[Raptor464]

Ordered the parts from Truesupplier. Took about 2 weeks for the parts to arrive. I had to manually attach the bezel and top cover together by melting little plastic tabs. And there is a slight gap near the keyboard between the bezel and the housing, but I can work that with some heat. Here are some pics:

[eLogikal]

That looks dope! How much were the parts? Was it hard to do?

[Raptor464]

Here it is with my Blacked out Bold 9000. It really isn't that difficult to do. If you can manage a plastic pry tool, a torx screwdriver, and a soldering iron, you are good to go. Parts and shipping were not too expensive. $25 max including shipping from Hong Kong.

[netghoster]

I am sorry. What does "black out a blackberry" mean?

[Raptor464]

It means I removed the chrome bezel that come stock and replaced it with a black one. Giving it an "all black appearance".

Prior to blacking either of them:
See attached photo

[Raptor464]

[johnling]

I like it!!!!!!

[rdef]

Originally Posted by netghoster

I am sorry. What does "black out a blackberry" mean?

You can't be serious.

[BallHawk3]

I take it, it isn't OEM parts?

Thought about doing this...but the chrome on the 9700 is starting to grow on me. It's darker than the 8900 and the bezel is thinner.

The soldering your mentioning makes me nervous though. I'm anal when it comes to "perfection."

[Raptor464]

Originally Posted by BallHawk3

I take it, it isn't OEM parts?

Thought about doing this...but the chrome on the 9700 is starting to grow on me. It's darker than the 8900 and the bezel is thinner.

The soldering your mentioning makes me nervous though. I'm anal when it comes to "perfection."

No, the parts are not OEM, they are aftermarket..but they do fit together nicely. Not as tight in some places like the OEM bezel, but I can live with it.

Soldering wasn't a problem, all I had to do was melt a few plastic tabs in order to attach the bezel to the top cover.

Truesupplier does sell some pre-attached versions, but I chose to go the cheaper route because I figured that I could handle attaching the pieces myself.

[SmoothOperator]

I just replaced my bezel. The device looks very sexy with a matte black bezel. However, I was dumb to have first bought only the bezel only from eBay ($10), and I tried to reattach the original top plate. (The top plate must be removed to transfer a few foam pads to the new bezel.) No way in hell did that work, because you basically have to pry it off forcefully, and both the old bezel and top plate would be useless; the old bezel would be bent at some points where the old top plate was soldered on, and the original top plate would have the eight plastic tabs broken off, so there is no way to reattach it to your replacement bezel. I had to order the new top plate from eBay for $10 plus shipping, and I had to wait nearly three weeks to finally get it and resume the changeout procedure. I would say that I spent about $25 and regret not buying both the bezel and top plate together because once you pry off the old top plate there is no way to recycle it other than perhaps applying superglue, which may cause problems if too much is used.

Here is the tutorial on how to replace the bezel and top plate, compliments of Crackberry.

[Berry_Gurl]

Does anyone have this problem? I purchased the black matte top cover off of ebay and after just a week of light use, the white "Blackberry" logo paint (right above the screen) is coming off. I can probably take my nails and just scratch the rest off. Do all the matte top covers do this?

[Raptor464]

Mine didn't have that problem. The only issue I had was that my matte black top cover started cracking because I press the lock button quite frequently.

[eugenedabeast]

not sure if i like the 9700, the 9000 looks rediculous though, great work