Very Very Dissapointed by the Storm

[sandrouss77]

I know that there are alot of BlackBerry die hards on this site, and I do not mean to offend, but unfortunately I have come to have the displeasure of owning a BlackBerry Storm.

After paying $250.00 for the phone, I thought that I would be set. A nice new touch screen device that at the time had more features than the iPhone. In fact, I got it in lieu of the iPhone.. Big Mistake!! First off the phone was almost completely unusable right out of the package, in fact the Verizon Reps had a hard time setting it up. Fortunately being a bit of a tech geek, I figured there was an OS update that could be had, and my google searches provided me with this site. I am grateful for all of the free knowledge and OS updates to be had on this site, and through my reading I have gone through all of the updates (with exception of the hybrids).

I am unfortunately still very unimpressed by the phones performance, it is still very sluggish and buggy, even with the official release by verizon, I have had nothing but problems. Sometimes its the keyboard that lags, or the radio reception is horrible even in a good coverage zone. Other updates have seen the phone functionality go right through the floor, radios fine, but the actual phone application sucks.

Personally I have had better luck with .141 and will be downgrading back to that OS. When my contract is up in 2010 I will be seeking a new carrier altogether and will NEVER buy a BlackBerry Device again.

Also the desktop manager software sux. The installation disk that came with the phone did not work on my Vista or XP computer. I had to go to VZ and download.

Everything about my BBerry is buggy. Too buggy to be an acclaimed mass consumer device. And from the looks of all the other posts I know im not the only one suffering. I really do not know why all Storm users just dont return their phones to Verizon in mass for a full refund. And RIM should issue an apology to all Storm buyers.

[RickyRoss10]

I'm sorry to hear that you're having so much trouble with your phone. When I had .75 I had very few problems - nothing more than the most minor of glitches. Then, with .148, my phone has become virtually perfect.

Also, I'm not sure how a bad experience with one phone would lead you away from VZW as a whole, nor away from Blackberry. Have you used any other BB's in the past? It seems fair to me to say that the Storm is a unique device to RIM and that just because it doesn't work the way you would like that doesn't mean another BB wouldn't.

[savjr]

I love BlackBerrys and I really like my Storm - while it does have memory issues and seems to want to re-start at the most in opportune times it is a good phone. I have several friends who have iPhones and the constantly complain about the same things (the phone freezes and lack sufficient business applications).

I believe if you are patient a new OS will pop up over time and the phone will work just great - if not try the new Tour or similary BB - I am sure you wont be dissapointed

[sandrouss77]

I am sure, that eventually they will get the phone right. It is a well put together phone, I bought it because at the time, it had better specs than the iphone for the most part, a better camera (self focusing) and video recording, a removable high capacity storage card, speaker and the click screen, I was just suprised and dismayed by the sluggishness of the operating system, the call quality, and the frequent crashes and subsequent 5 minute plus restarts, im just surprised that any company whether it be microsoft, apple, RIM or others would release a product this expensive that is not working correctly. There are serious issues it seems with the OS. I do not believe that RIM OR VERIZON, has committed good faith towards their customers. I have used other peoples BlackBerrys and they seem half way decent, I have also experimented with others iPhones, and they perform much better than the storm. For a multi-media touch screen computer phone, that retails for $499.99, I believe that it should have worked better than it did out of the box, and what ever remaining issues should have been tackled by now. If RIM can release a BlackBerry Storm 2 within 6 months from now, the 1st one (in my opinon) should be smooth and stable, which it is still not. They obviously have the resources to work on many prjects at once, why not bring them together to tackle the problem and take care of their paying customers?

ALL corporations should follow this mantra, and we as consumers should stop allowing them to give us the shaft!

[avmsam]

i've used 83xx series, bold, 8900 and storm. i think the storm was a failed attempt at a blackberry/iphone mix-up. the blackberry part works fine, but the touch screen is sub-par. overall the storm doesn't come close to the iphone as a real competitor. hopefully they make some progress with the storm 2.

[Nathan000]

Sandrouss,

I'm sorry to hear you having a bad experience with your storm... I personally love mine...

Have you ever tried wiping the device? seems like you have done several upgrades it might be a good idea... also have you called verizon? I had an issue with mine after upgrading the OS and they sent me a new (probably refurb) one without giving me a hard time at all.

The new one was definitely superior to the one i was replacing.... and not just due to my particular issue, the screen was snappier, OS was way faster etc..

Your phone has a 1yr warranty against defects, Including OS issues (mine was an OS issue, physically it was perfect) and I'm pretty sure verizon / RIM are well aware there are some bad apples out there...

Call verizon, see what they say, you shouldn't have to settle, it really is an awesome device.

[uclugLee]

Sorry to hear you've had so many issues with the Storm. I had the privilege to demo one for about a month, but in the end I stayed with my Curve. I'm just a little too OCD about fingerprints on a screen.

[Coachbulldog]

I went to the Verizon store today and one of the sales people demonstrate the Storm. First time I've actually operated the phone. As a previous poster said, it is not an iPhone, but I do believe it has potential. The "click screen" would take some getting used too. I'm leaning toward the Storm for my next upgrade.

[kevworthy]

I like my Storm alot and I am a tech geek myself. The Storm is a little glitchy but, if I had to have any phone on the awful ATT network, I would stick a burning hot fork in my eye.

[elchavo117]

Storm works fine for me but there is a lot of improvement needed hopefully they will get it right the second time around

[killania]

I haven't had the chance to use the Storm and am in fact a new user to Blackberries..which I love. However, I have a friend who uses the iPhone and said everytime someone sends him media files whether they are images, audio, or video, they go into something like an album where he then has to set up a username and password to access. Granted, I haven't used the iPhone because I'm not too into Apple products.

Does the Storm work like that at all for receiving media?

[markdental]

Originally Posted by killania

I haven't had the chance to use the Storm and am in fact a new user to Blackberries..which I love. However, I have a friend who uses the iPhone and said everytime someone sends him media files whether they are images, audio, or video, they go into something like an album where he then has to set up a username and password to access. Granted, I haven't used the iPhone because I'm not too into Apple products.

Does the Storm work like that at all for receiving media?

No, the storm gets media directly onto the device if received via MMS or e-mail.

[linesman16]

I agree...I have gotten two storms now and they suck even with the new updates. Sticky, slow, too much money for what it is.

[kinggeoff]

Buying a BB in lieu of an iphone is mistake number 1.

That's like going out to buy a Macbook Pro and coming home with a Dell XPS then being disappointed that you dont have widgets, ilife or final cut pro

if you're looking for what apple offers, you wont find that in other devices. Some try to emulate the apple style (palm, htc) and they don't do a bad job. But it's still nothing compared to the iphone. Apple has the slick GUI styles on lockdown.

[kinggeoff]

Originally Posted by linesman16

I agree...I have gotten two storms now and they suck even with the new updates. Sticky, slow, too much money for what it is.

Originally Posted by linesman16

But what happens to all of us stuck with this pile?

return them, sell them, whatever it takes to get a phone you're happy with. Not everyone is going to like a device no matter what it is. Important part is to have a phone you're happy with