Give the 9700 a try. Having owned the 9000, I am happy with my decision to upgrade to the 9700. Is the 9700 the greatest leap forward? No. Could the browser be better? Yes. These improvements all take time and will show up in the next iteration of the Bold. In the meantime, there are enough improvements such as the trackpad and OS 5.0 that make it worthwhile.
It really didn't take that long to get used to the smaller keyboard... but when I went back and picked up my old 9000, the difference seemed HUGE. I guess it's all about perspective
After using my 9000 for a year I thought that RIM couldn't top themselves...well, I was wrong. Needless to say, the 9700 is the best phone I've ever used and is DEFINITELY worth the upgrade.
It's really a 8900 curve with a little better keyboard, 3G and a trackpad.
Compared to a Bold? Most magazines said the Curve 8900 was a better device even though it lacked 3G when compared to the 9000 Bold (the Bold 9000 sucked batteries and was kinda big with an average screen).
NOW, the 9700 uses pretty much the 8900 body, EXACT same screen, better keyboard, sorta merge the curve/bold keyboard, BATTERY life is the same as the Curves (miles better life than the 9000...Bold 9000 is a battery hog) and the trackpad on the 9700 is really cool! Doesn't get stuck or dirty!
The 9700 is really only a bold in name. It's a much better device. It's like comparing the Tour to the 9700. I don't know why they used the Bold name on this one. It's better...much better than the 9000.