New BB user - trouble getting to home screen

[deltaskye]

First time using BB, received a 7130e yesterday, VZW is provider. Played around with it yesterday. Went to turn it on this morning and cannot get past Verizon's red "hello" screen -- the first thing that appears when you turn on the BB. Tried rolling trackball, pushing Escape key, entering a phone number on keypad, turning BB on and off a couple times, turning on and off using PC power as well as battery...cannot get past the VZW screen. Oh, and Notification LED light is blinking and blinked all night even though I turned off the BB. Screen stays illuminated for about one minute, then goes to black until I bring it up again. I tried calling from another phone and was sent immediately to voice mail, which I assume means the phone is not turned ON even though I have the VWZ screen.

What am I doing wrong?

[NewBee Wins]

Wirelessly posted (7100I: BlackBerry7100i/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/103)

You didn't mention whether you tried a hard reset. If not, remove the battery for about 30 seconds & then replace it. Keep everyone posted on your progress.

[deltaskye]

Thanks so much...that took care of the problem.

Another question, which may be related (sorry, I've never owned a PDA before, just an LG cell phone user). I'm wondering if I have a defective device, or if I'm not not used to how a BB works differently from a cell phone.

When I turn the device off, using Power button or trackball, I see the VZW screen, then the screen goes black.

When I turn the device back on, it instantly displays the options screen (with the icons), then goes black after about a minute. Shouldn't I see the VZW screen first? I'm used to a cell phone showing the wireless carrier's "hello" screen, and the device taking longer to power up.

The reason I ask is I'm wondering whether I'm really turning the device off. I see the VZW screen when I power off, but not when I power on.