[jcp007]

I went to an AT&T store and spent over an hour trying the Torch. It is AWESOME! I am definitely getting one. Here are my first impressions.

Build Quality

SOLID. The heavier weight takes some getting used to but it adds to the feel.

Parts Movement

No rattles from the camera nor from any other part.

Light Leak

Absolutely None.

Trackpad

Solid as a rock. It can be used to move between Favorites, All, Downloads the same as swiping the touchscreen.

Navigation is a breeze.

Webkit Browser

Very responsive and very little lag. Had to have the store set it up since initially it was setup to connect.

Pinch to Zoom is awesome. Tabbed browsing is great.

Menus and Submenus

Very nice and very intuitive to use. Love them. Hovering over them displays the menu options. They are so easy to use. Presentation is awesome and organized.

Sliding Mechanism

Absolutely solid and crisp.

Keyboard

Physical is solid and awesome. Better than the 9700.
Virtual in landscape mode is pretty easy but will take getting used to. In portrait mode, it might be more challenging for men with large finger but are also easy to use.

Portrait vs Landscape

The movement is fluid and highly responsive.

Video and Sound

Video quality is very good and the sound on high volume is pretty crisp and not as tinny as the 9700.

Touchscreen

This is great. Single/double tap is great. Swiping left/right and up/down is awesome. Very little lag. Almost none.

Blackberry Maps

I was able to access it but that was all that I had time to do.

The device had 3G, Wifi and registered on the BB network. This was possible after the unit was taken to the back and set up. I absolutely cannot wait to unbox one Thursday or earlier.

[akosnitzky]

Thank you for sharing. Always risky to go with a new device design and OS at the same time. I assume any lags will minimize with improved OS builds

[jcp007]

The lag was almost too tiny to notice. Since there had been so much trashing of the device that I was really looking for it. If I had not been really looking, I might have missed it. There should be an update later this year and hopefully address. It should not dissuade you from taking the leap. I bought my third berry, 9700, on release day and had no regrets. You will be happy you took the plunge.

[MERK350Z]

there is one in NYC on 6ave and 18th st att storei took a look at it and played with i was shocked at the build and screen . the touch screen should have been used for the storm one and two . its nice to have something as smooth as the iphone and the galaxy and not have to push down on it to hard. the flow of the OS was smooth and quick .

the build was solid. the size of the device i would say almost the same size as the 9700. just with a slight more weight . the keyboard reminded me of the 9000 bold it was big .

since i already have the 9520 vodafone not sure if i will be getting it . i would love to see OS6 on the storm and see how it reacts to a device with only a touch screen

[alshalan]

you still has the chance to overcome any lag or bug later on with software update.
Nothing compared to a new device with a new software

[jcp007]

I totally agree. I am guessing that there will be an OS update before Thanksgiving.

[Serkle K]

I had a chance to play with it at a store close to me... Before I tell you my final decision, I'll tell you what I did.

I walked into the store, and I saw the display, front and center. Big TV and blue ring glory, I had my eye on it right away. The associate asked if she could help me, and I replied with out hesitation, and before she could finish asking me... I'm here to see the Torch.


She quickly took me over from the display to the working model. I was pretty excited to see it opened and thought to myself, "it looks pretty slick when it's open too!"

I then grabbed it, and immidiately noticed that it was open because of the way they put the security tag on it. I then became dissapointed, since I couldn't see it in the closed position. So, I figured, it's okay, it's not the end of the world, I still get to test out the keyboard and everything else. I have to say the keyboard is okay. Right away I noticed the recess that most people are talking about, as well as the cramped feeling when trying to use the keypad. But I also thought, I would most likely get used to it especially if I used it on a daily basis. Then I realized, that I can't test the onscreen keyboard and functionality of just the touch screen. It was already odd to try to hold and use it with the security tag on it, but now I can't even test the "full feel" of the device in my hand since it wouldn't close. I understand this is more the environment and not the device. So with that in mind, I did a quick reset.

I was pretty impressed with the boot time, and I then started to open the menu on the screen to see what kinds of things are on it. I saw much of the standard BB features that I have on OS5, but then I noticed the changes to OS6. The icons, the options, the menus. And then it dawned on me... the screen. As obvious as you would think the big screen would be, I didn't immidately notice the picture. With the menus and layout, the screen was also decent. I actually started to think it only looked slightly better then my smaller 9000 in terms of over all display. More on my thoughs of the screen later.

So then I figured I want to see this new webkit. So I opened the browser, and thought it was nice to see the tabbed browsing option. I went to the a couple BB forums on the device, and another forum I frequent at the same time to see how it would handle multiple pages at once. I also liked the double tap feature on the text of the webpages. It made for a better expierence when trying to read pages and articles. Over all, it was an improvement, but not as exciting as I thought it could be. But again, I still felt a little uncomfortable with the way the phone wouldn't close, and I couldnt get a good grip on it as it was. Maybe I was just a little distracted.

I then thought, okay how do I close all this? I went to the menu, and scrolled to "close" using the trackpad. That felt really natural, and that was impressive to me. After thinking it was "closed" I wanted to make sure it was closed, so then I wanted to figure out this app management option to be sure. I was quick to figure out how to find it by going through all the menu options. It was fairly easy, to navigate, not as busy as I thought it to be from all the tours and reviews I've been seeing. However, using the app manager did take a minute to gather myself to realize what I was looking at. I then realized that the OS and the Home screen were taking up the most memory and CPU usage at that moment as nothing else was open or running.

I then went to the home screen and tried to open a few other applications, and without noticable lag, I started to test the scroll through the rest of the menus. I did find that after clicking on a few things, I noticed the clock would pop up for a split second. This happened for a few applications I tried to open.

I downloaded the ESPN app and I have to say it was pretty snappy and smooth over 3G.

I then wanted to check out the pictures, and camera. The images were pretty nice and crisp, but then again those were the wallpapers. One odd thing I nocited, when I tested the pinch and zoom feature, it was nice, but the picture never got clear. It was pretty pixelated when I zoomed in on it. So I took a look at the pictures that people took with the camera and thought, "okay, this is still a cellphone camera." I liked the option to set the type of photo, and I took a couple on the Auto setting. Again I thought, it's a cellphone camera. I liked that the lense wasn't recessed like my 9000, and I thought that it would be decent for convenience pics when I dont have my actual point-n-shoot on me.

I then checked out the preloaded video. This was actually what impressed me the most for the instore demo. It reminded me when I was tesing out the 9000 when it first came out. I thought the pictures were really sharp and clear, and the colors were bright and crisp.

Then it brought me to the sound. WOW!! I was happy to hear it was as loud if not louder then my 9000! And the sound didn't seem to be excessive, with an inadiquate speaker to the point where the sound gets crackly. But it made me wonder more if it actually has the stereo speakers like my 9000.

This is a long post and I dont think I covered everything I expierenced in my initial tests. For most current BB users, I would suggest to test it out at the very least. I like it, and I might still get it. I haven't really considered any other device besides a new BB, but then again I was also wasn't considering a BB when I was looking to upgrade my WinMo device 3 years ago.

I am probably an average user with about 50-60 emails from work, and maybe 20-30 between my 4 other personal accounts a day. I do use many of the social sites (twitter, FB, MySpace) to keep in touch with family and friends as well as BBM and SMS/MMS messaging.

I am debating to see what follows the 9800, or take the jump to this one, if not this week, in a few more weeks.

Those are my thoughts, thanks for reading.

[jcp007]

No offense but this sounds like hedging. Go ahead and take the plunge. You have 30 days to change your mind.

[Serkle K]

Well I'm going to try to stop at another ATT Store and see if it's got the security tag on it differently so that I can really try the slider and see if it gives me a better feel in the hand. That might actually sway me to get it. No offense taken.

[jcp007]

Make sure to ask that the device be configured to access the store WiFi and that it registers on the BB Network and AT&T 3G. This will boost your experience on the device.

[Serkle K]

Originally Posted by jcp007

Make sure to ask that the device be configured to access the store WiFi and that it registers on the BB Network and AT&T 3G. This will boost your experience on the device.

I'll try to remember that. This one was on the wi-fi, but I turned it off to test the 3G. but nothing was configured, not the BBM, Maps, or anything like that.

[wayneholbrook]

I thought the 9700 had to small of a keyboard. I really did love the 9000. How does the 9800 compare?

[jcp007]

It is virtually the same size as the 9700. It is solid and the motion fluid. I have had the 8310, 9000 and the 9700. I like the Torch keyboard the best. I have another post that compares the 9800 and the 9000 in this forum. It is most definitely worth the move.

[Serkle K]

To be honest, the only time I "noticed" anything or had any "issues" typing with it was when I used any of the keys along the edge of the keyboard. I know I'll get more used to it with more use though.