BlackBerry® Storm™

[lynncrain]

   For one example: On Verizon there are some set up things that if not done, you will have very poor phone performance.

I am new to BB the storm is my first.  I love it - but it is different and challenging.  I am on verizon - what are these set ups?

[geoffreyf]

Call *228 and enter Option 1, listen for instructions and wait for the call to end.   Call *228 again and enter option 2.

Repeat the second part every 30 days or whenever you make a big trip.   If this is not enough, do options 1 and 2.

What this does is tell the phone which cell towers are near to which other ones and how to hand off from one tower to the next.  Without this information, the phone can pick the wrong tower.  It then typically will apply more power to reach the distant tower.  This can cause the phone to shut down unexpectedly, or to have a bad call.

This is part of the Verizon network.  The other CDMA network, Sprint has the same technology and the same basic issue. However, they update automatically.   This is not so good because then when you travel the phone can have problems.  This is why I follow the procedure straight off on arrival and I'm glad to be able to do it manually.

[lulu555]

I know the heartache you are going through. I got the storm the weekend it came out. Was so excited! Well let's just say, I probably should have gotten the curve. I love the blackberry itself, but the storm truly sucks. I"m sorry, it's true. And for the poster who said we should be okay with the kinks, common!

After coming from a $50 phone bill with Tmobile and a razor which didn't do anything like the blackberry, I am disappointed to now pay $140 or so for the storm which is still a major disappointment.

Having said that I'm now down to just 2 major concerns. (most frequent if not daily issues)

1. I too will be on a call and for some reason the other end caller will say "Hello, Hello?" They cannot hear me. Now I will admit perhaps I am hitting the mute button with my cheek. I haven't thought of that and I will see if that is the problem next time. I'm currently out of work and this happened when I was on a phone interview and I was so embarrassed. Luckily the employer called me back.

2. The second thing that happens (ALL THE **bleep** TIME) is when incoming calls come in, I hit the answer key or the hard answer key and nothing happens! WTF. This is very frequent. I would say on average I am able to successfully answer a call 1 out of 10 times. So while I'm glad I'm not the only one, I have no idea why this is happening.

Finally, just out of curiosity, tell me if this is happening to anyone: (Not that frequent)

Sometimes my screen goes white and an hour glass appears. I can do nothing with the phone until it stops? Hmm, not sure. And it's not an update because nothing happens afterward.