phone thingy buyer's guideI've been doing a lot of research into this mobile internet phone stuff. I thought I'd share. If anybody has experience with cell phone things and would like to offer advice, I'd be grateful for it. I apologize for the length, but I try to make up for it with pictures. ^^ I don't really want a cell phone. There are occasions when I want people to be able to get ahold of me (and vice versa), but it never really justified the expense and hassle of carrying something around. I kind of want a PDA, mostly because the idea of having a little computer you can carry around makes my geeky heart swell. I can't think of much that I'd use it for, though, except maybe to take an inventory of books and DVDs so I don't end up buying the same thing twice (it's happened--mostly with Doctor Who books on sale. I don't really read those anymore, but I'll buy them if they're cheap just because I might someday). What I'd really like is to be able to have access to the Internet when I go places. I used to hang out with people who worked at RIM and was always intensely jealous of their Blackberries. They're still too expensive, but it's becoming easier and cheaper to find decent alternatives nowadays. So much so that it's started to tip the balance in favour of my actually getting something. I made a half-assed attempt to get a phone before I left on the trip. Since I've come back, I've decided to take some time and be more methodical about it. I'm probably going to be locked into a subscription for two years if I do this the way I want to do it, so it strikes me as a good idea to know what I'm getting into. In doing that, I've made my life a bit more difficult. I've found a few good options, all of which have their pros and cons. I figured I'd share what I came up with. Everything here is under $250 up front with a two year subscription and I'm shooting for under $40/month, realistically. My basic criteria for these is that they all have phone (ruling out the cheaper Blackberries), thumb keyboards (because I like those) and Internet capabilities (including email and IM).
On the downside, it's Fido. Now Fido's supposed to be pretty good with deals and stuff, but a coworker who got this said he was paying $50/month, which is more than I want. Worse than that, though, its coverage really sucks. There's no signal at all between Oshawa and Ottawa. So I wouldn't be able to use it back home. One of the things that got me thinking about the cell phone thing in the first place was being stuck on the 401 outside of Grafton for two hours and not being able to let anyone know what was going on. This wouldn't help. All the rest of these phone/PDA things are through Rogers. I don't really like Rogers, but they do have good coverage, a fairly flexible data plan and decent voice rates. Besides, with the exception of expensive Blackberries, Bell and Telus don't sell anything like what I'm looking for. And Fido has crappy coverage. So Rogers wins by default. Per month, I think I'm looking at $25 for a basic voice plan, plus some amount for data. They have these "navigate" data plans. I can get 1MB/month for $7. 2MB for $12. If I can limit myself to the occasional email or instant message, I can probably live with that. I'm hoping over the course of the two years, prices will come down and I can get a bit more out of it.
The biggest problem with the Tungsten W is the lack of built-in phone bits. It comes with an ear bud headset, but that's no good. The Roger's website comes to the rescue by selling this with the "audio flip cover." Seems kludgy, but it's probably better than the headset. The Phone Booth store at Fairview Mall was selling the W for $20 less, but they didn't include the phone cover. I think I need that.
I haven't quite made up my mind yet, but I'm really leaning towards the Tungsten W. It's not the greatest thing in the world, but, if nothing else, at $200, it's a pretty darn good deal for a colour Palm, particularly one that can do phone and Internet stuff. Disclaimer: Just in case anybody thinks this is a full review, I haven't actually tried to use any of these. The Nokia 6800 was operational in the Rogers store, so I got to go around menus and things, but that's the closest I've come. comments:This post is archived. Comments are disabled. Feel free to send me email if you have something to say. | |
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