[cp-Mike]

Man, I'm glad I saw this thread. I was about to pull the trigger on a used 8700, but now I think I'll have to buy one from t-mobile in case I need to return it.

Is there anybody who has experience with cingular or t-mobile in So Cal (LA) that can comment on the voice quality (or lack thereof)?

Also, is there a consensus that a background-noise-canceling headset makes the voice quality acceptable in noisy places?

[mgerbasio]

nosidam, if you think the 8700c is bad try the 7290! The earpiece volume is so low you may as well not even bring it to the city.
I tried the bluetooth headset and have a collection, basically, I think they all suck when used with the blackberry. The Gennum noise cancelling is good but can't pass the Times Square test where the voice quality just takes a dive. The hbh-300, getting it to connect and stay connected throughout the day for me is an adventure I didn't need to deal with. I think it is a waste of money to go with anything without a boom in NYC, too much background sound. You may want to go to www.howardforums.com and look up Mr. Wiskers who can give you instructions or make you, what he calls, an AX Pro that has received excellent reviews. I think www.barjohn.com has a review of it.
I gave up on bluetooth and decided to go with the wired ety-com by etymotic and it works great. No problem with hearing or speaking, noise cancelling is very good.
Back to the naked BB, I use mine in midtown two - three times a week and don't receive that many complaints. I'm running the baharti os version so that may make a difference. As others have said it may be the phone too. Search this board for the batarti upgrade, the instructions are terrific. If that don't work, try another phone.

Regards-Michael G.

[mgerbasio]

Originally Posted by cp-Mike

Also, is there a consensus that a background-noise-canceling headset makes the voice quality acceptable in noisy places?

check www.barjohn.com he has a review of a several different headsets. As I mentioned in my last post, I had no luck with any of the bluetooth headsets killing enough of the background noise in NYC on the street and loud enough in my ear. The ety-com does an excellent job if you can deal with the cable. I've had conversations on my phone in the car where people thought I was home and I had to unplug the headset to prove I was in the car. Now that's good.
The killer is the wind, you'll need to add a windscreen (piece of foam for the mic) they send you with the headset if you use it outside.

Regards-Michael G.

[takeshi]

Exchanging devices and using a headset are pretty much it for the moment unless you want to do some tinkering with the device. If you don't want to go Bluetooth (try the Voyager 510), the ety.com is a very good wired headset.

Originally Posted by nosidam

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. BT is really not convenient when you want to have a one minute conversation about where someone is. It takes longer to get the headset out, attached to the ear, turned on and paired than it does to have the actual conversation. And besides, is it too much to expect the built-in phone to work well?

Surely using a headset is faster than repeating the conversation over and over and over again. ;) Why are you pairing the headset each time you use it? Pairing (and setting the headset to trusted) should be a one-time operation. My headset takes a coule of seconds to turn on and slip over my ear so I don't understand why it takes you so long... I personally don't have the same problems with my 8700c but if I did I'd probably just use my BT headset all the time.

[nosidam]

Originally Posted by takeshi

Surely using a headset is faster than repeating the conversation over and over and over again. ;) Why are you pairing the headset each time you use it? Pairing (and setting the headset to trusted) should be a one-time operation. My headset takes a coule of seconds to turn on and slip over my ear so I don't understand why it takes you so long... I personally don't have the same problems with my 8700c but if I did I'd probably just use my BT headset all the time.

I didn't mean pairing it each time, I just meant turning it on and waiting the 10 seconds for it to connect to the BB.

I have the Plantronics 510 and I love it. It works just fine on the street with very little sound issues. Because it's in-the-ear it's loud enough for me to hear it, and there are very few times that the other party complains. I mainly use the BT when I know that I'm going to be in a long conversation, and want to have use of both hands.

I guess my problem is that most of the time, my phone calls are relatively short and unexpected. I don't want to wear the BT all the time for various reasons (don't like the feeling of anything on/in my ear for extended periods of time, look like a borg, etc.), plus it's one more thing to carry around/recharge, etc., but of course, now that I am carrying a separate RAZR for phone, that argument is out the window.

I'll give the exchange unit a try, but with 20+ 8700c/g's all exhibiting the same thing, I'm not hopeful.

[nosidam]

Originally Posted by jdjleo

Just my 2 cents...

But i have ZERO problems with my BB phone or reception!

And i EXPECTED to get lousy reception and sound quality compared to my w600i!

However this was not the case! i was very pleasantly surprised! Maybe i am the minority in this case, just putting my experience out there!

Wanna trade?

[ragin cajun]

Suggestion. I have never opened up my bb but for those who have is there any foam or covering over the mic? Without this there will be a lot of wind and background noise picked up. I may try and open mine and take a look. I used to have a LG that was bad with wind noise until I slapped a spiderman bandaid over the mic. My son thought it was cool but people on the other end noticed the difference.

[infernox]

My phone works great. No issues here.

[r0guenj]

Wirelessly posted (8700c: BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

I agree. At least on cingular it does.....it is a combination of them forcing users to use the amr-hr codec.

That's why I am going back to a phone and bb. At least with my moto razr I can seem edit to force it to amr-fr although it will suck to carry 2 devices again.

[Workingmen]

Does the ety.com wired headset plug directly into the 8700 or does it need an adaptor?

[mgerbasio]

Originally Posted by Workingmen

Does the ety.com wired headset plug directly into the 8700 or does it need an adaptor?

Plugs directly into the BB. It also comes with an adapter to plug into a PC.

Regards-Michael G.

[Workingmen]

Thanks. It appears that to get great sound quality, speaking and hearing, will require this wired headset. Too many widely varying experiences with the bluetooth head sets for now. Maybe the Mini Blue will come out someday with the bone condution path for talking to eliminate background noise. We can only hope!

[wclyffe]

Originally Posted by cp-Mike

Man, I'm glad I saw this thread. I was about to pull the trigger on a used 8700, but now I think I'll have to buy one from t-mobile in case I need to return it.

Is there anybody who has experience with cingular or t-mobile in So Cal (LA) that can comment on the voice quality (or lack thereof)?

Also, is there a consensus that a background-noise-canceling headset makes the voice quality acceptable in noisy places?

I have had an 8700g from T-Mobile for about a month and I have had no such problem. I have heard other friends on the Cingular network here (Los Angeles) complain about this noise problem, but I'm not sure if their problem is the phone, or the network. I switched over from Sprint and was using a Samsung SPH-i500 for years....it was clear and clean in virtually every situation no matter how noisy. I tested my 8700g against it and they were really about the same with maybe the Samsung edging out the 8700g in the noisiest of places...but really not much difference at all. You might want to pay attention to how you hold the phone when talking...simply holding it and slightly using your hand cupped around it as a shield makes all the difference. I also use a Jabra JX-10 in the car...fantastic.

[coreys]

Now granted, I don't yet have BB so take this with a grain of salt but...

Am I the only one that has thought of the fact that the likely reason that the BB mic is so sensitive is so that the speakerphone works well (in the intended environment eg. boardrooms)?

All the reviews I've read have mentioned that the 8700's speakerphone is amazing, that people couldn't tell they were using speakerphone. Likely, the only way they could have achieved that performance was by tweaking the gain on the mic, trading off performance in loud places in exchange.

just my $.02

[barjohn]

I thought I would add my 2 cents to this thread. When i originally tested the 8700 it seemed to have some noise cancelling ability; however, it seems to have gotten worse over time. I don't know if this is due to the newer software revisions actually worsening the mic amplification and A to D conversion or because of other factors. All I know is that in a noisy environment my wife won't talk to me if I am using it because she says she can't understand a word I am saying. I have been testing and usig the Moto Q and there is no comparison. No complaints from her yet. I will be traveling next week so that will be a really good test. As phones RIM still doesn't have it. I wish they did.

[bigdaadio]

Originally Posted by KonTiki

I understand and sympathize with your problem and limitation, however facts are facts, cellular phones and pdas dont do well outside in traffic in noise in wind.

----------------

I have to disagree-
Call me on my i-730 whilst I'm in my car, ill crank the music to an almost intolerable level (for most people) and you will hear nearly every word,I say, NO problem.(And not be able to tell what song is on)

Call me on my 8700 and you'll ask me to turn down the radio. When you are used to using equip that works well, you tend to find fault with inferior units. Like I've said before, if you want business quality voice communications, save some room on your belt, or pocket, for a real phone-
Ymmv,

[bigdaadio]

Originally Posted by coreys

...... BB mic is so sensitive is so that the speakerphone works well (in the intended environment eg. boardrooms)?----snip

-

-
You may be right there, if that's the case, rim should have had the mic "padded" down when not on speaker, that's the issue, needs some attenuation- preferably electronically.This can and should be addressed in a later software version.

[jusgreat]

I have tried two 8700C's and both are terrible as voice phones in noisy environments. I have talked to several people about this issue and it seems that it's a well know and on-going issue.

People who have not noticed it are either using a headset, using it in a quiet environment, or the other party they are speaking too just hasn't complained yet.

I used CDMA phones from Sprint for years and thought it was just the lower audio quality of Cigular / GSM / GRPS / EDGE but I also have a Razor that does much better in identical environments.

I really hate to carry a BB and a Phone but apparently this is the only solution. Does anyone have any experience with the new phone form factor blackberrys that came out at the same time as the 8700?

[infernox]

Weird. I have used my BB from Cingular and never had a problem with people telling me about the loud environment problem with/without a headset.

[halogen]

I am super sensitive to sound, it is a major part of my work.
To truncate this..
The best sounding in MY ear ( no additional devices ) was hands down the MDA from Tmobile. Unfortunately this phone has serious flaws in its design, but it has the best audio for me, the user, in MY ear.

By far the worst was my ( EX ) Razor. I couldn't wait to return it. The sound was muffled so the high end of the audio was nearly entirely lost. I doubted my hearing till i switched to other phones.
It is not just background noise issues, it is also sibilance, you must hear the higher end of the audio, else you will only hear mumbling. The BB is a little weak in this area, though tolerable; not so with the Razor, at least my former model.

Because the BB 8700 is a little weak in the audio clarity and background noise areas. I just plugged the earpiece in and it improved it much, both background noise and high end clarity return.

To say Moto Razor over the BB 8700 though, contradicts my experience. Razor is a stylish camera!

However:
Walking around a big city with earpieces/ walkman's etc, does not smack of street smarts IMO!!
thanx
"halogen"

"I luv my BB 8700g"