BlackBerry 8703e
Average Ratings
Blackberry at its finest
First, I am giving this phone a 4.5 because I believe that no product is perfect. But the 8703e is about as good as it gets for a phone / messaging client.
Pros:
- Build quality.
- Screen resolution and display.
- Keyboard layout.
- Call quality and reception. Just as good as the Motorola Razr.
- Blackberry operating software - boy, is it stable (compared to the Motorola Q)
Cons:
- None that I can think of right now.
If you are looking at a Motorola Q, then get the 8703e. You will be sorely disappointed with the Q. RIM has a winner on their hands, and the 8703 is the perfect update to the 7250.
8703e
Great 8703e berry, but coming form the 7250 were i had an extended battery i find that the battery life on the 8703e is really bad! It's even worst when you use it with a bluetooth ear piece.
I can't believe I'm the only one seeing this. I'm looking forward to having somebody come out with a heavier battery.
Very solid phone, but for me, not the right phone...
I had this phone for about 4 weeks...Previous to this I had always had the top of the line, a few smartphones, high end non-smartphones etc.
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT:
If you have no pre-concieved notions of what a "smartphone" should be, how one works etc and you just want your calendar, email and contacts on a reliable cell phone then this IS THE phone for you.
If however you are aware of what other smartphones can do and those "extras" interest you, then this is probably not the phone for you.
For me, I went back to a Treo700W - Yes it locks up, yes it crashes - yes; it has issues. But for me, I greatly preferred the "today" screen, the way it displayed/searched contacts, calendar items etc. The fact that I could type into search "portland oregon costco", hit return and the first thing that popped up on the screen next was the address and phone number for Costco in Portland (or any other business for that matter).
My main gripes about the 8703e were:
SCROLLWHEEL! Give me a touch screen instead any day of the week! Man! My thumb was killing me after the first week!!!
No "today" like screen. To get to your calendar, navigate the menu system, to get to your contacts --> navigate the menu system...to get to dial a number via name....That's right! navigate the menu system. On the 700W it's intuitive, if you start typing in a phone number it just dials the number you typed in. If you start typing a name, it pulls it up from your contacts etc...8703e doesn't work that way.
Where the 8703e does excel and the reason I am giving it a 4 is as a phone and a PDA it is ROCK SOLID - IT JUST WORKS! ALWAYS!
It's a GREAT phone and it does contain your calendar, contacts, email etc...it's just getting to it, back and forth between them, etc that's a pain on the BB 8703e...
I loved it's ability to just work, but in the end I preferred the way the 700W works over the way the 8703e works so much so that I am content dealing with the lockups on the 700w.
Blackberry 8703e
This phone will not yet sync to mac. Having just taken delivery of my 8703e for Verizon, it does not appear to be supported by either RIM, Verizon or Pocket Mac. None of them will take responsibility for the device not syncing to a mac! Stay away Mac users until this issue is resolved!
Documentation is a problem.
I was a Palm and a Verizon phone user and the Blackberry 8703e seemed perfect for me. It has not gone well.
Setup problems: The Verizon salesman said âWhen you get home, put the CD into your computer and that will take care of everything.â Completely not true. Ditto for the Verizon âGetting Started Guideâ and âQuick Reference Guide.â It took two support calls to Verizon to set up the phone and email.
Has anyone from Verizon marketing has ever taken a Blackberry 8703e off the shelf and given it a trial run? Not likely.
The BB is a highly evolved and sophisticated device, but the documentation is terrible. âShortcutsâ are an essential concept for using the Blackberry but this is not properly explained anywhere. It would be nice to see a map of the Blackberryâs many menus and shortcuts but you wonât find one. (Iâll bet thereâs one tacked to the wall in RIM engineering.)
Thereâs much info available on user forums with many people struggling with the same issues. Many people share their secrets but this is no substitute for solid engineering and documentation. If you have the time and desire to dig, you can find stuff.
I am sending and receiving phone calls and emails, but the learning curve has consumed way too much of my time. The BB still does quirky things â perhaps not because itâs faulty, but maybe I havenât yet discovered some shortcut that I accidentally invoked to produce the quirk. (i.e., The âKâ key activates something odd, how do I find out about that? And, What is that shortcut for getting to my voicemail?)
Data Migration: Also, Iâve also had big trouble moving my Palm database to the BB. Before buying, Verizon, Blackberry and Intellisync assured me that this was doable. They were wrong. My 700 contacts did transfer, but my calendar with 3.5 years of data did not. Iâve now worked with BB support for a month with much repetition without success. Intellisync just doesnât work the way BB says it will.
