I believe it is time for me to finally post up my review on the BlackBerry 9500/9530, or the BlackBerry Storm as most are familiar with. I’ve had my Storm for about a month now and feel that I have played around with it enough for me to write down my thoughts about it.

My review after the break.

Here is my Cons vs Pros review:

Cons:

• Accelerometer laggy (but fixed with updated O.S. Now a lil TOO sensitive)
• Not a vast collection of Applications like the iPhone (should change once the BB’s version of the App store is released)
• Learning curve to using the Storm and the Sure Touch screen (but not that big of a curve at all)
• Would get the seldom lag of the O.S. while switching from application to application, especially when trying to flip through pictures. But it’s tolerable.
• Unfortunately for some, there are models that basically piles of poo. They have crappy screens, horrible lag that couldn’t be fixed, and just plain corrupt OS. But, Verizon is good at getting you a replacement. Just hope you’re not part of that statistic. I was fortunate enough to be given the good batch.
• Occasionally memory leak (shows less memory than you actually have). Battery pull usually fixes it, but it can be bothersome.
• Surprisingly, it is a LOT easier to type portrait than landscape. There is less of an error when typing with sure text rather than landscape QWERTY.
• Have to pay for edit ability for MS office tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Biggest complaint so far… your cheek accidentally hitting the speaker or mute “button” while trying to talk on the phone while holding it with your shoulder. BUT, a 3^rd party app has been released to fix that.

Pros:

• Excellent battery life. After a full charge, I can go the whole day playing with the different features on the Storm with ample battery to spare in the end of the day.
• GREAT camera and video camera for a phone. 3.2 mp and 320 x 240 resolution.

(Taken with Storm Camera)

http://www.vimeo.com/2730793(Taken with Storm Video Camera)

• Expandable SD card for your many songs, pictures, or videos.
• Quality for looking at stored pictures and video is AWESOME.
• I can actually SEE me wallpaper when at the home screen of the phone.
• 3^rd party apps for the Storm are AWESOME. Some include: capture it (screen captures phone), viigo (daily rss feeds for your needs), weatherbug (gives the weather based on your gps location as with various saved areas), youtube (you know what this does), and of course the Facebook and AIM app, as with many many more.
• Email on the phone is GREAT. Duh… it’s a BlackBerry.
• GPS, VZ navigator
• Audio playback is clear and the music player is great.
• Phone very customizable to your needs. Choose your ring tones, notification alerts, volume, backlight, etc.
• GREAT browser, but I am still waiting for the Firefox version.

(Screen capture of what the browser is like)

So overall, I enjoy this phone. For $250 plus $50 mail in rebate, it is definitely a great phone for a great price. As it for being an iPhone killer, let’s be honest, the Storm definitely has the potential, but (I HATE to say it) the iPhone has been out the longest, and therefore, has the complete edge. BUT like the 1^st iPhone, the Storm has its little kinks, but it’s going to be fixed through updates and apps. But as to say which is better and which you should get, I say, “Try them all.” There is no one phone that is PERFECT for everyone. You have to do your research, and test the phones out for yourself and see what’s best for you. But my best and simple solution for you is, if you have Verizon, get the Storm; if you have Cingular/At&t, get the iPhone; or if you have T-Mobile, get the G1 phone.

So hopefully this short little review has given you a better understanding on the BlackBerry Storm and that not only is the iPhone the only great touch screen smart phone out there. So if I were to rate this… I guess I’d give it a solid 8.5 out of a possible 10.