Guys, I've just bought a 7100v in the UK and am wonderng whether or not I should have gone for the 7730 or the 7290.

Which one of the 2 is the best and do they both have bluetooth?

As much as I would be largely using the phone part of the device, I prefer the look of the 7730 with its bigger screen.

Can you offer some of your expertise to clear this one up please?

Thanks!!

7730 is about 2 or 3 years old. 7290 is about 1 year old.

7730 is tri-band running on all European networks and just the 1900 US network
7290 is quad-band world phone.

7290 has 32mb ram, bluetooth and an enhanced electroluminescent screen with 2 power settings

7730 has a large screen 16mb ram, no bluetooth and the old backlit screen.

7290 uses standard USB cables and connectors. (USB based chargers from other phones have been known to work.)

7730 has a proprietary connector used for charging and docking

7290 has a "blackberry modem" in it which has a capability of being used to do a dialup connection over your phone. (Note this is not easy to do in my experience and also depends on your carrier)

7730 can't do this.

7290 can do a sync over bluetooth when OS 4.1 comes out when used with Blackberry Desktop 4.1 (requires BT adaptor in the laptop/desktop)

7290 can use the RIM wireless smart card for high security situations.

WOW - that is as complete an answer as I could have hoped for! Thanks for that!

Just to add... In the UK I don't know if you would want anything other than a 7100 or a 72XX. So for me the 7730 is out of the question, do they really still sell it? The 7100 and the 7290 both have 32megs of RAM which is going to be a key issue for future software releases as RIM will soon discontinue software updates for 8meg/16meg devices.

Both the 7100 and the 7290 can be used as an IP modem, but this is very subjective to the carrier. I can setup either on Rogers in 2 minutes. Once you get the steps down, it's fairly trivial.

I personally carry a 7290 right now because it is well proven and IMO more durable then the 7100. I have heard that the 7100 has a nicer screen, but I am more than happy with the screen on the 7290.

I am not sure of the difference in processor's between the 7290 and the 7100, but my 7290 is loaded with apps and is definately tight on processing time, as I often lag the handheld for several seconds. Maybe the 7100 has a better processor, I have never really paid attention.

The bluetooth implementation between the 2 devices is pretty much identical. The support for the card reader, which I seriously doubt many people will ever use is at an OS level, so both devices will support it, if you really care for it.

cd.