7130e - First Impressions

[jwhite4304]

To those of you lucky enough to have your new 7130e's how about some feedback on the unit - likes, dislikes, first impressions?

Thanks and waiting.

Jimbo

[ilguy]

(I also posted on howardforums)
I'm trying a 7130e as a possible replacement for my Nextel 7100i.

here are my observations after two days (I'm in the Chicago market):

1) From time to time, I've noticed the signal changes to 1X instead of 1XEV. If I turn the radio on and off again, it will come up as 1XEV. Apparently, when it gets in a poor signal area, it has trouble reverting back to the EV mode by itself.

2) On one occasion, the unit said "data connection refused" at the top - until I turned the radio off and on.

3) When I pair the unit with my Plantronics 510 bluetooth headset, the 7130 reboots itself about 40% of the time.

4) Battery life and voice quality is better than the 7100i.

5) The screen and plastic on the front look like they will scratch easily - time will tell.

6) The thumbwheel appears to be more "in-set" than some other blackberries I've used. It seems like my thumb is rubbing the case more than turning the wheel.

[joshkerr]

I've had mines for about a day now. The screen quality is excellent. The speed of the data functions is really quick. Ent. Activation was fast, downloading web sites is fast, and sending emails is quick.

The default verizon theme is nice, but I don't like that its hard to make out email status. (Unread, sent, etc..) If you've used a 7100 before, you'll really feel comfortable with this phone.

I'd say overall that its a nice upgrade to the 7100 line.

[SHoe]

i have just run jbenchmark on a bell 7130. although it is not as fast as the 8700 is (a lot of the big-deal of the 8700 is about it's fast new 300 mhz xscale cpu) - the 7130 is definitely the next fastest Blackberry. With JBecnhmark 2.0, the 7130 scores 38. That is 4-5 points higher then the old champ, the 7250. However: I am doing develpment work on the berry and i can tell you that although the 8700 is being heralded as a new class of berry that will make new things possible that old berries can't do - the 7130 is in an 'in between class' of device because you are able to do somethings the others could not . The benchmark doesn't tell the whole story: in my own code test i am getting GREAT results. Remember: jbenchmark runs as a midlet. although Blackberry runs generic java / j2me midlets - it also has it's own optimized java APIs that jbenchmark does not test. That is where i am seeing REALLY good performance - MUCH MUCH better than the 7250 and other Blackberries.

[jumanji]

Has anyone played with ringtones? I am unable to access or download .adp files with my 7130. I get an http 406 error. The documention that I have for the 7130, while sparse, says the device can playback midi or mp3 ringtones. I can play midi tones but not .adps.

[KonTiki]

If the documentation does not include adps why do you expect them to work?

Look what a search brought up:

http://www.blackberryforums.com/showthread.php?p=125833#post125833

[zippy1901]

Can anyone tell me how the 7130e screen is in the sunlight? Does it get washed out like the first generation of 7100's. Thanks for your help.

[krad]

If the documentation does not include adps why do you expect them to work?

Look what a search brought up:

http://www.blackberryforums.com/showthread.php?p=125833#post125833

what's up with the nasty comments?

[wangta01]

what's up with the nasty comments?

Haha

*Sniff*Sniff* - Friend, Friend!

[jhferry]

I dont see the big speed difference with EVDO, only on the mobile web sites. Regular ones, especially ones with scripts take forever to load.

[jumanji]

what's up with the nasty comments?

I don't get it either, especially since the thread he posted does absolutely nothing to answer my question.

[jumanji]

Can anyone tell me how the 7130e screen is in the sunlight? Does it get washed out like the first generation of 7100's. Thanks for your help.

I used my 7130 on Wednesday outdoors in pretty bright sun. It seemed to work ok. Not great, but certainly useable. There seems to be two levels of backlight, bright and really bright. The bright level seemed rather washed out but the really bright level was usable. I have never used a 7100 but i have nothing negative to say about the 7130's screen....in fact i am quite impressed with the screen.

[Dilseachd]

The screen is great, equivalent to the 7100i and 7105t.
I have had similar issues with bluetooth and the device rebooting.
My company requires passwords and I find that when I take the device out of the case the password field is sometimes hung so that I have to hit escape and then enter my password.
The tethered modem speed is very useful especially when in EVDO coverage.
As opposed to the previous post I like the feel of the change in thumbwheel.
I would have liked to see the speakerphone button on top of the device per the 7100i but the "." works just as well.
Two configurable buttons are great.
The Verizon theme is similar to the 7100 Vodafone theme and doesn't fit compared to any previous BB theme, It's confusing and has a higher learning curve than other themes.

[ceebz]

I don't get it either, especially since the thread he posted does absolutely nothing to answer my question.


Yeah, there seems to be quite a few jackasses here, who do nothing but look for posts in which to scream, "SEARCH!". http://justinmg.home.comcast.net/forums/gsindifferent.gif

[texasag90]

Yeah, there seems to be quite a few jackasses here, who do nothing but look for posts in which to scream, "SEARCH!". http://justinmg.home.comcast.net/forums/gsindifferent.gif

For the record -- if you search for "jackass" three threads are returned.

:smile:

[wangta01]

Just got my phone now, I'm a little surprised - its a bit thicker then my 7100t. Its kind of bulky in my opinion. I thought it would be streamlined a little more.

Just my first impressions - having some problems activating!

[wangta01]

Strange - My 7130e is up and running, but my old tmobile phone still has cell and data service (i'm getting emails on my old phone still). So, since I had the two up and working, I did a data speed test by loading ebay. Thus far, I'm not that impressed with the EVDO speed - it loaded only a couple seconds faster then my GPRS 7100T. Am I doing something wrong here?

Is there a site where I can check the different speeds?

[codyman]

Try this, it is designed for mobile devices:

http://www.broadbandreports.com/mspeed?jisok=1

Please post your comparison results for all of us to see.

Steve

[wangta01]

Crap, just tried it on the 7100t, said:

If this page remains, then your browser does not fully support javascript, and we cannot tes tyour speed accurately.

Any other suggestions?

[SDCromer]

Does the escape key on the side of the 7130 end phone calls like on the 7250? This is one of my biggest dislikes about the 7250. I often hang up on callers by unintentionally pushing the escape button.

[jumanji]

Does the escape key on the side of the 7130 end phone calls like on the 7250? This is one of my biggest dislikes about the 7250. I often hang up on callers by unintentionally pushing the escape button.

No. It asks if you want to exit the phone screen and return to the main menu but it keeps the call connected.

[jumanji]

Has anyone else with a 7130 keep getting the "Do you want to run the tutorial" message once or twice a day?

[wangta01]

I said "yes" the first time it popped up, then exited out, and haven't seen it since.

[bostonberry]

Can a 7130e receive a call while its receiving email (or browsing the web, etc.)?

I have a Treo 600 on Verizon, and calls go straight to voicemail when it's doing a "wireless sync" (which is a lot). I can't find anything in the 7130e documention which answers the question. I don't really care if the data connection is disrupted or not, just that the phone rings and I stop missing calls! I'm pretty much sold on the 7130e, but this would be a clincher. Thanks for all the first impressions.

[wangta01]

Alright, had the afternoon to monkey around with the phone. Its got a great screen and almost identical to my 7100t (and every other blackberry i'm guessing) in terms of functionality. Haven't tried out the speaker phone yet. Made a couple calls to some friends - they noted that I sounded much clearer than on my 7100t. So thats a good note.

One thing that I'm still a little unsure about is the whole EVDO hype. I remain passively impressed with the speed of the browser. It seems to be a bit faster then GPRS was on my 7100T, but not so much as to knock my socks off. It takes a good 20 secs to load ebay, which was a hair faster then the time it took the 7100t to do the same.

Anybody else sharing the same thoughts?

[havaloc]

I posted this very question to howardforums, and here's the thread (http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=769378).

The answer is that if it's connecting via EVDO, then this is no longer a problem, but over the regular 1X network, it will behave the same way.

Can a 7130e receive a call while its receiving email (or browsing the web, etc.)?

I have a Treo 600 on Verizon, and calls go straight to voicemail when it's doing a "wireless sync" (which is a lot).

[bostonberry]

I just found similar comments that this is true for other EV-DO phones as well. That's good news, thanks.

[sfingold]

When using the verizon theme does your battery indicator get cut off and there is no banner saying verizon wireless as in the picture. It as if they mad the date to big. Any idea?

[wangta01]

When using the verizon theme does your battery indicator get cut off and there is no banner saying verizon wireless as in the picture. It as if they mad the date to big. Any idea?
Yep, mine was the same way. I hated the default theme anyway and changed it to one of the other themes. But yes, I distinctly remember the battery indicator being cut off.

[meowcat]

I just got one from my work (yay!) and it is awesome.

The screen is awesome, the battery life is pretty good, and it is pretty fast. I has not crashed on me. I am using BES through my company. I have VZW.

I love this phone. I would buy one if I hadn't gotten it free through work.

My only complaint is that the scroll wheel and "escape" button are a little tight and my hand hurts when i use them a lot, but it could be worse and they could be loose and flaky and nonresponsive, so I should really stop complaining.

[003402]

I have had mine about a month now from VZW. Pretty pleased with it overall. After working out some initial kinks (i.e. forgot to change a setting in my account that gave me a "data connection refused"), it has been working great. I don't have the reboot problems that others have noted on the bluetooth. I use an HS850. I have it in a verizon leather holster that has a flap on top. Protects it pretty well. After about 50 or so drops with my 7750, I was concerned about the durability of this one. Definitely feels less rugged. As for the thumbwheel, I like the feel of it, but the stiffness took some getting used to.

One think I don't like is the lack of a cradle. I liked being able to just drop it in to charge, but it looks like cradles are trending toward a thing of the past.

The part I like the most is that it is more the size of a phone. My old one was way too big and caught on everything from airline seats to car seats, etc. I can't tell you how many times I almost lost it because it had hooked on something. much of that is the holder and not the BB, but it was bulky.

Loving my 7130e!

[jtendler]

I have been using a 7130e w/Verizon for about 1 month now - AND I LOVE IT! There are so many cool things that you can load on - Messenger / Google Maps / Berry411 / EReaders for Books, and so on.

When it comes to ringtones - I bought a program called MiniRingTone (can't remember the exact name - don't use it here at work). You take your own mp3 files / edit the section you want / automatically upload them to the manufacturer's server under your own login and then download them via BB browser - easy to get custom ring tones -

Jaime T.
PIN#3011566a

[gill]

i'm new...i like it...better than a simple pda...

[ALinBC]

7130e on Bell Mobility in Canada -rocket speed combined with SureType is a winning combo.

[kbdrand]

I have had mine about a month now from VZW. Pretty pleased with it overall. After working out some initial kinks (i.e. forgot to change a setting in my account that gave me a "data connection refused"), it has been working great.

Do you remember what you changed to get rid of the "data connection refused"?

I seem to get those a lot. I'm trying to upgrade to the latest firmware to see if that helps but right now I have to physically remove the battery and replace it to get those to go away.

[rohardi]

Upgrading to the new OS should help with the datta refused issue. It took care of it for me.