[fyrfytr704]

Good day all. I picked up a 7130c from my local Cingular store tonight to try for 30 days just to see what the hype is about. Fist off, this may be wordy, so if cliffs are needed, someone might do it, but im going to spell it out the long way.

I am coming from a Sony Ericsson S710a to this 7130c, so bear that in mind.

First Impression:
Phone is slim and doesnt have that calculator look. The screen is just right in any light as far as i have tested it. In the hand feel is nowhere near as plesant as a "normal" phone, but much more friendly than the 8700. The keypad is slightly confusing at first glance since the symbols on some of the keys are very small. The keys for number dialing are half silver (which illumniates) and half black (which does not illuminate). The keys feel notchy when pressed and the sure type is very good, however the keypad being radically different than my S710a really keeps me from being anywhere near quick at typing with this phone. The lack of speed for me is a result of lack of time and i fully admit that, but plan to have to put some time and effort into getting up to speed with this phone if you are used to a fully qwerty or even a standard numberpad. In my opinion the scroll wheel on this particular phone feels very notchy as well, but that may just be an issue thats unique to the one i have in my hand.

Reception:
Cellular reception is very good, by far exceeding my expectations. I would say that it is slightly better than my S710a. I have had no issues with Edge or GPRS not working in any area, or even with a low signal.

Voice Quality:
Actually using this phone as a phone is a pleasure. Again, the feel is much less calculator, and actually very comfortable in the hand. Voice clarity on this phone is outstanding and i have recieved no complaints whatsoever as to my voice quality by the people on the other end of my call, nor would i have any complaints on the listening end. The speaker phone works perfectly, in true blackberry fashion, and on top of that the handset volume is actually loud!!!!

Web Browsing:
Personally i found the web browser to leave a whole lot to be desired. Java can be a problem in some cases (even with it enabled) and may sites that tried did not load in a fashion that was at all easy to read without scrolling on the thumbwheel many many times (this may be because of the lost width of the 8700's screen). SUREtype makes it tough to enter addresses that do not have names that contain "normal" words, which took away from the whole experience.

Email:
The deal is the same here as with any blackberry for the most part.....AWESOME, if thats what you are using it for all of the time. Again, SUREtype really took away from my liking in this too.

Address Book:
I know that overall this is a very small portion of the phone, but it is one that gets used very heavily in my day. I found the address book to be fairly poor at best. Adding contacts and editing was not very user friendly compared to other phones i have used. The look and thumbwheel dependancy of the phonebook really turned me off of this phone, but i will not go so far as to say that it is not complete. The 7130 phone book has plenty of space for almost ANY information you may want to have around for just about any contact. (If you want birthdays, use the calendar) Also, the saved phone book on my SIM would not copy to the blackberry, and editing it was nearly impossible because the format was different.

Summary:
I believe that it has been said many times before....if you are looking for a phone that will get your email....this is it. In my opinion it is far too thumbwheel intensive and not particularly suited to those who need to have a device for business use in which they email frequently or need to do any kind of web browsing other than the occasional check on news and weather. SUREtype didnt fit me very well, for the fact that the keypad is much more confusing that both a QWERTY and the normal style of numering (this can be overcome with some time and practice...who knows, some may love it right away). Using this device as a phone is fantastic, and that is a point that i would defend very strongly. I personally am going to bring this phone back tomorrow and give the 8125 a try. Blackberry made another great product, this one is just not for me.


I will be sure to keep you all posted on my dealings with the 8125 when i get my hands on it.

-Cheers!

[joec]

I switched from the 8700c because I wanted to pocket carry a smaller device.

Compared with the 8700c, the 7130c is a pleasure to carry and handle.

It comes up a little short on displaying web sites because of the smaller screen and lower resolution. ( On radar maps for example I can read the names of cities on the 8700c where they are unreadable on the 7130c)

The phone functions and perfromance are outstanding. Audio performance beats 8700 hands down.

My biggest complaint and the reason for most likely switching back to the 8700c is the small keys. The lettering is very small and difficult to read in poor lighting. If you have young eyes, this may not be a problem. If RIM had maintained the key size and lettering of the 7100i, I would have been very pleased with this phone in spite of some of the compromises.

I agree with the previous post in that if you do a lot of typing and emails, stick with the outstanding 8700c and put up with the form factor..

[Khue]

Where is the SIM card for this device? I checked under the battery and i dont see it there.

[tmj]

Originally Posted by fyrfytr704

Good day all. I picked up a 7130c from my local Cingular store tonight to try for 30 days just to see what the hype is about. Fist off, this may be wordy, so if cliffs are needed, someone might do it, but im going to spell it out the long way.

I am coming from a Sony Ericsson S710a to this 7130c, so bear that in mind.

First Impression:
Phone is slim and doesnt have that calculator look. The screen is just right in any light as far as i have tested it. In the hand feel is nowhere near as plesant as a "normal" phone, but much more friendly than the 8700. The keypad is slightly confusing at first glance since the symbols on some of the keys are very small. The keys for number dialing are half silver (which illumniates) and half black (which does not illuminate). The keys feel notchy when pressed and the sure type is very good, however the keypad being radically different than my S710a really keeps me from being anywhere near quick at typing with this phone. The lack of speed for me is a result of lack of time and i fully admit that, but plan to have to put some time and effort into getting up to speed with this phone if you are used to a fully qwerty or even a standard numberpad. In my opinion the scroll wheel on this particular phone feels very notchy as well, but that may just be an issue thats unique to the one i have in my hand.

Reception:
Cellular reception is very good, by far exceeding my expectations. I would say that it is slightly better than my S710a. I have had no issues with Edge or GPRS not working in any area, or even with a low signal.

Voice Quality:
Actually using this phone as a phone is a pleasure. Again, the feel is much less calculator, and actually very comfortable in the hand. Voice clarity on this phone is outstanding and i have recieved no complaints whatsoever as to my voice quality by the people on the other end of my call, nor would i have any complaints on the listening end. The speaker phone works perfectly, in true blackberry fashion, and on top of that the handset volume is actually loud!!!!

Web Browsing:
Personally i found the web browser to leave a whole lot to be desired. Java can be a problem in some cases (even with it enabled) and may sites that tried did not load in a fashion that was at all easy to read without scrolling on the thumbwheel many many times (this may be because of the lost width of the 8700's screen). SUREtype makes it tough to enter addresses that do not have names that contain "normal" words, which took away from the whole experience.

Email:
The deal is the same here as with any blackberry for the most part.....AWESOME, if thats what you are using it for all of the time. Again, SUREtype really took away from my liking in this too.

Address Book:
I know that overall this is a very small portion of the phone, but it is one that gets used very heavily in my day. I found the address book to be fairly poor at best. Adding contacts and editing was not very user friendly compared to other phones i have used. The look and thumbwheel dependancy of the phonebook really turned me off of this phone, but i will not go so far as to say that it is not complete. The 7130 phone book has plenty of space for almost ANY information you may want to have around for just about any contact. (If you want birthdays, use the calendar) Also, the saved phone book on my SIM would not copy to the blackberry, and editing it was nearly impossible because the format was different.

Summary:
I believe that it has been said many times before....if you are looking for a phone that will get your email....this is it. In my opinion it is far too thumbwheel intensive and not particularly suited to those who need to have a device for business use in which they email frequently or need to do any kind of web browsing other than the occasional check on news and weather. SUREtype didnt fit me very well, for the fact that the keypad is much more confusing that both a QWERTY and the normal style of numering (this can be overcome with some time and practice...who knows, some may love it right away). Using this device as a phone is fantastic, and that is a point that i would defend very strongly. I personally am going to bring this phone back tomorrow and give the 8125 a try. Blackberry made another great product, this one is just not for me.


I will be sure to keep you all posted on my dealings with the 8125 when i get my hands on it.

-Cheers!

Wow. One day to make up your mind huh? Seems like most of your difficulties stem from not knowing the little shortcuts around the thumbwheel and suretype. Both of those things take more than a day to find out, but to each their own. I e-mail like crazy on mine and am much faster than I was using qwerty. Good luck and i hope you find the device for you.

[idalian]

Originally Posted by Khue

Where is the SIM card for this device? I checked under the battery and i dont see it there.

For the 7130c? Lift up the battery and it should be right there in the lower right-hand corner.

[option94]

I love my 7130. I wont get rid of this phone until they come out with a sure type HSDPA phone.