[Crackburry]

I love how everyone says "think for yourself" whenever it's negative... but when one good review pops up everyone is like, "OMG they said this and that about how great it is!"

Don't listen to the people who say "think for yourself" when you're gathering data for a personal decision. Yes, in the end the decision is yours... but Engadget, Gizmodo, CNet, Time, BGR, Crunch Gear, and several others have said some less-than-spectacular things about the Storm. That's nothing to sneeze at when you're going through the trouble of finding a device, plopping down some cash on it, and then signing up for a 2-year contract.

I wouldn't worry if you decided to skip out on this one. The Bold is still great, if you have a Curve it will do for now, or you can wait for the 8900. Besides, let a week pass and you'll see everyone b*tching about how terrible and laggy the Storm is and how there are so many returns... if you can even find one. Word is that stock is not going to meet the temporary and superficial demand.

Did you read the post on the front page of Crackberry? Even Kevin doesn't wanna review because he knows he'll have to be honest... Instead he linked up every other site out there that wrote a review.

You won't be missing out on much if you pass up on the Storm. Trust me. There are better Blackberry options out there.

[brian_peterson]

What are you guys talking about? I read the ZDnet and Cnet reviews and thought they were positive.

[papped]

"Think for yourself" applies both ways. Most reviewers are biased in some way and it's not hard to tell. Chuck the BS and take what seems to actually make sense.

And guess what? Overwhelming majority reviews by major reviewers DOES NOT give you an accurate stance on the phone a lot of the time.

The Instinct got VERY DECENT reviews on almost every major site, yet that phone is a total POS.

[brian_peterson]

I am just saying that I read alot of reviews. Minus BGR and Times I thought they all felt the Storm was a good phone... I am really confused what parallel universe people are living in!

[papped]

Most of the reviews I've seen are quite positive as well.

They just say it's not perfect. I don't really know why anyone would have expected it to be in the first place...

My major qualm is lack of wifi which is a huge minus for a lot of people, even a dealbreaker for some...

[Crackburry]

Brian Peterson... are you on crack? PC World said it was awkward and disappointing. Bonnie Cha on CNet said it was bad for emailing and messaging. Did you watch the video and read the review? Time magazine pretty much trashed the Storm. Here's what Crunch Gear said, "I won’t be ditching my Bold or iPhone 3G for the Storm, but if you’ve been waiting for it then I strongly encourage you to go to your local Verizon Wireless store and spend some time with it. I don’t think you hardcore BlackBerry users will like it...."

Every site had a negative thing to say about the Storm. And the ones who weren't negative, like Kevin here at good ol' Crackberry, were saying things like, "Try it out for yourself, spend some time with it, it takes a little while to get used to, it's not going to be for everybody...." Um, yeah, were any of those things said about the Curve or Bold before it was released? No.

Wanna know how bad it is? Crackberry got a review unit from VZW and didn't even review the phone! Why? Crackberry will have to be honest and that's going to mean some very bad things will be said about the Storm... that's why there is just a long list of other sites that did their review. This is one of the biggest stories of the year, not just for Blackberry, for the tech world - and Crackberry passed up on it when they had a review unit? What did the review roundup say... they're going to wait for a software update.

Yeah. People who get the Storm tomorrow are gonna hate themselves.

Sincerely,
A fellow Blackberry User

[papped]

Yeah. People who get the Storm tomorrow are gonna hate themselves.

Lol, I bet you could find at least 100 people that that won't, which makes your assumption absurd and incorrect. The simple odds aren't even in your favor for that, because even if the device was trash, not even close to everyone who adopted one early would hate it (which has been proven with other phones).

[brian_peterson]

Crackburry I read the reviews and you are cherry picking your negativity.

[Crackburry]

Lol, I bet you could find at least 100 people that that won't, which makes your assumption absurd and incorrect. The simple odds aren't even in your favor for that, because even if the device was trash, not even close to everyone who adopted one early would hate it (which has been proven with other phones).

Just wait and see...

The testers received their units two days before writing their reviews and the majority of them didn't like them at all or had several gripes.

[Crackburry]

Crackburry I read the reviews and you are cherry picking your negativity.

You're doing the same sh*t with the positives. The negatives outweigh the positive, but you know who isn't outright trashing the device? Those with relationships with RIM and who don't want to ruin their reputation with them. Explain how I'm cherry picking when the title to the reviews say, "RIM's BlackBerry Storm: Awkward and Disappointing." Or Time's "Blackberry Storm: The Novelty Wears Off Fast." Or Gizmodo, "Blackberry Berry Storm Review (Verdict: Not Quite The Perfect Storm)."


Look at how delicate all those reviews were whenever they said anything bad about the Storm. It was always followed up by "but you have to decide for yourself." Talk about saving as$es. "It's not going to be for everyone." Yeah, that's so obvious for every phone out there but if they have to mention it then it's a clear sign of something.

But don't take my word for it. Or the word of all the folks who do tech reviews and stories for a living and who rely on Blackberry for work.

[brian_peterson]

Wow Crackburry whos on crack now? I clearly stated that alot of reviews were positive. Some were negative. Mixed bag... Just like the iPhone first gen... It's a mixed bag folks on the reviews. The biggest problem is the lag on the accelerometer... All the other issues are minor... So the positives do out weigh the negatives.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Let's be fair here Crucial. First off you can't blame Verizon for "demo'ing" the .65 platform. RIM is solely responsible for that one. To put the blame on Verizon is absolving RIM for failing to deliver a somewhat solid OS for their device. So let's put the blame on the right people, RIM.

Secondly what we have here is exactly what were the same issues a couple of months ago. Laggy unresponsive OS. Back then what was the mantra? "Wait for the final release. This is still a beta OS. ". Ok fair enough let's wait. Fast forward to now. What are we seeing? Same thing, a laggy unresponsive OS. What is the repeated mantra now? "Wait for the SW updates. They are coming out."

Don't you see its the same old song and dance? The end user deserves and should expect a solid working device with some occasional or small bugs. That's to be expected. But here we are hours away from official launch and there is nothing but negativity surrounding the phone. These are not minor issues. Buttons falling off, severe battery drain, lag, unresponsive screen lead me to believe there is more going on than what we are hearing.

I think what we have here is a phone that was rushed to market with severe QC issues that will never run efficiently or correctly. Nobody knows if these SW updates will change a darn thing. We heard that it would be released working perfectly well that has proved not to be the case, at least across the pond which is a pretty good prediction of what is going to hit here.

RIM screwed this release up big time. They had a couple months to fix those issues and they still haven't what makes you think people are going to believe they will suddenly have the magic bullet and fix it friday? I certainly don't.

My honest opinion is that this phone has some major hardware issues that updates will not fix and thus the delay in getting this thing running properly. It was too late to go back to the drawing board and redo it so they are releasing a substandard piece of equipment that will run mediocre at best.

Don't get me wrong they will get this phone right. But it will not be this version. A whole new design will emerge that works properly.

In closing RIM rushed it out and now the end user is seeing the effects of their decision. I know for myself I won't be dealing with this headache its simply not worth the trouble.

Good luck!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Hate to be rude but you're a joke. You have absolutely NO CLUE as to what is actually going on. You're just a consumer and you work for neither RIM nor Verizon, therefore you have no clue as to what has transpired. Now BGR alluded to the problem. A security problem. A security problem with Verizon and it's network. Thats right, this problem didn't happen with Vodafone. Nope, only with Verizon. It was a HUGE mistake by the Verizon engineers. A couple of which have either lost their job or been demoted. But you have no clue as to what you're talking about, you're just talking just to talk.
We all know how Verizon like to lock-down their OS and make every single decision in regards to it. There are other builds ready, and they were ready to go. But oh no, the engineers made a big boo boo, and it was back to the drawing boards.

So please until you actually know what's going on behind the scenes don't say I'm full of sh it, and don't blame it on the wrong party. Get it right.


Heres a quote from Wired: After spending a lot of quality time with the Storm, it's apparent that it really is the carrier that cripples this phone. The hardware that RIM has produced is completely original, wholly impressive and poised to affect the way every phone manufacturer approaches touch technology — including Apple. But Verizon's insistence on controlling the operating system is obvious and, well, aggravating. The phone's OS has a rushed, shoddy feel. That, coupled with a tendency to freeze and lag when pulling up applications, is flummoxing. I get the feeling Verizon pushed RIM to get the Storm launched before its software was completely ready.

[Primate#CB]

I am little scared to jump into this mess but cereal killer does make some good points. We do keep hearing "Wait and see it will be the SH!T" I guess we will know tomorrow if the promises for grandeur were true. As cereal killer said... We were told to wait for the release before we start talking crap because we had "No idea what we were talking about" so I am doing just that. I will wait until I have the device in my hand to make my judgments.... Hope it was worth the wait

[NYC_Gadgeteer]

I'm going to have to chime in to echo what the rest are saying about reviews. They're highly subjective and in the end rarely provide much else beyond some observations on the phone which may prompt you to investigate certain features of importance to you before purchasing.

My main gadgetry forte, beyond cameras, has consistently been mp3 players. If you go by what CNet says then my preferred devices, all Cowon/iAudio are mediocre devices and far inferior to the iPod. To be honest, if I believed them I would have missed out on some awesome machinery. You could offer me the newest iPod out there for my 2 year old D2 and I'd turn you down. I'm about function over form, and all apple does is pretty UI instead of focusing on battery life, plug and play functionality and sound quality. So just goes to show that quite frequently user preferences and needs completely diverge from those of reviewers.

I'm very curious to see how the reviews on this site turn out in the next few days insomuch as we are more prone to address the issues that are collectively important to us as a community than the pros are. Furthermore, I lay more confidence and faith in the assessments of unpaid gadget lovers than people hoping to impress their editors and sponsors...

[cereal killer]

Hate to be rude but you're a joke. You have absolutely NO CLUE as to what is actually going on. You're just a consumer and you work for neither RIM nor Verizon, therefore you have no clue as to what has transpired. Now BGR alluded to the problem. A security problem. A security problem with Verizon and it's network. Thats right, this problem didn't happen with Vodafone. Nope, only with Verizon. It was a HUGE mistake by the Verizon engineers. A couple of which have either lost their job or been demoted. But you have no clue as to what you're talking about, you're just talking just to talk.
We all know how Verizon like to lock-down their OS and make every single decision in regards to it. There are other builds ready, and they were ready to go. But oh no, the engineers made a big boo boo, and it was back to the drawing boards.

So please until you actually know what's going on behind the scenes don't say I'm full of sh it, and don't blame it on the wrong party. Get it right.


Heres a quote from Wired: After spending a lot of quality time with the Storm, it's apparent that it really is the carrier that cripples this phone. The hardware that RIM has produced is completely original, wholly impressive and poised to affect the way every phone manufacturer approaches touch technology — including Apple. But Verizon's insistence on controlling the operating system is obvious and, well, aggravating. The phone's OS has a rushed, shoddy feel. That, coupled with a tendency to freeze and lag when pulling up applications, is flummoxing. I get the feeling Verizon pushed RIM to get the Storm launched before its software was completely ready.

Aside from your obvious rude remarks. Keep believing that story if it makes you feel better.

If I recall your the gentleman who said the browser used webkit.

No use in going back and forth about this because it is what it is. When you drive off the lot with your brand new car and it turns out to be a lemon you don't blame the car dealer : )

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[NYC_Gadgeteer]

When you drive off the lot with your brand new car and it turns out to be a lemon you don't blame the car dealer : )

Not to be nitpicky, but in NY you actually do blame the dealer. That's why there's a lemon law allowing you to return the thing for a full refund...

Sorry, too much law and not enough gadgets makes Homer go something, something...