[Denver Mike]

Storm Real Life Application aka the The Storm is like Stephen Hawking � incredibly brilliant but it takes forever to get you the information you want to know.

---THIS IS A LONG STORY SO ONLY READ IF YOU HAVE TIME TO KILL---

Plus I wrote all of this out so I can visually see what I�m thinking and work this thing out.

Here�s a quick little info on my smartphone use. I don�t know what constitutes a power user but I probably receive about 150+ emails a day and of those I am replying to 75 of them. I am constantly updating my calendar and notes, etc.

My IT policy at work is so restrictive that Brickbreaker is the only thing I do will sitting on the pot after my morning cup of coffee. The web is restricted for me as well. So my BB is pretty much texting and mailing.

I have no bias. I love my ipod but I doubt I could ever buy a Mac�I have no allegiance to a company � whatever works.

When I am out-and-about the only way to get info that I want is to use ChaCha. Sadly it used to be good but now its utter garbage. Since it gained popularity its unusable (google ChaCha) So now I want a phone for personal use that I can text friends and while I�m not at work I can:

In no particular order

1. Find movie times
2. Push email
3. Push IM such as Yahoo
4. Text
5. Look for cheaper online prices for things I buy at the store (while I�m at the store)
6. Get phone numbers for places w/o calling information
7. Take pictures
8. Jot down notes (grocery list, random things)
9. YouTube on the go for a good laugh
10. Synch calendar and to-do lists, outlook notes


I got the Storm on Saturday morning and I simply hated it. Initially I just had a lot of problems with it being slow. The typing situation is a whole different story. I am no stranger to small keys � I have the 8800 and you could have the fingers of a newborn and they still may be too big, but I can fly with typing on it.

So I played around with the Storm and I have been watching these forums like a hawk for tips and tricks (Great people here, 99% answer dumb questions instead of flaming, A+ community)

I changed a lot of settings and I did remove VZ Navigator and I don�t notice a huge difference. My buddy has an iphone, a 1st gen NON 3G and I was playing with it a lot yesterday. They are pretty much ***** proof. Even on the EDGE network I could play with maps and some of those other apps you see advertised on TV.

So after playing with the Storm I went out with some friends. I forgot my 8800 at home and I was forced to use my Storm. There was a problem � I didn�t have any contacts in my Storm since it was so new so I borrowed by friends iphone to text others that we were going bowling after dinner for some �Beer Frames� [footnote]. The texting on the iphone was pretty slick. I could have grabbed the info off the iphone and used the Storm but I was eating. The text bubbles were a bit gimmicky but they showed me the entire conversation.

We got to bowling and they said it would be an hour wait. We needed to call other places to see what the wait was. I pulled out my Storm to use the web, my buddy used his iphone and he had already called another place to check wait times before I could accomplish anything. My typing was so slow and the navigation took longer than a one-legged cat trying to bury turds on a frozen pond.

We decided to hit the bar and wait. I got on Yahoo IM to get a hold of a few more friends. You would have thought I slammed a bottle of Jager the way I was typing. I�m not a huge guy but the Storm thinks my fingers are the size of ballpark franks (bun length)

I cannot type on this thing whatsoever. While I was goofing around on the iphone I wasn�t doing too horrible with the typing but the auto-correction was really doing its job.

Today I packed it all up and headed over to Bestbuy after my �Everything Bagel� with a schmear of cream cheese. Half way to my Blue and Yellow paradise I realized the instruction booklet was on my desk and I couldn�t return it without that.

It must have been a sign.

So I went home to keep playing with the Storm.

My work email hits my BB before it hits my desktop. Not the case with my account here. I use Comcast and it is an 11 minute delay � I have tested it with multiple senders and I have them put the subject as the time they sent it. ALWAYS 11 minutes late. Gmail works just fine but that�s not my primary.

Now because I want to love this thing I went to godaddy.com and I registered a domain name that is part of my last name and the word mail. �xxxxmail.com� Pretty cool if I do say so myself. I created a mailbox on the domain and set it up on the Storm. That hits my box instantly�very weird.

So I started up itunes and started to look around at apps. Free apps, cheap apps, etc. It turns out there are about 30 apps that I found useful. Movie times, IM, Social networking, ebay, Google, sports scores, etc. For all of those things that I wanted to do that I mentioned earlier � there is an app for it. There is even an app for the Colorado Snow report for all the resorts (I�m in Denver)

I wanted to continue to give the Storm a chance. I know there is no app store but I can�t find the same types of apps for the BB (unless I�m looking in the wrong places)

And I cannot wirelessly sync my calendar or contacts or notes � what am I doing wrong?

While searching for BB apps (Google Maps not available for Storm it told me) I continued to play with the phone and it�s pretty amazing how smart it truly is. Hold your finger on an email and it sorts it by sender. If you have a contact you can put everything from tons of numbers and email addresses to that person�s favorite color � and from the contact alone you can send a pic � IM, whatever. Very very intuitive and I am impressed.

So with all that being said I was gearing up to take it back tomorrow and get an iphone�but I have started to read the directions more and play with it. I have been on CB.com more than any other site in the past 4 days and I constantly check tweaks. Tonight there is a rumor of a Monday update. I suppose that I will wake up tomorrow and see if RIM-o-Claus has put a new OS under my wireless tree.

I want to love the Storm but it�s slow as a me trying to divide 243 by 13 in my head. Why oh why should I stay with it? The iphone seems completely ***** proof. The BB has the edge with the email but from what I have read � if I drop some more cash on mobileme then my outlook will sync with the iphone almost instantly! Talk me in or out of it.

The Storm:

The Storm is like a Ferrari with a Ford Festiva engine

The Storm is like a gorgeous supermodel that cannot spell her name or tell you what continent she lives on.

The Storm is like Stephen Hawking � incredibly brilliant but it takes forever to get you the information.

The Storm is like�. To be continued in a new thread�

Thanks for listening to my rant

- Denver Mike

[ChuloMxcn]

Very interesting and funny thread!! I like it. Well Im probably not the best guy to talk u into keeping it, but i share some of the same thoughts. I really want to love this phone and I love the apps for the iphone and the storm does have its quirks. But I feel that they will be fixed and i've learned to work with most of them but we'll see what is really done with the OS. Just have faith, i also have hopes that people smarter than me will put out some awesome apps for this and make it a fun phone to have!!

[intay]

Well lets start with a few things:

1. It sounds like your not really a touch screen type of person with the amount of emails you reply too. If you do decide to go to att for the iphone you should test out the bold. IT IS QUICK! The standard in os speed for all smartphones at the moment

2. The Storm's keyboard is something that you have to get used too. Most people are not use to touching then clicking glass after 18 months of iphone and iphoneish keyboard products.

3. Apps are very abundant for the blackberry os. Much more so then people think. Try the crackberry software section.
FYI Viigo is considered a standard dl for blackberry users because it has a lot of functions in one single app, and Google Maps will be updated soon for the Storm.

4. For help with contacts syncing and such just search the forums there are a lot of users that can help if not have already posted help.

5. The new firmware is supposed to handle a majority of the problems with the Storm and will definitely boost stability and speed somewhat.

6. If you decide to get MobileMe, TRY IT FIRST! I have a friend whos had his entire contact list and some emails erased on his iphone, MobileMe, and Mac because of a MobileMe error. The sad thing is this is the THIRD time it has happened to him. For me that's just unacceptable especially for a service you have to pay for.

So basically wait for the firmware update. If your still not happy give the Bold a spin. Its keyboard is sort of a 8800+8300 feel to it and its speed blows everything away.

[slinky#CB]

The Storm is like Hawking because it seems that many are buying it and are hawking it.

[Denver Mike]

Viigo is not ready for the Storm just yet Intay but thanks for the suggestion.