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By Jessica Dolcourt, CNET.com
Jun 30, 2006

Research in Motion's BlackBerry 7100 series was a new direction for the company, offering its customers a more compact and consumer-friendly device with the familiar BlackBerry functionality. The line has continued to evolve over the past year, and its latest model, the RIM BlackBerry 7130, is a winner. It offers many of the features found in its siblings, such as a speedy Intel processor, robust e-mail capabilities, a sharp screen, and Bluetooth, but it also boasts a more refined and lightweight form factor that makes it the best-designed model we've seen to date. You may be thinking, "Great, it has a nice design, but how does it perform?" The answer: Very well. It's an excellent phone and e-mail device with EDGE capability and a vast range of features. The RIM BlackBerry 7130 is a great smart phone for mobile professionals and consumers alike who need to stay connected on the road. It's now available through both Singtel and Starhub for a S$638 (US$426.96) with a two-year contract.

Editors' note: This product review was written based on a BlackBerry 7130c test unit available through mobile operator Cingular in the US. The difference between the 7130c and 7130g is in the aesthetics of the device. Research in Motion has assured that the features are similar between the two handhelds. Do note that some applications, services and accessories mentioned in this review may not be applicable in Asia. Please check with your local provider for more information.

Design
The RIM BlackBerry 7130 has a great design, plain and simple. Though the 7100 series has always had a compact form factor, the BlackBerry 7130 most closely resembles a candy bar phone in look and feel. It's sleek (114.5 x 5g x 18.4mm) and incredibly light (120g), which makes it comfortable to hold up to your ear for conversations. As a bonus, the handset is attractive, with an appealing silver and midnight blue color scheme.

The 7130's 2.25-inch (diagonal) screen dominates the face of device and displays 65,000 colors at 240x260 resolution. It's not quite the 320x240 pixels of its full QWERTY cousin, the BlackBerry 8700c, but the 7130 still shows off sharp images and text. It's also equipped with light-sensing technology that automatically adjusts the backlighting depending on your environment, and unlike that of many other phones, the display is readable in sunlight. Customization options are plentiful, including the ability to change the backlight time and the font family, style, and size, as well as to turn antialiasing on or off.

Navigating the phone's menus is simple, thanks to the 7130's intuitive controls. Below the screen are the Send and End keys for making calls and a center convenience key that you can program to open any application. Below those buttons, you'll find the SureType keyboard that's present on all devices in the 7100 series. This modified QWERTY keyboard features two letters per button (the number keys share space with the keys in the three center columns) and works with SureType technology, which, like predictive text, guesses the word you're typing after you input the first couple of letters. Admittedly, we've never been huge fans of SureType, preferring the ease and speed of the full QWERTY models, but we're so enamored by the compact form factor that we're willing to make that compromise. The keys themselves are well spaced and adequately backlit.

On the left spine, there is a 2.5mm headset jack, a mini USB port, and another customizable Convenience key, while the familiar trackwheel and Escape button are on the right spine. All these controls make it easy to operate the 7130 with one hand. There's a power button and a mute key on top of the device and a small notification LED on front. Finally, the speakerphone is located on the back. Cingular packages the device with a number of basic accessories, including a wired headset, a travel charger, a USB cable, a belt holster, a CD containing the BlackBerry Desktop software, and reference material.

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