RIM BlackBerry 7130v

Key things I assessed prior to buying this smart phone were size, style, specified features, price; with ease of use also described below:
Size and style – Blackberry 7130v is a slim stylish phone that fits nicely into a jacket pocket without showing. It also slips easily into even the tightest jeans pockets without snagging or bulging.
Features – A key differentiating feature for me is the push email support which was set up to work ...
...useful is the inbuilt speakerphone I have found more than adequate for impromptu conferences, and the QWERTY style keyboard with just 2 characters per key which works well for short email responses.
Price – For me the fact that this phone is available for free on a standard £30 monthly tariff makes it good value compared to several other email phones where one has to pay up front in addition to the monthly fee.
Ease of use – After several ... more

Key things I assessed prior to buying this smart phone were size, style, specified features, price; with ease of use also described below:
Size and style – Blackberry 7130v is a slim stylish phone that fits nicely into a jacket pocket without showing. It also slips easily into even the tightest jeans pockets without snagging or bulging.
Features – A key differentiating feature for me is the push email support which was set up to work straight from the Vodafone store. Other features I find useful is the inbuilt speakerphone I have found more than adequate for impromptu conferences, and the QWERTY style keyboard with just 2 characters per key which works well for short email responses.
Price – For me the fact that this phone is available for free on a standard £30 monthly tariff makes it good value compared to several other email phones where one has to pay up front in addition to the monthly fee.
Ease of use – After several months I have found the push email to work flawlessly, though viewing of attachments such as Excel is really not very useful with such a small screen. It has also been more reliable than a Windows smartphone I have also owned which I had a reboot a few times. The Quad-Band coverage has also worked well around Europe and the States. The biggest drawback is the poor battery life which rarely lasts a day without charging. It is strongly recommended to install the software for your PC which enables the phone to be charged via USB from a laptop – useful when a power socket isn’t readily available such as when traveling.
Summary.
I feel the phone is a usefully compact and very reliable solution for email on the go, though it isn’t a real work horse as it is not suitable for managing attachments effectively. Definitely recommended if you want to reliably keep in touch via email without a requirement for full attachment management, though be warned you can’t go without charging the battery for long. 

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