[wippa]

Well as a total noob to all things blackberry i am no longer a virgin of all things.

The storm arrived today and I've had trouble putting it down since. I'd say it's a bit like the PS3 - a real clever piece of kit that I'll use about 40% of it's features!

It feels good, looks good, navigates well but IMO there are a few probs.

Build quality - the screen has a very small visible line between it and the case. This was apparant in a review i read and also on mine. It means you can see bits of the PCB behind the screen in dark lit areas.
No wifi - i already knew this when i ordered as im not a heavy user. I've only used it at home so far and whilst it's okay - it's far from super fast or wifi speeds.
No maps - even though it's supposes to be pre- installed, my version has no blackberry maps on - when you try to install it, you get told your phone can't support it!
User guide - As a noob i've read this cover to cover. I can't get email working on here so after consulting the user guide I've come to the conclusion it's an old guide for a diff' phone. The user guide mentions options, the walkthrough does the same which are simply not present on the phone.

One of my main reasons for turning to the dark side was to sync up my outlook at work from an exchange server & sysnc my home pc with my home stuff. The nokia n82 managed this in around 5 or 6 clicks. At present I can't get the Storm to do either - errors are either no account present or just hangs and returns to menu.

I'm now hunting out forums to see if anyone else is in the same boat, follow tutorials etc etc to try to get things set up, but the moment i'm really struggling.


On the plus side, with the exception of the email/sync problems im having, it's really pick up n play.Menus are simple, set up wizard was straight forward and on the whole it's been a joy to use.

Now, back to google ....

[JSanders]

Hey, and welcome to the BBForums.

I posted this morning just some tips and shortcuts you might be interested in to use for your mail setup.

New Storm Tips xxx038; Shortcuts, direct from RIM | BlackBerryNews.com

Look at the one for Messaging, specifically.

[wippa]

Thanks for that. Guess I'll be spending some time here over the coming months as I get to grips with it all.

Thanks for the link. The problem i have is on setting up the email,it starts the wizard, but the only option i have visible is

"I want to use a work email account with a Blackberry Enterprise Server" - which I don't have. It asks at the next screen if the administrator has given you a password, and allows an attempt at sync, but hangs, then fails obviously.

I'm just really suprised that the only way to sync this up is 1. Through a USB lead & 2. Through installing BES on our exchange server. I'm sure there are valid reasons for this, but like i said in the first post, my N82 sync'd up with outlook in around 5 clicks and then done it via bluetooth in around 20 seconds every so many hours. For what everyone considers a business device, it actually appears to me to be some way behind on the user friendly scale.

But hey, I'm just a frustrated, tired noob - what do i know

[JSanders]

Originally Posted by wippa

"I want to use a work email account with a Blackberry Enterprise Server" - which I don't have. It asks at the next screen if the administrator has given you a password, and allows an attempt at sync, but hangs, then fails obviously.

Are you on a personal account or a corporate BES? If you are on BES, use that above.

If a personal BIS account, you need a BlackBerry Data Plan on your account with your carrier.

On a personal BIS account, you will use either a USB cable or the Bluetooth sync. There is no wireless sync for the BIS.

[wippa]

Thanks again for the reply.

I'm on a Vodafone Business tariff with unlimited email, browsing & messages etc - we don't actually have the BES installed on our server yet as mine is the first one in the business so of course there's been no need so far.

It states in the bumph I can sync upto 10 email address'. Does this mean they can only be business via the BES then? How do folks sync up personal hotmail or pop3 accounts?

I'm not sure what a BIS is - do i have one of these? Hang on - is this a blackberry internet service account?If so - these are the options which are missing from my phone. I've read on the website about this but can't access it via the phone.

I assume this is because I'm a business customer but this would seem a silly restriction to place.

PS the facebook app doesn't work either

PPS Vodafone business had 40,000 of these to get out today apparantly.

[Cilonen]

Your phone may not have had the service books downloaded yet - these are essential to the operation of BIS, etc.
There may be an option on the vodafone website (in your user account section) to send them, otherwise you'll need to ring customer services.

As it's only arrived today, they may not yet have set up your account fully - it may be fine tomorrow!

[wippa]

Well nowt arrived from Vodafone today via an update or the like and there's still no mention on any of the sites I'm scouring so I'm going to post over @ Vodafone forum - there's quite a few bold users who don't have "maps" either - quite resolvable apparantly but odd that it's not on there from the off.

[evilblade]

Have my one from Vodafone:
All application on (need to install/first run)
BBMaps, GoogleMaps, Vodafone find & go, Youtube, Facebook, Flickr, Breakingviews, Documents To Go and many more.

Regards,
Rob

[wippa]

Ah you jammy bugger

I really hope I don't have to endure customer services @ Vodafone, it'll take day, promises to call back, failure to return calls, me getting irate, me threatening them, them ignoring me, me generally making faces at the phone and finally, speaking to some bloke called Geoff down the pub who'll prob sort it in 30 seconds by "you just gotta do this this n this mate"!

[wippa]

Just for info really, but I've resolved most of these problems now.

The main problem was my phone wasn't registered on the network - I could use it etc, but Blackberry stuff hadn't been activated apparantly. The way to tell this is if the gprs label in the top right is in lower case, you're not registered. Upper case and you are. I spoke to Vodafone who resolved it, had to do a clean boot and the apps came flooding in. My account had been set up incorrectly basically.

I've got 2 email addys set up - can send but don't appear to be receiving - so another mooch around forums is on for the day!

PS i there some kinda send/recieve option - I've found "reconcile" but that don't seem to work with any of the test messages sent so far.

[david_uk]

Originally Posted by wippa

The main problem was my phone wasn't registered on the network - I could use it etc, but Blackberry stuff hadn't been activated apparantly. The way to tell this is if the gprs label in the top right is in lower case, you're not registered. Upper case and you are. I spoke to Vodafone who resolved it, had to do a clean boot and the apps came flooding in. My account had been set up incorrectly basically

Just a tip - if you need to change any of your BIS settings in future, for instance to add a new email account, point your PC to BlackBerry Internet Service, log in and go.

[musclemasterflex]

lucky... I have to go in and upgrade my phone so I don't think I can order online. Lame... How is it?

[00hoangc]

Originally Posted by wippa

...I've got 2 email addys set up - can send but don't appear to be receiving - so another mooch around forums is on for the day!

PS i there some kinda send/recieve option - I've found "reconcile" but that don't seem to work with any of the test messages sent so far.

oh that happened to me actually. i was wondering why emails aren't coming through, but by the morning after, i had them coming in and waking me up =[ i think its a syncing issue with the server or something. causing a delay what you first set it up.

[wippa]

Just thought I'd update ya'll.

Pretty much 99% of my issues are now resolved. There was a huge **** up @ Vodafone which meant all the Storms Prosumer editions went out on the wrong price plans ie no Blackberry stuff (£5 pcm). They're claiming they've resolved this now, this post if from a mod @ Vodafone eforum No Maps On Storm Or Any Way To Get Email - Surely Not - Vodafone eForum -:

The more likely explanation however, is that you chose a price-plan which we discovered on launch-day wasn't configured with the Blackberry APN in it. This should be included in all Storm Price-plans, and was an error on our part.

If you call 191 and explain that you're on this price-plan, they should be able to fix it for you smile.gif

I've syncd up 2 regular emails and now my work one - all coming through wireless without any problem. The only single problem I have left now is getting calender & contacts in Outlook to sync up.