I’m a bit of a Luddite, but sometimes things converge. 3 weeks ago:
- I thought seriously about getting a PDA
- I got junkmail from T-mobile
- someone signed up for myspace, knocking me off my #1 slot
I wanted a PDA as I’ve become heavily dependant on rmilk (having outgrown tadalist and a free backpack account) and unfortunately I’m only sat on my ass in front of a monitor about 85% of my waking hours. The problem with a pda is that it’s another thing to lug around
(Ok, lug is a bit strong. But if it’s large enough to have to consider picking up in the morning, I usually won’t).
Then there’s the issue of syncing handheld <-> rmilk. My 1100 has reminders, alarms and notes that I sync by hand, and none of the Palms I saw improve much on that.
Besides, can you bang in nails with them? Do they have a flashlight? Exactly.
Screw the PDA, then.
The dead trees t-mobile sent were about Flext . Essentially you buy 34 pound of credit up front for 15 quid (normally 20, but 25% off till end of April) then spend it on whatever you want (text/talk/mms). My virgin pay-as-you-go costs 10 for virtually nothing (always too many talk minutes and not enough text, or vice versa).
I think GPRS is counted separately, but luckily I live next to an internet.
Plus of course you get a spanky free phone. Thought I’d pick something shiny so when it inevitably turned out to be a flimsy piece of shit I’d ebay it and just use my 1100.
Since google had spoken, I’d get one with bluetooth for syncing and maybe a half-decent camera (ours is inevitably at home whenever I meet Elvis).
First: the motorolas. SLVR, RAZR, etc. They’re the Apple of the phone world – great looks, great marketing. Amazingly, every review I could find said they were this seasons technically godawful (shitty camara, flimsy, poor voice quality, crap reception, awful UI) must-have accessory (because they were a bit thin, apparently?).
Nokia, then (the, uh, Volvo of the phone world).
I was about to, when I spotted a review of the w800i . Sounded awesome and it was on the 15/month plan.
Now, it’s a Sony Ericsson phone, and they’re not my favourite evil multinational. But open is as open does. I can honestly say I have no desire to install linux on it.
It plays well with others which is more than I can say for my old Zaurus.
Main features are:
- bluetooth 1.2 (decent profiles too. can be a mouse + keyboard if you’re insane enough to want that)
- builtin mp3 player (so decent sound quality all round)
- buttons are in the right place
- feels sturdy
- good size and weight
- reasonable battery life
- good speakerphone
- handsfree kit with a 3.5mm jack (to use your own headphones)
- 2.0 megapixel camera (video recording too)
- ‘joystick’ menu selector (much comfier than a d-pad)
- FM radio
- sound recorder (combined with a 3 year old, you need never download a ringtone again. It’s hidden under ‘entertainment’, thought I’d mention as google drew a blank.)
- SyncML support
- charges off a USB cable
- shows up as a USB (2.0) disk (no need for root kits )
- GPRS with xhtml browser
- flashlight (Score!)
- supports iTunes with a little help
- decent pim apps : calendar, tasks (todolists), notes etc.
- contact book supports email, birthdays, postal addresses, etc.
- usable utilities : calculator, stopwatch, timer
- can send MMS to email (handy as no-one else I know has a picture phone)
- the mp3 player goes off in your pocket when you sit on the phone (I’ve killed 2 phones that way)
- 512Mb core duo memory stick included (this is the same stuff the PSP uses, so it’s commodity prices too)
- J2ME (hey, if I can play Space Hulk on the train it’s a Good Thing)
- decent documentation (for a proprietary device)
- bounces when you drop it onto the carpet from head height (won’t be trying it on the dining room tiles anytime soon though)
So far t-mobile have been alright too. I couldn’t send MMS with attachments when I got the phone, and they sorted that quickly. Moving over my virgin number was a doddle too Their webpage has itemized online bills and you can send SMS through it too.
Only downers so far are :
- you need the handsfree in to use the radio (the rats nest of cables I carry around makes a bluetooth headset seem almost worth the ridicule)
haven’t found a way to lock the screen(*, then choose ‘lock’)- the colour scheme is a bit silly (get the D750 if you really hate it – but then you only get a 64Mb memorystick )
can’t seem to record more than a few seconds of video(enable ‘high quality’ video shoot mode – they’ll be too big for MMS, but it’ll let you fill the stick)- you can’t delete the picture of robbie williams that comes with the phone (I’ll crack that soon though)
All in all, really pleased with it, and I’ve had it about a fortnight, so I was expecting to hate it by now.
Expect it to break by Tuesday.