Storm 9530

[bbnall]

Good Day all:

I am writing my first review as a newbie and would love feedback as I ramble about the new Storm.

The First 54 hours.
OTB the initial boot up was a bit lengthy, but very minimal in comparison to other newly debuting touchscreen smart/hybrid phones. The OEM screen protector is a definite bonus, but was slightly aggrivated by the removal of on screen instruction sticker that is placed on top of the protective layer. (When removing the instruction sticker take your time and pull slowly as to not lift the layer below permitting less bubbles.)
Accelorometer: Everything works great...too great! even when the phone is locked if i move the Storm it will turn on and flip. The instant flip with a 15degree slant is a little irritating, but at least it works. No problems with the phone freezing yet.
It takes a bit to get used to in comparison with other touch screen devices because the sure touch optimization. I don't like that the screen is a "floating" screen and that the sides are visibly separated from the side of the encasement. I am very worried about the functionality getting disturbed with dirt and dust. Also, not that you want spill anything on your phone, but this would probably be an instant kill. (DEFINETELY GET THE INSURANCE!!) Getting a silicon cover that covers the edge of the screen and the bottom buttons seems to work great and provides quite a bit of protection and definetely a good chunk of piece of mind. (Verizon Stores have these) Also, screen protecters from store woud be a good investment too, since I have heard that some after market companies products are not allowing the BB to function properly.
I did set my expectations a bit high(since it was a BB and all), so I can say that I have been a bit disipointed at points. Should I have been? It is a revolutionary "electronic" device, so I prolly should have been more laid back with the juvinile stage of the launch. Selecting the areas that I wanted to access have never been an issue. Sometime the lag-time is a little like dial-up speed, but it eventually gets there.
Charging takes quite a bit longer in comparison with the curve or pearl, but battery life seems to be about the same(individual specific).
The full brower internet is great! I love that Firefox comes preinstalled!! Zooming and selecting can a get a little tight depending on the site that you are viewing. Having to use the BBkey to zoom in and out is very much a hinderment if time is of essence. Leaving the Java disabled is a must if speed is what are looking for, but if you don't mind and you are encompassed in 1XEV then let Java do its thing.
Switching between 1X and 1XEV is a bit of a glitchy transition, but once the tower jumping is done, the Storm is seamless once again! This is not just in Browser, but also in general functionality!
Cosmeticaly the storms build is great! EXCEPT...the battery cover release is located on both sides of the cover and they are embossed enough to be problematic when using a pouch or veritcle slide case. After placing the Storm in the case the latches are pushed enough to release the back and upon exit the back falls off. I had this happen 3 times in the first few hours that I had the case. A horizontal case is a solution for this and will provide the same convenience on the hip if wanted. Also, the silicone cover as mentioned before will solve this issue because it covers the releases.

All-in-All: after the first few hours I am enjoying the phone. After 10 hours I was almost positive it was going back, but I will give it a full test run and be back to you after 14 days. If anyone else is experiencing the same issues; I am here with you, but I believe if we have patients we will see an amazing product emerge!

Blackberry Storm 9530 Rating: 7 out of 10(better than OTB iPhone 3G)

[punisher135]

Originally Posted by bbnall

Good Day all:

I am writing my first review as a newbie and would love feedback as I ramble about the new Storm.

The First 54 hours.
OTB the initial boot up was a bit lengthy, but very minimal in comparison to other newly debuting touchscreen smart/hybrid phones. The OEM screen protector is a definite bonus, but was slightly aggrivated by the removal of on screen instruction sticker that is placed on top of the protective layer. (When removing the instruction sticker take your time and pull slowly as to not lift the layer below permitting less bubbles.)
Accelorometer: Everything works great...too great! even when the phone is locked if i move the Storm it will turn on and flip. The instant flip with a 15degree slant is a little irritating, but at least it works. No problems with the phone freezing yet.
It takes a bit to get used to in comparison with other touch screen devices because the sure touch optimization. I don't like that the screen is a "floating" screen and that the sides are visibly separated from the side of the encasement. I am very worried about the functionality getting disturbed with dirt and dust. Also, not that you want spill anything on your phone, but this would probably be an instant kill. (DEFINETELY GET THE INSURANCE!!) Getting a silicon cover that covers the edge of the screen and the bottom buttons seems to work great and provides quite a bit of protection and definetely a good chunk of piece of mind. (Verizon Stores have these) Also, screen protecters from store woud be a good investment too, since I have heard that some after market companies products are not allowing the BB to function properly.
I did set my expectations a bit high(since it was a BB and all), so I can say that I have been a bit disipointed at points. Should I have been? It is a revolutionary "electronic" device, so I prolly should have been more laid back with the juvinile stage of the launch. Selecting the areas that I wanted to access have never been an issue. Sometime the lag-time is a little like dial-up speed, but it eventually gets there.
Charging takes quite a bit longer in comparison with the curve or pearl, but battery life seems to be about the same(individual specific).
The full brower internet is great! I love that Firefox comes preinstalled!! Zooming and selecting can a get a little tight depending on the site that you are viewing. Having to use the BBkey to zoom in and out is very much a hinderment if time is of essence. Leaving the Java disabled is a must if speed is what are looking for, but if you don't mind and you are encompassed in 1XEV then let Java do its thing.
Switching between 1X and 1XEV is a bit of a glitchy transition, but once the tower jumping is done, the Storm is seamless once again! This is not just in Browser, but also in general functionality!
Cosmeticaly the storms build is great! EXCEPT...the battery cover release is located on both sides of the cover and they are embossed enough to be problematic when using a pouch or veritcle slide case. After placing the Storm in the case the latches are pushed enough to release the back and upon exit the back falls off. I had this happen 3 times in the first few hours that I had the case. A horizontal case is a solution for this and will provide the same convenience on the hip if wanted. Also, the silicone cover as mentioned before will solve this issue because it covers the releases.

All-in-All: after the first few hours I am enjoying the phone. After 10 hours I was almost positive it was going back, but I will give it a full test run and be back to you after 14 days. If anyone else is experiencing the same issues I am here with you, but I believe have patients and we will see an amazing product imerge!

Blackberry Storm 9530 Rating: 7 out of 10(better than OTB iPhone 3G)

Amazing!!!!!

[EnergyPlus]

Well done, bb, I appreciate your even-handed review. I got mine on release day and my experience has been, as yours, mostly good with a few glitches that I found myself learning to adjust to. The new update resolved--or lessened--these, so now, it's just me learning to use the device. For the most part, I'm very pleased and find myself liking it more the more I use it.

I have the BB leather holster, but I've not had the problem you're experiencing with the battery cover clips sliding open. I am wondering if your holster is a few millimeters narrow and causing more friction than mine. You might try stretching it out a bit or taking it down to your dealer for a replacement.

I've not yet tried the silicone case (maybe that is causing your clip problem?) but I'm thinking about it. Which one do you use?

Regards,

Frank

[keyser.soze]

Nice insights. Thanks for sharing.

I can't help you with the clip problem, but your other observations are on target. I have been thinking about picking up a silicone cover, but I have Ghost Armor and have no complaints.

[bbnall]

Good Day: a bit later than 14 days (sorry)

After a 2 week run with the Storm, I did return the device. The product did't prove itself as a "keeper" from a first gen standpoint. I am positive that we will see 2nd gen and beyond as proven winners!! We can always count on RIM to be tremendous work/play-horse in the wireless industry. My hats off to everyone that made a fantastic device, (but for myself had no benefit over the curve)!

Every phone has a very personal appeal; for those who enjoy a touch screen and this is your first BB - by all means, you will prolly love this, but for those who email and txt several times a day plus are avid BB users now, you may find that the Storm is more of a hinderment than a blessing.

With any product; you can read/research and judge all that you want, but when it comes down to the 'grittey, evaluate pruducts for yourself especially if they are as personal as cellular phones. Visit your local retailer and (if possible) demo what you are interested in. I know that I am stating the obvious! BUT! Since it is so obvious, people over look it.

BBNall

[gbjess]

Well I am now on my 2nd storm....and still having problems. My 1st storm
kept powering off either when I was in the middle of emailing or texting. Then it would also do the same thing occasionally when I would go to answer a incoming call SO IRRITATING. The crap I had to go thru just to get a replacement was crazy. I made several phone calls to tech support with little or no help from them. So finally I went to the Verizon store and told them the issues I was having at first it seemed they really didn't believe me until the store associate was playing around with the phone and it powered off for him. Thank god for that! So he made note's on my account about the problem. They ended up giving me a new battery thinking that may be the problem. So I went along with it knowing that is not the problem. Only about a day or two later yep you guessed still having the same problems. Now my only option left was to call tech support AGAIN. After I backed up my data to my computer we ended up doing a hard reset. "the cure all" well only hours after doing that the phone was worse it started to power off for everything I did. I called back tech support and had to explain everything all over again. They then decided it was best for them to send me a new storm.

Now with my 2nd storm which by the way I have had only 4 days and already I am having issues... When they sent me the new phone I kept my other battery because I had only had it for about 4-5 days and I didn't have any problems with it holding a charge. After I got my new storm all set up which by the way took about 3 hours between calling tech support to help with activation, update's, uploading my backed up info blah,blah,blah. I am like finally I won't have to worry about it powering off any more. Until the next day I went to go turn on my phone in the morning and it wouldn't turn on. So I plugged it in to charge it thinking that maybe I used the battery up after using it to much but I was thinking how could I? I charged it fully right after I got done with all the set up stuff. So I plugged it in thinking that maybe that would help. Nope nothing! I thankfully didn't return the other storm yet and opened the box and grabbed the "new" battery that came with the new phone. After I replaced the battery the phone turned on and everything seemed to be fine. Then today I went to turn my phone on and NOTHING AGAIN...... So I plugged it back in to see if maybe it needed to be charged. (The night before I looked at my battery life and it still was half charged before I shut it off.) After it being plugged in for a while it finally turned on and it said low battery and I it had shut off my ability to make or recieve any calls or email's ect.. So AGAIN I called tech support only to get little or no help. (I let it charge for about 3 hours and it worked after that) They said that I need to get a new battery to see if that my be the problem. After telling the support guy about a hundred time's that this is the 2nd "new" battery in 2 days and that was not the problem he still is telling me that I need to get a "new" battery from a store around my area. I told him that I got the last battery from the store I got my 1st phone from and he told me that they will not send me a another phone until I try a "new" battery so he said he was going to call circuit city to see if they had one and that he'd call me back in about an hour or so and let me know if they had one I could go pick up and try. Well it's about 13 hours later and still no phone call and no "new" battery. I am so upset with the all of this. Why do I have to go through all this crap just to get a phone that works right?? You'd think since I'd had all of these problems with my other storm that they would want me to be a happy customer and do what ever it take's to make me one! Guess not I'll just keep waiting and going through all these painfull and time consuming steps until I get a phone that actually works right...UGH!!!!

Sorry for this being so long but I just thought I'd share with everyone the issues that I am dealing with. I sure hope that no one else has to deal with these same issues and that blackberry/ verizon will get there stuff together and make there customer's happy again!!!

[StormOwner]

I am on my second Storm also. And of course I am having the same problems in this new one as I did the old one. The screen goes blank, the keyboard disappears, the screen locks up, white bars appear on the sides and bottom, when removing it from the holster it locks up, it will not answer a call ((this is the most annoying (I can hit any answer button during a ring and it will stop ringing so I think it answered the call, but when I put it up to my ear it rings again!!!)), the phone tells me that a friend is calling but then when I answer it it is my wife or vice versa (It usually likes to pick the previous phone call and use that persons id to id the new incoming call, this is especially true if it comes out of the holster), does not like to sync with anything microsoft other than yahoo stuff (this is even after I wiped the phone clean and deleted and reinstalled BB on laptop, MANY TIMES!!), did I mention that the dang keyboard disappears? ok, enough with the grips, I have to go figure out if I want to keep this "thing"! Oh now one more thing. The other day I was in the Verizon store, trying to get my newer Storm reprogrammed, a nearby sales associate was talking to another customer about his current curve and the new storm came up in conversation. This peaked my eavesdropping skills to hear what the associate had to say. Now, and I quote, "the BlackBerry Storm? don't worry you 'aint' missing a thing." This is nice to know now that all of us other suckers have been tricked!

[Jesson]

This is weird reading all of these issues. I've had my Storm for 2 weeks now and have not had any problems with it (knocking on wood). So far i am liking the phone very much...i had the Pearl and the LG Voyager b4 this phone and IMO, i think this is the best one out of all of them.

[sanco24]

Quick tip. For all of you enable memory cleaning thru security options.

[ccernusca]

Originally Posted by Jesson

This is weird reading all of these issues. I've had my Storm for 2 weeks now and have not had any problems with it (knocking on wood). So far i am liking the phone very much...i had the Pearl and the LG Voyager b4 this phone and IMO, i think this is the best one out of all of them.

i totally agree... hopefully the same for me too

[LilacBleeds]

I think I am the only one who didnt get a 14 day trial but I love it and have had it since 11th december but as i say everyone is different...

I love keyboard of the storm and how it reacts to touch and then you have to click the screen but my storm is only 9500 as I am in the UK... The battery isnt good but I don't use it all the time so I'm happy with it so far, though I do need a bigger memory on it as in the UK we got a pouch for the storm and not a memory media card but anywho I love the pouch for it as its not as bad as I though it would of been...
I don't like how there is only one theme on the phone I know you can change the contrast to reverse and to greyscale but its not the same.
The camera is brill I cant stop taking photos on it which is good. I listen to music on it sometimes and its good quality..

[Leon_Ledbetter]

Have had my Storm for about a month now.

Initially I kept asking myself, "Do I really need all this?" But the more I "played" the more I enjoyed this neat little piece of technology. I have become quite attached. Through these forums I seem to learn something new almost daily.

My biggest gripe is battery life. If I spend too much time on BBM it eats a ton of my battery.

Other than that I'm glad I splurged I grabbed onto this thing.

[rugbygirl1m]

def make sure you clear the memory on the phone and make sure that you close out of each program. That way it wont freeze up on you as often. As far as a case goes i would recommend getting a hard case for it. The silicon works fine, but it doesnt really protect your phone if you were to drop it. The hard case will take the force of the fall and and save your phone.

[localfinesse]

Clearing the memory helped on my friends phone.
Thanks

[Fire-Detention]

get rid of the storm and get a curve had it for a year never had a problem with the phone only brickbreaker.