[richard371]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

Yea seems like barjohn has the best equipment and the battery with super stamina. I'm jelous. Anyway I have a couple hardly noticable dust particles I can see under bright light but it does not bother me as long as I don't get more. I looked at the sides of the screen under bright sunlight and there are those black foamy seals in place between the screen and lcd. Maybe these things were assembled in a saw mill rather then clean room. I can't complain because mine was free from rim but I just don't won't these things to get a bad rap because they are awesome for the most part.

[barjohn]

I noticed they were made in China so maybe the plant isn't up to U.S. spcifications yet. By the way, on my last trip with heavy useage, lots of email and an extra long day due to the time difference I did drop down to 50%, the lowest I have seen on my super battery. The day before also on heavy useage while traveling, including one long speakerphone conference call I dropped to 75%. No dust specs yet.

[Seattle18]

Originally Posted by jontalotta

seattle18, If these things were free, I might agree. But, they're not (for most people). I have a 7100g, carry it in my pocket, and have never seen a speck of dust under the screen. I would be angry if I did. Its not hard to seal the screen area, and I paid good money for it. Its like buying an expensive car and having the doors sealed so poorly you can't hear yourself think while driving down the highway. The 8700 is RIM's flagship device. I bet RIM will take note of these complaints and later-produced 8700s will not have this problem.

I understand, I just feel that dust specs in an area that causes no problems and can only be seen under direct light when NOT in use is a very minor issue, but that's just me. And to be honest, if I found a dust particle tomorrow (now that this thread has me looking!!!), I might be inclined to seek replacement!

[luckiweeman]

I just checked my unit wih full brightness on Screen and have not seen any dust particles. I don't have any separation on any part of the unit so I really can't see where dust might make its way under the screen.

[likefre]

Originally Posted by barjohn

I noticed they were made in China so maybe the plant isn't up to U.S. spcifications yet. By the way, on my last trip with heavy useage, lots of email and an extra long day due to the time difference I did drop down to 50%, the lowest I have seen on my super battery. The day before also on heavy useage while traveling, including one long speakerphone conference call I dropped to 75%. No dust specs yet.

ok, in order to "break-in" the battery on my replacement 8700, i fully charged the battery overnight, after doing this i wanted to "drain" my battery to the point it would not let me turn on wireless so i decided to enable bluetooth and configured my pl 510 and decided to call my secondary line(which is cingular so i would not be charged for the call). I kept my secondary line plug in the elec outlet so it wouldn't give up on me. Results, the call was drop by the 8700 for lack of battery to keep wireless on after 5h 08 minutes (with the bluetooth which last about 6 hrs after being fully charged) so does this mean i got a"super" battery too? Plus no signs of dust as of yet..

[pavirginia]

Originally Posted by seattle18

I'm not trying to start trouble, but here are my personal thoughts. Unless you are using this device in a vacuum. there will be dust. Not necessarily under the screen cover, but certainly particles will be all over the top of the screen cover. And unless you use a clean wipe every 3-5 seconds you will not be rid of it - ever. Further, I imagine each of these complaints is finding the dust with the screen OFF, which is a little perplexing to me. Who cares? If you see tiny dust particles under your screen with the device off, I just don't get it, that's a bit nit-picky. On the other hand, if you can see imperfections while the screen is ON and in use, then you have a gripe. But tiny bits of dust under the screen when in OFF mode, get over it. Sounds like my kid complaining about a scrathc on his new skateboard, let's get realistic.

Having paid $450 for this unit I do expect a clean and clear screen. The dust particles are large, trapped under the screen and are visible on and off. This is something that could have been prevented and when I spend this much money on a device, I feel entitled to be a bit 'picky'.

[djp24]

I want to clean the dust off the screen. I have the appropriate tools to open the case, but I'm unsure about how to pull apart from the sides or top? The bottom comes up, but I don't want to crack anything. Can anyone advise how to totally remove the back? Thanks.

[richard371]

China? Mine is made in Canada. If I had dust under the face of my Submariner I would go crazy but I can deal with it on the free BB.

[barjohn]

My mistake. I looked at the documents that come with my free unit and there was a list of all of the components in the package and then a list of products made in China in the customs declaration papers. I missed that it was only the Auto Charger, Holster, leather box, headset and min USB cable that were made in China. The handset is made in Canada. My MISTAKE.

[mike_187]

mine has been used for over a month now and no dust under the screen.

[stevew]

Have mine just 4 days now...dust is there under the screen...

[jnelson2000]

An official statement from RIM, "After speaking with product management on this, we would recommend that you exchange these devices through Cingular."

[mqlq76]

jnelson2000: where did you get this information? i brought my first 8700C for a new replacement because of dust and the one they gave me - brand new has already dust in them :( i dont want to keep returning them because it gets quite annoying to be inputting numbers all over again.

[ctdw]

I have had mine a week, and just noticed two specs of dust under the screen this morning.

[jnelson2000]

The source is definately coming from the 2 phone buttons and user defined button just below the screen. I put my mouth over the buttons and blew hot air and the LCD immediately fogged up. This is NOT GOOD!

haven't tried the keyboard, but I would have to assume that if the 3 buttons did it then the keyboard would as well. There appears to be NO protection between the keyboard, send and end buttons and the LCD.

[richard371]

If you look in bright sun light you can see there are seals in place if you look through the display towards the keys etc. I don't know why they are not working well.

[Boy Genius]

I mean guys...RELAX. How long have you been going CRAZY over the launch of this device and now you tear it apart in 17,000 different ways trying to find it's faults...Look at the positives of the device, and then compare to the negatives...your flipping out over dust, either take it apart, or return it. End of story stop going crazy. Everytime I check on BBF all I see is this nonsense. If there is a problem try to fix it, or return it. Stop complaining about the build-quality, the rubber seals, the keyboard. If you don't like it switch back to your 7290 or 7100. Or switch to Palm or Windows Mobile. Happy now?

[MegaBit]

Originally Posted by boygenius

I mean guys...RELAX. How long have you been going CRAZY over the launch of this device and now you tear it apart in 17,000 different ways trying to find it's faults...Look at the positives of the device, and then compare to the negatives...your flipping out over dust, either take it apart, or return it. End of story stop going crazy. Everytime I check on BBF all I see is this nonsense. If there is a problem try to fix it, or return it. Stop complaining about the build-quality, the rubber seals, the keyboard. If you don't like it switch back to your 7290 or 7100. Or switch to Palm or Windows Mobile. Happy now?

On one hand, you're right. Some issues being reported are overly critical. On the other hand, this is a lesson learned in the handheld electronics industry and probably should not exist on a flagship device like the 8700. It is a problem that does not go away and will in fact collect more dirt and get worse over time with normal use so, yes, this is a real problem.

I really hope the RIM design improvement team has jumped all over this and is preparing a fix.

I remember the Motorola V600 that had a crack in the top due to a poorly designed hinge- on a $600+ unit when it came out. A few months later there was a rubber gasket installed that stopped the problem.

[Boy Genius]

I agree with your opinion, I really do...They should have taken a step forward not a step back as other people put it, but this is what you have...take it or leave it is my opinion...are you that crazy that your going to return a device because there is a tiny bit of dust in the screen? That outweighs the speed of the device, formfactor, web browsing, color screen, etc? Don't make sense in my opinion (By the way that was not directed at you in anyway, just a general comment)

[barjohn]

BG & Megabit, you are both right. I will be on a conference call with RIM folks tomorrow and I will bring this issue up and see if they are aware of it and any thoughts they have or would like passed on.