Time For A New Phone…
on 12.22.06, 05:54am in gadgets • Comments (4)
I can’t believe that it’s been over 2 years since I switched to the Audiovox 5600 smartphone (powered by Windows Mobile). 2 years is a virtual eternity for someone like myself - a self-proclaimed gadget-geek who could easily go through more devices that socks in a year. I even wrote a book on programming network applications on them (mobile devices, not socks),
I think part of the reason it’s taken my so long to move to a new device is the fact that they really haven’t changed much in the last few years. Sure there’s been new, smaller form factors, each with small incremental new blips of functionality (the Nokia N93 is pretty cool though, since it can capture MPEG4 video at 30fps), but the basic ‘essence’ of the devices has remained the same since 2003. There’s been no where near the same level of rapid innovation and changes that we saw between early versions of Windows CE (anyone remember the Handheld PC? Handheld PC Pro? Palm-sized PC?) and today’s incarnations.
Of course, this is not saying that the underlying OS hasn’t gone through radical shifts and new versions, but just that the end user experience or added benefit is really no different than it was two or three years ago.
However, after spending 3 days last week without power and solely relying on my smartphone for communications with the outside world, I finally realized how much I use the device for email. It also reaffirmed my previous conclusion - T9 entry still sucks for typing lots of messages.
So, I think it’s time that I go ahead and invest in a new phone. While the Blackberry Pearl seems to be a super sweet device, I really need to go with something that’s Windows Mobile based in order to get work mail easily. Right now, it’s looking like either a Samsung BlackJack or the T-Mobile Dash. Anyone have any opinions on them?
Brad Wilson (December 22, 2006 @ 9:12 am)
Same situation: I just replaced my Typhoon (because I lost it and had a trip to Vegas) and looked at both those phones.
In the end, I picked the Blackjack because I knew it would best integrate with all the stuff at work. I have no idea whether we run the required software to hook up a Blackberry to the Exchange Server, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t. The Blackjack worked straight out of the box, and I’ve been super pleased with it.
I do have two complaints: one significant, one not so much.
First, if you have Exchange push and Bluetooth on, this phone will need to be charged every day. They give you an extra battery and a bizarre charging ‘box’. I haven’t needed to resort to that, but it almost came in handy during the recent blackout.
Second, there are no accessories for it besides a car charger. It would be nice to have a carrying case to prevent the screen from being scratched, as well as an extended life battery. These things will come within the next few months, I imagine, but nothing at the moment.
Alex (December 22, 2006 @ 9:31 am)
After 4-years with my last phone, I finally replaced it with a Blackjack. Initially I wasn’t very impressed with it. But since then, it’s grown on me. Adding the 2GB microSD card was nice… the backlight(?) keyboard is excellent, and using it for broadband on my laptop works more than “good-enough”. Most importantly… it finds a signal where other phones wont.
My biggest complaint… not enough space around 4-way D-pad. I hit the soft-buttons too often… perhaps I should be using jog-wheel(?) though.
My favorite things… it’s smaller than I thought it would be (makes the Tero’s look clunky). I like having the home-screen be a half-way descent picture from my Sony digital camera (silly, I know)… and having a usable-internet connection and browser are nice.
Ross (December 22, 2006 @ 10:05 am)
You don’t mention the Cingular 8525 (aka HTC TyTN) in your list of possibles - is this intentional?
The 8525 seems to cover just about everything, so I’m interested why you dropped it. It’s on the list for my next phone, so I want to check I didn’t miss something.
Cheers, Ross.
Omar Shahine (December 22, 2006 @ 10:38 am)
The BlackJack is the best phone I have ever used. I hear the Dash is also nice.
I got the Extended Battery for the BlackJack.
http://www.wirelessgalaxy.com/samsung-blackjack-accessories.asp
You need the version that comes with the Door.