For some reason, and I think I noticed it back when I had the initial verizon os on my 8130 and now have the alltel version, when i have my 8130 plugged in and receive either email or sms messages, i do not get any message indicator. is this by design? it's a bit annoying since i may not look at my phone if i don't see the message light blinking.

That is strange, I have not heard of that before. There is not a "charging" profile which would silence the alerts during charging.

How are you charging, via wall outlet or USB. And does it matter if you charge either way?

that's interesting. i haven't charged it using usb, so i don't know if that would make a difference. i will give that a try. i have been using a "verizon" branded ac adapter because i misplaced my original manufacture one. that was all verizon had on hand and they said that it fits almost all bb models. although, even when i had the original adaptor i am almost certain that i wouldn't get notifications when it was plugged into the wall.
would being in standby mode/lock mode have anything to do with it? it's just one of those annoying things that you try and figure out what the deal is.

I received alerts when connected via USB on Alltel...I charge each night via the wall plug charger that came w/the Pearl.

Yep same here, when charging via USB or wall outlet. There's no difference compared to when not charging.

I wonder if the user is in silent mode and doesn;t know it. Or if they are charging in the holster and the in-holster settings are silent?

On my old 8830 as well as this new 8130 device I believe mine is the same.

The led will flash when I have a message when it's plugged in but if it sits there for too long without being looked at, it will stop blinking.

When it's plugged in at night, I usually wake up with a couple emails or sms and there is no flashing red led indicator. Not too bad.

too tired to edit my poor grammar it's late sorry ^