bb 9700 and 9780 both are very good phones..... here where i live now (uk) , BB has become a very imp part of my life.... i get all my uni. emails on my phone and also am able to talk to all my friends for free on bb messenger (uk , pakistan , america doesnt matter) . and the battery life is excellent as well.
if u dont need bb service, then as a phone i think u should get n8.... because of the multimedia benefits... but if the above services are imp to u , then BB has no replacment 
