[DigMyBBStorm1]

Hi all. First of all wanted to say thank you to everyone on these boards. This site has been my daily (actually multiple times a day) addiction until i decided I couldn't stand my WinMo Samsung i760 anymore. Too many lost SD files, resets, not waking after a charge, etc.

I'm giving the Storm a go b/c I want to stay on Verizon and need something new, but I will not be going back to WinMo any time soon if I can help it. It really is unbelieveable that a phone based OS can't do simple things like tell you if you have email, text, missed calls, etc. without the aid of a 3rd party plug in that, often times crashes the phone.

So thanks to everyone's tips, tricks, encouragement and info sharing I picked up a Storm last night.

So far, here is my experience:

Initially, I wasn't going to make the change b/c I have a 2000 text allowance for free that has been grandfathered in from years ago. Hard to pay money each month for something I've had for free but if this phone doesn't work I will probably make the switch to AT&T for the new iPhone(if it even comes out!) so I decided I would be paying for text anyway so time to bite the bullet.

First VZW store I went to, the people were not very helpful or knowledgeable. Went to store #2 and had better and more friendly service. I didn't really need much phone info from them as Crackberry has answered all of my questions but the second store just 'felt' better so I'm glad I took the extra 30 min trip.

Got into my car (2008 Infiniti G35x) and paired the BT up immediately. Very easy and was happy to see the battery power reported on the nav screen - didn't have that with the i760.

Spoke to 2 people - my wife to report on my delay in getting home and then my brother called. I hung up on him once and put him on mute once. I guess I'll have to get used to the touch screen and button locations. I'll be looking for a 3rd party solution to this issue pretty quickly. Had the same issue on my 760 and was able to work around this by turning off the screen after a few seconds but then I have to keep re-waking the phone to be able to put add'l digits/# keys, etc in when calling people's extensions. I'm sure I will be posting for what folks do with this issue on the Storm.

Now for the bad news . . . I didn't realize until I got home but the Blackberry Menu button doesn't function on this particular phone!!!! Wow - pretty disappointed as I'm sure I have a ton of programs chewing up memory right now, and I can't customize anything of merit without that button, but I expected to have some issues out of the box (unfortunately) so I wasn't as perturbed as I thought I would be.

I am going back today to exchange for another new Storm due to this issue. It actually was not so bad b/c I went in and downloaded some apps/trials that I might not have otherwise since I know I'll be bringing the phone back so I felt a little freer to 'mess around' with the phone which I wouldn't have done with one I was planning to keep. Frustrating yes - end of the world - no. VERY poor QC on the part of RIM though!

So a few other observations so far - can't wait to update the OS. VERY laggy and the accelerometer is really wonky. I feel confident that this will not be an issue for long once I do update the OS as I've used a few friends' Storms after directing them to Crackberry to get the leaks and they functioned much better.

I'm also trying to get used to the web browsing. I downloaded the CB app center and one of the things I found pretty hard to do was to switch pages using the numbers at the bottom of the listings. I'll try to explain better. Let's say there are 60 apps in a certain category. The first page may list 10 and then there is the option to switch to page "2 3 4 5 >> last " at the bottom. I haven't been able to select any of those numbers to jump to those pages. I keep hitting the larger button underneath (I think it's the top 20 or something like that). I've tried zooming in as far as I can and carefully highlighting the numbers and then clicking, and I've also tried using the little mouse pointer/hand to select them but I haven't been able to activate any of those numbers. Any ideas??

Also trying to figure out how to get the daily calendar listed on the home page. Not sure if I'll need a 3rd party app for this but I'd like to keep the phone pretty clean in terms of add-ons to keep the memory working at full capacity as much as possible. I'm really sick of memory leak from my WinMo - that thing was a vampire!!!

So here I am, about to go back to get a replacement but pretty happy so far. Don't like the lag or the accelerometer but excited to update the OS thanks to you folks to get my new Storm working as it should.

Again, my gratitude to all of you for your helpful posts and I'm hoping to contribute whenever possible!

Jay

[gdoggmil04]

Welcome to the Storm club!!!! Dont really have a suggestion for the web page problem but if you want your calender list on your home page you need to download a "Today" theme. Ohh def try lyricidal hybrid OS, its awesome and super fast.

[engsoccerfan]

I use the Storm Today theme to display my calendar, but I'm 17 so don't really have too many things on it. For web browsing, I suggest you use to mouse pointer to click the small links, that's what I do. Its kind of hard, but you get used to it after a while. Plus for the Storm keyboard, I suggest you use the Business card trick if the edges of the screen don't click that well, its a very easy trick and makes the keyboard far easier to use. Furthermore, I suggest you change the options>keyboard/screen settings to Tap Interval: 100, Hover Period: 100 and Swipe Sensitivity: 6. This makes typing VERY VERY easy on the Storm. And I suggest you change your mobile network from global to 1xev, it doesn't drain battery as fast =]

Let me know if you need any other help.

[DigMyBBStorm1]

Will do. Thanks for the heads up! Anyone have a 'quicklink' for that OS update? If not, I'll search ;o)

Also, I've seen some folks asking if they need to do any mid-step upgrades before jumping from .75 to .141. Is this really necessary or can I just download lyricidal's hybrid and go at it?

Any suggestions for the 'Today' themes that work well and don't chew up memory?

Thanks again!

Jay

[ewatson660]

there are a couple awesome os's out here.. 9530 .141/5.0[9000] Hybrid (BETA) wich is made by lyricidal only running about 12 hours now... i LOVE bbcrackmans hybrid v5.1 both can be set up to lay over .132 and .141......
as far as the app store your gonna want the beta version that is made to work with the storm here is a link to it http://crackberry.com/appstore
and that link your gonna want to use your bb browser to download ota...

[ewatson660]

Will do. Thanks for the heads up! Anyone have a 'quicklink' for that OS update? If not, I'll search ;o)

Also, I've seen some folks asking if they need to do any mid-step upgrades before jumping from .75 to .141. Is this really necessary or can I just download lyricidal's hybrid and go at it?

Any suggestions for the 'Today' themes that work well and don't chew up memory?

Thanks again!

Jay

u must download 141 or 132 to your computer before u even think of any hybrid!

[ewatson660]

I use the Storm Today theme to display my calendar, but I'm 17 so don't really have too many things on it. For web browsing, I suggest you use to mouse pointer to click the small links, that's what I do. Its kind of hard, but you get used to it after a while. Plus for the Storm keyboard, I suggest you use the Business card trick if the edges of the screen don't click that well, its a very easy trick and makes the keyboard far easier to use. Furthermore, I suggest you change the options>keyboard/screen settings to Tap Interval: 100, Hover Period: 100 and Swipe Sensitivity: 6. This makes typing VERY VERY easy on the Storm. And I suggest you change your mobile network from global to 1xev, it doesn't drain battery as fast =]

Let me know if you need any other help.

people say you may want to set your key rate to fast aswell

[engsoccerfan]

Will do. Thanks for the heads up! Anyone have a 'quicklink' for that OS update? If not, I'll search ;o)

Also, I've seen some folks asking if they need to do any mid-step upgrades before jumping from .75 to .141. Is this really necessary or can I just download lyricidal's hybrid and go at it?

Any suggestions for the 'Today' themes that work well and don't chew up memory?

Thanks again!

Jay

Today doesn't really chew up memory for me, it doesn't lag or anything. There's some problems with it like the weatherbug icon and meterberry icon don't update on the homescreen but I'm trying to figure out a way to make it work. Other than that, the theme is aesthetically pleasing (if I didn't have a girlfriend I love AND the phone was a woman, we'd make love (disturbing I know)) and runs smooth.

For the OS update, you usually have to download .132, install it and then download a hybrid installer and run it. It makes the .132 into a hybrid and then you put it on your phone. =] I suggest Lyricidal's or the v5.1.

[engsoccerfan]

people say you may want to set your key rate to fast aswell

yeah, forgot about that lol. =]

[ewatson660]

Will do. Thanks for the heads up! Anyone have a 'quicklink' for that OS update? If not, I'll search ;o)

Also, I've seen some folks asking if they need to do any mid-step upgrades before jumping from .75 to .141. Is this really necessary or can I just download lyricidal's hybrid and go at it?

Any suggestions for the 'Today' themes that work well and don't chew up memory?

Thanks again!

Jay

here is the link to 141 http://forums.crackberry.com/f132/le...9530-a-217986/



and here is the link to the 5.0 hybrid http://forums.crackberry.com/f132/95...d-beta-204517/

[gdoggmil04]

u must download 141 or 132 to your computer before u even think of any hybrid!

Lyricidals hybrid is ridiculously easy a baby could do it. there's an installer that automates it for you and you have an option to remove various unnecessary programs that you will not use.

[ewatson660]

Lyricidals hybrid is ridiculously easy a baby could do it. there's an installer that automates it for you and you have an option to remove various unnecessary programs that you will not use.

so true loved that part..

[T24_Man]

Don't worry about the awkwardness of the keyboard and having trouble with selecting links on the phone until you use it for a couple of days. I don't use the mouse pointer, just the touch screen and have no problems anymore selecting what I want. It took me about a week to get used to this and typing on the touch screen, but now it is just second nature. No issues!!

[DigMyBBStorm1]

Wow - you guys are awesome!

So, I'm still a tad confused about the OS updates. Can I just use lyricidal's or do I have to get .132 or .141 first and then use his installer? I think I was assuming that a 'hybrid' was just one person's attempt to fix some of the bugs in the leaked updates with their own approach. I'm thinking that my understanding might be off.

Thanks for all of the suggestions!!!!

Going to get the new Storm shortly.

Jay

[ewatson660]

Wow - you guys are awesome!

So, I'm still a tad confused about the OS updates. Can I just use lyricidal's or do I have to get .132 or .141 first and then use his installer? I think I was assuming that a 'hybrid' was just one person's attempt to fix some of the bugs in the leaked updates with their own approach. I'm thinking that my understanding might be off.

Thanks for all of the suggestions!!!!

Going to get the new Storm shortly.

Jay

download .132 or .141 first then install it to your computer.. very simple do this to install .132 wich is what i have.. im sure installing .141 is either the same or close...


ok well the first thing to do is download the os to your comp

then open it

im on vista just so you know

select english and it will prepair to install

after that it may go away but dont do anything it will be right back lol

then you should see the wizard for device soft ware click next

select your country click next

the lic agrrement will come up select to agree click next

now .132 is installing to your pc...

click finish.. do not check the box to open the desktop manager

[gdoggmil04]

What he said...

[ewatson660]

after that your ready to install the 5.0 hybrid to your computer.... make sure you have the correct version downloaded.. 32 bit or 64 bit

[simbosis]

As far as the problem with muting phone calls or accidently pushing other buttons with your face...the easiest option to do is just hit the dial pad icon before you put it up to your face. All that will happen then is a beep. It is what I do and have no problems. Welcome to the most loved/hated BlackBerry. I love mine and rock the 141 hybrid. Easy peasy to do.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[kinggeoff]

i would recommend picking up a T6 torx screwdriver so that you can adjust the screen if the click ever starts to go. I dropped my phone from about 4ft on to marble tile and the battery flew out and all that... no other real marks, but the screen didnt click the same.

I thought I was SOL until i tried adjusting the tension screws on the back. Brought the clicking back to where it was when i got it. Good times

[delbobo]

Mouse pointer is what I use to get to those tiny little numbers :-) just tap your screen (no click) the pointer will show up at the bottom then click the pointer and direct it to the number you want to select then just click

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[bslo]

The number one thing you need to do is try lyricidal hybrid OS. Up until I tried this OS I was always complaining about my phone that is supposed to be so great. The Storm actually is an amazing device. You just need to be on Crackberry all the time to realize it. The iPhone sucks because it just doesnt have the same cool features that the Storm does. To name a few; removable battery, removable storage. But seriously give it some time and keep messing around with it untill you get it right. It will never be perfect but personally I am at a point in my life where I cant live without it.

[DigMyBBStorm1]

Alright guys, so I jumped right in with an OS update. From some of the searching it looked like .132 was the most stable so far - it looked like .141 still has some bugs, but I needed something to get out of .75 - yech!

So I did get my replacement Storm yesterday and they seemed surprised about the BB button not working. For all of the reasons they have been getting regturns, they mentioned this was the first one returned for that issue so hopefully I'll be the only one!

In terms of the OS update - well, I tried to update using the DM and the instructions from 2 or 3 threads here on Crackberry (wow - thanks again, you guys are awesome for taking the time to help everyone!). When I updated the DM I think it changed some of the info from one of the tutorials but luckily I found the thread about using the Apploader program and it went without a hitch!

Now, I had not put ANY information on my Storm from Outlook, etc. as I didn't want to have to go back and backup and resync, etc. I figure I still have to set all of that up so I may as well get the OS on there first. All I can say - MUCH improved! I still have to shake the phone to get the orientation right on occasion but it is much reduced.

Also, nice bonus on the portrait QWERTY keyboard!

Now just to find some today themes . . . I must have the calendar visible on the home screen!

Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions, tips and posts!

And delbobo - yeah, I tried that with the mouse pointer but even at full magnification I can't see the pointer under my fat fingers! Even if I pick the wrong number, though, it still didn't seem to select anything from the list of items that were highlighted. Weird, I'll have to look for the Storm optimized App program from CB and see if that helps. Thanks though!

Jay

[csbrown147]

Sounds like you could use a app that locks your screen when you received phone calls. I think Stormlock paid version does that.

[DigMyBBStorm1]

Sounds like you could use a app that locks your screen when you received phone calls. I think Stormlock paid version does that.

Yeah, I tried the free stormslider app on the bum phone. I set it up using the camera shortcut button to activate it since I won't use the camera anywhere near as much as a locking app. It was ok but I have to check out the paid apps and see if they are worth it and will solve the issue. I also couldn't tell if it locked everything all of the time or how it specifically works. I will through some threads and websites to get an idea.

Thanks for the tip!

Jay

[Mazda_Speed]

I like the Storm for media. I will admit that the key pad does take some getting used too.