Need to stay connected while you’re on the go? Get the BlackBerry® 8700c smartphone. Email, phone, web browser and text messaging keep you in touch — wherever you are. And the thin, lightweight design — with a full QWERTY keyboard — lets you do it all in style.
| Size: | 4.3 x 2.7 x 0.77 inches (LxWxD) |
| Weight: | 4.7 oz. |
| Display: | Font size (user selectable), Color display, Backlighting, Light sensing screen |
The RIM BlackBerry 8700c offers best-of-breed design, combining everything we love about the traditional BlackBerry form factor with the best aspects of the newer BlackBerry 7100 series. From the 7100 series, the 8700c takes a similar compact (4.3 by 2.7 by 0.7 inches; 4.7 ounces) and sleek look that won’t weigh you down or cramp your style. The blue-gray and black coloring is attractive, and more important, the smart phone feels good in your hands–solid and easy to use one-handed. On the 7100 series, we weren’t fond of the modified keyboard, which is why we’re thrilled that RIM brought back the full QWERTY keyboard by making the 8700c slightly wider than both the BlackBerry 7100g and the BlackBerry 7100t. Although the 35 buttons are fairly well spaced, those with larger digits may have some problems, especially if they’re used to the roomier keyboards of past BlackBerrys. That said, the squarish and tactile keys are raised above the phone’s surface for easy typing and provide a satisfying click once pressed.
The 8700c does not have a touch screen; the familiar BlackBerry scroll-wheel-and-back-button interface remains. The device has been enhanced, though, by the introduction of a new programmable button on the left side, along with dedicated phone pickup and hang-up buttons.As an e-mail device, the BlackBerry still reigns supreme. Push e-mail is as smooth as ever, and the new EDGE modem (more than twice as fast as previous GPRS models) makes text e-mails seem to arrive instantaneously. RIM told us the Version 4.03 of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, the latest release, will support viewing of Microsoft PowerPoint attachments, though we did not test this for ourselves.
The Class 10 EDGE modem makes Web browsing faster than on previous BlackBerrys. The built-in BlackBerry browser still mangles tables and chokes on some JavaScript (forget about booking flights through Expedia or Travelocity) but most pages, including those of CNN and PCMag.com, are readable.We did see that Microsoft Excel attachments now show in a spreadsheet format rather than as plain text. You can also zoom in on JPEG attachments, viewing sections of high-resolution pictures at full quality. The only thing the 8700c is missing is BlackBerry’s new integration with Yahoo! Mail, which for the moment is available on T-Mobile 7105 models only. If your company happens to be running Version 4.03 of the Blackberry Enterprise Server JPEG attachments will now appear inline in the middle of messages (this feature has not yet appeared on Internet-based Cingular accounts though).
Specifications:
Navigation: QWERTY (Keyboard), Thumb-operated trackwheel, Keyboard backlighting
User Interface: Intuitive icons and menus
Memory: 64 MB flash memory
Microprocessor: No
Modem: Embedded RIM® wireless modem
Email Integrations:
- Works with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for Microsoft® Exchange
- Works with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for IBM® Lotus® Domino®
- Works with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for Novell® GroupWise®
- Integrates with an existing enterprise email account
- Integrates with existing personal email account
- Integrates with optional new device account
Device Security:
- Password protection and keyboard lock
- Support for AES or Triple DES encryption when integrated with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server
- FIPS 140-2 Validated (FIPS validation)
- Optional support for S/MIME
Network:
- North America: 850 MHz GSM/GPRS networks
- North America: 1900MHz GSM®/GPRS networks
- Europe/Asia Pacific: 1800MHz GSM/GPRS networks
- Europe/Asia Pacific: 900MHz GSM/GPRS networks
- EDGE networks
