I've had several gens of the candybar blackberries, 7100 nice but reception/mike was horrendous, 7130 much better, finally nailed it. Was dubious when I had to take a pearl when my 7130 went funky.... but I'll give it the full thumbs up now. Slightly smaller than 7130, which oddly does make a difference, like size decreases give exponential feasibility increases or something. Makes my partner's Treo look like a firstgen cell in comparison. Unobtrustive in yr pocket. The "pearl" trackball is just fine, like it better than roller actually. Reception, mike quality are also good, despite concerns that they were reviewed worse than the 7130. Writing is good too, the suretype continuing to be so durn accurate I sometimes forget to check. And hey, I like having the camera. So, I thought the 7130 was my perfect smartphone, the one that I just stopped thinking about cause it did it all just great.... but actually... I like the Pearl better. If you need bulletproof email, PDA, and phone, this is yr baby. Slightly shorter battery life, but hasn't stranded me yet.