Upgrading LG Dare -> Blackberry Storm/Pre

[Saint Nick]

What is the best way to go from my LG Dare to a Blackberry Storm or Pre?

Maybe Verizon doesn't have the Pre yet, anyways........

 

[pm]

Verizon won't have the Pre until after the end of this year.

For migrating data, I would put everything on a small SD and just move it over... Blackberry has a pretty slick app for porting stuff off of a computer, but I'm not sure how you'd get it from the Dare onto a computer.

 

[shortylickens]

I think the point he is making is that Verizon doesnt use SIM's, so how does he get his address book and stuff copied over.

I suggest you ask them to do it when you switch phones.

 

[pm]

Not SIM cards, SD cards - the little ones for cameras. All of the phones he mentioned take SD cards. One should be able to move everything onto an SD card and then pop the card out and put it in the other phone - or at least read it on a computer and then import it using the software. The Blackberry software will handle this without a problem if you can get it in one of the bazillion formats it supports.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: pm
Not SIM cards, SD cards - the little ones for cameras. All of the phones he mentioned take SD cards. One should be able to move everything onto an SD card and then pop the card out and put it in the other phone - or at least read it on a computer and then import it using the software. The Blackberry software will handle this without a problem if you can get it in one of the bazillion formats it supports.

My Verizon phone has a MicroSD slot. There is no way to copy things like my address book over to the MicroSD card. I can copy almost everything else, pictures, music, videos... all that, just not my contacts. For that you need to either have Verizon transfer them for you, do it by hand, or see if you can transfer them to your PC/Mac.

 

[Saint Nick]

Do they extend the contract if you change your phones in the middle of the contract? Would I be better off just buying the Storm off eBay and selling my Dare on eBay as well??

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: NightDarker
Do they extend the contract if you change your phones in the middle of the contract? Would I be better off just buying the Storm off eBay and selling my Dare on eBay as well??

Not really. If you wanna use any Blackberry you have to get a special Blackberry plan.
Not being hooked into a contract is nice, but you would still be paying a lot for the phone, and you'd still be paying a crapload for the monthly service. And if you end up liking the phone you'll probably keep it for a year or two anyway.

Think about, that two year contract really does save you some money in the long run.

As for the first question: They might "extend" the contract another two years after your current contract ends.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
I think the point he is making is that Verizon doesnt use SIM's, so how does he get his address book and stuff copied over.

I suggest you ask them to do it when you switch phones.

as far as i know, the backup assistant for the regular phones doesnt work with the ppc or smart phones. i had to go into a store and ask them to get my contacts transferred, which was free due to the incompatibility, and only took about 4 minutes.

 

[bonkers325]

ask the VZ kiosk to do it for you, but they will probably charge you a fee. there is a VZ app that will do it for you, and that costs $ too.

 

[Saint Nick]

Am I going to get boned on costs though through this upgrade? At least my contacts will be good.

I just don't want to be paying out the ass for stuff. lol. The Storm is pretty slick.

 

[Jodiuh]

Originally posted by: NightDarker
The Storm is pretty slick.

Haha, I remember when I thought that. Within 24 hrs of picking up my Pre I've already wiped the Storm in preparation for some poor sucker on craigs list.

 

[Chapbass]

Any Best Buy store with a Best Buy Mobile department (which is I'm pretty sure all of them) will have tools that can transfer everything from phone to phone.

Not positive on the charge, could be free, could be like 10 bucks.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: Jodiuh

Originally posted by: NightDarker
The Storm is pretty slick.

Haha, I remember when I thought that. Within 24 hrs of picking up my Pre I've already wiped the Storm in preparation for some poor sucker on craigs list.

It's really not fair to compare the Storm to the Pre. The Pre is just so awesome compared to it.

 

[Jodiuh]

It's extremely fair. They're both the elite touchscreen's on their respective carriers.

 

[boomhower]

Originally posted by: Jodiuh
It's extremely fair. They're both the elite touchscreen's on their respective carriers.

Depends on who you ask. With all the problems the Storm has there is a debate of whether the Omnia or Touch Pro is superior. Same on Sprint, the Pre hasn't exactly been the golden child it was expected to be and some may argue the TP is the better choice. They are both good phones but to say the are "elite" on their respective carriers may be going a bit far.

 

[Jodiuh]

I suppose that's true. For me the Omnia with its mandatory stylus required to get any work done...well, doesn't really count as a solid touchscreen. Factor in its resistive panel and the frustration bar goes up further. And like the Omnia, TP runs on the very unfriendly to touchscreen OS, Winblows Mobile. A friend tells me the HTC TouchFLO GUI helps though.

I do think the Pre lives up to the hype fairly well. I've played with iPhones and now I own a Pre. I wouldn't go back to a larger unwieldy phone like the Storm on Sir Flat Bar if they were free. Hopefully updates will further polish off the Pre and of course good games will be deved for it!

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: Jodiuh
I suppose that's true. For me the Omnia with its mandatory stylus required to get any work done...well, doesn't really count as a solid touchscreen. Factor in its resistive panel and the frustration bar goes up further. And like the Omnia, TP runs on the very unfriendly to touchscreen OS, Winblows Mobile. A friend tells me the HTC TouchFLO GUI helps though.

I do think the Pre lives up to the hype fairly well. I've played with iPhones and now I own a Pre. I wouldn't go back to a larger unwieldy phone like the Storm on Sir Flat Bar if they were free. Hopefully updates will further polish off the Pre and of course good games will be deved for it!

Yea the TouchFlo Gui does help a lot but it's still nothing like the Pre or iPhone. I got to play with the Touch Pro 2 two weeks ago and it's a great phone but it's not a phone you buy for the touch capabilities.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: Jodiuh

Originally posted by: NightDarker
The Storm is pretty slick.

Haha, I remember when I thought that. Within 24 hrs of picking up my Pre I've already wiped the Storm in preparation for some poor sucker on craigs list.

It's really not fair to compare the Storm to the Pre. The Pre is just so awesome compared to it.

That is pure opinion. Based upon function the Pre is not much more than tinsel on the tree. Yeah, it looks nice, but underneath it's still a tree.

IMHO, the Storm is awesome.

 

[Jodiuh]

And you have used both like myself? I owned the Storm for months. For anyone serious about typing it is a complete fail. Having now owned the Pre for 4 days, the difference is night and day. On its own, the Storm may be awesome. But the Tour is right around the corner with its full qwerty, dust free screen, and 2x the ram. If any phone can pull me off the Pre, it will be that one. Because as I type on the Pre, my fingres hurt from the crampiness. :-(

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: Jodiuh
And you have used both like myself? I owned the Storm for months. For anyone serious about typing it is a complete fail. Having now owned the Pre for 4 days, the difference is night and day. On its own, the Storm may be awesome. But the Tour is right around the corner with its full qwerty, dust free screen, and 2x the ram. If any phone can pull me off the Pre, it will be that one. Because as I type on the Pre, my fingres hurt from the crampiness. :-(

I can type just fine on my Storm. I'm actually up to the speed I was on my previous device. I moved to it from a Bold, and the KB on the Tour is exactly the same as that. I should know, I've seen enough Tours.

How much dust is there in a Storm screen, btw? I have none in the two Storms I have that are in daily use. It's a BS 'problem' that some detractors bring up, but there is no 'dust in the screen' problem with any Storm units.

My point was really what does the Pre do that the Storm doesn't? What about the build qulity issues with the Pre, the cheap plastiky feel and cracked parts?

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
My point was really what does the Pre do that the Storm doesn't? What about the build qulity issues with the Pre, the cheap plastiky feel and cracked parts?

It coordinates and consolidates ALL contact info. Right now that concept is just taking off, but will soon be the way of the future. And its something business users will jump on first.

And no one who has done a proper review said anything about cracked parts. They only said it feels relatively cheap considering its a supposed to be a flagship phone.

 

[Jodiuh]

Well, I'm glad the Storm's working out for you. But even after doing the Torx 6 mod and sticking some electrical tape in the back, it just isn't precise enough for me. I cannot type @ the speed I'd like to wo/ going back and fixing mistakes.

I live in AZ and it's dusty. I have 4 or 5 little sparkly guys in my screen and they seriously detract from reading a page when they glimmer. It's a real issue.

What does the Pre do that the Storm doesn't? Hmm...well, for starters it has an operating system that works. It was designed from the ground up as a touch based GUI, not a hybrid. The little things on the Storm, like adjusting alarm clock time: it takes 30 clicks to go from 9AM to 9:30AM. You cannot hold down the button, it won't repeat, you must click each time. Or perhaps the contact menu that's clearly not designed for touch. The activity cards, the speed, the ease in which tasks are accomplished, the wifi, the physical QWERTY, the proximity sensor, the lack of need for a program to reset itself every night just so it doesn't slow down, the messaging app that encompasses SMS and AIM, the included Sprint Navigation Turn by Turn that costs $10 on VZW, the more responsive input, the excellent webkit based browser w/ pinch to zoom, and FLICKING, The ability to sync w/ Google Calendar and not screw w/ recurring appts like google sync for the BB, the overall synergy that comes w/ using an OS that's consistent, reliable, and SPEEDY to name a few.

What does the Storm do that the Pre does not? Well, lets start w/ build quality. Really we could be done there, but it also has a MUCH better speakerphone. Now this could be Sprint's coverage area or my Pre, but I talk to robots on Sprint. The Storm sounds like you're speaking w/ someone in the next room. It also has MUCH better battery life than the Pre. Really, charging 3x per day? During the 3 days I had it, I truly did not believe it would survive a fall from the couch to the floor. A coworker of mine actually dropped his Storm from 6 ft onto a hard surface and I honestly believe I heard, "That all you got?" from the Storm.

Bottomline: The Pre has WebOS, the Storm has "The Network" and build quality in spades. I'm going to pick up a G1 and put that through the paces here today, then on the 12th I'll have my Tour and probably stick w/ that, we'll see.

 

[schmedy]

Use Bitpim to get it off of your Dare, I am not sure if the Storm is supported to push it on to, but easy enough to check.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: Jodiuh
Well, I'm glad the Storm's working out for you. But even after doing the Torx 6 mod and sticking some electrical tape in the back, it just isn't precise enough for me. I cannot type @ the speed I'd like to wo/ going back and fixing mistakes.

I live in AZ and it's dusty. I have 4 or 5 little sparkly guys in my screen and they seriously detract from reading a page when they glimmer. It's a real issue.

What does the Pre do that the Storm doesn't? Hmm...well, for starters it has an operating system that works. It was designed from the ground up as a touch based GUI, not a hybrid. (1)The little things on the Storm, like adjusting alarm clock time: it takes 30 clicks to go from 9AM to 9:30AM. You cannot hold down the button, it won't repeat, you must click each time. Or perhaps the contact menu that's clearly not designed for touch. The activity cards, the speed, the ease in which tasks are accomplished, the wifi, the physical QWERTY, the proximity sensor, the lack of need for a program to reset itself every night just so it doesn't slow down, the (2)messaging app that encompasses SMS and AIM, the (3)included Sprint Navigation Turn by Turn that costs $10 on VZW, the more responsive input, (4)the excellent webkit based browser w/ pinch to zoom, and FLICKING, The ability to sync w/ Google Calendar and not screw w/ recurring appts like google sync for the BB, the overall synergy that comes w/ using an OS that's consistent, reliable, and SPEEDY to name a few.

What does the Storm do that the Pre does not? Well, lets start w/ build quality. Really we could be done there, but it also has a MUCH better speakerphone. Now this could be Sprint's coverage area or my Pre, but I talk to robots on Sprint. The Storm sounds like you're speaking w/ someone in the next room. It also has MUCH better battery life than the Pre. Really, charging 3x per day? During the 3 days I had it, I truly did not believe it would survive a fall from the couch to the floor. A coworker of mine actually dropped his Storm from 6 ft onto a hard surface and I honestly believe I heard, "That all you got?" from the Storm.

Bottomline: The Pre has WebOS, the Storm has "The Network" and build quality in spades. I'm going to pick up a G1 and put that through the paces here today, then on the 12th I'll have my Tour and probably stick w/ that, we'll see.

The Storm has no WiFi, yeah, but ALL my BB's before had WiFi and I only used it rarely. 3G coverage is just way more convenient for me anyhow.

Just some info regarding the things you didn't really like on Storm:

1) Touch, slide, win. Takes no time to adjust the alarm. No need to click at all. This is the same for all apps. In fact, it can be too fast!
2) Messaging apps for all networks are native and integrate into the messaging app.
3) That's VZW. Vodafone include turn by turn on certain plans.
4) Other than the flick scroll/Multi touch there's nothing in it. The Storm renders well and suffers no more pop-in than the iPhone or Pre. The Storm will in fact render animated GIF images, which often slow pages down on load, but it does them, and neither the iPhone or Pre do that.

I'd like to give it a go, and it it coming to the UK soon. I'll have a play and try to be less biased next time I post. my main issue is people rag on the Storm like it's a sport. It's actually a pretty awesome device. I also have OS .15x which has some of the new transitions and is probably slicker than anything ever seen before on Storm. It includes elements of the look/feel of Storm 2. probably....

 

[Jodiuh]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
1) Touch, slide, win. Takes no time to adjust the alarm. No need to click at all. This is the same for all apps. In fact, it can be too fast!
2) Messaging apps for all networks are native and integrate into the messaging app.
3) That's VZW. Vodafone include turn by turn on certain plans.
4) Other than the flick scroll/Multi touch there's nothing in it. The Storm renders well and suffers no more pop-in than the iPhone or Pre. The Storm will in fact render animated GIF images, which often slow pages down on load, but it does them, and neither the iPhone or Pre do that.

I'd like to give it a go, and it it coming to the UK soon. I'll have a play and try to be less biased next time I post. my main issue is people rag on the Storm like it's a sport. It's actually a pretty awesome device. I also have OS .15x which has some of the new transitions and is probably slicker than anything ever seen before on Storm. It includes elements of the look/feel of Storm 2. probably....

Ooh, nice! I didn't know you could slide. A quick flic tends to send it all over the hrs, mins, and am/pm, but a controlled top to bottom sweeps by 10 minutes! Awesomeness. Thanks, my bro will appreciate this.

2. Wait, so using the Blackberry messenger, I can see all my AIM contacts and SMS/MMS? Cause that's what I was referring to on the Pre. I can easily switch it up between mediums and send from AIM or SMS if I like. (this makes people unhappy, BTW)

The software and WebOS feel VERY integrated. It feels native and flows VERY well. Getting around (once the apps are opened) could not be easier. A right to left on the gesture area will slide you over to the next task. A bottom to top once will bring up alt - tab view, then tapping an area outside the cards will bring up a larger view where 3 cards are seen and 2 are partial. It's a beautiful site to see and much more elegant than the Storm.

FWIW, I've done the Torx mod, stuck some electrical tape/napkin behind the battery cover, and used Lyrcidal's hybrid 5.0/151 along w/ shrink - a - os w/ those same transitions. It's def better, but there's still far too much inconsistency when going about the phone. Granted, I'm a power user and like to have all kinds of crap going on at once, but the Pre just handled my madness better than the Storm. Perhaps and hopefully soon the real 5.0 as seen here: http://crackberry.com/blackber...k-peek-and-mini-review will give you a super stable experience where you're not using quickpull every night.

I'll be getting a Tour on the 12th and in the mean time will be picking up a G1/G2 (mytouch 3g). If I'm still unhappy, I'll give the iPhone a shot. I gave the Storm 4 months and really...I did what I could. Cheers to you for continuing on. It's a solid phone, but in the end, I just need a GOOD sized physical keyboard. Or Apple's excellent spell check fixer upper.