Verizon wireless - Blackberry 7130e

Author

Blackberry 7130e - Opinions?

Larry

2006-01-22, 5:48 pm

Looking for opinions on the Blackberry 7130e. For those of you who have
purchased it, is it a hassle to have to press each key twice when you
want to get the 2nd letter on the key?

Larry E.

nancy

2006-01-22, 11:48 pm

you don't have to push each key twice, it seems weird and takes about
a day to get used to ( I have the 7105 from tmobile for work and the
700w from verizon for person use which is why i'm on this list) you
just type the letters of the word you want and it figures out the word
and if it can't (ie there are multiple choices) a menu pops up and you
pick the right one. Typing is incredibly easy. It's a great phone!
(the 7105. I imagine verizon's version is very similar. I was wary of
the keyboard at first but it's really very easy to use

On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 16:39:08 -0500, Larry <larry@nospam.net> wrote:

>Looking for opinions on the Blackberry 7130e. For those of you who have
>purchased it, is it a hassle to have to press each key twice when you
>want to get the 2nd letter on the key?
>
>Larry E.

Isaiah Beard

2006-01-23, 5:48 pm

Larry wrote:
> Looking for opinions on the Blackberry 7130e. For those of you who have
> purchased it, is it a hassle to have to press each key twice when you
> want to get the 2nd letter on the key?

You don't need to press the key twice to get the second letter. It's
actually a lot like T9 (press each key once and the phone guesses the
word you're trying to type out), only a bit more intelligent. And if
the phone is unsure what you're trying to type out, it'll pop up a few
possibilities, and you can use the scroll wheel on the side to choose
what word you meant to type, to help it along. The word recognition
software also appears to be context-sensitive, in that if someone's name
or an acronym appears in an e-mail that you're replying to that would be
pretty hard to guess otherwise, it does a good job of picking up on
those names and acronyms, and guessing them as you type it out, without
you having to correct it much.

It does take a little getting used to; about a day or so before you're
comfortable with it, and after about a week your thumbs really start to
fly. I've had my 7130e for two weeks now and I'm typing with it about
as fast as I used to when I tried out the 7250 (which has a "full"
qwerty layout). Overall, it's a good phone and a good blackberry.

The things I love about the 7130e:

- It's a Blackberry, of course.
- A little more compact and "phone-like" compared to previous models
- Keyboard layout takes getting sued to but is very efficient
- Excellent signal reception
- EVDO Data tethering capability (at $15/month extra, but at least
Verizon considers such tethering via Blackberry "legal" to do).

The things I don't like about the 7130e:

- The form is functional, but the Verizon-mandated "walnut" color scheme
and the silver "pinstripe" around the perimeter of the faceplate of the
phone seems kinda dated to me, and "retro" looking in a not-so-good way.
It reminds me of the HP-35 calculator, circa 1972 (go to
http://www.hpmuseum.org/35first.jpg to see what I mean). But, I suppose
the color scheme and general design are tolerable given the other
features. The Telus Mobility (Canada) version of the 7130e is all black
and looks much sharper, although it retains the tacky pinstripe.

- The traditional Blackberry ring and alert tones are mostly gone, and
replaced with the many of the same fruity-sounding tunes that LG and
Motorola phones have nowadays. This might be Verizon's fault, and
Verizon needs to understand that there are still business customers who
use their phones, in particular Blackberry users, and a decent,
no-nonsense traditional ringer still needs to be in the mix. It is NOT
really appropriate for one's phone to start playing some dinky tune
while in an office setting. And while they have the decency to include
an MP3 recording of an old-fashioned bell-style ringer, it's serviceable
but still not what I want... I have a cell phone, not a WECO 500 clipped
to my belt.

My gripes are mostly nitpicks I suppose. It's still a great device to have.

--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

Slick

2006-01-26, 11:48 pm

I've had my 7130e for 5 days now (work e-mail & voice) to replace an old RIM
957. I also have a Motorola E815 as a personal phone. I use a Motorola
Bluetooth car kit and Jabra 250 headset, both that I've paired with the
7130e and E815. Here is my initial opinion on the 7130e and comparison to
the E815.

7130e: Overall I like it both as a data device, and as a phone....
1. Typing on the keyboard took me about a 30 minute learning curve. Once
you trust yourself and break the habit of the qwerty keyboard on other
Blackberry's you'll find the typing speed is comparable. The "SureType"
system is pretty good at recognizing the words you are typing without much
override or editing.

2. I find the thumbwheel on this a little smaller than the one on previous
blackberries and it requires a little more force. Makes navigation a little
more difficult. Maybe I just need to get used to it more.

3. The menu structure is less than optimal. You cant reassign certain
tiered menu options at higher levels on the menu, or create shortcuts like
you can on most phones. I consider this a major usability detractor. You
can select "themes" that change the color schemes and whether you want to
see icons or text menus. You can rearrange the order within a menu (or
icons) but not move them to other levels. You can select to "hide" certain
menu items though.

4. The display is crisp and very readable. I haven't had any problems in
dark or outside lighting conditions.

5. Since I synch my entire addressbook with Lotus Notes (ugh) access to all
my stored numbers is awesome.

6. The phone performance is about on par with my E815. By that I mean
voice quality and ability to hold a signal without dropping a call. The
E815 is slightly better overall in this area, and in my opinion the best
performing phone I've ever owned (I've had many!). The speakerphone on the
7130e is acceptable and better than most cell phones, but not as loud as my
E815.

7. Gripe - My company forces an 8 letter password minimum each time I want
to unlock the device to use it (can't override this setting). It is a real
PIA to have to deal with this to make a phone call. You can set it up so
you don't have to hassle with the password to answer incoming calls.

8. Gripe - There is NO voice recognition on the 7130e (nor any Blackberry
that I'm aware of). This is a major detractor since I've come to rely on it
so much on my E815.

9. Gripe - when disconnecting from a paired Bluetooth device, the 7130e
restarts. This happens better than 50% of the time I have disconnected.

10. Battery life - so far it is fair. I'm a heavy Blackberry user and need
to charge this every day. My RIM 957 would go over a week, but didn't have
a cell phone on it. The USB cable charges the 7130e, so when I'm in the
office, I just leave it connected to the computer.

11. Email use - Awesome! We use a BES 4.0 server and get wireless synch
capability with our Lotus Notes E-mail. I have it setup so that whatever I
do on either the computer or the Blackberry is done on the opposite end. No
duplication of my doing tasks again this way. I also setup the 7130e to get
my personal POP mail, a Hotmail account and a Gmail account. All my mail is
accessible on a single device.

12. EVDO Data - the speed is great. I also have the $15/mos tethering
option. You can only do this with the USB cable. Someday, I hope someone
will find a hack so I can tether over Bluetooth like I can with my E815 (not
supported by Vzw by the way....).

Motorola E815: Best phone I've ever had based on some of the stuff I said
above and
1. Voice dialing - no better. If the BB only had this!!!!

2. I've hacked it so I can do EVDO tethering over Bluetooth - wish the
7130e could do this.

3. Decent web browser for a cell phone. I can also get my personal mail
and reply if needed. Typing text on the standard phone keyboard even with
"T9 like" recognition is not that easy for long messages.

4. Good battery life - I can go 3 to 4 days on the standard battery with
moderate use.

Hope this helps.
"Larry" <larry@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:ZXSAf.137$Og.107@fe12.lga...
> Looking for opinions on the Blackberry 7130e. For those of you who have
> purchased it, is it a hassle to have to press each key twice when you want
> to get the 2nd letter on the key?
>
> Larry E.

Larry

2006-01-26, 11:48 pm

Slick wrote:
> I've had my 7130e for 5 days now (work e-mail & voice) to replace an old RIM
> 957. I also have a Motorola E815 as a personal phone. I use a Motorola
> Bluetooth car kit and Jabra 250 headset, both that I've paired with the
> 7130e and E815. Here is my initial opinion on the 7130e and comparison to
> the E815.
>
> 7130e: Overall I like it both as a data device, and as a phone....
> 1. Typing on the keyboard took me about a 30 minute learning curve. Once
> you trust yourself and break the habit of the qwerty keyboard on other
> Blackberry's you'll find the typing speed is comparable. The "SureType"
> system is pretty good at recognizing the words you are typing without much
> override or editing.
>
> 2. I find the thumbwheel on this a little smaller than the one on previous
> blackberries and it requires a little more force. Makes navigation a little
> more difficult. Maybe I just need to get used to it more.
>
> 3. The menu structure is less than optimal. You cant reassign certain
> tiered menu options at higher levels on the menu, or create shortcuts like
> you can on most phones. I consider this a major usability detractor. You
> can select "themes" that change the color schemes and whether you want to
> see icons or text menus. You can rearrange the order within a menu (or
> icons) but not move them to other levels. You can select to "hide" certain
> menu items though.
>
> 4. The display is crisp and very readable. I haven't had any problems in
> dark or outside lighting conditions.
>
> 5. Since I synch my entire addressbook with Lotus Notes (ugh) access to all
> my stored numbers is awesome.
>
> 6. The phone performance is about on par with my E815. By that I mean
> voice quality and ability to hold a signal without dropping a call. The
> E815 is slightly better overall in this area, and in my opinion the best
> performing phone I've ever owned (I've had many!). The speakerphone on the
> 7130e is acceptable and better than most cell phones, but not as loud as my
> E815.
>
> 7. Gripe - My company forces an 8 letter password minimum each time I want
> to unlock the device to use it (can't override this setting). It is a real
> PIA to have to deal with this to make a phone call. You can set it up so
> you don't have to hassle with the password to answer incoming calls.
>
> 8. Gripe - There is NO voice recognition on the 7130e (nor any Blackberry
> that I'm aware of). This is a major detractor since I've come to rely on it
> so much on my E815.
>
> 9. Gripe - when disconnecting from a paired Bluetooth device, the 7130e
> restarts. This happens better than 50% of the time I have disconnected.
>
> 10. Battery life - so far it is fair. I'm a heavy Blackberry user and need
> to charge this every day. My RIM 957 would go over a week, but didn't have
> a cell phone on it. The USB cable charges the 7130e, so when I'm in the
> office, I just leave it connected to the computer.
>
> 11. Email use - Awesome! We use a BES 4.0 server and get wireless synch
> capability with our Lotus Notes E-mail. I have it setup so that whatever I
> do on either the computer or the Blackberry is done on the opposite end. No
> duplication of my doing tasks again this way. I also setup the 7130e to get
> my personal POP mail, a Hotmail account and a Gmail account. All my mail is
> accessible on a single device.
>
> 12. EVDO Data - the speed is great. I also have the $15/mos tethering
> option. You can only do this with the USB cable. Someday, I hope someone
> will find a hack so I can tether over Bluetooth like I can with my E815 (not
> supported by Vzw by the way....).
>
> Motorola E815: Best phone I've ever had based on some of the stuff I said
> above and
> 1. Voice dialing - no better. If the BB only had this!!!!
>
> 2. I've hacked it so I can do EVDO tethering over Bluetooth - wish the
> 7130e could do this.
>
> 3. Decent web browser for a cell phone. I can also get my personal mail
> and reply if needed. Typing text on the standard phone keyboard even with
> "T9 like" recognition is not that easy for long messages.
>
> 4. Good battery life - I can go 3 to 4 days on the standard battery with
> moderate use.
>
> Hope this helps.
> "Larry" <larry@nospam.net> wrote in message
> news:ZXSAf.137$Og.107@fe12.lga...
>
>
>
>
Thanks for all this detail!

Larry E.

Isaiah Beard

2006-01-27, 5:48 pm

Slick wrote:

> 12. EVDO Data - the speed is great. I also have the $15/mos tethering
> option. You can only do this with the USB cable. Someday, I hope someone
> will find a hack so I can tether over Bluetooth like I can with my E815 (not
> supported by Vzw by the way....).

Slick:

Just FYI: I've found that tethering EVDO over bluetooth isn't worth it.
If you do a speedtest and compare bluetooth tethering to cable
tethering, you'll find that Bluetooth hits an upper speed limit at
around 170kbps, while you can go faster with a cable (I've hit 240 with
a cable). Combined with the fact that handset is getting charged at the
same time, I've come to not mind the lack of bluetooth tethering on the
7130e. :)

--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

Fred.Lobmeyer@gmail.com

2006-01-31, 11:48 pm

Battery life is horrible. According to Verizon this is because of a
bug in the code provided by RIM that authenticates you to the broadband
network. CHAP is used for for 1G and another protocol for EVDO. I am
located in NYC and go under ground and get into areas where the phone
needs to switch between 1G and 3G. When this happens the phone
software gets confused and chooses the wrong authentication method for
the Broadband type found. This causes the phone to spin cycles and
bandwidth trying to get logged on. A fully charged phone can discharge
itself within two hours when it gets into this mode. Verizon has said
that Rim is supposed to have a fix out by end of Q1 2006.

It is very frustrating when you realize that no mail has come through
in a while and your battery is almost dead. The solution? Wait for
RIM and turn your radio off when changing from 1G to 3G and back.

Fred

Fred.Lobmeyer@gmail.com

2006-01-31, 11:48 pm

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