E-mail has always been a forte of BlackBerrys, and the RIM BlackBerry 7130e isn't any different. Compatible with Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, and Novell Groupwise, you can set up your device--with the help of your IT department--to receive corporate e-mail in real time. You can access up to 10 POP3/IMAP accounts and use the included Internet browser to check Web-based e-mail, such as Yahoo and Gmail. We set up our review unit to receive messages from our SBC Global account, and after going through the necessary steps, we started getting messages within 20 minutes, sometimes even before they hit our in-box at home. If you get attachments in your e-mail, no problem--the 7130e can handle it. You can open and view Word and Excel documents, PDFs, images, and more. In addition, with Verizon's BroadbandAccess Connect service and EV-DO network, you can use the BlackBerry 7130e as a modem, as well as connect to your laptop and download large documents at speeds of 400Kbps to 700Kbps.
Unfortunately, there isn't an instant-messaging client installed on the RIM BlackBerry 7130e, not even BlackBerry Messenger. That said, the phone does support text and multimedia messaging.
We tested the dual-band RIM BlackBerry 7130e (CDMA 800/1900, EV-DO) in the San Francisco area using Verizon's network. Call quality was good, both in regular calling mode and on speakerphone. Conversations were clear and loud, and our callers said the same, although they could tell we were using a cell phone. We also paired the 7130e with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset, at which point audio quality diminished slightly. On the upside, pairing the two devices was painless.
RIM promises 3 hours of talk time and up to eight days of standby time. In our tests, the BlackBerry 7130e exceeded the rated talk-time battery life by an extra hour and 30 minutes, and it met the rated standby time.
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