I warn you now, a rant is coming.
Why for the love of all cool gadgets in the world can’t Verizon come out with a next gen BlackBerry no less than a year or so after everyone else has it? I will give them half a pass on the BlackBerry 7130e but I really shouldn’t because the 7100 came over a year before the 7130 did.
The period of exclusivity is over on the 8700. Why is everyone but Verizon coming out with an 8700. We are about to get into the summer and RIM is going to start announcing new devices and I swear that if a cameraberry comes out and Verizon doesn’t decide to carry it for 18 months after everyone else, I will just get a Treo or something.
I know what you mean. My guess is they pride themselved with being a big, stable, network. Maybe they want everyone else to go through the headaches first and then they adopt when the bugs are worked out.
I still think its wrong becuase while other people get cool phones we are stuck with them a year after,then weeks later cingular brings out the next big thing and your verizon device will be old..
I feel your pain.
Left Verizon for Cingular years ago. Coverage isn’t as good but at least they get a new phone every century or so.
Considered going back to Verizon but when they didn’t bring out the new blackberry decided to forget it.
And their reps know NOTHING, including at the main number. They are truly clueless.
The problem that I have is that I am on a corporate sponsored plan with Verizon.
Another question I have is why is it only Blackberry devices that they take forever to come out with?
They are always seem to be first to market with Palm devices and I hear they will be the first to over the Moto Q.
I notice the same pattern.
It’s not like Verizon is slow to the market with other devices. As Robb mentions, consider the Treo 700w and the soon to be released Q. So it seems that VZW has their act together with regards to the other manufactures.
I think some of it comes down to RIM; they seem to emphasize their GMS units over their CDMA units. This is logical; there is more of a worldwide market for GSM units.
As to why Palm and Motorola give Verizon such favor: I think that has to do with the fact that Verizon, using CDMA, has already rolled out their nationwide 3G EVDO service, whereas Cingular has not. Palm and Moto know their new smartphones really shine using a 3G network. RIM probably doesn’t care as much about that, given their emphasis on text-based email, which doesn’t require as much bandwidth.
I absolutely feel your pain, and had an opportunity to ask the same question a while back when they were dragging their feet on the Treo 650. KennethX is correct–Verizon does extensive testing on all devices that will be used on their network, and they do not bring them to market until they are 100% ready. That’s why you don’t see a lot of “cool” phones offered by them.
In the long run, it’s why their network beats all others, hands down.
My experience with Verizon has been nothing less than outstanding from a customer service standpoint. Their prices are higher, but in the end, you get what you pay for. I’m guessing we’ll see a EvDO 8700 in Q3 of this year, so keep your fingers crossed. The wait will be worth it.
Verizon doesn’t test well enough. The 7130 has problems holding an EVDO signal. I find it interesting that my wifes 7250 has a rock solid EVDO signal and my 7130 drops down to 1X. I am running the latest software.
Also, I have received three class action settlement notifications in the mail within the last year or so regarding phones they have released that had something wrong with them.
Their timing of phone releases comes down to $$$
Everyone seems to be missing the mark here. It is the lag time in CDMA hardware development that delays the release of new devices, BlackBerry or otherwise on the Verizon network. Verizon released the 7130 shortly after RIM developed it. I can guartantee that it will be the same story with an 87xx CDMA BlackBerry; as soon as RIM releases it, the CDMA carriers will be pushing it out there.
The preference for hardware manufacturers to deploy GSM devices first is simply a response to the global market share. Right now there are more GSM users than CDMA users. As the global prevalence of CDMA networks increases we will see better and better time to market on CDMA devices. Until then we can only console ourselves with the understanding that when the CDMA 87xx is released it will, at least for a short time, be the fastest, most feature-rich, BlackBerry out there.
I have a 7750. It has 12 mbs of memory, barely enough to hold my 1200 name contact list which makes it slow as molasses. Verizon wants me to buy the 7250 which is an improvement at 32 mbs, but the 8700 has 64 mbs. When I asked RIM when Verizon was going to get it they told me “we are public company so we can’t tell you.” When I asked Verizon, I got a similar story. A month ago, our Verizon rep told me it would be available “in a couple of months.” If it isn’t, I’m paying the cancelation fee and moving to Cingular.
The CDMA 8700 series BlackBerry is in alpha testing now with RIM/Verizon. ETA release is end of July, early August.
Totally understand the limited BlackBerry frustration. I’ve been a Verizon customer for more than two years now, travel a lot on business, and need to stay on top of a much higher volume of e-mail than I used to. Unfortunately, my company has been incredibly faithful Lotus Notes, and my I.S. tells me my only option is to go with a BlackBerry device vs. cool, new phones like the Motorola Q. And since almost everyone I talk to seems to be on Verizon, it does save me money to stick with them. But I’m really dissappointed that the 7130e is the most advanced BlackBerry they currently offer!
Please get with the times Verizon!
END of JULY!!! Anytime now Verizon.