The word from Cingular spokesman John Kampfe was that “the 8700c BlackBerry will start selling at it’s U.S. stores and consumer electronics retailer Best Buy starting Friday.” Over the last two days I have been to 4 Best Buys and 2 Cingular stores and no one has the BlackBerry 8700c.
As far as the Best Buys go, only one person at one store has even heard of the 8700c but didn’t know when they would get it in stock. One Cingular store sales person told me that should have it any day and the second store I went to didn’t even know that the 8700 has been released. In all fairness to Cingular, the second store I went to was one of those little kiosks in the mall and I really didn’t expect the person working there to have a clue as to when the 8700c would be available in the store. I doubt that the kiosk would ever carry a BlackBerry as they are priced out of the impulse buy range that those little mall kiosks rely on.
So, I am just wondering, has anyone seen or even bought a BlackBerry 8700c in or from a Cingular Store or Best Buy? It seems kind of like the cat the eats out of my garbage can at night. I know that it is out there, I just can’t find it.
I purchased an 8700 at a Cingular store in Mnahattan on Tuesday 11/23. I think they had 6 in stock. It is a remarkable device. The best I have ever used. I can almost describe it as flawless. The screen brilliant, crisp, clear and bright. The phone reception very good and sound better than my previous phones which releived my wife who said she could never hear me well. The user interface is so simple and intuitive it reminds me of when I first switched to OS X from Windows. My previous phones were a RAZR, HP ipaq6515, Sony p900, Audiovox 5600 and all pale in comparison. This device will have many many people switching to Cingular if they have an exclusive. As a matter of fact I shoed the device to my friend and fellow BB user last eveing and he could not believe the responsiveness. It must be the new Intel chip. It is lightning fast. I would recommend this device without hesiation to every user. It blows away the 6515 in every department.
I haven’t seen the 8700 from Cingular, but I have seen the version from Rogers Wireless (in Canada), and I must say it looks great! Great design, clean interface, responsive etc… When you do find it in stores (you could check the Cingular site), you’ll be very impressed!
I guess you checked the wrong stores. I am located in Louisiana and had them on Tuesday. I was the first in LA and TX
I checked 3 Best Buy stores in Central Ohio, and 1in Northeast Ohio. The Cingular stores that I checked were both in Central Ohio.
I purchaed one yesterday at a local Cingular in Largo, FL. They only recently received 2, no other local stores had seen one. They sold it to me even though the manager had not put into inventory yet. It’s awesome. Great screen and processing/connectivity speed.
FYI, Cingular in Overland Park, Kansas, had 4; I bought 1.
There are many 8700s on sale at ebay. I am not sure if they are legitimate.
They were giving them away at the AMA’s last Tuesday in LA. I actually got 4 brand new in the box for free. to be honest I just got really lucky. The new device is great. from the feel to the layout to the amazing screen to the speed, also a few minor software adjustments (like the way you select an address to compose an email or how u can change the theme of the screen and icons)…its pretty hot. But I must warn u to be careful. thay are very delicate compared to the 7290. after having for 2 days, mine fell out of the holster while i was getting out of the car…fell about 2 feet to the ground and the screen broke badly. that same fall must have happened 100 times with my 7290 and it never even blinked. Lucky i got 4, because i’m already on #2.