[jprincipe]

Im on the fence. Im test driving a storm as well as a bold on att. The Bold seems near flawless with the exception of the network and the storm has a great network but a flawed device. What do you guys think?

[Thom]

I am finding that it just takes some time getting used to the changes. This is my third BB and have had the Storm since Monday. As each day goes by, I am able to type much faster and navigate much easier. It is not for everyone but I am enjoying it. I believe once RIM and Verizon start releasing OS updates, some of the issues will go away. Nothing is perfect. Each device has it pros and cons that will in the end suit each person differently. What works for me may not work for you.

In the end, for me, it comes down to the network. Verizon's network where I live is incredible.

[mfoster7]

Im new to bb and have the storm. I love it. I got it as a test, returned it and 48 hours later went and got it again. HA! I have to admit it is growing on me. I turned off my home phone and went all cell a while ago and that was the smartest thing i did because now I never had to worry about a missed call or message... no dual issues... Now with the Storm (or any bb i guess) I have the same "All in on one" capabilities... for email, text and phone. How did I live without it! No more having to check for emails all the time on my computer--

I am really realizing how convenient it is. And the Storm is so easy and nice to type on (landscape). The glitches will work out.. and they are no big deal. I have now had 2 and they are fine. A little slow (nano-seconds sheeesh) sometimes, but that will work its way out with updates. OVERALL it is really awesome.

I really recommend it. I looked at the bold too. But with the screen and capabilities of the storm touch screen, I went with it (and I like Verizon better too).

[NJBlackBerry]

I'll withhold judgement until we get some new software that reduces the lag, which is just a bit more than nano-seconds.

[Thom]

I am not experiencing any lag issues. I did remove VZnav immediately since I have no intention of using it let alone paying for it. I am not sure if that helped anything or not but I am not experiencing any lag. I have installed a few applications and all still seems well. The one thing I am conscious of doing is closing applications when I am done with them rather than letting them continue to run in the background. This is something I learned a long time ago with my first BB.

[MoreChampagneSir?]

Originally Posted by jprincipe

Im on the fence. Im test driving a storm as well as a bold on att. The Bold seems near flawless with the exception of the network and the storm has a great network but a flawed device. What do you guys think?

For what it's worth, here's what I did.

I'm on VZW right now, using an 8703e. At first, I was gung-ho on The Storm, then read the Gizmodo and Boy Genius reviews and thought twice about it.

Like you, my second choice was a Bold, but that's on AT&T, and I really loathe from because of prior customer service issues and current international calling plans (specifically, Canada).

I ended up going to a VZW store to kick The Storm's tires. Indeed, it was everything advertised....slow and the small gap below the screen and the buttons. If it were to remain that way, I would have gone to The Bold and AT&T.

However, I'm reassured by the OS upgrades that are coming in the next week or two that address the problems. Boy Genius reports another update later in December. So, from that front, I'm satisfied.

I have large hands, and I did not experience the same, what I thought was exaggerated, problems others had. Sure, I had a couple of typing errors, but I have them even on now on my 8703e.

One thing that I don't think has been mentioned is the call quality on The Storm....it is OUTSTANDING. I called my wife on the 8703e to compare. Then, I called her on The Storm right after, and the call quality had a night and day difference.

In the end, I ended up ordering a Storm on Monday, and look forward to getting it by December 10th.

[mfoster7]

I knew someone would bag on my nano second timeframe.. Ok, it is more than that. But it is fine.. It is awesome. I dont know about the iPhone, but the the Storm you can flip it upside down/rotate it over and over and it renders to which ever way is up... that is coooool and handy.

I would not let the momentary rendering of landscape stop me. If that is the issue between storm and bold, then get the storm-- you get all the other good touch screen stuff.... and you can just always hold it in portrait mode 100% of the time. But that aint gonna happen! You will see the rendering issue goes away... just type your happy head off and enjoy it.

I am really liking it. I may learn differently, but as of now I like it.

**also, I have large hands, palm a basketball all day if I want too.. and I type with no fat finger prob on the Storm. It all comes with practice..

Remember= Everything is hard before it is easy.

[The Truth]

I just recieved my storm yesterday and Ive owned almost every blackberry model since the old school 6750. I have to say, going into this purchase you really have to bring your expectations down somewhat as to the normal features you expect and love about the Blackberry handset. With that being said, I really love this device. And I think a lot of the impatient people will be disappointed that they jumped the gun when the software updates are released in the next few weeks. If you are one of the seemingly many people that assumed the surepress virtual keyboard would feel just like a physical keyboard and was let down that it didnt feel like your Bold, then the purchase was flawed from inception.

All in all I think the device has potential to be better than the iPhone (which ive owned) as a truly spectacular touch screen messaging device once RIM recaptures their well-known software reliability and stability via software updates. I have no doubt that they will.

[hudres]

One of the biggest letdowns I had when I initially switched to a Blackberry a few years ago was that I lost the incredible voice-activated dialing that my Motorola cell had. As I drive a lot, this is an incredibly important safety feature and it has literally taken years for RIM to realize this.

Another letdown has been the inability to edit document on the phone. Sure, there are services that you can get where you send your document to their server and it gets edited there. If you are writing to a friend, this is fine. But if you are in business, law, finance, or the defense industry, this is totally unacceptable. As a result, I am forced to wait until I am in my office to view and edit attachments. (Yes, I tried e-Office but the inability to change the font size eliminated it from my use. I could not read the 2 point text it had as its only font. Yes, I did talk to the vendor and they were unable/unwilling to fix the problem, so I added their program to my collection of useless 3rd party stuff I have paid for)

I have wanted a GPS-enabled phone for some time and Verizon, dedicated capitalists that they are, have refused to enable the GPS on my 8703e, in the hope that it would force me to get a newer phone. They have been waiting a long time now for me to upgrade (not that they care). I admit that I am concerned about the reports that the VZ Nav program slows the device down. I have seen conflicting reports on this, so I will wait until I test it myself to see what the real story is)

As any user of sophisticated high-tech equipment should realize, any multi-purpose device is bound to compromise on some functions.

Further, any high-tech device that incorporates a total paradigm shift as the Storm does, as opposed to the minor incremental improvements of all previous BB's, is bound to have "teething" problems. I think it is safe to say that RIM does not want to have this forum (or any of the other forums, blogs, websites, magazine and newspaper articles) filled with negative comments about their latest flagship product. They are, after all, a public corporation and they value their stock position which will only take so much negative publicity before the stock tanks.

So, one should take the Storm for what it is worth and wait until after the 2nd or 3rd OS update to form any definitive conclusions. yes, this is a risky approach and it could cost me some serious bucks if I am wrong, but I have seen more than enough positive posts here to convince me that getting a Storm is a reasonable decision. 73

[Arcangel]

love the STORM and so do many people i know who purchased it. Only apple heads hate on it. before you judge i own an ipod and imac....used to own iphone..storm is awsome and as more updates come so will more functinality

[sokkermick]

Originally Posted by MoreChampagneSir?

One thing that I don't think has been mentioned is the call quality on The Storm....it is OUTSTANDING. I called my wife on the 8703e to compare. Then, I called her on The Storm right after, and the call quality had a night and day difference.

I came from an 8700g on T-mobile, before I got that I was using a nextel i730, and I thought the 8700 had excellent call quality, but the storm blows it out of the water.

I turned the sensitivity on the screen all the way up, lowered the screen brightness and uninstalled vznav. Now whenever I need to use gps or get directions I fire up bb maps (or google maps), verizon can keep vznav for all those suckers that don't know any better. My battery lasts throughout the day (an hour of calls on a bluetooth headset, couple dozen emails and sms, half hour of internet radio, lots of website browsing), its nearly dead by the end of the night, so a car charger and a holster will be on order in a week or so.

You can say I'm hooked on the storm, but I do feel that it's not for everyone (guys that have hundreds of emails a day to respond to, apple zealots).

[PHLAK]

As a first time BlackBerry user, I'm enjoying using the Storm tremendously! I do notice the lag issues and other bugs here and there, but this thing has barely been out for a week now, and RIM has already announce some major bug fixes to come soon.

Also, I've never owned an iPhone, but am I the only one who remembers some of the first gen iPhone problems? Poor battery life, slow EDGE network, random program crashes, incompatibility with many headphones (just to name a few). Every new piece of hardware has it's bugs.

Thus being said, I have very high expectations of RIM and for the future of the Storm. Let's hope those expectations don't turn into lost hopes and dreams.

[Racerdj]

I kept my 8830 and after 1 week, I really think the Storm will be the greatest phone out. I have complete confidence in RIMM and feel that they will continue to move the phone to perfection if that exists. Good reports coming from the OS upgrades!

[seeds]

I'm taking the "wait & see" approach to it.
I just think if they would've done things simple (touchscreen) more so than try to be different, it could've turned out a little more smoother.

[lindros2]

Who has faith? "All of us who own it."

The anonymous Internet trolls and jackass from the NY Times will degrade the device. Those who own it and have given it 1-3 days (at a minimum) realize the potential and "BlackBerry niceties." RIM will not sit around and wait to hear complaints before making improvements - they've been working on the mid-December release (102?) every day.

[Racerdj]

Originally Posted by lindros2

Who has faith? "All of us who own it."

The anonymous Internet trolls and jackass from the NY Times will degrade the device. Those who own it and have given it 1-3 days (at a minimum) realize the potential and "BlackBerry niceties." RIM will not sit around and wait to hear complaints before making improvements - they've been working on the mid-December release (102?) every day.

Very true and well written!

[EGILL]

After the first 2 days I wanted to return the Storm but I decided I'd give it some time. Love it now. The .75 upgrade helped a ton too.

[john1986]

I whiped my blackberry and now there is only a white screen whith a symbol in the middle how do i fix it and get the blackberry working again and what is an os.