Is it just me or is typing on the 7130e or any of the 7100 series hard? I liked how the 7250 was so easy to tough type on, but the 7130e is multiple letters per key, kaing it difficult to get the right letter every timg.

Lol, isn't that a given? I too prefer to 7250/7750/6750 style blackberries.. but heck, the 7130 is so much cooler.. stylish and full featured, i didn't care.. had to get it. i'm a heavy email/sms user, but i made the sacrifice. the only thing is, i'm more comfortable with double-tap rather than using the SureType. I'm reading alot of users like using the SureType, but i personally find it very annoying.. i guess once i'm comfortable with everything else, i'll force myself to get to know SureType, until then, i have that turned off.

how do I turn it off? That would be wonderful!!

I am finding Suretype on the 7130e much more difficult than anticipated. Sometimes I do well, sometimes it's awful. Aside from the keyboard I love the 7130e. I'm considering changing to the 7250. What would be the downside given that they both do EVDO and modem tethering and bluetooth? The speaker phone on the 7130e is great. How is it on the 7250?
Thanks

The 7250 had no speaker phone, the teathering ability is carrier dependant, I see you may be with Verizon, so youll have a hard time teathering, and the 7250's EVDO is also again Carrier dependant.

Dont get me wrong, I liked the 7250, but I am a mobile business man. I run an online business, and also work a realy really full time (Im in the Canadian Army) job. So I need the ability to have internet access for my laptop at all times.

I am 99% pleased with the 7130e as well, I too just need to get used to the suretype.

I actually and VERY comfortable with SureType and I was a lightning fast typist on my 7750. Hmmm - almost forgot which model I had!!!

In fact, what I'm now noticing is my lack of capitalization when starting new sentences since the BB does it for you automagically.

I think sure type is alot better. There was 2 things I had to learn

--Dont look at the screen until you are done typing the word

--And slang is tuff for the BB but you can add those the list and it will then pick it up

After using this style could never go back to the 7250 you would be heavily downgrading

Slang is what really kills me on the 7100 series. That, and the words "are" and "see". Other than that, after a day or two of being on the keyboard, I fly pretty well.

is there away to lock it to the alt key so that if you are typing in a lot of numbers you do not have to type two keys for each number?

you can hold the alt key down and type the numbers

I was afraid of suretype at first, but now I am twice as fast as the old QWERTY keyboard. The buttons are much closer and there are fewer to reach for, making it very quick for me to type.

used to be able to lock it in num/cap mode by using shift+ right caps. but don't think that's available on the 7130e.. or at least, i haven't found it yet.

Hotwire - to turn off suretype, simply access anywhere where you type text and click on the wheel and choose "multitap". you can switch back 'n forth to see which one you're comfortable with. coming from a full keyboard, i find i'm more comfortable with the multitap at the moment.. will tackle the suretype later on.

my beef with this unit so far is that the ringtones on it are way too low.. even with speaker phone, it's too low? i mean, my friend has a Motorola Razr V3 and it's louder than my 7130e!! much louder. so what the hey.. it's suppose to have M3 rating.

I thought that all the M-rating on phones meant it caused less RF interferance with hearing aides, improving the usability?

Wirelessly posted (BB 7250: BlackBerry7130e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/109)

I have found that sure type is working great if I follow the first piece of advice given to me. Don't look at the screen untill you are done typing. I just wrote this with my 7130e in about 30 seconds! So I guess I may have jumped the gun on this one. But it was all good advice for anyone having trouble! Thanks again

"how do I turn it off? That would be wonderful!!"

The fastest way to switch between SureType and Double Tap is to press and hold the * key (to the left of 0 / space). Just don't hold it too long or you'll have to clear the dialog box that tells you this is the way to switch modes.

I too am doing MUCH better now with SureType. I was ready to throw in the towel a couple of days ago. 3 key concepts have helped me immensely, the first being the most important:
1. Do not make any keystroke mistakes. Once you hit a single wrong key you are absolutely guaranteed to get garbage for that word. Spend the extra time and effort to hit only the correct key every time and immediately correct mistakes when they do happen.
2. Toggle between Suretype and multitap by holding down the "next" key just to the left of the "space" key. It's also possible to toggle to multitap and not realize it, when intending to select words from the list in SureType, and then nothing seems to work correctly.
3. In certain specific fields, like when entering passwords, and when entering "difficult" words, switch immediately to multitap for data entry.

Hope this helps. My accuracy has gone up to about 99%, and my speed is pretty good. Now if my hands will just stop cramping from the tiny keyboard .

awesome, thanks for the tips. i'm still a faithful multitap user at the current moment.. but i'm hearing good praises for SureType.. so i will give that a shot soon. I've only had this thing for 8 days :P but i already managed to lose my Motorola H500 headset :(

Multitap is the way to go. I switched to it quickly and it did take a little bit of time to get used to it, but when I successfully sent an error free email yesterday after getting off a redeye flight, I decided that mastery of multitap has been earned. It's just easier and faster, but maybe that's just me.

Maybe I just use too many "complex" words.

The thing about "complex words" is that SureType learns them after you muddle thru them the first time. Unfortunately, that puts an upfront-curve that you have to work through, but after that, it rocks.

I agree, so far alot of the big ones that I use and website names are becoming more and more apperent now. I dont have to look up, as I tend to do. It 99% of the time gets it right.