Hardware Geeks

My contract with Sprint recently expired and I planned to renew with them, but then I saw a commercial for the Blackberry Storm and knew I wanted one. I had gone to my local Verizon Wireless Store but they were out of stock, so I had to order mines online and wait nearly 2 weeks for it to get here, and five days ago it arrived.

Since I have only had the Touch Blackberry Storm a week I can’t really say a lot about it, but it has a lot of features and I am madly in love with it even though it is heavier and a little bulkier that I had expected and am use too.

The first thing I noticed was the beautiful touchscreen. The display is vibrant and sexy and for those curious the screens resolution is 480x360, it’s so crystal clear that all I can say is “WOW”!

One of the first features I tested was the address book and it is amazing. I mean sure it’s an address book, what could be so great about it? But there is nothing you can’t do. Your address book can now contain everything you need to know about a person. On my old Windows Mobile Phones I needed third party software to get all of that.

The next thing I tested out was texting, and those of you who know me know that I am a text whore. But when it came to texting on the Blackberry Storm, it was a little frustrating the whole click screen feel where the phone vibrates is new and different for me so I need to get use too it. I like that it highlights the letters once your fingers are over the letter in blue to show you what you are clicking on but still it sometimes goes onto the next letter . I would think guys with big fingers would have a harder time with texting on the Storm.

Just a little FYI if you are writing long messages on the Blackberry Storm be it an email or text it may take you a bit to type it all out since the keys are cramped together and as I mentioned before when you are typing you may hit a key that you didn’t mean to tap.

However I do love the fact that the screen orientation will switch from portrait to Landscape mode when you rotate the phone from a vertical position to a horizontal one, left or right such a beautiful concept, this makes it easier for texting in my opinion. There is a little delay in the switch which can be a little frustrating but I’ll deal with it I have no choice.

You can copy/paste text easily on the Blackberry Storm which I like a lot. All you have to do is just tap the screen at the start of the text and then with a second finger, touch the end of the block of text you want to copy. I guess there is some getting used to since I seem to forget to click down on the screen.

There are other features that make up for what frustrates me with the Storm. For instance when you are on the internet you can tap on the screen twice to zoom in on a Web page or map, no more squinting to try and read what is on the screen, and no more having to hit menu and zoom in.

For example the speakers are so loud and clear on the phone, which is great for listening to music, talking on the speaker phone or even watching videos. I have used the speaker phone a bit already and no crackling or having to ask people to repeat themselves.

The Blackberry Storm brings a lot of the accessories required to get you started; a travel charger with various adapters, a USB cable, an 8GB microSD card, a SIM card, a wired headset, a software CD, and reference material. The battery life has been great so far. I used all day after charging and didn’t have to charge it until the next night, I guess it would depend on the amount of use you put into it but for me the battery life is great.

When receiving a call the only problem I had had is the Mute and Speaker button appearing on the screen, and considering you hold the phone up against your ear you sometimes accidently hit the mute button. This has happened to me a couple of times already and by the time I realize what has happened people think they are talking to themselves and hang up. Once you get past that little issue the calls are very clear.

I personally haven’t found an option to disable the touchscreen while on a call, if there is an option that I have missed can you guys please let me know where to find it.

Well I guess have a lot of more exploring to do with my new Blackberry Storm, I may post an update to this review in the future so check back often.

For more information on the Blackberry Storm Visit Verizon Wireless. The Storm is available for $199 with a 2 year contract.

Post Tags: verizon  touchscreen  smartphone  blackberry  storm 

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