BlackBerry 8700c hits stores November 25th

Looks like our man Russ over at BBHub called it — after a brief delay, the BlackBerry 8700c is headed to stores this Friday. Yes, you heard that right — Black Friday. Eh, whatev, it's their cellphone, they can launch it how they please. So 8700 fans, your countdown until friday begins… now!

[Hal B. Sure @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Does anyone else find the concept of being a "fan" of a cellphone a bit odd?

[michael sorbara @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

or the fact that its treated like a big release such as the 360 i see 8700 fans lining u at 8 am for the midnight release of it.

[Thought @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Actually, this makes great sense...any company wants its premier products in the stores the weekend after Thanksgiving, which is one of the busiest shopping times of the year.

Sure, one of the main markets for the BB is business, and of course businesses don't purchase based on the Holiday shopping traditions.

But BB has earned such a great reputation that many consumers are buying it on their own, for either or both their personal and business use.

And yes, the BB does have a fan following...just check out internet sites like the above mentioned BBHub.

There's no downside in having it in the store by Black Friday, only a potential upside.

If Cingular were smart, they'd have had some of their other highly anticipated new phones like the new RAZR, the SLVR, the SE w600i, etc, by Black Friday.

[Todd @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Well, I got mine already. Delivered via FedEx today, Wednesday 11/23. I pre-ordered via Cingular/ATT NBS last Thursday. Great screen, fast browsing via EDGE, keyboard will take a week to get used to after 3 years of previous BB's. I'm a fan cuz this thing saves me lots of time and doesn't keep locked into my office or up at midnight connected via VPN to stay on top of things. If only we could get Jonathan Ive to design the next one and put a Mac interface on it....hmmm.

[mattloaf1 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

i work at a cingular store, and we got a huge shipment of phones in today but not the 8700c. if it does come on friday it will be in the middle of the day as we are not open thursday.

[Joe @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I work at Cingular and we got 2 of these today. We also got our Samsung PTT phones in the other day, and we got our w600's too. Anyways, the 8700's look nice, not much different than the 7290 as far as I can tell so far, but if I had to choose any BB, this would be it. good times.

[wErSa @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

forget the new BB 8700c... im waiting for the release of the cingular branded HTC Wizard (8125). do i think its coming out anytime next month, HOPEFULLY!

@the cingular guys:
WHEN YOU GUYS GETTING MY 8125!?!? anytime this week, month, or year?

[Blackberry 8700c - Soon? @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I am expecting this one to be among the hottest Blackberries we have seen. I also think a lot of people will buy them even if they work for themselves.

[Daniel @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I have heard many people I know talking about the new BlackBerry, and all want to buy one. Saying that not all will. Some will wait and wait for a newer better model, I prefer to get whats good now than wait another year.

[gary conrad @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

why is the folks at cingular seem to know less about this phone than anyone else on the planet? And sadly in the Dallas Fort Worth area Cingular has the worst coverage of ALL of the carriers, so I will have to wait months and months til Sprint starts selling it.

[Marc @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I picked up my 8700 yesterday (11/23) at a Cingular store in Manhattan. 28 days prior I had entered the same store to pick up the HP ipaq 6515. After using the BB 8700 for 24 hours I can say that this is a superior device by far. Better user interface than Windows Mobile, better screen, better phone (both UI, signal reception and sound as well as others hearing me), better email (which is expected), better keyboard, more comfortable to hold in your hand and against your ear. I could go on. Please check out this device. I have used many, many devices. This intuitive device has the hardware and software to make it the best on the market. Now excuse me while I take a hammer to my Windows Mobile iPaq.

[badonkadonk @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Gary,
Sprint runs CDMA/EVDO, not GSM/EDGE, and AFAIK RIM hasn't mentioned any 8700 device that supports EVDO. They just released the 7130 with Verizon, more than a year after they released the 7100 series for GSM...

As for the 8700, it's the cat's pajamas next to the 7290... much faster performance and better capabilities... the dedicated phone / convenience keys they pulled over from the 7100 model are a welcome addition.

[Robb Dunewood (RIMarkable) @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I have looked for the BlackBerry 8700c in 4 Best Buy stores and 2 Cingular stores and still haven't been able to turn one up.

[MP$40 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Got mine on 11/25/05. There were only 5 delivered to the Cingular store and 2 employees got one and I was the first customer to buy one. I LOVE IT!!! I'm still learning shortcuts, etc. but this phone is exactly what I wanted. I am struggling with being able to download mp3 ring tones but that's not a big worry. I am really impressed with this device. The screen and graphics are so CLEAR!