Day 5 of my Blackberry Storm usage is upon us and my initial feelings of the phone are still true: this is a solid device. I received the Storm at 7 AM on launch day, November 21st, after standing in line for just over an hour with 40+ people. So without further ado, let's see how well the Blackberry Storm holds up.

Touchscreen
Since the Blackberry Storm is a touchscreen device, the obvious first question is "How accurate is the touchscreen?". Well for the first few minutes it took some getting used to, but not because of the accuracy. Being a former iPhone user touching the screen launched whatever you touched.This works well, but often times too well, because you will have to return to the previous screen due to an accidental "touch". Not so with the Storm. Touch anywhere you want to highlight an application, e-mail, song, etc. and nothing happens. That is until you "click" on it by depressing the entire

screen. I thought this interaction would slow me down since I had to take the extra millisecond to click on things. Fortunately, the opposite is true. It turns out to be a time saver since I don't have to keep going back to the previous screen like I often had to do with the iPhone.

While a genius idea, the clickable screen does seem to create somewhat of a design flaw. Since it depresses in the center to keep the corners of the phone from teetering, it also means you have to press just a bit harder near these corners for the phone receive your input. I have quickly learned to overcome this through use of the phone but it is still worth noting. Unfortunately this isn't the only issue. The entire screen has some movement and isn't docked in place. While this isn't a deal breaker I would personally prefer it to be stationary.

All in all I give the "clutch" (get it? click + touch = clutch") screen a 4 out of 5.

Interface and Design
I'm quite impressed with the aesthetics of the Blackberry Storm and prefer the look of it to the iPhone 3G but only slightly. It feels very well made and fits well in my hand. For those with smaller hands, it may feel a bit too wide. The physical buttons (10 of them) are well positioned with one on both the left and right being programmable to pretty much whatever you want. The screen seems surprisingly large and the interface is very crisp and sharp looking. But I do feel like they could have squeezed another quarter inch into the height of the screen itself.

Overall Interface and Design receives 4.5 out of 5.

Browsing Experience
Installing Opera Mini as we speak. Because let's face it, the Blackberry Browser is lacking. The overall experience is okay, but the lack of tabbed browsing and dedicated back/forward buttons can be frustrating. To further this frustration the Blackberry Storm's browser seems to be unable to make some buttons clickable. One irritating example is on Twitter. After receiving an email notifying that someone was following me, I could not return the favor from my phone. I visited the users page but no matter what I did, clicking on "Follow" just wouldn't work. Also, when there are several links grouped tightly together, it is necessary to zooom in quite a bit so you can select the appropriate link. The browser isn't by any means unusable and I like the way bookmarks are handled. There is just a lot to be desired. As for page loads, it has yet to be a problem which is a plus since the Storm doesn't have wi-fi. If this phone was on any other network this could have been a deal breaker for many, but thanks to Verizon's data reach it helps make up for it.

Browsing Experience scores a 3 out of 5.

On-screen Keyboard / Message Handling
A lot of people have been discussing the "SureType" keyboard feature that the Blackberry Storm is utilizing and I was in agreement with the masses who asked why? The general thinking is that if you can fit all the letters on the screen,give them their own key. Well, since using the phone I've had a change of heart. It allows me to type quite fast and the custom dictionary features work, automatically remembering words you type. And if you just can't get used to it the landscape keyboard works well and gives each letter its own key. There is a drawback though. I've been unable to find a way to keep the number keypad locked. After each number is pressed it goes back into ABC mode, which can be frustration. To lock the number keypad in place you simply hold it in for a second. If you aren't used to touchscreen keyboards there will be a learning curve and will take some getting used to.

The message handling is the same as most other Blackberry's which means it's great. When you compose a message it asks you whether you want to compose an e-mail, SMS, MMS or IM instead of having to navigate to the respective inbox/application. Oh, and with each e-mail address I setup I can assign it an icon to the home screen!

On-screen Keyboard / Message Handling gets a 4.5 out of 5.

Media Handling
Unfortunately I haven't been able to test this capability to its fullest yet, so it's tough to make any assumptions. Aside from the irritating install of the Blackberry Media Manager I was able to sync my Blackberry Storm to my iTunes library with relative ease. I have read that songs purchased within iTunes will not sync, but since I primarily listen to podcasts and CD ripped music, I haven't had any issues. The interface for the media is quite nice as well.

In my limited use Media Handling scores a 4 out of 5.

Performance
Firmware update please. The Blackberry Storm is a great phone until you start using it. Then it's a good phone with amazing potential. As several other reviews have said, there is quite a bit of lag. For instance, when turning the phone from portrait to landscape view, there is a good second in between the transition. Sure it's bearable, but unnecessary. Can it run processes in the background? Yep. Take great pictures on it's 3.2 MP camera? Sure can. Shoot quality video clips? You betcha. Sad thing is...there's 1-2 seconds between doing all of this. And while some of this is to be expected, the sooner the Storm gets a firmware update that addresses the lag issue, the sooner the Internet reviews will give this phone the respect it deserves.

Performance rating is a 2.5 out of 5.

Final Thoughts
As a former iPhone user I often complained about its responsiveness, battery life and the constant reinstalling of apps. After numerous firmware updates many of the iPhones issues were addressed and resolved. I hope Blackberry/Verizon were taking notes because if they can fix some of the lag in the OS, this phone will be one to reckon with. The design is great, battery life is good and the technology of the touchscreen is awesome, now they need to close the deal. Nonetheless, I switched from AT&T to Verizon, opting to purchase the Storm instead of replacing my iPhone. AT&T, I won't be coming back. Blackberry/Verizon, don't disappoint me by not addressing obvious issues.

If I had to give an overall rating, I'd give the Blacberry Storm a 3.5 out of 5. But with a firmware update that addresses a few of it's shortcomings, the Storm is the obvious choice over an iPhone since Verizon is better than AT&T.