Should I upgrade to a Storm?
 

I have a 8330 right now and am considering a Storm for my wife.

Can you get through a day without having to recharge it? Can you go through a day, forget to charge it overnight and be OK for most of the 2nd day?

Does the GPS & Google maps actually work?? It does not work on my 8330 even with some of the fixes suggested on the web via QPST. It only will use Cell towers which are far to inaccurate for locating me.

Those are my only real concerns. :)

Thanks in advance!

>>Can you get through a day without having to recharge it? Can you go through a day, forget to charge it overnight and be OK for most of the 2nd day?<<

Think this will depend more on how much its being used. There are some days that I don't use my Storm as much (maybe a phone call or 2 and limited surfing), and I can go about 2 to 3 days before my battery meeter turns yellow.

There are also days when I'm using it heavily and I'll have to charge it overnight.

Can't address the GPS/Maps question as I have yet to need it to be very accurate (i.e. need to know my exact location for directions).

With moderate use, I can make it to about 9 PM.

See my post about the Storm freezing... :(

google maps for me is dead on with gps, used it for directions on a road trip and even in the middle of no where it worked swell.

I'm a fairly heavy user and my battery usually gets through the day - albeit with an occasional topping off. When I'm traveling, I take my extra battery along. I don't always have a charger handy during the day and my BB is frequently my entertainment.

I charge it every night. I and have an extra travel charger that lives in my computer bag.

The latest version of Google maps places me within a few meters of my real location as long as I have a decent shot at the satellites. Works fine in cars. Not so much in buildings.

-jk

Thanks, the GPS being functional is very important to me. I was really upset when I discovered the GPS on my 8330 is not true GPS.

I would say she would probably be doing moderate usage, a few phone calls here and there, most no more than 1-5 minutes.

My 8330 will only drop 20% in a day of moderate usage.

The GPS on the 8330 is true satellite GPS.

Be sure to set your Options > GPS > Location On.

Wirelessly posted (Its All About the U!)

8230 and 9630 will be out soon

I think you should wait for the 9630 Tour to come out. I feel like your wife would get frustrated with the Storm. If not get her the curve, a lot of people love the Curve.

upgrade (downgrade?) to storm
 

usererror,

All I can tell you is that for the last few weeks I repeatedly checked out the Storm at various cell stores, and found two big downsides:

1. In my opinion, that touch screen is awkward to use, just awful, about the worst that has ever been designed in my opinion and in the opinion of over 20 people I have talked to that purchased one.

Every time I see someone with a storm, I ask them if they have ever gotten accustomed to the touch screen and the answer I repeatedly hear is no, that they just come to tolerate it, but no one I have talked to has ever become comfortable with it.

2. Hear many general complaints, some of which have been covered in other posts here in the forum.

I just decided to get the Samsung Omnia i910. The email works lightening fast, not sure if due to a properly designed touch screen or the network or what, but much more user friendly than the storm; using the calendar is just so much more efficient, due in large part I believe to a good touch screen.

Wirelessly posted

I myself coming from the 8700 8800 and the 8300 it was a nice upgrade to a 9500 storm if you like o listen to music and watch a nice 30 min clip . If u are used to having keys it will take a week or so to get used to the touch screen the cam is great on the storm .I am def happy with the upgrade .

I love my storm and I find myself hard to believe Forward Observers story.
I know about ten friends that own the storm and they all like it a lot. Yes it takes a little bit to get used to but once you get used to it then you get hooked!
The touch screen is not awkward to use either I have never heard that myself.
The upgrade solved many of the little issues it once had also.
I think the battery will be fine. It lasta at least 2 days with little use for me.
I use Google Maps all the time it works very well!!

I Just had to verify and GPS location is set to ON. But it still is always "your location within 5000 meters. That's horrid. And it bounces around showing me in lake michigan all the time.

I just stopped at my local store and my area will not have Storms available until Fall 09, if that they said.

I appreciate the info everyone. I am going to have to google for the 9630 Tour, I have not heard of it.

after being a BB user for 6 years, i can say without the slightest shade of doubt this is the worst and most poorly designed piece of "technology" i have ever been unfortuante enough to get stuck with. stay as FAR AWAY FROM THIS DEVICE AS YOU CAN and if anyone tries to bring one near you start running.

i say this as my BB storm is sitting on the desk next to my keyboard, constantly rebooting itself giving me this stupid error "NO FREE MS"

oh - did I mention this is a brand new storm i only got YESTERDAY after having to get my first one replaced, and it didnt even survive 24 hours FFS.

dont go anywhere near the storm.

GPS On Storm
 

If you're on Big Red note that the Storm is the only current BB that they have allowed third party access to the GPS data. So even though the Pearl and the Curve (for example) have a GPS chipset, Google Maps cannot access this precise data. I think they did this to force you to subscribe to VZ Navigator. Every third party program I have tried on the Storm accessed the GPS data w/o a problem.

Interesting...by Big Red do you mean Verizon? Technically I am Alltel, or was...

If your concern is the touch screen, I love mine. I adjusted the sensitivity using some suggestions on this forum, and they worked wonderfully. I also love the official upgrade. The browser is lightening fast, I have more free memory, and the phone itself just performs better.

JMO.

I love my BlackBerry 9530. I have several tips and tricks and performing regular maintenance for my current employer. Other than that, most of what I do to keep my Storm stable are already documented and well known. However, "general users" who have an expectation of this state of the art (and brand new) device - of "it should just work" - and rarely perform tasks associated to maintaining a technical device. If you want to know how I am enjoying my BlackBerry Storm, please PIN me with questions if you wish.
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