their webkit browser drops it'll get better for them) it will sell well and I bet it does so on T-Mo as it's first 3g berry and it is the best out in terms of specs.

[khaltire]

you really have to be a fanboy to not realize what hes saying is true... i dont get why you think hes wrong

take a step back and take a look at the rest of the market outside of apple and RIM

16gbs internal storage, OLED screens 8-12 mpx camera among other things... sure blackberry does what it does well, but that doesnt mean that they shouldnt innovate. just because you have a product that works doesnt mean you should leave it, when in reality it could easily be made better...

of course im still getting the 9700 because i DO want the phone, i just feel like rim is pushing their currentl line of outdated hardware a little too far for my liking... they are DEFINITELY reusing parts between blackberries thats fairly obvious

[fabuloso]

This will probably be the last line of 3G BB phones before carriers start pushing 4G and their HSDPA Networks within the year.

My Bold is still superiour, minus my camera which I don't use.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Brandon26pdx]

That article kind of files itself under the "captain obvious" heading. No, the 9700 is nothing revolutionary, but it looks like a very well executed package that should just flat out work.

[1JZ_GTE]

That article kind of files itself under the "captain obvious" heading. No, the 9700 is nothing revolutionary, but it looks like a very well executed package that should just flat out work.

exactly!

[david.carty]

I think it is a fair reflection on what the 9700 is and what the 9700 isn't.

I will be getting the 9700 as ha dthe 9000 for 11months and due an upgrade, so suits me to get it, if i wasnt able to get it, I wouldnt be overall upset

Its a smaller more compact size and trimmed down a little,. with better camera and battery

Excellent.

However, for many non-BlackBerry users its not enough of a draw to make them turn to BlackBerry

[Madness87]

Because the 9000 was SIGNIFICANTLY better than the 88-series blackberries.

The Bold maintained the size of the 88-series but had radical changes to design and functionality. Brand new OS, way more capabilities, way better screen, a new camera/video recording, new keyboard etc...

What did the Onyx add? It became close to 20% smaller, a smaller physical screen 2.44" vs 2.65" on the Bold. It removed two external speakers and sound quality is far lower and clearer. Removed onboard internal memory altogether. Uses the same but (newer model) 624 mhz processor. As for video recording, it wasn't bumped up to VGA or higher resolution despite being a newer camera.

It didn't even upgrade on the newer curve or tour as well. It uses the EXACT same keyboard, screen, camera, and memory of the tour.

Even the curve 8900 was leaps and bounds better than the curve 83-series and the Tour was leaps and bounds better than any other CDMA qwerty blackberry.

If you've been keeping up, next year is when Blackberry fixes the browser and gives full flash support. The Dakota will be the physical size of the Bold albit slimmer according to a buddy of mine who saw a clay mockup design that was voted to be used, using a new liquid lens camera, hybrid touch screen with ability to flick scroll.

The only way I would honestly recommend anyone buying this phone is if they are coming from an 88-series or 83- series or earlier phone. My Bold is my 7th different blackberry that I've ever used and even I'm waiting for what's next on the horizon.

[gots2beme]

If I had a 9000, I wouldn't even take a look at the 9700. But coming from an 8310, the 9700 is leaps and bounds over what I'm currently used to so I'm looking forward to it. But the article was pretty much dead on. Not much improvement over the 9000. Perhaps RIM shouldn't have marketed this phone as the BOLD 2, and just allowed it to take on its own identity. If everyone keeps comparing it to the 9000, they'll see the 9700 as a letdown.

[makaveli28]

Great Input on this thread, I am coming from a tired and old 8310 so this is going to be a big upgrade for me.

[BobbyRay]

Have the bold and while I love it I am a T-Mo user and the 3G berry is something I have awaited patiently. I must agree that it is not a huge upgrade over the Bold. However it has several key improvements that make it attractive to current BB users. It is not ground breaking and will not attract users from outside of the Berry family very easily based upon this design... Just my .02

[axe50]

Im on my trusty 8320 and believe me that although it would be a nice upgrade for me, I have my doubts about it. This is the 3rd phone in succession from RIM that uses the same rehashed components in a year- and quite honestly it doesn't do much in the way of pushing me into an upgrade. The whole point of releasing multiple devices is to entice users with different preferences and needs to the one device that they want. If they are all the same, what's the point?

I bypassed the 8900 bc of the horrible build quality it had when my wife upgraded hers and got it replaced 5 times, and saw the 8520 as not much of an upgrade to my 8320. The Tour was the exact same thing as the 8900 to me, but on a different network and sans wifi, so fail again.

This 9700 looks like its everything the Tour and 8900 should have been, leading me to believe this would have been a good upgrade if it were released instead of the 8900 / Tour- that would have made the specs a little more impressive, and more game changing (if it were released last year).

I want to get a good solid BB, but its hard because they haven't impressed me in nearly 2 years, and haven't done anything to up the ante since then. Maybe ill just stick with my trusty old 8320...its survived longer than countless Tours and 8900's... Its not like I'm missing much anyways.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[TLD1]

I must echo what other posters have posted before me...Yahoo! Tech has pretty much hit the proverbial nail on the head.

For current AT&T and T-Mobile Curve users, yes the 9700 will be a huge upgrade. For those who have been using the 9000 Bold...and are not haters of the Bold size and function, it will not be. Like many have said...it will be less of an overall improvement than the iPhone 3GS was to the iPhone 3G, if that's possible.

I suspect many 9000 Bolds will be on the Buy, Sell & Trade forums on the various online mobile phone websites...and many will be on Craigslist all over the country next month...but there will probably be many posts on CB and other sites with people whining because they got the 9700 Onyx and miss the roomy keypad and sturdiness of their Bold.

Me...I'll probably hang onto my Bold until something really impressive comes down from our friends in Canada.

[cre8tivspirit]

If you've been keeping up, next year is when Blackberry fixes the browser and gives full flash support. The Dakota will be the physical size of the Bold albit slimmer according to a buddy of mine who saw a clay mockup design that was voted to be used, using a new liquid lens camera, hybrid touch screen with ability to flick scroll.

If what you say is true, then I'll probably wait another year to see what comes out from RIM.

I switched from the 8310 to the iPhone 3G when it and the Bold rolled out. It wasn't because I didn't like the Bold. It was more for a need to see what all of the fuss was about. While I like many of the features of my iPhone, I've come to the decision that what I really miss is the ability to tweak my phone, legally, and make it truly my personal device. As far as all the special bells and whistles go, the new has definitely worn off.

[st0p.]

Agree with everything posted

But I'm still getting it!

I need a berry and this promises to be the best one yet