[mbrunton]

I currently have an old 960 BB that my company pays for. I got them to approve me to purchase a new BB. I currently have my cell thru t-mobile and they offer the 7290. But i just noticed a new 8700 has just been release from Cingular.

Should I wait to get the 8700 from t-mobile when they release it sometime in Feburary or should I just go with the 7290? I don't want to do any unlocking.

What would be some benifits for waiting for the 8700? Any really good features?

I would like to use the BB as a modem on my laptop, and I read that the 8700 should support the faster EDGE network from t-mobile. Is this true?

Please help me decide..

[NJBlackBerry]

If you are willing to wait for T-Mobile to release the 8700, then wait. There are several major differences between the 7290 (which I had) and the 8700 (which I now use):

- EDGE, which is working perfectly on T-Mobile's network
- Double the memory (8700 has 64MB)
- OS v4.1 (but that will be out sooner or later for the 7290)

I do not use my 8700 as a modem since I have an EVDO card...

[BitNetMonkey]

I agree, defo wait for the newer 8700 if you can. With the major updates, including speakerphone and screen lighting, plus now having an Intel chip, I would wait.

I know that cingular is going to charge 59.99 (at least my company) extra a month to tether the BB to the Laptop for data usage. So you would have your voice plan, bb plan, plus the data plan. Not sure how tmo is going to handle that.

[NJBlackBerry]

Oops - missed that one, too.

- New Intel processor; this BlackBerry feels MUCH faster than other ones I've had. And I've had them all.

[likefre]

EDGE, speakerphone...2 reasons i updated from 7290

[mbrunton]

Thanks for the input. I'm going to wait for t-mobile to release it.

[mbrunton]

Do you know if it will be around $350 from t-mobile? Will this have to be under a contract?

[nb_mitch]

I would assume it would be near the $350 ($300 after rebate) price that Cingular currently has, in fact they might be lower as they will be competiting then. The "no contract" price is generally $200+ more or so.