My First Month with the Z10 and Early Life with the Storm, Storm2 and Torch
- In Denver Colorado pre-ordered my wife's White Z10 $199 from Verizon on the first day at 0600 (was using a Motorola Android and she hated it, was not very intuitive for a non-technical person with long finger nails). Wife is still learning that the problems she had with the Android are not the same which required a lot of remembering operations for functions she wanted to use, it was somewhat confusing for her, the Z10 once she understands the finger and screen operations now is becoming very easy for her to use. She has been using the Playbook 64 Gig with few problems, the Z10 was only giving her problems because it was too simple to use compared to the Android (I am sure some Android user will have something to say about this).
On the day my wife�s phone arrived 29 March we went to the local Version store to help her get it setup, I was hoping to get find that I could get the Z10 it earlier than 8 May, no luck. I had to wait to get my BlackZ10 but was able to get my upgrade date moved 30 days earlier by calling their loyal customer group (I like working with them) to 8 April.
The local Costco $149 got their Verizon Z10's the day after released being released at Verizon, talked to them and came back on Monday 1April. The Costco kiosk let me get it a week early since their policy allows an upgrade a week prior to the upgrade date without having asked a manager. The local Verizon did not say other this even though the loyalty person did mention this on the phone, got a better price.
Had a few problems but only after using it heavily on a business trip two weeks later, Maps worked the first night to find my hotel from the airport, worked better than anything have ever used before allowed plenty on time to make the lane changes with the voice directions. Nice street display also using nighttime colors didn't have look at the phone much and it got me to the front door of the hotel. Next day after finishing work I used the Blackberry Map to located a local Costco, worked great, tried setting it up for my second stop, the phone said it could not find the navigation system with nothing but blue sky overhead, after a couple of program restarts that did nothing ended up trying to reboot by powering it down, had to take it up and down twice before I was able to use the Map to find my next stop, worked fine again, then used it again to get back to the hotel with no more problems.
That night setup the alarm for first time, the alarm sound was set to sunrise, did not make a sound at 0630 the next morning, and required a reboot. This got me some much needed sleep since I didn't need to be at my work location that early.
Used the Map later in the day to find my way to the airport with no problem, the next thing that happen while I was playing Bejeweled2, got to the third level , the phone stopped dead and my Z10 rebooted for the first time. Have to believe there are still some problems with memory management. Waiting for the software updates to be sent out for the Verizon Z10 phones. Not planning on getting all excited like some, been using both Storms and the Torch, they were not free from problems. The Z10 even with the memory issues is still by far better than the previous BB touch phones.
There were large signs in the window at the Verizon local store7 April when we went to get screen protectors and a soft case for my wife Z10which were not on the first day, Best Buy had a small second page ad for AT&T. So here in Denver Verizon has finally put out a large Z10 ad in the 14 April Sunday paper.
Only a few issues with the Z10, I did like the flashing green LED showing a network connection, the music player is missing features such as the equalizer. The Map program lets you do a good search base on you location, but won't let you pick a point on the map by touching a location or what side of the street your destination will be on. This could be a problem in some locations trying turn in to your destination not knowing which side of the street your location is on. Now that there are a lot more users with more eyes on the Z10, issues will show up and get worked out. I have been a systems engineer for a long time and have found out that there is nothing is perfect, users will always have problems, find ways to crash systems and at the same time find all of what is missing or broken. Testing is never complete until the users have a go at it; they are not blinded by always following test procedures that are geared towards how something is supposed to work.
There appears to be a lot of places online to buy Z10accessories I tend to do some research prior to buying, when I preordered my wife�s Z10 looked for the BlackBerry brand flip case. Located a place on Amazon where the price was less than $16 most places were over $34. Ordered it on 16 March, they apparently shipped it on 18 March by their statement and charged by my credit card on 19 March. The day I ordered the flip covers the order said it was shipped which prevents the order from being canceled. Last week 13 April sent an email through Amazon and received a statement from the seller that it was shipped to my address. I confirmed that that the address was correct. Before I sent the email I had confirmed the location to be in GB and was being shipped using the Royal Mail. So on 19 April I finally received the two white BlackBerry flip covers, there was no indication anywhere on the packaging or PO inside of the actual shipping date. The package did have a label indicating that it was shipped �Air Mail� and �Royal Mail�. Opened the packaged both flip covers were there with no damage but one of the boxes appeared to have been opened since flap was damaged.
I also decided after having my Z10 for a week on 4 April to get the �Blackberry Battery Charger Bundle for Blackberry 10 Device� and a �Seidio HLBBZ10AS Spring-Clip Holster for on-Cased BlackBerry Z10 - Retail Packaging � Black�. Every place showed the Battery/Charger combo to be back ordered including CrackBerry, I found one place in GB again not the same place that I ordered the flip case from that had them on hand. Being somewhat apprehensive I placed the order for the battery/changer combo, 11 days later it was sitting in my mailbox. So its buyer beware can�t always trust the stars. The holster showed up 4days later from a stateside vendor with no problem, the holster is great and made really. Seems all accessories are made in China so the quality really depends on suppliers that are used by vendors BlackBerry does a good job with their accessory supplier. Now there looks like there are a lot of Z10aftermarket accessories out there which means quality will vary. I hope products that are being sold as BlackBerry OEM accessories are really from the same suppliers.
I have been on Verizon since it was AirTouch and used different phones and smartphones. When the Storm appeared I went to BlackBerry, I had another brand of keyboard based smartphone but I never really liked tiny keyboards. The Storm touch screen really was an interesting try, but there were always software problems and needs to reboot. The Storm2 with a real touch screen but still not a good one was better, still required reboots. The Storm was even better still with software issues in the beginning turn in a usable phone with good battery life, had problems with getting a good signal in a lot of places where other Verizon were not. It took a while to get the Torch software to have all of the options needed and to worked with the Playbook. I am now currently using a Z10and PlayBook64 with keyboard purchased from CrackBerry. So yes there are problems, issues and short comings with the Z10 which will be workout by BlackBerry, the operating system based on QNX will bring a lot of possibilities to BB10 with integration into a lot of other systems. Right now I control my house HVAC system (browser) and monitor the front of my house (APP) with my Z10, transfer file to my PC through WIFI (native to BB10). I would like to see more intergradation with my car other than the phone calling, since there are Bluetooth devices for OBD that can give you direct connection. Since the Z10 works with a HDMI monitor it would be nice to use the BlackBerry keyboard would may it a nice travel setup without a PC needed. There are some nice portable HDMI monitors on the market right now.
I have been following CrackBerry and a BlackBerry user for a long time but was never inclined to enter into some of the posts since there appears to be a lot of negative uninformed bias opinions from non-Blackberry users. So it's sometimes hard to sort out facts from fiction. There are no perfect products from any manufacture, but there are manufactures that are willing to work to provide what the users want and do not treat them as cash flow consumers. Blackberry has a solid user group which needs a good tool to do their jobs with when needed, provide some release with games and help them with their private time & leisure activities. Smartphones now have more power than a lot of PC's and there are more discussions going on about smartphones and sides are being taken by some user groups in the same way as PC's in the past and present. There will never be one phone, operating system or anything else that perfect for every person�s needs. I like to base my technology needs/decisions on what works for me using good valid information sources.Bobert_123 likes this.04-20-13 09:06 AMLike 1 - Just realized you can use the Playbook Mini Keyboard with the Z10 by holding the "ctrl" down, power on the keyboard until LED flashes red & blue. From the Z10 tap the peripheral when it comes, message will show 6 digit number, type it on the keyboard. Use the tiny mouse move around, change screens using the dots at the bottom of the Z10 screen. With a portable HDMI monitor can replace the Playbook (oh well). Saw other trying other brands, the BB keyboard was actually design for BB software operations. Virtual keyboard doesn't appear, can't expect the swiftkey capabilities to work different software.04-21-13 08:08 AMLike 0
- Forum
- BlackBerry 10 Phones & OS
- BlackBerry Z10
My First Month with the Z10 and Early Life with the Storm, Storm2 and Torch
Similar Threads
-
My first month with the Z10
By hakdaddy1 in forum BlackBerry 10 OSReplies: 16Last Post: 03-29-13, 08:26 PM -
Like the Z10 but need help with DPPB
By Mhotep in forum BlackBerry Z10Replies: 1Last Post: 03-29-13, 08:49 AM -
Back with blackberry Z10 after 3 years with iOS and android.
By Steven Shef in forum New to the Forums? Introduce Yourself Here!Replies: 21Last Post: 03-16-13, 09:34 AM -
Buy the Z10 outright to use with MVNO or sign a 2 year term?
By unkl_e in forum General BlackBerry News, Discussion & RumorsReplies: 1Last Post: 03-03-13, 10:27 PM -
Buy the Z10 outright to use with MVNO or sign a 2 year term?
By unkl_e in forum BlackBerry Z10Replies: 0Last Post: 03-03-13, 09:59 PM
LINK TO POST COPIED TO CLIPBOARD