[mahbs786]

I received by Storm on Friday 14th in the post. Spent many hours that eveing playing with it! This morning I was woken up by the postman - another Storm arrived in the post! Both appeared to be from Vodafone even though I had placed only one order a month ago! So now I have two! Feel sorry for the guys that are still waiting for it.

Anyway, I was a BlackBerry user until a few moths ago when I managed to get my hands on a factory unlocked iPhone fom Italy and have been using that with T Mobile. Having received the Storm, I was quite excited and my first impression is that it is a real challenge to the iPhone. Couldn't help comparing the two phones!

Only read below if you want to read about a brief and initial comparison with the iPhone. Not relevant if you are locked into a non O2 contract or don't have an unlocked iPhone! I have posted some of this in another thread but though I'd add it here.


I think the Storm is an excellent step forward for RIM but I'm finding it not nearly as fast or polished as the iPhone which is dissapointing. My main cons so far are:

The classic BlackBerry speed and ease of use just isn't there for me. Screen rotation is much slower than the iPhone, the keyboard in landscape mode needs some getting used to - I keep making mistakes although the portrait mode SureType works well, and the point made above about quick dialling was a key feature for me previously which is missing in the Storm. Need a number of clicks to start dialling a contact. Both maps apps are slow at refreshing, browsing isn't as ingenious, smooth or fast as iPhone although I believe Flash is available unlike the iPhone. Ability to add new and quality Apps fast and cheaply is what makes iPhone special. RIM have taken on the idea with the App Loader but the quality and range is understandably poor at present - hopefully this will improve with time. Phone appears to get hot quickly too - maybe just mine and maybe because I was charging it while using it. Scroll feature is jerky. No wifi which can be a shame if you want to give your tariff a rest and utilise the many hotspots out there. Memory is low bt expandable. Synch software is still not as advanced as iPhone. Youtube image quality is not as good as iPhone (did a side by side comparison) although Storm loaded faster. Locked on Vodafone.

The pros noticed immediately are:

Sharpest display I've seen! Camera and Video Camera are excellent. Messaging is excellent just as you expect from BlackBerry including Push email. App Loader is a welcome feature and will get better. Clickable screen is nice - gives the reassurance of selection but may need getting used to at first. Also may slow down typing if you are a fast typer. Big screen area. Smart looking handheld. All the usual BlackBerry apps and more loaded including MS Office editing software. Internet is fast and best display on BlackBerry to date. Shows the satellites locked on by GPS. Calendar, task, notes are much better than iPhone. Text editing capabilties are better than iPhone. Can receive MMS unlike iPhone. LED notification. Notifications alerts are custmisable unlike the iPhone.

Hope some of that is useful to people.
Regards
Mahbs786