Is the Blackberry Storm right for me

Hello all,
I've spent the last couple of days browsing the site, and it looks like this is the place to come for Blackberry related information. I'd like to pose a question as to whether or not the Black Berry Storm would be a smart move, or if one of the other models with a physical keyboard would be the way to go.

Background:
I would consider myself a technically proficient individual. I am currently an Electrical Engineer who has done work in programing and IT. I subscribe to Verizon Wireless because of it's superior network coverage, and much of my work is done in a remote area where Verizon is the only network that works.

I have been pining for a smart phone for years, since I got fed up with carrying a phone, an MP3 player, and a PDA. Additionally, as my responsibilities have increased my email inbox has become more and more staggering. I just wanted to wait for the most fortuitous time to jump into the market. I was impressed with the iphone, but refuse to switch to AT&T because of the insufficient network.

I have been excited about the Storm from the first I heard of it, but I was a little put off by the bad reviews. However, it seemed that most of the complainants were relatively short sighted as they complain about software problems that are almost guaranteed to be rectified.

I've spent a little time playing with the emulator and find the phone to be much of what I've hoped for. However, I would hate to make a relatively substantial two year financial commitment to this phone only to regret it in two months.

What do you guys think?

Like most new phones, their gonna have issues at first. Can't you try it out for 30 days?

I think your assessment of the reviews is right on the money. I have had a Storm for about two weeks now, and I think the central issue is that, even for a geek like me, The Storm has a steeper learning curve than any other smartphone I have used (Kyo 7130--> Treo 650 --> Moto Q9m ---> Storm). I think a lot of BB veterans don't like it because they love the physical keyboard and are very heavy email senders. For me, I use it primarily for RECEIVING email, scheduling, an information repository, contacts, and multimedia, all of which the storm appears to do very very well. Overall, I think it is the best smartphone I have had (the Treo was the worst - great PDA, S***ty phone). The majority of the issues cited in many of the earlier reviews have already been resolved by the initial firmware update.

If you are a heavy email composer or like to edit documents on your phone, I don't recommend it. If you use the way I do, as a personal information consolidation device, it is excellent. I have about two weeks before my decision to purchase it becomes irrevocable. That decision will hinge on the stability of the device which, so far, seems to be good.

This device, in its current form, requires tweaking by the user. Once that is done, it sings.

Originally Posted by bubbatech

I think your assessment of the reviews is right on the money. I have had a Storm for about two weeks now, and I think the central issue is that, even for a geek like me, The Storm has a steeper learning curve than any other smartphone I have used (Kyo 7130--> Treo 650 --> Moto Q9m ---> Storm). I think a lot of BB veterans don't like it because they love the physical keyboard and are very heavy email senders. For me, I use it primarily for RECEIVING email, scheduling, an information repository, contacts, and multimedia, all of which the storm appears to do very very well. Overall, I think it is the best smartphone I have had (the Treo was the worst - great PDA, S***ty phone). The majority of the issues cited in many of the earlier reviews have already been resolved by the initial firmware update.

If you are a heavy email composer or like to edit documents on your phone, I don't recommend it. If you use the way I do, as a personal information consolidation device, it is excellent. I have about two weeks before my decision to purchase it becomes irrevocable. That decision will hinge on the stability of the device which, so far, seems to be good.

This device, in its current form, requires tweaking by the user. Once that is done, it sings.

Information consolidation device is a great description of what I would use it for. Truthfully, if I need to send a long important email, or do major editing I would probably pull out the laptop anyways, as I think doing any substantial work on such a small screen would drive me nuts.

It's also good to hear that there's a 30 day money back guarantee as well.

Btw, is it straightforward and convenient to use these phones and broadband modems? I think that would pretty much sell me.

Go to the store, play with it.
If you like it, try it for 30 days.

The phone isnt great, but no phone is perfect. Give it a shot.

Welcome to the crack.

I don't think anyone is going to be able to tell you what phone to get, it really comes down to user preference. What might be the right phone for one person will not be right for others. Follow Dirtyjersey's post and get down to your local store and play around with several devices and see which one you prefer.

Good luck :)

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

The only problem with this device is that playing with it at the store doesn't tell the whole story because most of the ones I have seen at the store tend to be hosed with a million running concurrent apps and God knows what has been done to the settings, which are relatively critical on this device.

However, the advice to try several different devices is sound - of course, if you are looking for GSM capability, which I was because I needed a phone that will work in Europe, there are only two devices from VZW that will work: the Storm and the 8830WE.

Modem: I am sure it will work as one. Verizon, of course, will charge you a hefty fee to do it (i.e. $15 a month) but it certainly can be done.

IMHO, it really doesn't matter what you get as long as it's a BlackBerry. :-)