I picked up a BlackBerry Storm this last week. I’ve been craving an iPhone ever since they came out, but I did not figure it was a good use of my money to cancel my contract and move to AT&T. I found out about the BlackBerry Storm offered exclusively from Verizon, through a good friend and web designer buddy of mine. He had a lot of good things to say about it. So, after messing around with the one at the Verizon store for a while, I decided to get it. Here are some things I like and dislike about the phone…
Con: The BlackBerry Storm with the stock update from Verizon is a clunky piece of junk. The sad thing is that BlackBerry releases really good updates that fix almost all of the clunkiness, but Verizon wont make them official. So, if you install one of the unofficial updates from BlackBerry, it removes your Verizon warranty. I could care less about the warranty, so I installed one of the most recent updates from BlackBerry, and my phone now runs smooth.
Con: It costs $35 a month just to have a BlackBerry. That does not include a data plan.
Con: You are made to think that the “Visual Voicemail” feature that is built into the phone, comes with your $15 a month data plan and $35 a month BlackBerry subscription. You find out later its an extra $3 a month when you go to use it on your phone.
Pro: The touch screen is awesome. Really reactive and fluid unlike the other “wannabe” iPhone and Storm type’s on the market.
Pro: The Camera is awesome, and from what I hear, works several times better after installing the most recent unofficial update from BlackBerry.
Pro: I love being able to view and edit things like spreadsheets.
Con: The app center is cheeseball compared to the iPhone’s app center.
Con: The Storm 2 is rumored to coming out next month. …And the BlackBerry Storm has been out for only…6 months? Does that mean that the Storm had so many problems with hardware that they are having to start from scratch with the Storm 2?
Pro: Even though it is a nice little block of technology, the phone fits well in my front pocket.
Pro: BlackBerry did a good job of not copying Apple’s iPhone and adding their own flare and coolness to things. However, I think that the bugs have been worked out of the iPhone way more in comparison.
Con: The browser, which is one of the most important things to me, is clunky in comparison with the iPhone. One of the “non-official” updates made it much better, but its still a clunky piece of crap. You also have to view one web page at a time. The Apple iPhone allows you to open a lot of windows at a time, and it runs way smoother.
Conclusion: If I had already been with AT&T, there is no way in the world that I would leave the iPhone for the BlackBerry. However, the BlackBerry is a great alternative, if you happen to be with Verizon.
However, if you have already had the pleasure of messing around with an iPhone, you may be disappointed with how sluggish the Storm is. At this time, I’m considering taking it back under my 30 day satisfaction guarantee, and switching to AT&T to get the iPhone.
I’m also not sure that the BlackBerry Storm is a time saver. When I’m out and about, the time it takes to email, check websites, etc, is way longer than it would be on my computer. So, if I didnt have this BlackBerry slowing me down while I’m running errands, maybe I could get home and get serious business done, more quickly.
Note: After a frusturating week comparing the BlackBerry to the iPhone, here is my conclusion: http://www.andyisaacson.com/blackberry-storm-vs-iphone/
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Just FYI, the iPhone has been out since 2007. I was one of the unlucky individuals to pick the phone up the first day it came out. This attempt at a first wannabe “iPhone” is far better than the product apple put out 2 years ago. Maybe now the time is to go with apple. People are forgetting before apple came out with these new updates and such a year ago the phone was garbage. Just FYI before everyone starts bashing the storm it is their first so it will suck like apples first iphone. Just give it a time to develop more. Yes they will put out Storm 2 and hopefully it will be alot better if not then they are not learning. I personally think they will attempt to improve it.
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thats so crazy
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