[animlmed]

As much as I'd like to get the 7130, from what I'm reading on here, there are some issues with it:


Battery life
Data connection issues
EVDO issues
etc...

Are these isolated incidents or should I stick with my 7250 for a while longer? I played with the 7130 in the store yesterday and liked it, but I dont want to get it home to find out it is a dud.

[dkrpata]

Not sure if this helps, but I got a buddy who just got his 7250 and once the 7130 came out just ordered his. Some things he didn't like (and I never had the 7250 so it's all heresay), is that he couldn't accept appointments when getting them through email. He liked the sure-type, the smaller size, the brightness of the screen, the browser, etc.

Having had my 7130 for about 2 weeks, the battery does seem to go fast, but as long as I get it charged each night it hasn't failed me in the middle of the day. Also I'm from Phoenix and have been to Seattle in the last week and had no real data connections issues.

Hope that helps some, I'm still on the high of getting my 7130 so I am a little biased too.

[animlmed]

That makes me feel better. I always charge my 7250 every night. I was just wondering if people are saing the battery life is horrible were meaning that they had used their phone a bit, done e-mails during the day and visited some web sites and the battery % was down to something like 40%. If it goes all day with moderate use, what's all i care about.

[whsbuss]

Battery life has been good so far. Comparable to the 7250. Since I use tethering during the day, the USB cable keeps my battery charged. But even over the weekend I didn't have to AC charge the unit.

[blacknod]

Former 7250 owner and I love the 7130a (especially now I dumped Sprint for Verizon, but that's another story). Battery life seems comparable to me, screeen is awesome, connectivity seems stronger (I know it's a different provider but my VZW cell gets less "bars" on average than the 7130), and the Suretype, once you "believe", is amazing. Nice ringers too and, I think, faster than the 7250. Like the narrower size too. All in all, a winner.

BlackNOD

[animlmed]

Well, I must say, you are telling me things I am liking! Everything sounds good so far. The only thing i do not look forward to is dropping 400 bucks on this phone...

[SDCromer]

I've got a 7130e on the way and will be changing over from the 7250. THe 7130e is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. I'll post a comparison in the next few days.

[animlmed]

That would be great if you could! I'm dying to get it, but if I'm better off with the 7250 for the moment, I guess I will put up with it.....

[Soupman]

I've had my 7130e for the last 5 days and being a new BB user, I have put it through its paces with cell phone usage, email, playing Texas Hold'em, etc. The battery has lasted about 3 days from the first charge and that is with occasional syncing with Outlook on my computer.

[ELA]

I am a complete, 100% newbie and a BB user for a whopping 7 days, so you can't take my opinion. I had an option to buy the 7130 or the 7250 at the same price. I chose the 7250 and everyone said I was crazy. My take was that, first, I was keeping my cell phone, so I didn't need an all-in-one device. Second, I am not going to try and learn a new typing method at my age and typing in a regular world is hard enough for me, LOL. Third, I needed an "entry-level" BB, something for a real newbie, so I opted for the basic, plain, etc. version.

The 7130 looked to intimidating for me, LOL.

Good luck.

Eric

[Blackberry fiend]

I am seriously considering switching from my new Blackberry 7130e to the Blackberry 7250 because of the keyboard data entry problems that I'm having with Suretype. 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. What would be the downside of changing to the 7250 given that the 7250 also does now can do EVDO and modem tethering and bluetooth?

The speaker phone on the 7130e is great. How is it on the 7250?

What else will I be giving up aside from the classic cell phone look - actually I miss the Blackberry look and feel, and the funny looks people give me.

The 7130e almost seems too narrow for two thumb typing. Are there tricks to getting more efficient and accurate with Suretype? A single missed key with Suretype results in pure gibberish rather than in a single letter typo that doesn’t obscure the meaning of the word or sentence.

Thanks.

[KonTiki]

The 7250 has no speaker phone.

[animlmed]

Yes, unfortunately, the 7250 is not much of a phone: Monophonic ring tones (that aren't even that loud), poor sound transmission, not very loud earpiece, no speaker phone.

I can get used to the suretype. It only took me a few minutes in the store to adjust to it. i just want to make sure the bugs are gone before I put that much money down on a phone. If battery life is the same as the 7250, then that is fine with me.

[Hatchy]

I just bought a 7230 for my wife and have noticed the battery life is terrible compared to my current 8700 and past 7290, 7280, etc. devices. The GPRS devices can go days without a charge, but the 1X 7230 seems to only last a day or two. Very poor.

I recall this used to be the case years ago with Mobitex (957) vs. Ardis (857) devices. 957s would last far longer than 857s.

[tomryan]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry7250/4.0.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1)

Cdma burns through the battery faster than the gsm/gprs/etc.. If you are considering switching to the 7130e, might I suggest you wait and see what happens with verizon and the 8700... If they release in 6 months, you might have wished you had waited.. Hopefully we will have a better handle on the status of the 8700 at verizon in the next couple of months.

[tomryan]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry7250/4.0.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1)

Cdma burns through the battery faster than the gsm/gprs/etc.. If you are considering switching to the 7130e, might I suggest you wait and see what happens with verizon and the 8700... If they release in 6 months, you might have wished you had waited.. Hopefully we will have a better handle on the status of the 8700 at verizon in the next couple of months.

[SDCromer]

I'm really tickled with my 7130e. I am happy with my choice to change from the 7250. The phone is better and I am happy to have my speakerphone back.

My vote is to go for the 7130e

[kurichan]

Actually, I get fabulous phone performance with the 7250 - in fact, it's the best phone I've owned.

I know people who have switched to the UnSureType phones and hate them, wanting their full keyboard back. I couldn't use the 71XX's because too many of the keyboard shortcuts are gone.

Best things about the 71XX are the screen, the speakerphone and the form factor. I could care less about ringtones (ear candy which doesn't improve the thing as a communication device)...

[whsbuss]

Originally Posted by kurichan

Actually, I get fabulous phone performance with the 7250 - in fact, it's the best phone I've owned.

I know people who have switched to the UnSureType phones and hate them, wanting their full keyboard back. I couldn't use the 71XX's because too many of the keyboard shortcuts are gone.

Best things about the 71XX are the screen, the speakerphone and the form factor. I could care less about ringtones (ear candy which doesn't improve the thing as a communication device)...

As well as OS 4.1

[kurichan]

Originally Posted by whsbuss

As well as OS 4.1

Yeah, but that's not intrinsic to the device design. The 7250 will have it eventually.