[PeekPoke]

I have never owned a Blackberry before and I'm now torn in purchasing either 7230 and 7100t on T-Mobile, USA. (I can't wait for 7290 in 2005.)

Can folks who have used both comment on the following?

1. Signal reception. Is one better than the other, in holding signals (both voice and data)? I'm located in a relatively weak T-Mo coverage (SF Bay Area, Calif), so any advantage is desirable. Since 7100t additionally supports the 850 MHz band, it might have an advantage.

2. Screen resolution. 7100t is 240x260. 7230 is 240x160. Does that mean that the amount of data presented on the screen (say, an email message text) on one horizontal row is the same? And that the font letters on 7100t appear smaller due to the slightly smaller physical screen size?

3. Speed/responsiveness. I have read that some folks noticed a significant delay in app launch, web browsing and some menu navigation with the 7100t as compared to the 72xx. Some noted that using the default theme reduces the icon animation and helps to improve the response. Has anyone determined if indeed that the actual CPU for 7100t is slower than 7230? Is it a physical limitation on the 7100t or software? If the latter, what's the likelihood that it gets improved with the upcoming 4.0 OS?

4. SureType on 7100t. Can it be toggled off and otherwise configured so that perhaps pressing the "1/ER" key twice would yield "R", instead of having it guess the complete word? This would be very useful in entering URLs and partial/non-English words.

5. Web surfing. Just how practical is surfing normal web pages, as opposed to wap or other handheld-optimized websites, in both the display rendering accuracy and the speed? Is any one device better than the other? Roughly, how many seconds does it take to fully render the mostly-text blackberryforums homepage? How about the graphics-rich cnet.com?

A few notes on my needs:
1. Phone first, email second.
2. Speakerphone ideal.
3. Bluetooth not used.
4. Prefer the 7100t shape than 7230.

Right now I'm leaning towards the 7100t overall, but I welcome your inputs. Thanks in advance.

[KendallParis]

Well, I don't, nor have I ever had a 7230, but I can answer #4. The SureType can be turned off. However, the SureType doesn't make typing URLs difficult. Not at all.

Also, I think that the web surfing is just fine on the 7100t. I'm actually rather impressed with how quite a few sites look on it. Not to mention, there are tips to navigate the pages, that are truly magnificent once you know what they are.

[buckZor]

In our organization 7100t is smashing the 7230, everyone is wanting one having played with/tried the limited number of 7100t's that we have. The 7230s will only remain with the VERY gadget challenged of our company. I could respond to each point, having been a 7230 user now using a 7100t but you'll find threads on each of these points already hammering out the differences. For me, the 7100t kicks the snot out of the 7230. I missed the full keyboard the first day, from there on I've been in 7100t bliss.

I do anticipate a firmware update for the 7100 though to shore up some annoyances, but those don't come close to making me want to go back to the blue brick of death.

[Skive]

Personally, I still prefer the 72xx form factor since i use email more than the phone, but for your needs you'd be mad not to go for a 7100.

[Inphektion]

#3 is definitley something I've noticed but I don't think it is any kind of limitation. I think they need to come out with some new handheld software to fix a lot of the little quirks/bugs, etc. of this device. Similiar to my thoughts on the 7230 before a few iterations of handheld code came out for that.