1. BigDogMom's Avatar
    I posted yesterday and have to say THANK YOU to all who answered and helped me. The fog is lifting a bit but i still have some questions before making a choice. I did go to a Verizon store yesterday, as suggested, to try the devices but I still have some questions. The SALESPERSON was not really helpful in answering these questions as she just wanted to sell the devices (of course wanting me to purchase the more expensive of the 2 and add a line for more $...."but the BB is FREE!")

    Ok...I need to get more organized! I am a working mom of 5 kids. I teach, run races, sponsor 2 after school clubs, as well as being in charge of everyone's sports/social calendars.

    I have 2 options at this point....a friend is giving me a Storm as she is getting a new one free from work and wants nothing for hers. Another option is a Curve (2 months old) from a friend of my oldest child. This college kid can not longer afford the charges on the phone and is getting rid of it for a cheaper phone. He wants to give it to me for free but I will give him a little $ if I take it (every college kid needs beer $!)

    I use Outlook for work but will not upgrade to Enterprise server and more $ service package until the next school year as recommended by our IT person. I can access my Outlook from the web so that is not a big issue right now.

    I upload Outlook calendar to Google calendar for ease of use for the kids. The older ones can see/add/delete things and with one away in college...she can see when the younger ones have events she may want to come home for. We have just started this form of calendaring and it seems to be working as I can see work and home...but only when on the computer!

    I have an EnV2 now and like it. I consider myself pretty tech savvy (for a 40something teacher!) and can manage my way around a computer pretty well.

    So my questions are:

    1. Which BB would be the better choice for my needs?
    2. What is the learning curve for the Storm vs the 8300?
    3. Which phone would be better for the calendar?
    4. Can I access Google calendar from the Storm? Curve? Is there an app for this calendar on each phone?
    5. What do you love/hate about your Storm?
    6. What do you love/hate about your Curve?
    7. As this is going to basically be free...and I am not interested in adding time to my contract....should I make this switch now or wait until my contract expires to get the new, improved, better BB in a year?

    Thanks for all the help. This is a HUGE leap for me so I want to do a lot of research before jumping into a new addiction!

    Peace,
    BigDogMom
    03-25-09 08:59 AM
  2. pkcable's Avatar
    1. I think you need to decide if you can handle a virtual onscreen keyboard, many can not. The Storm is the more powerful phone, BUT the Curve has a physical keyboard and more mature software.

    2. MUCH higher learning curve for the Storm, but worth it. Again it is a more powerful BB.

    3. Either should work well with your calender, but the Storm has a MUCH bigger screen so you could see more of your day at a glance.

    4. Yes I believe Google has a BB sync tool, but I don't use it. Ask others.

    5 I LOVE the screen. I have learned to love the screen click, but I'll admit it took some getting used to. I HATE that the software still has a ways to go, BUT it is getting better with the betas that have leaked out.

    6. Does not apply to me!

    7. I think you would do fine with either device, and then in time you could consider the upcoming Pearl Flip (if you prefer flip style phones) or Niagara (9630) which are expected in the coming months.

    I hope I've helped a little.
    03-25-09 09:12 AM
  3. chelseytx's Avatar
    can you get both

    if you can get the storm for free... grab both and try both.... while it is a little harder on vzw to change the phone, its still worth it to try both. the keyboard is probably gonig to be your biggest gripe.

    if you dont like the storm, give it back to your friend (or me! )

    google, does have an app sync, i have it, but dont use it (i know - just wasnt space, but w/e)

    another thing is memory: the curve on vzw has about 96 mb of mem, not sure what the storm has. PK?

    1. Which BB would be the better choice for my needs? depends on the kb
    2. What is the learning curve for the Storm vs the 8300? dont know - but prob similar - xcept for the keyboard
    3. Which phone would be better for the calendar? bigger screen = storm
    4. Can I access Google calendar from the Storm? Curve? Is there an app for this calendar on each phone? you can use outlook and have up to 10 other emails on it
    5. What do you love/hate about your Storm? dont have the storm, but the glitches would probably drive me nutz
    6. What do you love/hate about your Curve? love the keyboard, but hate that it has a small screen. i like the sleekness of the virtual kb, but i type to much and have big fingers
    7. As this is going to basically be free...and I am not interested in adding time to my contract....should I make this switch now or wait until my contract expires to get the new, improved, better BB in a year? you will have to add to your contract for the data plan, but please note that just putting a new device on your plan WILL NOT extend the contact. only getting a new device and contract will do that.. so u are goo switching now and saving the new bb for when the new bb comes out
    Last edited by chelseytx; 03-25-09 at 09:31 AM.
    03-25-09 09:17 AM
  4. pkcable's Avatar
    Storm has 128 (I think we ALL are envious of the 8900 in THAT regard)
    03-25-09 09:24 AM
  5. chelseytx's Avatar
    lol isnt that the one with like a gig or something?
    03-25-09 09:45 AM
  6. berryfit's Avatar
    I own a curve, and love it! Didnt like the storm that much, but that's an individual choice. We all have our needs and likes/dislikes...either one wouldn't disappoint I would assume.

    1. Which BB would be the better choice for my needs?
    If you're busy, and all over the place. Something a little more compact would be nice. I have the 8330 and looked at the storm, but the click screen was slow for me. I do things on the run so like an easy to use keyboard.


    2. What is the learning curve for the Storm vs the 8300?
    Depending on what you want to do. I think they all have a learning curve depending on how much you want to know about your phone and it's capabilities. Ive seen a few people a little confused with the Storm.


    3. Which phone would be better for the calendar?
    I actually like the Curve calendar. Its simple and works fine. I own a small gym and my life is schedules. And this hasnt let me down yet. see the next answer for more.

    4. Can I access Google calendar from the Storm? Curve? Is there an app for this calendar on each phone?
    Google calendar is the best! You can sync it with your Curve and sure you can iwth your storm as well. They auto sync. When I change my curve calendar, my google calendar changes. Only problem is when changing something on the curve that is a recurring appt, google doesnt accept it as the recurrance. It sometimes deletes are changes just the one entry.

    5. What do you love/hate about your Storm?
    Dont have one, but tried it and didnt like the click screen at all!

    6. What do you love/hate about your Curve?
    I love this thing! Schedules, emails, sms, mms, pics, and oh yeah, it makes calls...did anyone know that?!! What a great feature! lol...

    7. As this is going to basically be free...and I am not interested in adding time to my contract....should I make this switch now or wait until my contract expires to get the new, improved, better BB in a year?
    Always going to be a new phone. I have verizon, and I think, Im not sure, but think the $30 a month data package is just an add on, not a new contract. I received the phone the same way you are, so its not like you're buyhing it from them, you're just adding it to your existing plan. NICE.

    good luck.
    03-25-09 10:28 AM
  7. pkcable's Avatar
    lol isnt that the one with like a gig or something?
    256 App memory. Both the Storm and the 8900 have a Gig, but they allocate it differently, the 8900 gets more app memory. Right now the 8900 is the king of App memory, but I have a feeling the 9630 will also have 256.
    03-25-09 10:49 AM
  8. TheSultan's Avatar
    That's way to many questions for me to be sitting and answering, but I'll hit a few.

    3. The better of the devices for a calendar IMO is the Curve. When on the Storm, and in landscape mode to have the QWERTY keyboard show up, you basically can see one line of what you're entering for info. So, even though the screen is bigger, most of the real estate is taken up by a keyboard. You can easily answer this question by going into a store and looking at them.
    03-25-09 10:53 AM
  9. chelseytx's Avatar
    sweetness... my first berry was an 8830 that i had for about 3 months - being new to bb's i didnt know anything about memory, go it bc it did net and email, the big one - it was RED!, i couldnt keep txt and calls on the phone - even with nothing on it. went thru 3 of them b4 they finally gave me a curve - no trouble at all anymore, and i have a lot of shizola on this thing.
    03-25-09 10:54 AM
  10. chelseytx's Avatar
    That's way to many questions for me to be sitting and answering, but I'll hit a few.

    3. The better of the devices for a calendar IMO is the Curve. When on the Storm, and in landscape mode to have the QWERTY keyboard show up, you basically can see one line of what you're entering for info. So, even though the screen is bigger, most of the real estate is taken up by a keyboard. You can easily answer this question by going into a store and looking at them.
    ahhh, i didnt know this... can you not hid the kb?
    03-25-09 10:55 AM
  11. TheSultan's Avatar
    ahhh, i didnt know this... can you not hid the kb?
    Yes, you can hide the keyboard, but then you can't type info in (for entering a new calendar item). For simply viewing, it's fine.
    03-25-09 10:56 AM
  12. chelseytx's Avatar
    kk. thanks for the info
    03-25-09 11:01 AM
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