I just upgraded my BlackBerry to an 8800. This thing is Awesome, notice the capital A! It has the “pearl” (bka a trackball) and I was a little nervous about getting it. That pearl caught my eye immediately as I’ve never been much of a fan of the side wheel. Not only because of the pearl, but also because it was AT&T. I’d had bad experiences with them in the past and I was reluctant on returning. The allure of a new device is intoxicating! The 8700 had served me well so I took a leap of faith and upgraded.

Right out of the box, this is a thing of beauty. I couldn’t keep my hands off of it while it was being charged. It was late so I didn’t maul it too much. Just skimmed the manuals, themselves geared towards new BlackBerry folks, not for old pros like me.

The next day, I put the device through it paces and it responded very well to all the challenges. It was early so I played with the GPS while stuck in traffic. Pretty cool! Activated the 30 day trial of TeleNav and enjoyed route status (ETA and distance) while slowly cruising around. I also downloaded BlackBerry Maps and Google Maps. Both applications are nice, both GPS enabled (which was new for me!) On the 8700, both work but it doesn’t have GPS so I wasn’t aware of it.

In the late afternoon, I discovered my first and gripe with the device. I work many days in underground. After I returned to the surface, the cell network was available almost immediately. GPS signal was low for almost 20 minutes. This low signal strength could be caused by downtown Atlanta but I doubt it. I think the GPS goes low power after no contact for awhile and just takes time to ramp back up. Its frustrating to say the least but the GPS value outweighs that, just be ready for it.

Last gripe is the case. The 8700 case was like a mother bear protecting her cub. No fears at all about dropping it. The 8700 case on the other hand leaves a lot of the shiny edges exposed to damage (the 8300 Curve’s case is also badly designed). Putting the screen to the back of case solves some of the fears I had, but this case is poorly designed. Including the belt clip that sticks up far and if you happen to lean over where it is, it will poke you.

All in all however, best BlackBerry I’ve ever owned or used! Buy a better case, and it rocks!