UPDATE:

Couple of weeks ago I noticed that phone would randomly delete data, but today was the worst: In the morning I discovered that all my contacts were completely wiped out!!! by itself! And when I tried to restore them from the backup file it would not do that saying that the file is read only. I tried this file in my old curve 8310 and it worked flawlessly. So I suspect that there are serious bugs in the OS 5.0 and AT&T is not coming up with any updates as of yet. In a mean time I am lowering score for this phone because i am very disappointed by the poor implementation.
Rating: 2 / 5

Speaking of the iPhone, the sales representative at AT&T kept asking me if I didn’t want an iPhone 3GS instead. I have already owned an iPhone and returned it because of the simple fact that it does not have a QWERTY keyboard. I cannot type with the same speed that I can on my Blackberry. The keyboard layout on the new Bold does not disappoint in that the key layout is slightly tighter than the Curve but you get used to it after typing about 5 messages. If you are a previous Blackberry user that is looking to upgrade, then the new Bold is a worthy of the upgrade. In addition if you are the type of user that wants your phone to handle voice and messaging well, then I would also recommend the Bold as a phone to checkout!

Rating: 5 / 5

I was hesitant about purchasing this smart phone because I was never a fan of Blackberry’s (RIMM). I had a BB during their initial boom in the early part of the new millennium. However, the poor browser, poor cell phone network, lackluster screen color, non desirable keyboard, awful battery life, whack OS, & lack of T9 predictive text just couldn’t win me over.

After I realized that I couldn’t text on a touch screen phone, unless it was the iPhone. I decided that I must have a cell phone device with an actual qwerty keyboard, if I expect to survive my text message & email addiction.

I picked up the Blackberry 9700 with my corporate discount and walked away with a nice high end phone at a very reasonable price. I have to say that I really enjoy the web browser on the new BB. You can zoom in & out with ease. I thought no browser could compare to the iPod Safari besides the Android G1, but after getting this device – I can safely say that this browser is also one of the best. Its right behind the safari and G1. Prior models were confined to small screens, thirty-five dollar internet only data plans, and no ability to zoom in or out. You were subjected to a small screen and reading small text till your eyes was squinting like grandmas.

Pros:

3G

New Optical Trackpad (Over the old Trackball)

Big vibrant screen

Threaded Text Messaging

3.5 MM headjack

New OS (Runs a bit quicker without the lag time)

Decent call quality

Excellent new broswer

Mini SD up to 32GB

Use your songs as ringers

Wi-Fi

Personal Email (Up to 10 accounts can be added)

IM

Themes

App Store

My Favs

Full HTML Web Browser (Sometimes)

Excellent Multimedia Player (Accepts every format possible)

Includes 2 chargers (Wall Charger & USB charger)

Includes ear phones and carry case

Cons:

For long time BB users, this device is really just a cosmetic upgrade with a new OS (Flashier Icons)

Micro USB (No more Mini USB)

Video & Camera (3.2 Megapixel as oppose to 8.0)

Cheap plastic rubber casing

Non RIMM Consumer Changes Mind!

For anyone who has wanted a BB but held off on getting one and want an entry level Blackberry at a decent price – this is the model to get. Everything about it is an upgrade. The device is basically the BB Bold with a different casing. The battery life could still use some more juice. With excessive email checking & non stop texting, the phone usually needs a charge after a day and a half of usage (Sometimes i can go a charge for 2 days before a charge so thats not bad). I did set the brightness of the phone to the lowest brightness available and it has lasted for a little over 2 days with no charge needed. Even on the lowest brightness, the screen is still very bright, sharp, & crisp. And i still do unlimited texting & web browsing. However, AT&T doesn’t offer the best mobile minute plans on earth & their data plan is probably one of themost expensive around. They are fully aware that their signal is one of the best & in doing so, make up for it by charging their non-friendly services at non-friendly prices, which usually doesn’t offers an abundant amount of minutes, unlimited data, internet, email, text etc will end up costing you a lot!

Only downside is that AT&T minute and date plans are expensive.

Rating: 5 / 5

Boldly enters the new Bold 9700. Has 3G, has the higher resolution of the 8900. Has WiFi. It also boasts a better battery life than the 8900 on the spec sheet. I ordered it and got it overnight and at two days of usage, I am VERY happy with this model.

Fantastic screen.

Beautiful fonts and rendering(It’s night and day compared to 8310)

The touchpad is really nice and I am completely converted away from trackball use.

WiFi is good and connects quickly to my home network.

3G network is fast.

Each of the above connectivity options can be turned off/on individually.

You also have the option to turn off 3G and just use Edge (advantage: longer battery run time?)

The unit came with a 2Gig Micro SD card already installed. (What’s the world coming to? Are TV manufacturers going to include free HDMI cables along with the TV now?)

The box came with a wall charger, a micro-USB cable to connect to the PC and a nice holster.

Browser is fantastic. With the touchpad, it is easy to move around the screen. “i” and “o” work as shortcuts to zoom in and out of a web page.

Google Apps work great (you may encounter a “Cross Application Communication” Error) (My workaround/fix at the end of this)

I had some issues with the browser not connecting (Resolved now. Workaround below).

I was stumped when initially configuring WiFi to my home WPA2 network (Workaround below).

Blackberry “Appworld” is great. Download it as soon as you get this device. Does not have millions of apps like the iPhone, but has a decent set – free and paid – that you will find useful.

Lots of nice improvements in the Mail, Clock and Calendar applications.

A few problems I encountered and my workarounds:

I have WPA2 security on my WiFi network at home. In the 9700, when you configure your WiFi connection, you will not see “WPA2″ as an option. Just select “Pre Shared Key” option and enter your WPA password; The 9700 will do the rest and will connect. (BB design team, take note. You might as well highlight this in your documentation clearly… or, just add WPA2 and WPA to the options list)

I had intermittent problems with the browser. It would connect to some sites and simply refuse to connect to others. Workaround: Open the browser, go to options (by pressing the key immediately to the left of the touchpad) and in the “Browser Configuration” page, for the default browser, change it to “Internet Browser”, from the default “Blackberry browser”. Do the same change in the “General Properties” in the browser options. This should fix browser connectivity issues.

When I started Google Maps, I got a “Cross Application Communication” error and it refused to connect. My workaround (and I am not sure why this works): Go to Blackberry settings. Select Applications. And in the “Applications” page, select “Google Maps”. Then “Edit permissions”. Here, I basically expanded all the configs, and made sure they are set to “Allow”. The “Interactions” setting by default will be “Custom”. This cannot be changed, but I simply expanded this selection. In this what seemed to be a pointless exercise, I didn’t really change any permissions other than what they were defaulted to. But, after this, the “Cross Appl…” error went away. Maybe, if I rebooted the BB after installing Google Maps, I wouldn’t have had to resort to this.

That’s it. It’s working great now. Hope the above workarounds will be helpful to some. Activating my BES account was straightforward. If you don’t have a corporate account, the setup should be even more simpler.

I’d give it 5 stars, but if anyone at BB is reading these reviews (and I know they are…), I want them to keep doing the great work and come out with more winners such as this. So, this 4 star rating is to tell you that no one can achieve perfection, but can always choose to strive to become even more perfect than before. Great product folks. Keep it up!

UPDATE (Jan 30, 2010):

After close to two and a half months of use, I’m still very happy with the Bold 9700. The battery life is exceptional and I can go without charging for 3 days if necessary. For a couple weeks, I noticed the battery was losing a couple of bars within 12 hours. I think this was because I had the “Blackberry Messenger” app running in the background. After closing that app, the battery life is back to normal, and I lose a notch in 24hrs. I have the WiFi option always ON and this doesn’t seem to affect the battery usage adversely.

Apps that I use most, and these are very easy to use on the Bold (there are plenty others available): WSJ Mobile Reader, Poynt (Business, people, restaurant, movie lookup), Dictionary.Com, Amazon for Blackberry, Google Maps, Gmail and Google News.
Rating: 4 / 5

I upgraded to the 9700 from a Curve 8310, and the form factor is nearly the same. This is a joy, considering the original Bold was a little too large for my tastes. In fact, it’s only a tiny bit taller, and a little thinner. It combines the best of the devices before it: It has 3G like the Bold, a great keyboard like the Tour, and a trackpad like the Curve 8530. They really brought it all together in a way that is perfect.

The keyboard is responsive and provides good feedback, but it quieter than say, the Cuvre’s keyboard. The trackpad might take a little getting used to, but once that awkward phase is over it works like a dream. No more dirty trackballs! It doesn’t light up, but that’s not really a big deal, as the call, send, menu, and escape buttons always stay lit when you are using it, so brushing your thumb over the dark space in the middle is all you need.

Excellent camera with autofocus and very good color balance. The speakers are loud and clear. The screen on this thing is absolutely gorgeous. I didn’t think the additional resolution would make much difference on such a small screen, but it really is head and shoulders above previous models like the Curve. The media player handles a large number of formats and video codecs, which is fantastic, as I found previous models lacking in that department.

It comes with a standard headphone jack and a set of in-ear headphones that are really stylish and easy to use. Also I was pleasantly surprised to find a case that could clip to my belt (as opposed to the slip-in case they used to give) and a 2GB micro SD card already in place.

Battery life is superb: I have done heavy texting/email with my alerts on vibration, and streamed music via Pandora, and it still takes a few days to fully discharge. Excellent.

The browser is faster than previous Blackberry models, but it still needs work. It doesn’t come close to the likes of mobile Safari. However, there are alternate browsers you can use for free, such as Opera Mini.

Texting is a breeze, and it keeps a log of the conversation as if it were a chat in an instant messaging client. It also has visual voicemail, so if you are moving from an iPhone, you’ll still have the feature. Get this phone, you definitely won’t regret it.

Rating: 5 / 5

Try here and see if that gets what you want – http://gpsinformation.us/Maps/world-maps.htm

Norm

The only issue I’ve ever had with it is that the base is a bit too slippery (since I try to keep it on the dash) and under hard cornering or acceleration, it’ll slide down the dashboard. The magnet on the base is really strong though, and if you were putting it on the roof, I don’t think it’d have a problem holding on.
Rating: 5 / 5

The one drawback of the GM720 is that its bottom is smooth and thus it slides all over the dashboard when my car turns quickly or accelerates. The GlobalSat model has a rough sort of rubbery bottom surface that tends to prevent sliding around.

Rating: 2 / 5

An excellent value!
Rating: 5 / 5