There is a pretty good discussion going on over on BGR surrounding a quote that the BG got from Verizon about the return rates of the BlackBerry Storm.
“The Storm has the lowest return rate of any of our PDAs and at this point in its life cycle, it has the lowest return rate of any PDA we currently sell.”
I know that the BlackBerry Storm has gotten hammered in various reviews and some die-hard BlackBerry users simply cannot stand the device, however, the overwhelming sentiment in the comments over on BGR and the stuff that I am hearing over here on RIMarkable is that most people that actually have the Storm really like it.
What do you think about the Storm?
I’ve had my BlackBerry Storm since the Tuesday after they were first released and I have to say that it is the best BlackBerry that I’ve ever owned and I’ve had them going back to what I think was the 7250.
Upgraded to a Storm from my two+ year old 8703e, and I think the criticism of the Storm is a bit overstated. Sure, it’s not an iPhone. Sure, you either love or hate SurePress. Sure, we Storm owners are looking forward to future firmware updates. But your average cell phone owner simply does NOT – and I repeat NOT – hop carriers without a VERY good reason to do so. Virtually everyone I’m related to and work with, for example, use Verizon – and those IN calling minutes are a huge money saver.Right now the Storm is simply the best BB Verizon carries. When Niagara gets here (the CDMA Bold), we’ll truly start having a choice – but right now if you want a seriously multimedia capable Verizon BB you have only one choice: the Storm.
I had a Storm for 3 weeks and finally returned it. The three things I use a BB the most for are emails, Text Messaging, and phone calls. I give the phone a D on all 3 counts. I found the phone to be super laggy, freezes way too much and in general just sucked for ME as a BB. This is my personal opinion and I’m sure most Storm users love it, I just found it to be as a BB device terrible.
Once the bugs are worked out and numerous upgrades have been installed (give it a year or so) it will become a great phone but for now I am so happy to be back with my Curve.
Jeff
I’m happy sticking with my 8330 Curve. Why? Because I feel that the Storm is still lacking in the multimedia area. While it’s a nice BlackBerry it’s not the upgrade I would want. I think my next phone may be another Windows Mobile device. BlackBerry keeps lagging behind in features. It’s rock solid but when it only does 10 different things, that’s a given.
For most people having a phone that does “10 different things” is great. I use mine to replace my laptop sometimes and BlackBerry just isn’t there. No tabbed browsing anywhere (Browser, Opera Mini)? Come on now.
i think verizon hired the former iraqi pr guy who said there were no tanks in baghdad.
lol.
do you really think they’re going to admit, “yes, bgr, up to half of the units we’ve sent out have come back. it’s a dud. our bad.”???
I am a die hard BB user because I need something that’s going to be able to handle the amount of work I do. The Storm can’t handle the task. I’ve found too many bugs in the device to be acceptable for a heavy load of daily business needs. For now, I’m returning to my Pearl and will go back to the Storm when they get the updates out there and the bugs fixed. It’s slowed me down quite considerably and I’ve missed things that I normally wouldn’t on my Pearl. I’m sure down the road the device will be solid, and in time I’ll migrate back over to it.
It’s interesting because the same article on BGR also cites BGR insider sources telling him the return rate was high, but that the official word from VZW is that the return rate is low.
I could believe either story. The Storm is buggy, and the UI takes getting used to…but VZW users are loyal, the BB brand name means something, and so I can see many customers sticking w/ the device.
In the end, I think the comparison of the Storm to the iPhone is analogous to the overall comparison of a BB to an iPhone: the BB is better at email and text entry, but the iPhone is better at everything else, including multimedia and web browsing.
I hate to say it, but if one has used an iPhone, then trying to use the multimedia features on the Storm is disappointing. In fact, the user experience on the iPhone UI is so much more fluid than on the Storm. One smart move Apple made was making sure that even w/ their first version of the iPhone, that the UI worked smooth and fast.
Where the Storm beats the iPhone is where all BB’s beat the iPhone: typing on the keypad is a much better experience.
I also agree with bhs: there’s no way the Storm is ready for a power user. If one needs a workhorse device, the Storm right now is not it.
UPDATE THE PHONE!!! too many people are looking for electronics to come out of the box and be perfect…. Look, I spent a couple hours workin on the thing, setting up and updating programs, then took it for a test drive all day… I do pre certification stops with my job… when people call directv in my area an place an order, I have to go to their house, that day, to check if they can install a satellite (no obstructions, landlord permission for apartments, etc.) I deal with some of the craziest people in the world, people that ask me questions like “Do I have to have a satellite to get DirecTV?” and “I don’t want the receivers in my house, can Is still get directv?” or when the area is blocked from satellite service “Can you just point it in the other direction?”
As you can see, I know there are people out there that aren’t going to understand the upkeep and usability of most electronics, and this piece is one of the best phones out there… Mine runs the whole show, contacting customers, pulling in my emails from my 12 accounts, instant messaging my friends from around the world (icq,yahoo,windows live, aim) keeping in touch with my supervisors via blackberry messenger, going online to check current directv package rates, I could go on and on… it’s a mobile laptop, and like any other OS it needs to be “defragged” virus scanned, updated and backed up on a usual basis…. I used to tell my friends all the time, I wish people that didn’t know how to use the electronics they were buying weren’t allowed to buy it, but, because of those people, I get plenty of side jobs fixing and tutoring…. I love this age of tech, just hate that I’m one of the few standing alone in a sea of stupidity when it comes to using it….
Furiously awaiting a couple billion smacks on the head….
Chase
Even after the update, its laggy. And yes, as a phone, its quite terrible. But its still a great device and can be easily improved upon in future updates.
Once again verizon’s PR department has been caught lying. Either that or all the crappy/crippled PDA’s verizon sells have high return rates. Lets take this from a known base, the Storm or Curve, are we being led (by verizon) to believe the verizon branded (and crippled) BB Storm or Curve have higher return rates than the Storm. I call continued BS on verizon. Hopefully verizon will smarten up one day to learn they can’t BS those in the know.
That and it’s been proven time and time again that BG is usually right and usually un-bias. Smarten up verizon, start admitting the truth and reality. Did RIM make a dud or has verizon’s spec crippling and firmware games killed the BB storm? Rim’s normal record isn’t looking so normal these days when it comes to the storm and bold endless list of problems and delays. Perhaps all is not well up there in the great white north.
The Rock/hellno
Did you see the news about the company up ‘north’? Looks like things are going pretty damn good!
The Storm has bugs, and so has other devices like the iPhone. They’ll eventually get worked out.
I went to the Verizon store yesterday to play with the Storm intending to break my contract with ATT, and go with the Storm on Verizon. It would cost me the same as upgrading to the Bold, and then I’d get Verizon’s better reception (here in Upstate NY) plus IN calling. I spent two minutes typing on the Storm and walked upstairs to the ATT store to get the Bold. I could learn how to type on a touchscreen but the screen itself is a mess. It doesn’t feel like you’re typing; it didn’t “just click” its one giant button and the scren floats inside the device. No thank you. I would grab an iPhone over the Storm just based on device construction. On the plus side, I love the Bold!
I recently purchased the Storm and have been playing with it for a few days straight now. I’ve never had a touchscreen phone before so culture shock has not been an issue for me; the only problem I’ve had is recording videos and saving the recording. After a hard reboot, the phone apparently fixed itself. Other than that, I’m very impressed with everything, particularly the video clarity. I would like to see compatibility with videos on the internet, however.
@DirecTVCHASE
how do you defrag and virus scan the storm? i have my storm and have updated and backed it up once or twice. i love the phone but am worried about it running slower because like you said, it still needs to be taken care of like any other computer.
I kept all the packaging when I got my Storm, not sure how I would like it. I threw all of it away 2 day later because I’ve NEVER had a problem. In fact, the official update didn’t ‘fix’ anything for me because there was nothing to be fixed.
Could it be better? What couldn’t? What the NYT guy said about selecting items on the menu can get you the wrong choice is true even with small digits, I’d like the option to use, say, Fitaly, for typing, and I think dialing a number in contacts could be done with fewer steps. But, none of those things have driven me crazy and I’ve adapted to them. LOVE IT!!
bluehorseshoe,
What is this obsession you have with calling people hellno? Not only wrong again but it’s poor form calling fellow posters out who have opinions you just can’t handle.
Nope, not going to get away with desperately comparing the pos, half baked, just released Storm with the 1st or 2nd generation iPhone. There is no and never will be any justifiable comparison. RIM can try and try, just like you can try and try to make bias, uneducated excuses but it’ll never happen. As the RIM BB Storm “iPhone killer” more than proved, even before it fell flat, you don’t out Apple, Apple.
PS is the lack of (verizon crippled) GPS and Wifi one of those pesky bugs you talk of about on RIM’s Flagship BB Storm? Who is at fault for these bugs you speak of? RIM? Verizon playing with firmware? RIM had a pretty good track record with BB’s lately so if it’s not verizon then perhaps RIM over stepped it’s capabilities. There is something wrong when RIM with the flagship Storm can’t satisfy a BB “power user” making them retreat back to the lowly Pearl or send them right into Apple and ATT’s open arms to upgrade them to the iPhone (and global, open GSM technology).
@ Rock
Because you are hellno, as well as Bob, Paul, Evilhomer, etc. on BGR. Same writing style, same boring arguements, and same IP address. Your schizophrenic persona bores me. You’re the only one coining ‘iPhone killer’ on this site as well as BGR. Do you really think you’re fooling anyone?
Done with you…heading off to Vero Beach to do some golfing.
PS – as a business tool, I’d still take the Storm over the iPhone anyday. Even with the quirks. What will be interesting to hear is your argument when they address all the issues with the Storm. Then what? Silly arguments on deaf ears…
bluhorseshoe a new spelling of your name? Oh wait your such a power user the “E” key one your BB Pearl is “quirky”. Again your as wrong as your “schizophrenic persona” doing a special investigation into who you think your fellow posters are. You keep making claims like a big shot but each and every time you prove yourself wrong. Others can and will have opinions which don’t match yours, you should accept what others post and learn from them instead of your desperate grasp to your ignorance.
PS you sure are right you are a “business tool”. Good luck with the golfing but your mention of it really doesn’t impress us, but if it helps your fragile ego by all means….
Now these “quirks” = bugs which are part of the reason the BB Storm is being returned at a 35% – 50% rate? hmmmmm Now these “quirks” = bugs which are part of the reason that BB Storm owners are running back to old RIM BB’s or upgrading to the proven Apple iPhone running on open, global GSM technology?
As fellow members have mentioned to you before RIMarkable is more than just ones opinion or desperate need to act like a big shot. As for all the “issues” = “qwirks” = “bugs” being addressed with the Storm your going to be waiting a LONG LONG time, the Storm will have come, gone and been replaced by newer RIM BB’s. Hope for RIM’s sake their get the design train back on the track after the mis-steps with the Bold and now the Storm.
Don’t let RIM’s recent mis-steps “issues” = “qwirks” = “bugs” affect your golf game, it’s only their last two flagship devices so far, and hey a 35%-50% return rate of verizon really isn’t anything to raise eyebrow’s, after all what would one expect after buying a RIM Flagship device and then finding out smartphone industry standards like Wifi and GPS have been crippled. That alone should be about 25% return, then add in all the Storms “issues” = “qwirks” = “bugs” we are easily up to 45% and then add in the 5% of those who can see verizon is screwing it’s customers with it’s corporate policy’s and we are easily up to the Storms 50% return rate.
FOUR!
The place where I think the Storm took a major mis-step is
in its fanatical devotion to the touchscreen as the only method
of navigation. The touch screen typing is slower than key-based typing, but I get the impression I’ll get much faster at it in time, just like I did on the blackberry keys. IF somebody in engineering had thought to include the old school “trackwheel” control or the pearl’s navigation control, then the storm would be an AMAZING phone because I see the biggest problem being the menu navigation, rather than the typing. If there was a trackwheel to quickly scroll though menu options, select text and open menus, etc – then the Storm would live up to the hype. As it is, it’s too slavishly devoted to the touch screen to offer the kind of flexibility a blockbuster phone should offer.
For example: I talked to blackberry support for an hour trying to see if you could – in an attempt to assuage some of the navigation problems – set a convenience key to become a select key or enter button — Nope, you can’t even do that. Really a shame that the engineers didn’t think about that. Using the volume up and down buttons to scoll through options and the convenience key for select would really make using the phone faster.
worthy of the hype.
MG, you will get faster on the screen keyboard, that was a perception on the iPhone too but after a while I’d say it’s as fast if not faster than hitting keys on a mobile keyboard. Guess RIM thought the icon based UI would work just as easy with touch as it did with the trackwheel or trackball, a little surprised you feel it’s not. So I guess thats another vote for the UI and software hurting the Storm. As pointed out I have a real problems when service providers are allowed to muk up the hardset devices. I think it’s more than a shame that verizon was allowed to call the shots to have GPS and Wifi crippled in a device which was presented as RIM’s flagship BB. I also think as mentioned above, why RIM ever thought to let the Storm be compared to the iPhone in any way was a terrible move. Perhaps that was of verizon’s doing too but it was a bad move. Now matter how hard RIM or any other device maker tries they are not going to out iPhone the iPhone, you don’t out Apple, Apple. They have too much proven experience when it comes to UI, hardware design, software design, and how to harness all that power and make it very easy for the user. With Apple, the major popularity of the iPhone, and all the 3rd party developers there are many ears listening to, and developing what the consumers want their iPhone to do. It might happen much slower with RIM but perhaps a 3rd party BB developer can come up with a app to make the Storm do what you want it to?
Even though they used the phrase “In the know” I doubt that The Rock is hellno for the simple fact that they didn’t insult and personally attack everyone who might acutally like the BlackBerry Storm and even Verizon.
I use the blackberry storm for 2 email acounts, facebook, txting, and web brosing. i aboslutely love the b for txting and every one that says it is ard to use and causes a ton of miss spellings is far from correct. it took me two hours to adjust to it and can crank out emails and txt messages faster than i thought possible, without typo’s. the only draw back is that it does get a little slow after i have been doing alot of web browsing and apps running. but not even close to as slow as the razr. one quick memory cleaning and the thing is running just fine. 10 out of 10, period.
I am returning my Blackberry Storm today. I used it for about three weeks. There are things I like about it and that I will miss, but typing on it won’t be one of those things. Also, my Storm locked up (usually) when typing. Not all of the time, but when it did it would do a hard reboot and take 2-3 minutes to come back up. Sometimes it would reboot to the Verizon logo and then freeze. I would have to take the battery out and put it back in to clear it.
The Storm will be a good device in time. The software is a bit too immature at this point though. I have faith in RIM though and they will get this right. I am back to a Curve. Fewer features but what works… works great!
I absolutely love the Storm. I don’t have one yet, but 3 of my co-workers have it and I’m always “borrowing” it to play around. Its great! I love SurePress! It’s slogan should be “The iPhone for the rest of us”.
“Sometimes it would reboot to the Verizon logo and then freeze”
Now that’s what you call a FEATURE, might as well get some advertising time in during a short pause for “issues” = “qwirks” = “bugs”.
I have had my Storm for 2 weeks now. I have had almost nothing but good results so far. I am still struggling with getting my Itunes library over.
The Verizon Storm has the HIGHEST return rate of any pda verizon, at&t or sprint have ever seen. as of April 6th 2009 almost 31% Thats almost 1 out of every 3 sold have been returned. I can’t believe this isn’t making headlines. Just think if one out of ever 3 toyota camry’s were being returned because they were deemed “not usable”.
I asked a sales clerk at a verizon store in my neighbor hood if it was like that in his store. He said they are getting back more than 50% !!
Fantastic blackberry. Have used blackberries since the 7250. replaces an 8830 with the storm. very happy with every part of it. Battery life is great if GPS is turned off.
I have had the Storm since the day it came out. Blackberry has fixed all the original problems with it and I love the phone. I will switch to Iphone when Verizon comes out with it, Since I like the features of the Iphone and the apps. If RIM makes the Storm more like the Iphone i will stay with the Storm.