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Review: BlackBerry Bold 9700

Form Basics Extras Video Wrap-Up Comments 76

BlackBerry's overall menu architecture hasn't changed much over the years, though it sure looks a lot nicer. The 9700 is one of the first devices to ship with the 5.0 system software from RIM. Out of the box, there are six app shortcuts running along the bottom of the screen. These can be changed up by the end user. Press the BlackBerry key to get at the main menu from the home screen. All of the apps, folders and settings controls are in this main page. Again, everything on this screen can be moved around and lumped into / retrieved from folders as the user wants. Users can also choose to hide unwanted or unused applications.

The icons on the main screen and some of the sub-folders are nice, but once you dig down deep into the menus, the 9700 resorts to simple text lists on a black background. This has been unchanged forever and looks more dated with each new BlackBerry.

Within any given application on the 9700, the BlackBerry button is the main way to take action, make changes or adjust settings. No matter what it is that you need to do in an application, the BlackBerry key is the way to do it. Having this default method system wide makes it easy to learn.

Overall, the 9700 is very responsive. There's no lag when using the optical mouse and navigating around menus. All of the applications that are pre-loaded from RIM and T-Mobile jumped to life with no delay.

Next page: Calls/Contacts

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BlackBerry Bold 9700

2.4" display 480 x 360 pixels
1,500 mAh battery
Memory Card Slot, Hardware Text Keyboard, Headphone Jack (3.5mm)

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