BlackBerry Storm teardown reveals $203 worth of parts

True that, the first BB i had was the 7250 from Verizon and that thing was a beast. I dropped it millions of times, it got ran over( by a motorcycle) and that thing took all that punishment and kept working. The only reason I had to get another one was because the silver trim started coming off. I am a BB fan, but will be the first to admit that I jumped on the hype band wagon when the Storm came out. The Email app is solid and still 2nd to none, but the phone was rushed and the random reboots and inconsistency of screen push response is a true sign of it.

RIM needs to read all the complaints and ideas and go back to the drawing board to design and push out quality phones again.

Well yesterday at circuit city was the first time i seen the storm and got to play with it a bit, i got to say it is a really cool looking phone although i’ll say i wouldn’t trade my iphone 3G for it but i also got to say it’s the best phone i seen from Verizon so far, if you’re not digging AT&T i think the storm is a good choice

@Canis_Major

I’ll be the first to admit that the launch software was buggy and sluggish. It was definitely rushed out the door for Black Friday.

That said, there was never a problem with the hardware, and the software has made giant strides. Since you no longer own a Storm, why should you have any idea of the current OS state?

The Storm shipped with .65 OS. The “official” update was .75. Since then, .83, .85, .86, and last week, .90 have been leaked. The difference between .90 and .75 is like night and day.

Many of us are early adopters, (and I think RIM and VZ really should have launched a more stable phone, and the bad PR is 100% deserved)and we knew what we were getting into with this first gen phone. I’m glad the gamble paid off in only 8 weeks. You should have held on, it’s a completely different phone now.

I do understand the initial frustration with the phone however, and your choice to return it.

LMAO at all the geeks whining about return rates. Do you work for RIMM? Do you work at VZW Corporate? Heres a hint, just becuase you read something on a log or message board doesnt make it truth.

Ive still got a 4 year old 7100g and am too scared too “upgrade”.
while it’s a bit laggy i really don’t have anything to complain about so why should I change?
Bring on a Storm with slide out QWERTY

@ mangenius:

LMAO!!!… that was one of the funniest comments I have ever read… thank you for that, good sir.

As for the stability (or lack thereof) of the Storm: I do believe that might have to do with RIM being slightly out of their element as far as an entertainment-centric device goes. I mean, RIM basically started developing the Storm in a hurry (along with a push from Verizon/Vodafone/whomever) to try and stifle their rapid loss of “smartphone” market share to Apple. Now I’m by no means a RIM expert, but from my observation, it seems like RIM has traditionally kept the formula of their phones quite similar and slowly made improvements and changes over time. The rapid development and 180 degree concept of the Storm may have just not caught up to RIM’s standards yet. I can definately understand why a Storm user would not be willing to just “wait for RIM to fix it” especially considering most Storm users are people who want cutting edge technology (a broken blade doesn’t cut very well). That being said, RIM does give some of the best (if not THE best) product support in the industry (albeit slow). Therefore, I have no doubt that RIM will fix all known problems with the Storm; but they’ll do it RIM-style: slow and steady.

My Conclusion: The Storm may not be the most stable, cutting-edge device on the market right now; however, depending on your level of RIM “fanboyism” it may be well worth getting the Storm if for no other reason than to experience RIM’s improvement of the device first-hand.

I got my storm on release date and I love it. I have met and talked with about 10 people that have one and every person I have asked love theirs too. I think most of the posts ripping it are from people that have never owned it but clained they have. I’m sure that some people didn’t like it and returned it, just some people return every phone on the market(yes, even the, dare I say it, Iphone!)Wow, I didn’t even get struck with lightning for stuck blasphamy! Point is there is the Iphone camp and there is the Blackberry camp and whichever side your on is the best and the other side sucks for being alive.

Regarding Storm return rates-simply go into any Verizon Wireless store and ask them about how many Storms are returned on average and I guarantee you they’ll tell you about 30%, or even higher. That’s what two Verizon employees told me. This BULLSHIT that Verizon is putting out abouthow low the return rate is to save their own ass with the HUGE amount of BB Storm inventory they have! This phone is a complete joke taking seconds to switch from one app to another and it DOESN’T EVEN HAVE WIFI. This isn’t a smartphone, it’s a DUMBphone!! I wish Apple didn’t sign an exlusivity agreement with AT&T but it will only be another year or so before I can enjoy a new Iphone on Verizon’s network. Let’s get serious now, we all know Apple could put RIMM out of business overnight if they developed a universal Iphone for every cell carrier, just a matter of time folks.
And another thing, CNET rated the Samsung Omnia above the POS BB Storm yet Verizon doesn’t even display it in their damn stores! Verizon is kissing RIM’s ass for some reason. 7 out of 10 phones on display at Verizon are crappy BB’s! Anyone interested in Buy 1 get 3 FREE Blackberry Pearl flips? LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RIMM sucks and their CEO is an idiot for saying rushing buggy phones to market is the “new reality”

^dumb poster above….

because 2 stores is a big enough sample size and representative of all verizon stores nation wide.

Once again I ask, do you work for rimm or VZW corporate?

@ mangenius,

I am sitting alone laughing like a jackass reading the answer to your second question. “They” say true comedians don’t need to swear, but I completely disagree

Well,
Since the iPhone 3g is now available as a refurb. in all AT&T stores,online at the apple store, and at about 270 best buys across the country, I think THAT return rate is WAY higher than everyone estimates. I can’t think of ANY OTHER PHONE that’s been refurb’d. so much.

And for you haters out there. NOT one phone company has ever released return rates, especially APPLE. I’d LOVE to see the numbers of returns. I know more “former” owners of iPhones that I do CURRENT owners.

I can care less about the Storm vs. iPhone argument. I am still running .75. What are the fixes in the recent updates (mainly .90)? I don’t have many problems with my Storm but the click screen is not always responsive and that is a big problem when typing.

I don’t do every single update that comes out because this is my business phone and frankly I don’t feel like reinstalling everything after every OS update.

@Maliek

.90 has the following improvements

The whole OS is noticeably snappier. Scrolling is faster, flipping is faster, web browsing faster, etc

The camera bar is transparent, less lag in picture taking.

There’s now an option for a full qwerty keyboard in portrait mode.

In my opinion:

The iphone is an amazing phone… for certain people.

The Storm is also an amazing phone… for certain people.

The Samsung Omnia… AMAZING FOR EVERYONE!!

When I first played with the Storm I thought for sure it was going to be my next phone. However, I’m glad I waited and checked out the Omnia. I’m love’n it and have yet to have a complaint.