Like/Not The Blackberry Storm?

[jyl]

If any Pelicanite gets a Blackberry Storm, I would appreciate hearing your impression of the phone.

I'm going to get a new phone after XMas. Have been looking at the iPhone, but as my company only supports Blackberry, some sort of Blackberry would be convenient.

I played w/ a colleague's Storm for a few minutes, other than noting that the browser didn't correctly render PP, I didn't get a strong impression.

[scottmandue]

I'm thinking of a new phone for the new year too.

So far everyone I have talked to loves their Curve... I'm not crazy about the form factor but it does everything I want in a phone at a low price.

[widgeon13]

I'm going to the Verizon Wireless store in the next day or so to check one out but I still like the iphone with the apps.

[Stutzdriver]

I went from a Windows Mobile phone to a Blackberry Curve when my employer decided we were no longer going to support 2 platforms and went with the Blackberry. So fat it is a much better device than the one it replaced (Lots of reboots, windows problems). No extra bells and whistles I never used and the new phone is easy and very convienient to use.

My son needs a new phone while he is home from college for thanksgiving, it won't be aa Blackberry but I plan on looking at the new Storm while at the Verizon store....

[kaisen]

I loved my Curve, but hated the required $40/mo 'data plan', so went back to a Treo. The Storm would be great, if it weren't for that.

[ZOA NOM]

Love my Pearl. Right size with all the features of the Curve. I can't believe how much can be done with an iPhone, though.

[island911]

In my opinion it kicks the iPhones butt all over the place. The tactile screen rocks, and the keys (or fields) glow blue when your finger hovers over. --smart.


You can cut & paste, you can send pictures, and take video - can't do any of that w/ the iphone.


The sucky thing is geting one. I was told Dec 15th

[911Rob]

Not sure about the storm, but I use a BB Curve and it works great.

I like the full keyboard and the fact that the blasted thing works!

[Porsche_monkey]

Palm Treo. Blackberry's are ubiquitous now.

[nostatic]

Pogue hammers it - hard.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/technology/personaltech/27pogue.html?em

"But I’ve got a better name for it: the BlackBerry Dud.

-snip-

Unfortunately, RIM has completely botched the execution.

-snip-

Now, I wouldn’t come down this hard on some product — especially one that was so eagerly anticipated, customers lined up at dawn on the day of its release — without getting a second, third and fourth opinion. And I’m telling you, there wasn’t a soul who tried this machine who wasn’t appalled, baffled or both.

And that’s before they discovered that the Storm doesn’t have Wi-Fi. It can’t get onto the Internet using wireless hot spots, like the iPhone or other BlackBerries. Verizon’s high-speed (“3G”) cellular Internet network is now in 258 U.S. cities, but that’s still a far cry from everywhere.

But wait, there’s less. The Storm, as it turns out, has more bugs than a summer picnic. Freezes, abrupt reboots, nonresponsive controls, cosmetic glitches. Way too much “unexpected behavior.”

It’s too bad, too, because behind that disastrous software and balky screen, there’s a very nice phone."

They should have stuck to their bread and butter...they can't compete with Apple on design.

[JeremyD]

I heard the same thing - The BB storm has been delayed three separate times because of software glitches. In europe didn't they pull it from the shelves for 10 days after they debuted because of them?

[notmytarga]

I played with a friends Storm on Saturday night for a few minutes. I liked the feel of the screen and other functionality. Today, Wednesday, he tells me the screen quit working after a short drop. He will have to wait for a replacement.

[RWebb]

I heard the Storm was downgraded to a tropical depression...

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Porsche_monkey

Palm Treo. Blackberry's are ubiquitous now.

The treo truly sucks balls. Blackberry in general is a much better device, the Storm not withstanding. BB's forte' is as a communication device; "push technology" for email accounts, BB messenger, great texting/typing hardware and software, etc., etc.. They should not have tried to make an iphone from the sound of it.

[nostatic]

The hits just keep on coming:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/cell-phones/?p=322

[RWebb]

Apple scared a1ll these guys - so they told their engineers -- "make me an iPhone - QUICK!"

That is behind what you are seeing now. That + the fact that Jobs surrounded the iphone with 200 or more patents.

[island911]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Pogue hammers it - hard.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/technology/personaltech/27pogue.html?em

"But I’ve got a better name for it: the BlackBerry Dud.

-snip-

....

It’s too bad, too, because behind that disastrous software and balky screen, there’s a very nice phone."

They should have stuck to their bread and butter...they can't compete with Apple on design.

Wow, so that's nice review from a nervous Apple zealot.

Seriously? ... a balky screen? That screen is higher res and has MUCH nicer typing function than the iphone. ...and you can cut/paste, take video, text pict's...

I guess that the iPhone zealots want every phone to suck as badly as their slab o' electronics.

As to any bug... If this had been released by Apple the zealots would say "that will be an easy software update.."

[nostatic]

Here is what I see as the core issue. Many engineers are very adept at designing something that will function, but few understand how to make something work. And sadly some don't even know that there is a difference. If you are making a widget that needs to interact with another widget, it is less of an issue. But if you are designing a machine-human interface, it is critical. Aesthetic and form matter.

For better or worse, RIM has an aesthetic (at least devices pre-Storm). Whether it is pretty or not is up for discussion, but they clearly "got" form and function wrt a small qwerty keyboard and associated navigation. But with the Storm, apparently some executive said, "we have to have a touchscreen" and off they went. And just like MS, they just don't fully understand the function and form of that type of interface. They copy the veneer but miss the underlying soul and aesthetic.

Will they improve it? Maybe...but likely by the time they do the next iPhone (or whatever Jobs has next in the pipe) will enter new territory and they'll be playing catchup again. One doesn't need to be a zealot to see the hits and misses. The iPhone has issues, but the concept and execution are original and elegant.

[Red Baron]

I'm in the industry however have not received my Storm demo yet. They are so hot they are all going to customers. We're not seeing many returns of them.......yet.

The Curve is a great BB!!