[Ifthir]

Just wanted to give a bit more detailed information about the Storm that I have had for a week. Early on I had quite a few minor issues, namely the error SIM Card Rejected (Which I believe was caused by Vodaphone taking 72hours to activate), and errors with voice dialing, as well as errors installing Media Sync and errors with the Desktop Redirector software crashing my Windows XP SP3 computer.

I'd love to tell you my storm problems are gone, but they aren't. I am still having issues with voice dialing and some of the other programs, but by and large, the issues seem to be contained to 3rd party applications rather than the Blackberry phone itself. Additionally, hard resets always resolve the issues.

What appears to happen is that the OS (Or simply the Nuance voice OS) seems to hang in certain circumstances, which effectively causes the entire phone to 'act odd'. What I mean by this is when the voice dialing goes down, it takes down Accelerometer with it as well as the touch sensitivity. During this time the entire phone is slow to react and causes all kinds of unexpected functionality.

I was able to duplicate this a few ways. When I clicked my bluetooth headset, while already in a call, to switch to bluetooth, this caused voice dialing to go to hell. After the call, voice dialing no longer worked. What I mean by 'no longer worked' is that I can speak into the voice activation system, it just doesn't understand me. This isn't a case where the software can't interpret my words, it simply doesn't register them. When this happens, only a hard reboot (Removing the battery) resolves the issue. I also duplicated this by turning on the bluetooth device without first activating the blackberry connection to bluetooth. This also appears to cause the behavior described above.

All of this leads me to believe a few things.

- The release was a bit rushed. Two more weeks of beta would have gone a long way to resolve a lot of these small (yet important!) issues that cropped up recently.

- The phone itself is pretty solid, and the Blackberry OS is a lot better than the Windows Mobile OS I came from.

- Despite the above statement, the Blackberry OS appears to be easily brought down when other aspects of the OS fail or display unexpected behavior. This seems a bit odd to me, but certainly is not inexplicable given other Mobile operating systems and their coding limitations.

- By and large the errors are not Blackberry specific, or even phone specific, and appear to be caused by 3rd party apps and/or factors outside the control of Blackberry.

- Verizon's tech support had 0 training on this product. Their technicians knew nothing about this product or how to support it.

In conclusion, I do expect the Storm to be the i-phone killer it was intended to be, but only when these little nagging bugs are resolved and the user implementation process can be more effectively tailored.

[clubchucker]

Originally Posted by Ifthir

- Verizon's tech support had 0 training on this product. Their technicians knew nothing about this product or how to support it.

LOL...that reminds me of a story about when I picked mine up last Friday. Didn't get a chance to post my experience because I left for vacation the next day.

Like an idiot, I waited in the cold for an hour to get the Storm. Ok...not on purpose; I thought the store was opening at 7:00 and instead they opened at 8:00. Rumor in line was that this particular location had 15 units on hand. I was #8 in line....and like I said, was leaving the next day.

So I finally get in, and the rep I'm working with wasn't....well, I've had better. I'll leave it at that. Anyway, the process is taking forever because other reps keep coming over to him with questions and issues. He finally says "sorry about the interruptions, but I'm the only tech here today". Whatever dude.

So after countless interruptions, and from what I can tell, he didn't "help" any of the other reps, he finally gets to the point of hooking up my new Storm. I'm sitting there watching...and watching...and watching...and here "Mr. Tech" couldn't even get the back cover off to put in the battery! I know he got embarrassed and walked away behind a corner that was close to get out of my eyesight...but I knew what the problem was. Another rep walked by and you could hear her say "just squeeze it together like this...". Boom...automatically he comes back and finishes the process.

Amazing...just amazing.

[jgb@etree]

After a week, I'm annoyed with the major glitches (rotation & touchscreen lag) but impressed with the hardware, features and functionality.

If the update can fix the big problems and the increased response helps me type a bit faster & more accurately I'll be officially on board.

[drdingo]

I'm sure coming updates will solve 90% of the issues.

[mic_crispy]

Originally Posted by drdingo

I'm sure coming updates will solve 90% of the issues.

How do you know this?

[cjpitsch]

Just installed the new Jawbone on my Storm (4.7.0.75). First Call "Home" worked right off the bat, but now I can not get it to do the same again, nor any other voice commands.

[michael12005]

Storm is a piece of garbage and anyone who buys one is nuts, until BlackBerry and Verizon get it right, maybe in 6 months time. And they have the nerve to charge a $35 restocking fee! You are all mad to throw away your money!

[misterbulldog]

Originally Posted by michael12005

Storm is a piece of garbage and anyone who buys one is nuts, until BlackBerry and Verizon get it right, maybe in 6 months time. And they have the nerve to charge a $35 restocking fee! You are all mad to throw away your money!

Feel better now?

[jimmypowder]

Originally Posted by michael12005

Storm is a piece of garbage and anyone who buys one is nuts, until BlackBerry and Verizon get it right, maybe in 6 months time. And they have the nerve to charge a $35 restocking fee! You are all mad to throw away your money!

I couln't agree more.I fooled around with the Storm and hated it.Tiresome email clicking screen,very sluggish ,not ready for prime time.

The iphone blows this phone away.Anyone who has used both like I have knows this is true.This statement assumes you live in a 3g ,not an edge network area.

The only advantage that the Rim blackberry phones have over the iphone
is that the push email is more efficient,though email and attachment viewing is superior overall on the iphone.Attachment viewing is so poor on the blackberry I had to go out and buy beamberry for improved attachment viewing.Oh the Blackberrry also has copy and paste,iphone doesnt but will soon.

The clarity of phone calls is slightly better on Verizon blackberries than the At & t iphone but that is a network issue not a phone hardware issue.

Overall ,the iphone right now is a much better phone than the storm but in a couple of years who knows. Im guessing it will take at least a couple of years
for the storm to become competitive with the iphone.

[I8UB4]

[QUOTE=jimmypowder;1215165] The iphone blows this phone away.Anyone who has used both like I have knows this is true.This statement assumes you live in a 3g ,not an edge network area.

The only advantage that the Rim blackberry phones have over the iphone
is that the push email is more efficient,though email and attachment viewing is superior overall on the iphone.Attachment viewing is so poor on the blackberry I had to go out and buy beamberry for improved attachment viewing.Oh the Blackberrry also has copy and paste,iphone doesnt but will soon.QUOTE]

Well, I had an iPhone 3G and returned it, so I disagree. Dropped calls, Safari crashing, having to sync and load through iTunes, inefficient one-finger typing, etc.

I think the click screen is a brilliant idea and works great for me. Browsing is far superior with a click-screen (OK, Safari is a better browser, but I kept hitting links I didn't mean to hit). The two-thumb landscape typing is much better than the iPhone's portrait one-finger method. Attachment viewing to me is much better on the BB because you can EDIT Word and Excel documents. Video recording, a flash for the camera, 3.2 megapixels, auto-focus, stereo bluetooth, cut-and-paste, business-quality email and messaging, Blackberry messenger, etc.

That being said, the iPhone is a beautiful device. The games, graphics, UI and multimedia are second to none. I don't know that the Storm will ever be capable of the graphics and games that the iPhone can do, or if their OS will ever be that slick. If you're looking for an entertainment device that can also do phone calls and messaging, the iPhone can't be beat. If your looking for a business device that can also do entertainment and multimedia, then go with the Storm.

[jimmypowder]

[QUOTE=I8UB4;1215382]

Originally Posted by jimmypowder

The iphone blows this phone away.Anyone who has used both like I have knows this is true.This statement assumes you live in a 3g ,not an edge network area.

The only advantage that the Rim blackberry phones have over the iphone
is that the push email is more efficient,though email and attachment viewing is superior overall on the iphone.Attachment viewing is so poor on the blackberry I had to go out and buy beamberry for improved attachment viewing.Oh the Blackberrry also has copy and paste,iphone doesnt but will soon.QUOTE]

Well, I had an iPhone 3G and returned it, so I disagree. Dropped calls, Safari crashing, having to sync and load through iTunes, inefficient one-finger typing, etc.

I think the click screen is a brilliant idea and works great for me. Browsing is far superior with a click-screen (OK, Safari is a better browser, but I kept hitting links I didn't mean to hit). The two-thumb landscape typing is much better than the iPhone's portrait one-finger method. Attachment viewing to me is much better on the BB because you can EDIT Word and Excel documents. Video recording, a flash for the camera, 3.2 megapixels, auto-focus, stereo bluetooth, cut-and-paste, business-quality email and messaging, Blackberry messenger, etc.

That being said, the iPhone is a beautiful device. The games, graphics, UI and multimedia are second to none. I don't know that the Storm will ever be capable of the graphics and games that the iPhone can do, or if their OS will ever be that slick. If you're looking for an entertainment device that can also do phone calls and messaging, the iPhone can't be beat. If your looking for a business device that can also do entertainment and multimedia, then go with the Storm.

I have had the iphone for 2 months and not one drropped call.safari has never crashed and i can type with two fingers.There are also apps that let you speak the email you want to send and then change it to text.very efficient and it works no need to type.does the storm have this feature?

[illig]

[QUOTE=jimmypowder;1215702]

Originally Posted by I8UB4

I have had the iphone for 2 months and not one dropped call.

ehh, that depends on the area... i was all set to get the iPhone (which i think is a great piece of technology)... but then my GF got one 1st

I haven't had ONE complete call with her since she bought the phone in October... and this is NYC

So here I am with my Storm... lots of glitches and "beta OS" type bugs.. but the phone just WORKS

call me silly, but that's important to me :D

[jsntrenkler]

[QUOTE=jimmypowder;1215702]

Originally Posted by I8UB4

I have had the iphone for 2 months and not one drropped call.safari has never crashed and i can type with two fingers.There are also apps that let you speak the email you want to send and then change it to text.very efficient and it works no need to type.does the storm have this feature?

I truly find that hard to believe, I too owned a iPhone and iPhone 3G ... Safari Crashing is very, very, very common. Overall though, Safari is far superior even though it does crash albeit not as much with firmware 2.2, but is still crash prone.

[jimmypowder]

[QUOTE=illig;1215868]

Originally Posted by jimmypowder

ehh, that depends on the area... i was all set to get the iPhone (which i think is a great piece of technology)... but then my GF got one 1st

I haven't had ONE complete call with her since she bought the phone in October... and this is NYC

So here I am with my Storm... lots of glitches and "beta OS" type bugs.. but the phone just WORKS

call me silly, but that's important to me :D

If your situation with dropped calls was commonplace people would be returning the iphone in droves.I just don't hear this is happening.I,m wondering if she is still at 2.0 software and not current 2.2 .I did hear of problems with call connectivity with 2.0 original software.

[bubbatex]

[QUOTE=jimmypowder;1215931]

Originally Posted by illig

If your situation with dropped calls was commonplace people would be returning the iphone in droves.I just don't hear this is happening.I,m wondering if she is still at 2.0 software and not current 2.2 .I did hear of problems with call connectivity with 2.0 original software.

I have found that people put up with a lot to get what they really want. I know a lot of folks with an iPhone and they HATE ATT's service, but they all have a 2yr contract and the iPhone is great (though they only get a 3g connection about 50% of the time, etc). If you have always had bad calls, dropped calls, then your expectations are usually lower.

I got a Storm yesterday and I have a Q9c now - so there will be some adjustments. But I would not call it garbage - different - but not garbage. I got a version with .65 made in Mexico and immediately upgraded to .75 and it seem pretty quick and nimble to me - actually the screen changes TOO quick sometimes. I have noticed some lag, but look at what I was using. Don't know if it is a keeper yet, but I am probably gonna try out a iPhone too. BTW - coming from a real kb to the Storm has been pretty easy so far. My son is getting an iPod Touch for Christmas, so I will have comparative typing tests next week!

[RickSE]

I have had the Storm for a week, and it is going back to Verizon. The graphics are very nice, and I love the GPS, but this thing fails miserably in the two main areas why I have this phone. First is trying to answer a call. The screen flicks from portrait to landscape, moving the buttons as I try to answer the phone. It's driving me nuts, and I have lost count of the number of dropped calls. The second problem is typing e-mails. It takes me at least 3x as long to type on the screen as on my old 8830, and the typos are out of control. My fingers my be fat, but they aren't that fat. Also, I am constantly moving the cursor around the screen due to accidentally clicking on the corner of the screen. I really miss the track-ball because the screen will not let me move the cursor to the end of the line where I want it. Bye-bye Storm - maybe when the kinks get worked out.

[paulpo]

Originally Posted by RickSE

I have had the Storm for a week, and it is going back to Verizon. The graphics are very nice, and I love the GPS, but this thing fails miserably in the two main areas why I have this phone. First is trying to answer a call. The screen flicks from portrait to landscape, moving the buttons as I try to answer the phone. It's driving me nuts, and I have lost count of the number of dropped calls. The second problem is typing e-mails. It takes me at least 3x as long to type on the screen as on my old 8830, and the typos are out of control. My fingers my be fat, but they aren't that fat. Also, I am constantly moving the cursor around the screen due to accidentally clicking on the corner of the screen. I really miss the track-ball because the screen will not let me move the cursor to the end of the line where I want it. Bye-bye Storm - maybe when the kinks get worked out.

I've done everything I can to like the device despite these 2 major problems. I'm about one more missed call away from dusting off the 8703.