[Tressler66]

Got the Storm yesterday on the launch date. Arrived at Verizon store at 7:50 (opened at 8AM) - was #27 in line...by 9:30 I was back home ready to play

SO after reading countless posts on pros and cons - it is starting to appear that what you want to use your blackberry for will gauge what you think of it.

My first impression was one of satisfaction - I loved the look and feel of it. It has a great weight to it that makes it feel sturdy, while at the same time is not overbearing or heavy feeling. Screen is incredible both by look and also by touch. It took about an hour, but the touch screen won me over.

Pros of the touch screen - great navigation - hover/click functionality works well and seems appropriate for most applications/menus

Cons of the touch screen - TYPING - although, it appears that typing on a virtual keyboard is a skill, and one can learn how to do it. I would have to say that after one day, typing is becoming much quicker and more accurate. I have read a lot about the lack of calibration being an issue that may be addressed someday in a future OS patch...what I found works for me is to not look at the keyboard while typing. As I type this out now my eyes are glued to the keyboard on my laptop - I am just one of those typers...so it isn't natural for me to not look at the virtual keyboard while typing. However accuracy was way better for me when instinctively trying to find the keys rather than trying to aim. You just don't seem to hit the key you are trying to press as often as you would like - at first - you won't even be close and it will be rather comical - it's that different. People need to realize that it isn't necessarily bad, just new and different and it needs to be learned.

Before I move on to other pros and cons of this Blackberry, I want to add to the statement I made earlier:

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']what you want to use your blackberry for will gauge what you think of it.[/font]

I am fortunate enough to have a work issued 8830 as well as now upgrading my 2nd 8830 to the storm.
If I had to use the storm for work - my quote back to our IT folks was " I would run over it with my car...twice". I am lucky that I have the 8830 for work and the Storm for fun. The features I was missing when using the 8830 for personal reasons were almost all there in the Storm. The 3.2 mp camera/vid cam and more functional media apps are at the top of my head for reasons I was unhappy with the 8830. The storm really delivers here in making the phone geared more towards first time Blackberry or smartphone users.
Should you send more than 10-20 emails a day, or if you would consider yourself a heavy user of text messaging - my bet is you will say you hate this phone. It simply is not for you IMO. Should you be more of a casual "phone" user who listens to music on your device, takes/sends pics, a few txt messages, an email here or there, talks on the phone a lot - things like that - then you will think this is one of if not the best phone you've ever held in your hand. My guess is that RIM is cleverly reaching out to an untapped market for them and the corporate power users of Blackberry were not the real target here - they pretty much have that market sector all tied up anyway...but what they don't have is the "iPhone" user market - and they are trying to tap in to it.

You should just be informed prior to rushing out and making a purchase - although it is very reasonably priced for what you get, that alone wonxxx8217;t justify buying it. Make sure it is the correct device for your needs and it will fully handle what it is you want to do with it. Some will love it, some will hate it. I am personally leaning closer towards loving it the more I use it and the better I get at typing with it.

The two things I absolutely hate about both of my blackberries is the lack of Wi-Fi and the lack of Flash support in the browser...I hate to say it, but there is where I will still use the iPod touch around the house.

I am anxiously awaiting the best parts of the iPhone, the blackberry email solutions, and now the features of the Storm to be bundled up in to one nice device...we are probably only a few years away if that, but someone will figure it out.

There are a few bugs...screen seems to not rotate quite right - usually after unlocking the screen or using the camera. Sometimes it just takes a good 10 seconds before it goes, and other times it is just stuck one way or the other. A little frustrating, but probably related to leaving background apps running and not fully closing when done....hold down the menu fey for 5 seconds or so and all of your running apps will come up (I believe your 4 most used apps or most recently used, or some sort of default list of 4 apps will always be there - anything else you may have left open and running)

Somehow I managed to open the camera while typing a txt msg on the virtual keyboard - not really sure how I pulled that one off, but it seemed like a bug to me - unless I stumbled over some obscure shortcut that I am unaware of.

not a bug, but on the 8830 I can hold down the mute button on top of the phone and it will put the phone in standby - mirrors as if it is in a holster. I have the silicone cases and do not use a holster, so religiously putting the phone in stand-by became a regular practice after my pocket dialed 911 6 or 7 times. The Storm has a similar function, however it only locks the screen. The backlight and screen still turn on if it is pressed - just to a theme background and a message stating that the screen is locked - you need to press the physical Lock/Unlock button on the top of the phone (depending which way you are holding it) to unlock it. Maybe there is a way to do it, but I want to put the phone in standby so that the screen wonxxx8217;t turn on every time it is touched - it will stay on until your preset backlight timer shuts it off - could be as long as 2 minutes each time that happens - that's a lot of battery life over time being eaten.

All in all, RIM came pretty close to what they were trying to do. Could have been a little more upfront regarding their target audience and what the device is geared to do. but the hype and the mystery is what put 26 people in line in front of me at the store, and many more behind me. It is just very important that you don't blindly jump in to a purchase for the wrong reasons. Don't buy one just because it's a new blackberry - you probably have loved using all of the blackberries you have owned - but you may hate this one.