Recently my work mobile smartphone went to crap, probably because it was running on Microsoft Windows Mobile or some other brilliant OS they conjured up in the great Northwest. I previously had a Palm Treo so I thought about going back to that family. I however opted to go with Blackberry this time.OK, my first thought was to go with Apple's iPhone. But you know, even though it is for work, I do enjoy actually being able to talk on it and AT&T has never been my friend. Staying on Verizon Wireless, I was left with few options. I decided on one of their older Blackberry World phones. However, they decided to ship me the Blackberry Storm instead for the same price. What a deal, I thought.
When I initially received it, I immediately disliked it. It's heavier than the Motorola Q that I had been using and if memory serves me right, it seems close in weight to the Palm Treo 650 I had before that. Then the touchscreen felt wrong. You really have to put physical pressure on the screen. I have an iPod Touch at home and that works like a charm. Touchscreen there means brushing the screen. Not on the Storm.
I have now been using it for about 2 weeks and I have to say it has grown on me. Maybe it's the Twitter updates I was sending from inaugural events using Twitterberry. The touchscreen and I had some growing pains, but it seems to work well. I'm starting to understand why it's called a "Crackberry" by some as I can't seem to put it down when I'm on the move. Sitting through meetings will be tough.
A great add-on is Bayalink's Liberty. Essentially a bluetooth adaptor on a USB key, it acts as a conduit to allow one to work off the Blackberry using a Windows PC. That made things much easier to handle. It is a pain to type a long e-mail on a handheld, and I found it tougher on a touchscreen. But with the Liberty, I'm able to respond to e-mails with ease even if I am off my e-mail on the notebook.
If you are interested in moving up to a Blackberry with touchscreen, I can now recommend the Storm. It is my first Crackberry, so I don't know how it compares with other models. From on-line forums and reviews, The biggest complaint I have heard is the keyboard, which of course, is the problem with any touchscreen.
Leave a comment