Baptiste McStormy

So this is Boboy's replacement. Meet Baptiste McStormy (pronounced as 'Bap-Tee'), a new addition to my family. He's a BlackBerry Storm 9500, a touchscreen smartphone with only four real button - call, end call, menu and back buttons. To Firah, I'm sorry I had break our pact of no-touchscreen-phones!

I still haven't got over Boboy but I really need to reconnect to the world. So, I reached out to my sister who's (surprisingly) sorry for my loss and provide me with an adequate stimulus package a.k.a loan, to buy a new one. How I hate the idea of being indebted to anyone, financially or not.

I don't believe in downgrade. I only believe in upgrade. The only times you need to downgrade are when you are being polite to others and when you're praying to God - that's when you have to be submissive. Other times, uh-oh, you only have to go up, up and up. Broke or not.

So, I better upgrade myself then. Bold is too expensive and totally out of the budget and Storm fits the bill well. Plus, it looks nice too. So why not? And my pal Azha has warned me 'Eh, kalau you pakai 3310 nanti jangan keluar dengan I ok. Malu.' Haha. I knew he was kidding and that got me cracked up in laughter.

Opening the black box is really like opening a Christmas present on one moment, and the next moment I realized I still owe my sister money. Crap. However, this little baby comes in standard set of any BlackBerry phone - a charger, micro USB port cable, BlackBerry earphones, a leather pouch, installation CD and of course, the guide.


I'm not a fan of touch screen phones and as I've mentioned here in my birthday wishlist, I'd chose Bold over Storm any given day as I've become used to the handiness of QWERTY keyboard. The last time I used touchscreen phone was with my Motorola PDA, which caught virus and had me bought Boboy (the Curve) as its replacement. So, it does takes a while for me to get used with its touchscreen keyboard. However Bold is certainly out of the option since it exceeded my budget and Storm looks like a equally-perfect substitute.

Unlike most touchscreen phones (like iPhone), Storm clearly distinguished itself with slightly different manoeuvrings. In order to select a button, you need to really press the screen (instead of just tapping it) and each time you do so, you'll really feel like you're touching a real deal keypad. This is a good transition for existing QWERTY keyboard user like me who are still getting used with the touchscreen and the press-sensation really helps especially in texting.

Since my last BlackBerry was a Curve 8300, I must say that I'm really impressed at how RIM has developed its line of phones over the year as Storm aced in most parts. The graphic/resolution is fantastic and the media player has definitely improved a lot especially in video playback. With its 3.2 Megapixel camera with auto-zoom, it also capable in video-capturing. The only downside is the lack of WiFi capability but I don't really mind as I never had that either with my Curve. It's slated that Storm 2 with WiFi will be released next year here in Malaysia, so hold your breath for that one.

The built looks stunning, the graphic is awesome and the specs are more than adequate for me - there's nothing I would complain with this one. Even file sharing, transfer and synchronization are made easy with the BlackBerry Desktop Manager. Even Stuff magazine for December 2009 gives this one 5-star rating (out of 5, of course) as one of the best phones of 2009. Oh, if you're wondering how I came up with the name, it's named after the dreamy muse of Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, Baptiste Giabiconi.

In case you're wondering and too lazy to Google him, that's Baptiste Giabiconi on the left with Karl Lagerfeld

Baptiste imitating the designer

I must say, this Storm (or Thunder, the pre-launch name given) looks as awesome as Mr Giabiconi. Thus, the name - Baptiste McStormy.

Welcome home, Baptiste. And I'd never put my phone on the table in any restaurant again. EVER.