Blackberry forever

The 8700c from Cingular (At&t now) has made me a blackberry lifer. Everything from the bright color screen to the great voice quality of the phone, I'm a believer. I used to have a 7250 from Verizon and have to say, the 8700c is a huge improvement. A few notable improvements are the screen, faster software, speakerphone, and the better quality of build.

Cons:
I've been using the 8700c for almost 9 months now and have yet to really big disappointments. Because I use it for work, a few missing items are really a camera, gps, and 3g capability. All of which are found in other models. For lots of companies, a camera in a work phone is not needed and a GPS is probably only needed for those who need to navigate like shippers and delivery people. As a professional, there's no real need for these two functions.

Pros:
Did I mention the new bright screen? It really is sharp, bright, and unquestionably the biggest improvement from previous models. I found that after downloading Google Maps and Gmail from Google, writing emails using downloaded software outside from the traditional Blackberry mail system is intuitive and easily read on the new screen.

The speakerphone missing from my 7250 is now available on the 8700c and is easily turned on/off with software and gives a clear voice and is quite useful especially when on hold for long periods of time.

Battery life with the 8700c is excellent. Haven't had to charge it more than once every 2 days, this is with excessive emails and voice calls. Once I'm in the office, I plug it in and it gets charged while it syncs in only a few hours.

The faster software on this Blackberry may simply be due to the fact that its running on a faster chipset. I've found the blackberry software starts up a little slow as usual, but after booted, can run any application within 3-5 seconds of starting. This is a huge improvement from the 10-15 seconds on the old 7250.

Bluetooth is not a new feature on the 8700c but works reliably with my Nokia headset everytime.

With a tried and proven platform, the Blackberry only keeps getting better and better. The 8700c is a massive upgrade on the hardware side from previous versions. What's most impressive is that the build is extremely sturdy after being dropped, pushed, and stepped on in this New Yorker's life.