[shrp]

I'm madder than a moose in heat!

I can't wait to see the replies to this . . .

I picked up my new blackberry 8700 just a few weeks ago. I was so excited to get the knock on the door from UPS. Now low and behold just 20 days later I am so dissapointed in what I shelled out good money for. I knew that it would not have expandable media. I knew it only had a meager and measley 64MB of memor. But my heart overpowered my head. I still love the cool BB factor. Everytime I walk into my job all my co-workers still look at me in envy but for what. If they only knew I was living a lie!

I recently got amped up about the WES 2006 convention because there was so much momentum building for a fresh multimedia experience for BB users. According to reports from WES 2006, the BB 8700 is only able to hold about 10 min of video, which is great if I just need a clip from ESPN. But my God this is a 300+ dollar device. Then I found that the Sona media player and others are still a long way away from being close to operable. I appreciate push email and secure secure secure transmissions, But a little storage goes a long way in keeping happy customers!

Why is there no larger storage built into this device. I'm pretty sure the blackberry uses flash memory. And by now 256MB is pretty darn cheap!
Again I am disappointed. But I am holding on to hope and the jury is still out!

Come on BB! You can do it!

[LunkHead]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 8700g: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Well.... Maybe you should have done a bit more pre-purchase investigating into what the BB can and can't do before shelling out the money for it.

It sounds to me like you should sell your BB and get a Treo.

Best of luck with the 650!

[nosidam]

BlackBerry's are e-mail machines first, everything else secondary. They are targeted for the corporate market -- a market which does not like any bells and whistles on devices that could distract people from doing their jobs. This is why the BB is the absolute king when it comes to e-mail.

All the other type of devices are trying to be everything to everyone, which is why, in my opinion, they all do several things well, but none great.

BB will eventually start to target the "consumer" market, but my guess is it will be slow and they will generally be the last to market with specific "fun" features.

Rumor has it we will see the first camera in a BB later this year, but you can bet there will be two versions of that phone -- one with, and one without.

BTW, you should never buy a device simply to get looks from co-workers. Pretty soon, they will buy the latest & greatest, and where will you be? Waiting for another package so you can one-up them. Vicious little cycle.

[shrp]

Originally Posted by nosidam

BlackBerry's are e-mail machines first, everything else secondary. They are targeted for the corporate market -- a market which does not like any bells and whistles on devices that could distract people from doing their jobs. This is why the BB is the absolute king when it comes to e-mail.

All the other type of devices are trying to be everything to everyone, which is why, in my opinion, they all do several things well, but none great.

BB will eventually start to target the "consumer" market, but my guess is it will be slow and they will generally be the last to market with specific "fun" features.

Rumor has it we will see the first camera in a BB later this year, but you can bet there will be two versions of that phone -- one with, and one without.

BTW, you should never buy a device simply to get looks from co-workers. Pretty soon, they will buy the latest & greatest, and where will you be? Waiting for another package so you can one-up them. Vicious little cycle.

First thing I did my research but was not able to find any info on their site or this one for what file types are supported. So if it says messaging powerhouse I expect messages w/ attatchments to be delivered. I was on their support site spending hours a day before ordering this device. All I wanted was info on supported files. The BB site and this site is very disorganized. Everyone posting the same topic over and over and over and . . . you get the point.

Second If i'm shelling out 300 bucks i'm not going for wow factor . . . i could buy a cool phone to look good when I visit europe or japan.

Simply put the BB is almost the best total messaging experience i've ever had. But when my music colleagues send me an mp3 or a decently sized .wav to hear and i'm on the go, it just doesn't cut it. The bottom line is if this is a Messaging power house and I recieve a MESSAGE w/ an attatchment that the device can't handlem, then I say this device is weak. I get power point files sent to me once or twice a week. I only get half the presentation. Where's the "power" and that's the point!

[KonTiki]

When you went to RIM's site and were "spending hours a day before ordering this device doing research but was not able to find any info on their site or this one for what file types are supported" did it ever occur to you to call RIM and ask. Excuse me for being flippant, I dont mean to be, but to me doing research always involves using more than one source of information because if I only use one I am invariably going to get a slanted point of view.

[shrp]

Originally Posted by KonTiki

When you went to RIM's site and were "spending hours a day before ordering this device doing research but was not able to find any info on their site or this one for what file types are supported" did it ever occur to you to call RIM and ask. Excuse me for being flippant, I dont mean to be, but to me doing research always involves using more than one source of information because if I only use one I am invariably going to get a slanted point of view.

You did mean to be Flippant, but you can't help it you were raised that way!

And because I visit texas quite a bit and I know the Dallas area well, I almost Drove to their door step after I called and the operator didn't even know what department could answer my question.

[ebgreen]

You may want to work on your search techniques. If you search the BB knowledge base for "mp3 attachment", the very first document found is the 8700 user guide. If you open that document and go to the section cryptically titled "Attachments", you will find that the first paragraph (which also has a cryptic title of "About Attachments") has a list of attachments that you can view. You will note that neither mp3 or .wav are listed.

[LunkHead]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 8700g: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

No need to be rude Shrp! You travel to Europe and Japan and you visit Texas often but you cant find out what files are supported on a BB?

A simple google search of 'blackberry attachment supported files' turned up a wealth of information. Like I said I think you want a Treo 650 or 700 as it will do what you are looking for as long as its not crashing or freezing.

Best of luck!

[strongergodzilla]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Why are you so dissapointed when you state that you knew it would have such little memory? The 8700 is a connectivity device, not a mobile multimedia device, that much is made clear. If you wanted video why didn't you just spring for an ipod. I mean don't get upset over features that you wish it had, especially one as far away from mobile email and business oriented organazation as more space for tv clips...

[nosidam]

Originally Posted by shrp

Simply put the BB is almost the best total messaging experience i've ever had. But when my music colleagues send me an mp3 or a decently sized .wav to hear and i'm on the go, it just doesn't cut it. The bottom line is if this is a Messaging power house and I recieve a MESSAGE w/ an attatchment that the device can't handlem, then I say this device is weak. I get power point files sent to me once or twice a week. I only get half the presentation. Where's the "power" and that's the point!

Let me see if I understand the situation...

You get MP3 and WAV files from music colleagues and you also get Power Point files once or twice a week. Did you just start getting them when you bought your BB or did you get them before the BB? If you were getting them before you bought your BB, then you should have checked to see if they were supported on the BB out of the box or with additional software. A few searches on the web or a single phone call to RIM would have provided the answer.

Did you buy a Mac and were upset to find out that you couldn't run Windows software on it, but were still happy because you got looks of envy from co-workers?

Believe me, I couldn't agree with you more about BB's not supporting a lot of different formats, etc., but I know what I get when I am buying something. I may rant about features that I would like the BB to have, but I don't for one moment regret getting the 8700c.

In fact, if it only did a few more things, I could get rid of my girlfriend.
(she is aware of this, btw, and keeps her eyes on the BB developments to see if it's almost time to move on)

Here's what I tell my users when they ask me about a BB or Treo/WinMo...if your need is to send/recieve e-mail and need it to be rock solid, then the BB is the way to go. If you want to run a lot of cool programs and have a lot of bells and whistles, and you can deal with e-mail not working for hours at a time or not knowing whether it is working at all, then a Treo/WinMo is the way to go.

I have seen it countless times...people buy the Treo/WinMo, then when the novelty wears off, they go and buy a BB because e-mail is the real reason they want a device like this.

[LunkHead]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 8700g: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

AMEN!

Very well stated!

[apple85]

I'm one of those people that bought a treo cuse it could do this that and everything... I swapped over to a BB and haven't regretted it at all...

[LunkHead]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 8700g: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Ditto! I had a 600 and a 650... PalmOne can keep the heap!

[arche3]

[QUOTE=shrp]I'm madder than a moose in heat!

"...all my co-workers still look at me in envy "

hahaha. thats funny

[shrp]

No The Mac was because of excellent performance! And stability in a recording enviroment! I think the BB is "like" the Mac of the mobile world. Because of its awesome e-mail. Which I love.

I want it all . . . which is why I ordered a Intel Mac.

Ms Office 2004 and I'm ready for Boot Camp . . .

I want the best and no Substitutions!

Is that too much to ask? I say no. And from all the PM delivered to my BB Others agree!

[ebgreen]

Originally Posted by shrp

And from all the PM delivered to my BB Others agree!

But not enough to say so publicly in an anonymous forum? That is strength of conviction if I've ever seen it.

[LunkHead]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 8700g: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Hehehehehe

[shrp]

That's Hilarious!

[nosidam]

Originally Posted by shrp

No The Mac was because of excellent performance! And stability in a recording enviroment! I think the BB is "like" the Mac of the mobile world. Because of its awesome e-mail. Which I love.

I want it all . . . which is why I ordered a Intel Mac.

Ms Office 2004 and I'm ready for Boot Camp . . .

I want the best and no Substitutions!

Is that too much to ask? I say no. And from all the PM delivered to my BB Others agree!

I agree with you on that.

I'm waiting for PS and a few other apps to go Universal and the Core 2 Duo before I upgrade to an Intel. My little PowerBook is chugging along just fine for now. But that's a whole other topic.

I would also love to be able to listen to WAV files on my BB because I get work voicemails delivered via e-mail, but I knew the 8700 couldn't do that, and with all the other features that the BB provides, I could live without it.

I also would like to have a camera because when the GF sends me shopping for stuff, I don't know what to buy and it would be great to take a pic, send her an MMS and have her tell me to get the one on the right, but it really doesn't matter because no matter what, i always get the wrong one.

I just find it funny that someone could be so upset at BB if they knew what they wanted and if they knew what they were buying.

[Firefishe]

Originally Posted by LunkHead

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 8700g: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Ditto! I had a 600 and a 650... PalmOne can keep the heap!

You can say that again! I originally bought my 650 for a variety of things, with the understanding that, at the very least of worst, it had scant RAM; thank goodness that RAM was non-volatile, at least.

After about a year of use, I came to the realization that you just can't run some programs desired from an SD Card, some things just have to reside in RAM, no ifs, ands, or buts. 32mb (about what? 27 useable?) just doesn't cut it, and why Palm even opted for the pre-Tungsten 2 route is anybody's guess. Must've had some spare mem chips lying around on the OEM's benches, or something--but I digress

Just saw a blurb about the upcoming Treo 700p, and I think I'm even going to wait for the one following that, if not the second. Palm has to get their act together, and whether Access Linux is going to be able to help them is anybody's guess.

I think I, myself, could do a better job of helping them select features in one afternoon than them needing to spend $100,000 on a consulting firm just to tell them they need more non-volatile RAM, software that properly works with the bluetooth stack (voice dial software, primarily, but also basic functions like answer and hang-up; compatiblity with Motorola and Plantronics headsets [as a minimum]).

I just bought a plantronics 642 micro-headset to use with my BB 8700c, and it works well, so far as just using it as a handset is concerned. It's quite loud, more than enough to hear during normal useage, and even during moderately high noise.

The sound from the BB 8700c is so gosh-durned much better than the Treo 650 every thought of being. I had to buy VolumeCare--a third party app--just to make the Treo's ultra-soft-volume levels finally bearable, and than the sound was a bit scratchy, although I could hear who was on the other end, at least.

I'm satisfied with the EDGE capability of the BB 8700c, and browsing on this device is a joy! That's what I found I was using my Treo 650 for, and the BlackBerry beats the Treo by a very wide margin (read: Grinning Very Widely).

I also use all those lovely third-party MIDlets everyone is yodeling about . As long as I have my APN setting correct, my jmIrc and Co-Line IRC proggies work. I'm having a little more trouble getting Causerie Messenger for BlackBerry to work, but I figure I'll have that problem licked soon enough.

Google Local works flawlessly, and Opera Mini doesn't do too bad; Opera would do well to make their menu system a little easier to navigate, especially for the BlackBerry 8700c and the other BB's. I like the native browsers much better; they're cleaner, more agile, and easier to navigate.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) mavens like myself would like to see a better IRC client for BlackBerry and J2ME devices in general. Developers would do well to learn from some of the other handheld devices that work on Palm and WinMO/CE. upIrc for Palm has that much-needed text-input-box at the bottom of the channel screen, ergo, not having to type text on a separate page while not being able to see the channel conversation is a must for mobile IRC users.

I have yet to see an IRC client for BlackBerry or J2ME that has this feature. I am wanting to write one, myself, and am looking into BlackBerry development. I already have the JDE for BlackBerry and the Simulators package. Java doesn't seem so hard-fallutin (say that fast, pard'ner! ) a language to learn so much as C and C++ for me, although I am familiar with both language's syntax; a small bit, mainly for debugging odd software.

If anyone knows of an IRC midlet I've overlooked--or a BlackBerry Native (java, but with the .cod extensions)--I'd like to know.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying and going to be enjoying, the email and browsing capabilities, as well as the loud phone and speaker of my BB 8700c!

Warm regards,
Stephen