[bobbykurva]

I went to my local Verizon store, got my number, and started to play with the display model while they were going through activations. I was not impressed with this phone. It is slow. The whole experience is slow. There was no "umph" in the scrolling and the web pages were slow to render, even after I let the page load completely. The wow factor on this phone is non-existent. In my opinion, it's like the iPhone's fat, lazy brother.

Before people start hating, I want to let you know that this is my personal objective opinion. Trust me, I wanted to like this phone. I really did, but it just lacks any sense of urgency while using it. The transitions are slow, the buttons unresponsive, and the accelerometer works when it feels like it. I pressed the browser button 3 times, and it sent me to the media player. On the fourth time, I finally got the browser (which I wasn't impressed with as I mentioned above).

I gave my number to another person who was waiting around and left... yes, I was guaranteed a Storm and I left it. However, I'm not jumping ship to AT&T right away... I figured I'd give Rim and Verizon a chance to get the next OS update out and give it a second try.

[sarfrazfamily]

you skipped on a phone that was slow? I mean is that the only reason? because you can update the OS not a big deal. also it's your choice if you don't want to get it now not a big deal!
good luck!

[Chrisy]

Thanks for the quick review. All opinions are welcome! i'm also waiting til the OS updates are out for a while and the price drops.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[bobbykurva]

you skipped on a phone that was slow? I mean is that the only reason? because you can update the OS not a big deal. also it's your choice if you don't want to get it now not a big deal!
good luck!

Yes, one of the main reasons was the phone's speed. I understand that you can update the OS, but who knows what problems future OS upgrades will address.

I work hard for my money and I'm a discriminating buyer. I want to make sure that if I'm spending $200, I'm getting what I want, not a promise that I'll get what I want in a future upgrade.

[BerryInUSA]

For now, I think I am passing as well. I went to a VZW store on Tuesday and tried one out for about 15 minutes. My success rate in typing was about 50% and I was very frustrated! I will go again today and give it another try.

I asked the rep. if there was any way to calibrate the touch screen and he said "no" which I found hard to believe.

So, then I went to the ATT store (where I have an account) and tried the iphone, which I had never used before. The iphone to me seemed so much sleeker, and less clunky than the storm, I also had an easier time typing on it.

My only hesitation in dropping my bb and getting an iphone is that I can look at my bb home screen and see all four of my email accounts, and if I have mail on each one - apparantly, this can't be done on an iphone?

[dc1225]

I went to my local Verizon store, got my number, and started to play with the display model while they were going through activations. I was not impressed with this phone. It is slow. The whole experience is slow. There was no "umph" in the scrolling and the web pages were slow to render, even after I let the page load completely. The wow factor on this phone is non-existent. In my opinion, it's like the iPhone's fat, lazy brother.

Before people start hating, I want to let you know that this is my personal objective opinion. Trust me, I wanted to like this phone. I really did, but it just lacks any sense of urgency while using it. The transitions are slow, the buttons unresponsive, and the accelerometer works when it feels like it. I pressed the browser button 3 times, and it sent me to the media player. On the fourth time, I finally got the browser (which I wasn't impressed with as I mentioned above).

I gave my number to another person who was waiting around and left... yes, I was guaranteed a Storm and I left it. However, I'm not jumping ship to AT&T right away... I figured I'd give Rim and Verizon a chance to get the next OS update out and give it a second try.

hahahah, thanks for the honest review!....I like everyone else really really wanted one after all the hype, but then as we got closer and closer to release date, I realized that this phone might not be all that it was cracked up to be. Read many reviews which were less than thrilling from many different sources. Most reviewers including many tech websites as well as newspaper article reviewers or anyone who's owned a Iphone were not impressed at all, which is very disappointing for me...I guess I'll go play with it at the store to see firsthand but needless to say that I am very skeptical at best.

[BlackBerry.est08]

From most review out there (I know, go out there and try it yourself), the keyboard wasn't what it was hyped up to be. I think this pretty much proves that a touch keyboard will NEVER be as good as a physical keyboard or feel any comfortable (will usually have more cons then pros...)

[dseiden]

On the iphone it is ... Click account then click inbox .. Back back and repeat for the next account. That is one of the most anoying things on the iPhone. That is why imy BB gets more email love.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Sonicjay]

I went to my local Verizon store, got my number, and started to play with the display model while they were going through activations. I was not impressed with this phone. It is slow. The whole experience is slow. There was no "umph" in the scrolling and the web pages were slow to render, even after I let the page load completely. The wow factor on this phone is non-existent. In my opinion, it's like the iPhone's fat, lazy brother.

Before people start hating, I want to let you know that this is my personal objective opinion. Trust me, I wanted to like this phone. I really did, but it just lacks any sense of urgency while using it. The transitions are slow, the buttons unresponsive, and the accelerometer works when it feels like it. I pressed the browser button 3 times, and it sent me to the media player. On the fourth time, I finally got the browser (which I wasn't impressed with as I mentioned above).

I gave my number to another person who was waiting around and left... yes, I was guaranteed a Storm and I left it. However, I'm not jumping ship to AT&T right away... I figured I'd give Rim and Verizon a chance to get the next OS update out and give it a second try.

x2. Tried using it for about 30 seconds, put it down and walked away disappointed/borderline disgusted. I loved my iPhones, but needed real email push/sync and a usuable phone, so I switched back to VZW and got a curve a few months back. I was really hoping the Storm would be an iPhone with BB quality.. it is clunky, horribly slow, the touch Sure-Type is awful, and it feels very fragile, with the whole screen sliding around as I tried to swipe on it. Ugh.. The iPhone was a dream to type on; I really dislike the physical keyboard on my curve compared to the iPhone's keyboard, and was really hoping the Storm would give me the best of both worlds. Nope. Oh well; still love my Curve.

[HYPHYRR]

thank you for letting me know... great quick review..i was thinking about getting it.. i'll just hold off a little bit

I went to my local Verizon store, got my number, and started to play with the display model while they were going through activations. I was not impressed with this phone. It is slow. The whole experience is slow. There was no "umph" in the scrolling and the web pages were slow to render, even after I let the page load completely. The wow factor on this phone is non-existent. In my opinion, it's like the iPhone's fat, lazy brother.

Before people start hating, I want to let you know that this is my personal objective opinion. Trust me, I wanted to like this phone. I really did, but it just lacks any sense of urgency while using it. The transitions are slow, the buttons unresponsive, and the accelerometer works when it feels like it. I pressed the browser button 3 times, and it sent me to the media player. On the fourth time, I finally got the browser (which I wasn't impressed with as I mentioned above).

I gave my number to another person who was waiting around and left... yes, I was guaranteed a Storm and I left it. However, I'm not jumping ship to AT&T right away... I figured I'd give Rim and Verizon a chance to get the next OS update out and give it a second try.

[bobbykurva]

Although I'm waiting to see this OS "update" everyone's been speculating about, I really don't see the update doing much difference. Sure, it'll tweak things here and there, but it's not going to change the Storm's experience in general. There are limitations as to what can be done with the 4.7 platform. No OS update is going to revolutionize the phone into a dream machine. I'm starting to think that what you see right now with v.65 is what you get. Stability will likely improve with future updates, but speed and experience will be hard to improve on.

Additionally, think about this. Blackberry supposedly started working on the Storm way before Apple dreamed about the iPhone. Well, in the time that it took BB to come out with the Storm, Apple has come out with two iterations of the iPhone, both of which in my opinion blow the Storm, as it stands now, out of the water as far as user experience goes. If BB really has been working on this phone for as long as they claim, this should have been a spectacular opening for them. Someone dropped the ball somewhere on this one.

[JudgeHolden]

I agree with everyone saying there will be no OS "magic bullet."

They can tweak the OS, but this needs more than tweaks. The slowness isn't necessarily the OS; I'd say it's likely the hardware.

The iPhone was massaged. Crashes were fixed, things were refined. It wasn't sped up.

Most of the problems we're seeing with this phone are things hands-on reviews pointed out months ago. If they weren't fixed over the summer, why should we believe they'll be fixed in the next week?

Yes, it will be improved. But improved doesn't mean it'll be quick.

[bobbykurva]

Holden's got it right, and I truly believe that the people who claim to be completely enamored with the Storm in its current released state are either 1) true die-hard BB addicts that would love anything with a BB label on it or 2) people who won't get an iPhone because they're either Apple haters or AT&T haters and have thus reserved themselves to the fact that this is the best alternative to the iPhone currently on the market. I admit, that the Storm is the best current alternative to the iPhone, but in its current state is doesn't reach the benchmark set by Apple.

[sparkomatic]

On the iphone it is ... Click account then click inbox .. Back back and repeat for the next account. That is one of the most anoying things on the iPhone. That is why imy BB gets more email love.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Completely agree with you! The BB kicks the iPhone's you-know-what any day of the week with email.

I've been trolling the 9500 board for a little bit cause I'm just so gadget obsessed and the Storm is the latest and greatest. However, I just don't think I could give up my keyboard for full touchscreen. Yes, I have a 3G iPhone and I've tried using it for a day but always go back to my BB Bold.

I do hope the Storm does well and improves..and makes its way to at&t in an upgraded version! I will say that the Storm is going to really have to come through on an app store that will rival the iPhone. One of the reasons I carry my iPhone around is for the app store and games. Gotta have to productivity wasting games...lol And, the iPhone has some really cool ones out there.

[BigCiX]

My only hesitation in dropping my bb and getting an iphone is that I can look at my bb home screen and see all four of my email accounts, and if I have mail on each one - apparantly, this can't be done on an iphone?

you can if you jailbreak it

[88]

I think I'm going to pass, too. I went to the Verizon store to play with it and I'm inside 3 months before my 2 year is up and I don't think I want to use up my upgrade on a slow phone. I've used a 3g Iphone and this isn't near as smooth and quick as the iphone. Only it has way more features. For now, I'll stick to my curve and wait on the Storm for any future upgrades. I'm thinking of waiting for a new shipment of updated storms straight from the factory instead of having to update a laggy phone. It's been an interesting 8 months of waiting for me but in the end, few are going to drop money on something they're not at least 80% happy with.

RIMM stock is in the toilets anyways.

[gbdesai]

I passed as well, got a call last night to get Storm #3 in the store and I just couldn't do it, while taking the call on my Bold. The Bold is fast, responsive, and incredibly productive. I should have know a week ago when I went into the store and I was playing with a .61 OS version of the Storm when the Verizon guy saw the Bold and asked to try it while I tried the Storm.

They were making comments on the great speed and solid keyboard quality. At the time, I was too busy playing with the Storm to pay attention. But having used the Storm several times this week in the store. I have to say that it just takes longer to do nearly everything. I don't know if it's the Storm hardware that is to blame. I just think RIM never evolved the OS to take true advantage of the hardware, too bad, I was really looking forward to this until 2 days ago.

[harrybananas]

I'm pretty sure people will buy it just because it's RIM's first full touch screen phone. Regardless, it's still disappointing to see that the phone is not what it could be. I guess this is one of those things that are only good on paper. Even if many of the early adopter problems are OS-related, it's still a little careless on RIM's part for releasing it.

I've been hearing and seeing a lot of the Storm ads on TV and radio for the past week and it seems like the Storm is RIM's favorite child. Even with the "Whoa, a blackberry, but no keyboard?" quotes to emphasize it's RIM's first full touch screen, I guess they're really trying to be more appealing to non-corporate users.

I'm still going to stop by a Verizon store just to see what all the commotion's about. It'll be nice to compare it with my iPhone 3G, which is inevitable of course

[Azazelle]

I went to my local Verizon store, got my number, and started to play with the display model while they were going through activations. I was not impressed with this phone. It is slow. The whole experience is slow. There was no "umph" in the scrolling and the web pages were slow to render, even after I let the page load completely. The wow factor on this phone is non-existent. In my opinion, it's like the iPhone's fat, lazy brother.

Before people start hating, I want to let you know that this is my personal objective opinion. Trust me, I wanted to like this phone. I really did, but it just lacks any sense of urgency while using it. The transitions are slow, the buttons unresponsive, and the accelerometer works when it feels like it. I pressed the browser button 3 times, and it sent me to the media player. On the fourth time, I finally got the browser (which I wasn't impressed with as I mentioned above).

I gave my number to another person who was waiting around and left... yes, I was guaranteed a Storm and I left it. However, I'm not jumping ship to AT&T right away... I figured I'd give Rim and Verizon a chance to get the next OS update out and give it a second try.

Agreed 110%. Just came home from the VZW store in Manhattan. I was sooo close to buying one, negative feedback and all. However, nothing beats real life experience -- the keyboard is really sluggish and VERY hard totype on with reasonable speed/ accuracy.

The phone may be good for gadgeteers and very casual texters. It will simply NOT do for moderate to heavy e-mail users.

I am looking into buying VZW Curve now -- looks like it will take RIM a while to bring Storm up to the standards we have come to expect. My 8703e is falling apart, Curve is there and works great. Soo...

[cabinets]

Same here. RIM really screwed this up imo. This was a terrible dive into the touchscreen arena.

[dataspaz]

Same here. Just got a bold for free (after rebates) on AT&T. I figure if the Storm gets better in the future I will buy an unlocked GSM version and just put my AT&T sim card in it.

[moomoomoo]

I was very excited and quite ready to purchase this phone at the full retail price. I love my Curve and thought this would be better, but alas the reviews have chewed it up pretty thoroughly - so much so that it is impossible to call one of the reviews a fluke/bias review. I will still go and play with one today to see what it's like in my hand, but I trust a few review sources enough to know that they are usually quite spot on in their tech reviews. At this point, should the device not feel fantastic in form and function in my hands, I will switch to the iPhone.

[strickler]

i passed too...it was really hard to because i this phone has been my life for the past few months..it is a sad sad day. I think the reason im so disappointed is because i had such high expectations. If it just randomly came out one day and i was less biased maybe i wouldnt hate it so much. But i find myself almost angry now...feel like it let me down!!

[CaptainSkyhawk]

Man I couldn't agree more with the OP. I was at the store using it and the slowness basically ruins the entire device imo. The accelerometer took almost 20 whole seconds to kick in a couple times. The software wasn't ready for release. Or perhaps the hardware is just not up to par. Either way I'm extremely disappointed and will not be getting a storm.

[badgerboy9]

i passed too...it was really hard to because i this phone has been my life for the past few months..it is a sad sad day. I think the reason im so disappointed is because i had such high expectations. If it just randomly came out one day and i was less biased maybe i wouldnt hate it so much. But i find myself almost angry now...feel like it let me down!!

well at least my girlfriend won't ignore me now for years on end with that stupid POS storm.... glad she knows it sucks! Can we go get food, now? : )