BlackBerry: Blackberry Storm - Taking mine back to the store

Blackberry Storm - Taking mine back to the store

My girlfriend and I purchased a pair of Blackberry Storms as part of a 2fer deal at our cellular store. Now we know why they were being discounted. Honestly, they are the WORST cell phones either of us has ever used. I've read the blogs a citing sluggish button response as a major complaint, and agree it's a problem, but by far the worst part of the phone is the keyboard. We both did the tutorials and we honestly tried to get it right, but the design/location of the keys and the smallish key size make typing anything more that singly syllable words nearly impossible. In "portrait" mode, the keyboard is completely impractical to use. Don't even try it. In "landscape" mode using only the thumbs to press keys, the keyboard can be used for BASIC texting, if you go SLOW, and don't mind using the backspace key a lot. Oh yeah, and the keyboard pops up when you least need it, and it's a pain to make it go away.

In the first week, both of us inedvertently launched emails and sms text to unintended recipients. Again owing to the poorly designed buttonology and poorly designed menus.

We are taking both Storms back to the cellular store sunday to try out a different type of touch screen cell, possibly the LG Versa, which has a dedicated qwerty fingerboard.

While I've heard that some people are almost addicted to their Blackberries, I must say, both my girlfriend and I were so frustrated that we were literally ready to launch them out the window. She used words like "loathe" and "hate", which are not part of her normal vocabulary, owing to the phones uselessness.

As a design engineer, it's obvious to me that this device is just not ready for market without radical changes to enhance usability.

Hope your luck with the Blackberry Storm was better than mine.