LiewCF Tech Blog

It’s my honor to be invited by Maxis to the BlackBerry Storm Preview. I got a chance to play BlackBerry Storm in my hands and it’s the 1st time I touched a BlackBerry phone. Is BlackBerry Storm for you?

Review BlackBerry Storm

The BlackBerry Storm has a big display like Apple iPhone. The size is just nice to fit in my palm. It is heavier (155 grams) than my Nokia N95 but I like the sturdy-feeling of the phone. The display automatically changes to landscape when you rotate it.

The touch screen of Storm is “clickable”. You “touch” to select a menu on the display, then “press” to confirm/execute it. This is the world’s first “clickable” touch screen, which you can’t get on other touch screen phone.

I like the display clicking but it also means I will leave more noticeable fingerprints on it.

The video playback on Storm is smooth. Volume is loud enough. It has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack for your own headset.

Somehow, I crashed the media player while testing it. The media player buttons just refused to get away from the bottom of the screen. The crew had to reset the device to get it work properly again.

BlackBerry Storm has 3.5G, bluetooth, GPS but does NOT support WiFi. That surprised me and feeling disappointed.

BlackBerry Storm has a 3.2 megapixels camera with auto flash, auto focus, 2X digital zoom. Here is the sample image taken using Storm’s build-in camera (click for full size) and received by MMS:

Like an iPhone, BlackBerry smartphone is supported by many 3rd party applications. Instant Messaging, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc. You name it.

You might want to get the Unlimited Maxis BlackBerry Internet Service Packages at RM120/month to download those applications and enjoy 24/7 Internet connection on your BlackBerry.

The price of MAXIS BlackBerry Storm is RM2,199.

Is BlackBerry Storm for you?

If you want a touch screen smartphone to work on your office emails and view/edit documents, while still able to IM with your friends on MSN, Yahoo, Facebook, etc, and play some games… BlackBerry Storm might be the one.

Will I get a BlackBerry Storm?

Personally, I am not a fan of touch screen smartphone. I am used to one-hand-sms-typing. Tapping is fun but not time efficient. Well, maybe I just need more practices.

I don’t feel like connecting to Internet all-the-time. It will trap me in the infinite loop of mail checking emails, blog comments moderating, facebook and twitter status updating, etc. And, spending 100 bucks more for a unlimited data package is not wise for me.

Plus, the price tag of RM2000+ is too expensive for me. I will only spend RM1000+ for a mobile phone. (Apple iPhone 2009 might be an exception.)

If you ask me to pick a BlackBerry phone, it will be the BlackBerry Bold. Full QWERTY keyboard, GPS, WiFi, etc at RM1400+

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Tags: blackberry, maxis, mobile, smartphone

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