[Jdane07]

Wow.

Today I finally got my first hands-on with the Storm. And first of all, 10 minutes is not possibly long enough to judge the screen. I'm not even sure if in 10 hours I would be able to definitively tell you how the screen is.

At first glance, I am pretty much impressed. The touch screen really does feel natural, and I think that is a huge success for RIM. Even though I had only 10 minutes, I can already tell that I am going to like this device a lot. It was running OS version .65 (pretty much like everyone we've seen), but the bugs and lag seem to be almost non-existent. You would seriously have to be a picky person to think that this device is too slow. I am more than happy with how this phone is running right now.

So now I'm going to break down what I noticed and what I used:

Touch-Screen: You guys have probably heard this about a million times, but this screen is seriously beautiful. The colors are fantastic. But more importantly, the screen functions how it is advertised. The screen requires a light click...almost too light. I almost felt that I would accidently click the screen when I wasn't intending to. But again, I think it is great technology, and overall, I think RIM succeeded in what they intended to do.

Typing: You mind if I quote Engadget's FIRST hands-on that dealt with typing? I am in love with typing on this thing. If you are coming from a Dare or Iphone, you should find typing extremely simple. I own an Ipod Touch, so I am fairly good at typing on touch-screens, but this thing takes it to another level. The touch/click makes typing feel natural and responsive. I feel that with enough time, you can end up typing very very very fast on this.

UI/OS: This will be my first Blackberry, so I was not too familiar with the layout and such, but overall it is an easy phone to use. I didn't have issues with finding what I was looking for...previous BB owners will have no issues what-so-ever with the interface.

Media: This demo model had no media pre-installed, so unfortunately, I could not test speakers/video. The media player looks to be decent though; definitely won't be replacing my Ipod though.

Camera: All I did with the camera was swipe in a diagonal to zoom in/out. It is actually a nice little feature, and the pictures aren't too shabby either.

Conclusion: All I have to say is don't let the bad reviews out there keep you from at least going to the store and trying one. I do believe this phone will be a huge success. The touch-screen is easy to use, and the phone is simply gorgeous.....seriously, I spent about two minutes just staring at the device. The only issue I had it first is that to me, the screen feels almost too "loose"; I don't know how to explain it. Updates will definitely clean up the minimal lag though, so don't go worrying about how the device is running. Another thing I want to add is that the lag and slowdown tends to be very inconsistent; sometimes the phone runs perfectly smooth, while other times it seemed a little unstable. The only major area of lag I experienced was when I attempted to lock the phone...it took a good 15-20 seconds for the phone to lock. Again, I am not all that worried about the software side though.

AND THE GAP IS TINY....


Now to the bad news for me though. I just moved up into Northern California, and I didn't feel it necessary to go to the local VZW store to attempt to pre-order. The managers are really taking the pre-order thing seriously. I have my name on a list now to get mine on MONDAY. FRIGGIN MONDAY!!! What the hell???? That is the only bad news so far. The Storm is worth the wait though.

[Jdane07]

Oh....

and I had to add this because of the "texting is impossible" thread.

TEXTING IS SIMPLE....seriously. If you have an issue trying to type a message slowly (at first) on this thing.....then you have more important issues to worry about. Whether you are in full QWERTY or SureType, I can almost guarantee that you will not have too many issues with typing. The learning curve might be steep for some, but you should and most likely will end up loving it.

I know I cannot speak for everyone...but I am coming from a phone called the chocolate...trust me, typing is not an issue to worry about on this device.