Sun Nov 08 2009
All of the buzz last week has been on the release of the Blackberry Storm, the new touch-screen smartphone.
After using one for a day I was ready to toss it in the river but I confess after another day I started to get the hang of the touch-screen, which has a more tactile feel than the competitive iPhone from Apple. Coming from a smartphone with a full real keyboard, the Storm's all-glass feel of the keyboard is its main learning curve.
After a few days with one of these, it occurred to me that the real $100 laptop is going to end up being a cell phone.
First of all, the Storm had excellent battery life. Mine didn't die for two days, which is twice what I get with my Motorola Q with an extended battery. Granted, if you do a ton of multimedia you will see less, but I barely get a working day from my Q.
You will be doing lots of multimedia on the Storm, because the screen rocks. The 480x360 screen is plenty nice to watch movies on, and it comes with an 8 gig card. You also get a 3.2 megapixel camera that takes amazingly sharp photos. And the speakers are great. It is a true movie player despite its size.
Blackberry has done something innovative here with its "SurePress" technology. The screen is actually clickable and indents when you press on it. This takes some practice and initially was the feature that drove me nuts. But eventually I preferred it to the iPhone for tactile response.
Would I want this for my daily phone? Here is where I gets tricky. I use my phone extensively for corporate e-mail and text-messaging. I like the full QWERTY keyboard with real buttons. Could I get used to the Storm after a few months? Sure. Do I prefer it today? No. I like the real buttons of a full keyboard.
However, if you do not use e-mail a ton like I do (like if you use the keyboard just a few times a day) then I am not sure it matters. Besides, the lack of a keyboard allows for a huge, glorious screen. That is the trade-off of the Storm. Those who love the touch-screen will love it and those who can't get it to work right away will grow to not like it.
The nagging problems? No Wi-Fi. For some reason, the phone operates only on the phone network and not readily available Wi-Fi networks. Surely the next version will fix this mistake. Another is a non-standard USB power and headphone jacks, which in this day and age is dumb. I want one power adapter for everything.
The price is $199 with a two-year agreement but there are some rebates available in some markets with some plans.
The bottom line: It's the best Blackberry on the Verizon network by a long-shot. But if you're a heavy thumb typist, take a look at the keyboard and make sure you can live with it long-term.
(James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm and a tech columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com)
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