BlackBerry Storm 9500
I've now come to the conclusion that everybody who wrote reviews on the phone spent about five minutes with the device. Part of me doesn't blame them. If I reviewed electronics for a living, I wouldn't want to spend several days really testing the phone. However, with a cell phone as radically different as the Storm, it is unfair to make these judgments on the keyboard, etc. in haste.
Simply put, the phone is very good. It isn't as breathtaking as I wanted it to be, however it is not nearly as disappointing as many critics want you to think (**cough** New York Times, excuse me). The keyboard is getting easier and easier to use as time goes by. If RIM put a tracker ball at the bottom of the phone where it is on all the other units, then this would in fact be, an iPhone killer. When I look at the phone, there is definitely room for that magical RIM trackball...(can you say Storm2?)
Starting from the top. The phone feels solidly built. It has a good weight to it and feels durable. My only fear is that my propensity for dropping phones will be disastrous for the glass click screen. I'm having bad thoughts about not being able to do anything with the phone because the click activator ceases to work or I'll scratch up that beautiful screen. Three times in the last seven years or so I've had the misfortune of waking up from a night of drinking only to find giant cracks on the LCDs of my phones (can you say insurance? iPhone people can't, and that alone will FOREVER stop me from getting one). Seriously though, I really hope this thing is bomb proof. I have a silicon condom on it, which better keep it safe at night.
I was perplexed when I powered it on for the first time. The phone takes several minutes to reboot. This is a laptop, not a phone, right? Thankfully I only have to reset the phone every so often... Pretty is a good word to describe the design and graphics overall.
The click screen is a trip. It is definitely takes adjustment, but I really dig it. It definitely limits the speed of your typing because you must remain in line with the speed of "The Cadence of the Clicker" (this is the name of my next album). I say that because when you are really going at it, it can create a steady beat like a metronome. This just feels like one of the drawbacks to writing novels on any mobile device. All keyboards have a handicap, but I sincerely miss being able to press to multiple buttons at the almost exact time (as we are accustomed to on a computer keyboard). This system causes you to be a little more accurate because you can't barrel through your letters, so it may be a bonus after all. I also like the SureType keyboard in portrait mode. It uses the predictive text heavily, and it is a great fast type option with one thumb. This mode suffers most from the click limiter because the surface area is far too tight for dual finger typing as tempting as it is.
One of my friends voiced his displeasure with the auto correct function on the text. I find it useful. Just remember if it auto corrects something and you don't like it, immediately hit the DELETE button, and it will revert to your perverted word or innocent typo. His changed the word "f*&^ing" into "ducking." The best way around this is to add these words that you use when frustrated or talking dirty to your lover into the Dictionary. To do so, go to the HOME screen, then choose: OPTIONS-CUSTOM DICTIONARY. Now hit the "BlackBerry" button and select NEW.
I've also heard that the VZNavigator and Visual Voicemail programs should be removed to speed up the performance of the phone. After all, who is going to pay $10 and $3/month for such frivolous features? What I was jazzed to see is that Google Maps' triangulation feature was not disabled here as it was on my i760 and Treo. This means that it will show your approximate location on the map for free. It is a nice feature to get you partially orientated at no cost (just keep in mind it is using cell towers to locate you, so you must have service for it to work, which is not the case with true GPS/VZNav).
The media player is good. It is not an iPod, but it has a great search feature, and is intuitively laid out. The resolution on the screen is better than the iPhone and video looks GREAT. The included headphones sound great and the speakerphone gets extremely loud, however it is very tinny sounding and has an over modulated feel when at high volumes.
The icing on the cake is that I am not utilizing the BlackBerry Corporate server, therefore, I do not have to pay for BlackBerry data access. I am now paying only $29.99 for data where I was paying $44.99 on my Samsung for the exact same unlimited data/email service. With this savings, my Storm will pay for itself in 14 months of service!
The device lock is good. You can either hit the button on the top left of the phone, or you can use the "Lock" button in your home menu. I'm peeved at how the Mute/un-Mute button still functions while the device is locked. I've had the phone suddenly start playing "Rise Against" over the speakerphone (which can get pretty damn loud) at times that I wished it hadn't. I understand that it is to let you control your music without unlocking the device, however I always saw locking as the way to prevent your phone from doing strange things in the privacy of your pocket/holster without your permission. FIX: just lower your media playback volume all the way to silent.
The ringer alerts are one of the best features on the phone. I can't be happier in this department. This puts every phone I've ever seen to shame (I don't know if all BBs do this, this is my first). You can select from a plethora of options including: Normal, Loud, Medium, Vibrate Only, Silent, All Alerts Off, and my personal favorite Phone Calls Only (all with the touch of a button). I'm used to an all or nothing world, or having to go into individual menus and make these decisions (time consuming/annoying? Yes). Furthermore, the alarm will sound in any mode other than All Alerts Off.
Where the Storm crushes the iPhone is in the folder organization possibilities on the home page. Where the iPhone only allows you to move your applications around, the Storm lets you create folders to keep everything organized as if it were a computer desktop. I absolutely love this ability because I'm very big at keeping things `tidy.'
I'm also a fan of how the screen fades down instead of cutting out when it is time to turn off. This is great because it reminds you that you have to do something to the device if you don't want the image to go away completely.
Some tips:
To get IMAP to work with GMAIL, follow the instructions here: http://forums.crackberry.com/f86/storm-gmail-imap-99071/
Don't waste your time like I did, just go directly to this website as per the forums instructions: https://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=vzw
I was concerned that there was a charge to using this service (because I'm not utilizing Verizon's BlackBerry email service), but there isn't.
To copy and paste, you simply hold down one finger where you want to start, and then drag along with another to where you want it to end.
When entering text, if you spell something so terribly wrong that its suggestions aren't helpful, then the best thing to do is just delete the entire word. This is frustrating. It doesn't allow you to fix your mistake because when you click on a part of the word it makes you chose from the suggested list. I wish there were a way around this. Nevertheless, if you just give up, then you can move on without losing any more hair.
I can't properly sync my phone with my Mac given the software they include and the USB cable. However, thanks to Google's amazing Sync application, I do all of my syncing wirelessly as often as I wish. YOU MUST DOWNLOAD THIS PROGRAM!
All I bought at the price $270.27 dollars from website amazon.
Or you may access information from this link.
http://www.amazon.com/BlackBerry-Storm-9500/
I think where everyone must have. I believe you will get a very good experience like me.
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