When it comes to making his employees work more hours than they are paid for my boss is something of a genius. Instead of opting to provide us all with laptops and mobile phones to help us deal with client queries at evenings and weekends he signed us all up for BlackBerry Smartphones. Not ... Read review
Dear Ciao User, We are sorry we can't show you any offers on this page for the product you have selected. You can find offers here: 1 - out of offers for RIM BlackBerry 8700v
Advantages: Easy to install. wireless email, SMS/MMS, clear mobile phone, organise, contact book, coour screen Disadvantages: QWERTY keyboard too compacted, battery life could be better
When it comes to making his employees work more hours than they are paid for my boss is something of a genius. Instead of opting to provide us all with laptops and mobile phones to help us deal with client queries at evenings and weekends he signed us all up for BlackBerry Smartphones. Not so bad some would say; however despite the pleas for the provision of the new state of the art Pearl, he equipped us all with the 8700v and this will be the subject ... ...with fixed term contracts from most mobile phone operators, mine was provided free of charge as part of a Vodafone business package which included a fixed number of free text messages and a 5MB download limit before charges commenced. If looking to buy outside contract prices can range from £100 to £200 across the Internet and I have seen them for sale in Orange for £179.99.
When opening up the standard box when it finally arrived ... more
When it comes to making his employees work more hours than they are paid for my boss is something of a genius. Instead of opting to provide us all with laptops and mobile phones to help us deal with client queries at evenings and weekends he signed us all up for BlackBerry Smartphones. Not so bad some would say; however despite the pleas for the provision of the new state of the art Pearl, he equipped us all with the 8700v and this will be the subject of my review.
Available free of charge with fixed term contracts from most mobile phone operators, mine was provided free of charge as part of a Vodafone business package which included a fixed number of free text messages and a 5MB download limit before charges commenced. If looking to buy outside contract prices can range from £100 to £200 across the Internet and I have seen them for sale in Orange for £179.99.
When opening up the standard box when it finally arrived on my desk there was a note firmly stuck to the inside from our rather cheeky IT administrator stating that setting it up was easy and something of a do it yourself start up guide to the pieces of equipment in the box which was considerably easier than following the overly complicated and jargon ridden BlackBerry instruction manual that was frankly as clear as mud. Following the do it yourself instructions was as easy as had been claimed, with the 8700v connected to the PC via a USB cable and the installation disk inserted into the drive. After this was done it was just a case of confirming my Outlook license number, my username on the server and following several onscreen instructions that finalized the whole process. Once this was done the 8700v was synchronised to my PC and all of my contacts, diary appointments and emails contained within my inbox were automatically transferred over.
The 8700v is packed full of useful and functional applications all of which increase the reputation of the Smartphone range. They really do make everything you would need from the office accessible from the palm of your hand making you prepared to deal with any eventuality whenever it arises. The range features of the 8700v include:
Wireless Email Organiser Internet Browser Mobile Phone SMS MMS Address Book Memo Pad Calculator Alarm Clock
Controlled using a tracking wheel located on the right hand side of the 8700v there are a number of little quirks that still to this day make me raise a wry smile. You don’t have to press any keys to get the screen backlight to activate, it does it automatically thanks to a sensor and each of the icons displayed on the colour screen is clear and easy to see. The fact that there is a picture section so that pictures from emails can be set as wallpaper is very funky. Whilst the 8700v has MMS capabilities it is limited to only receiving files and sending on pictures received. There is no digital camera incorporated into the design which is a bit of a let down when used to having a mobile with this ability.
The email and mobile phone applications are the most used on my 8700v and they have been nothing but highly impressive. In areas where I would struggle to receive any form of signal the signal strength on the 8700v is at the maximum, with emails sent and received without any sort of time lag or delay. When making calls the ability to alter volume using the track wheel is good and the sound produced by the earpiece is clear with virtually no distortion. I would point out that when in the middle of an office environment there is a slight buzzing as other electrical devices interfere with the 8700v but once outside it is clear as a whistle.
The 8700v is powered by a BlackBerry® C-S2 Battery lithium cell battery whichshould never be removed. It is charged wither via a dedicated charger as you would a normal mobile phone or via the PC USB connector. The published battery life states that the 8700v should remain charged for 16 days when on standby and has a 4 hour talk time life. With moderate use I ave found that the battery remains charged to the point of completely drained for only 2 days at most. If I have a particularly busy day away from the office I can leave with a fully charged battery and using only the email and SMS function have drained the battery within 8-10 hours. This is dramatically reduced should I use the phone application.
To sum up I am delighted with my Smartphone, the 8700v is nice and compact weighing only 139g and being only 11 x 6.9 by 1.9 cm in size. The polyphonic ringtones and the ability to assign different tones to emails, SMS, and MMS messages mean that I don’t have to constantly lock and unlock the keypad every time I receive something. If I had to find any sort of flaw with the design or built in technology I would have to say that the QWERTY keypad is just too small with too much compacted into such a tiny space. When typing I struggle to hit the N key meaning frequent typing errors.
Despite what I consider a very small flaw with the basic design I would have no hesitation in recommending the 8700v or any other Smartphone in the BlackBerry range. I have never had any form of software or hardware crashes which make it totally reliable for the business user.
Advantages: working on the move, attractive, it works excellently!! Disadvantages: may take a little time to get used to.
...of themes available and the RIM website also offer other free theme which allow you to change the menu set up and look and feel of the device. The wonderful screen allows you to set photographs or images as your wallpaper and displays the image in strong clear colour with no graininess or distortion. You have the ability to view either a corporate/work email address and/or personal email addresses such as Yahoo, Hotmail etc... You can filter the ... ...can download more from the RIM website via your device. Of course you can browse the internet using your BlackBerry 8700 and there are also bookmarks already stored to the RIM pages to allow you to download extra applications, games, tones and pictures etc... The other aspect to the BlackBerry is of course the phone element. Just as with a mobile phone you can use this device to make and receive calls and the sound quality is in fact very good. Although ...
debbsfranklin 20.08.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of RIM BlackBerry 8700v
Advantages: Lots of features, easy to use and practical Disadvantages: Belt holster is just wrong!
I'm into gadgets but was very reluctant to take the free Blackberry being offered to me by my employer. Of all my friends I resisted getting a mobile phone until six years ago (welcome to the noughties Nobby they all said), and I had a very similar feeling about this. I didn't want to be chained to the office any more than I already was!
Colleagues however reported good things, so after a chat with one of our IT bods I opted for the 8700v.
And ... ...good. It can't compete with a camera phone, or a music phone, or a game phone, but it isn't trying to. What it aims to be (a business phone) it does with aplomb.
I'm a slave to my microsoft contacts list, and rely heavily on my task list and calendar. The 8700v syncs with my PC so I've always got them to hand, and my secretary can still add new meetings etc which update to the blackberry. The best bit about this (for me) is that I can spend a few ...
Nobby1974 01.06.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of RIM BlackBerry 8700v
Advantages: Easy to use, functional, good memory Disadvantages: No good for Mac users; ring tones not loud enough
This telephone is functional and easy to use.
The programmes (mine is on Vodafone so it may vary with other networks) are easy to operate and the memory is excellent. Items such as the calculator are highly useful and children I know like to play on the Brick Breaker game. The Memo Pad is useful for making notes.
In terms of memory, I have over 2000 addresses/telephone numbers in the machine and performance doesn\'t seem to be affected.
The keypad ... ...they're easy to use.
Battery life is excellent. I find the need only to recharge every couple of days and I am a heavy user of the phone.
Text messaging is easy and unlike with ordinary telephones of the Nokia variety, it is easy to write long messages.
I do not use the telephone for the internet or email so cannot comment on this aspect. I also have not had occasion to use the Calendar or Tasks feature.
In terms of failings, the volume in terms ...
matthewsteeples 09.01.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of RIM BlackBerry 8700v
Advantages: Qwerty Keyboard and really clear screen Disadvantages: Belt clip useless, can be expensive
I have used this handset for about 6 months now after I retired my old Blackberry 7290.
This is a similar size to the old phone but the screen clarity is 10 times better. The designers have also thought about the phone functionality more with two buttons on the front for on & off hook as well as a couple of convenience keys that you can customise.
Overall if you are like me and you want to get your emails on the move and the telephone comes second ... ...If the phone is more important to you but you still want a Blackberry then you could try an 7130 although this doesn't have a qwerty keyboard. There is also a similar Blackberry Pearl which has a 1.3 Mega pixel camera and MP3 player, but again the keyboard uses predictive text.
Another thing to note is that Vodafone have recently brought out an 8707v which I have tried. I don't like it as much, although it can use 3G for higher speed Internet access ...
AlistairBirch 11.10.2006
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of RIM BlackBerry 8700v
Advantages: Faster and better then earlier blackberries Disadvantages: Weak roller ball
I have been using black berry 7230 for some time and finally got the new BlackBerry 8700v. The following are my personal experience in using the BlackBerry.
Pros:
It has the best technology in the world which has made BlackBerry famous around the world. The push technology is definetly ultimate for people who are on the move and want to be in touch with other people by email without loging into any website or internet. The older BlackBerry phones, ... ...manufacturer like sony erickson, Nokia, Motorola etc. But one could ignore it as the technolgy which balckberry had would overide the problems in thier phones.
But the launch of new BlackBerry models have definetly improved the quality and durability of the handsets.They also have a very clear screens now.
Cons:
The roller ball is still problematic and the more you use the more it sticks deeper into phone. Although the roller ball does help in ...
ma_siddiqui 29.12.2006
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of RIM BlackBerry 8700v
Address Book, Memo Pad, Calendar, Tasks, Internet Browser
Communicator features
Operating System
BlackBerry Handheld Software
Processor Type
Intel - XScale
Messaging & data services
Cellular Messaging Services
SMS, MMS, SMS
Mobile Email Client
Built-in
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)
Built-in
EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates For Global Evolution)
Built-in
Internet Browser
Built-in
Display
Type
LCD display
Display Resolution
320 x 240 pixels, 240 x 320 pixels
Display Indicators
Digital clock, signal strength, battery meter
Memory
RAM
16 MB
ROM
64 MB - Flash
Connections
Connector Type
1 x headset jack, 1 x headset jack
1 x USB
Miscellaneous
Included Accessories
Power adapter , headset, Power adapter , holster
Cables Included
USB cable
Battery
Talk Time
240 min
Standby Time
Up to 384 h
Technology
Lithium
Environmental parameters
Min Operating Temperature
0 °C
Max Operating Temperature
50 °C
Digital player (recorder)
Supported Digital Audio Standards
MP3
Manufacturer's product description
Need to stay connected while you're on the go? Get the BlackBerry 8700v smartphone. Email, phone, web browser and text messaging keep you in touch - virtually wherever you are. And the thin, lightweight design - with a full QWERTY keyboard - lets you do it all in style.
Brilliant phone customisation, Good size screen with 65K colours (STN screen technology aside), Navigation system, Downloadable Games/Apps, Range of connectivity options
Casing attracts fingerprints and smudges, Hard to view in sunny outdoor conditions, 2MB memory maybe too little, Back and Cancel buttons maybe confusing, Quick Access to WAP services can be costly if accidently pressed. (*)
