The phone freak prowls again

My search for my perfect phone continues on. This is the story of one person’s obession with mobile phones. An insatiable desire to find the one phone that will fulfill my every need. A phone that would ask how high if I asked it to jump.

o2 XdaII Mini

My journey first started in 2006 when I bought myself an O2 XDAII Mini. It was my first PDA and for awhile, my pride and joy. But like a real marriage, it suddenly became a bitch once the honey moon was over. It was impossible to text while driving (down right illegal but that isn’t the point). The touch screen lost its accuracy (maybe due to the fact I kept dropping it) and I had to recalibrate the screen everytime I wanted to play solitare. It had terrible speaker volume and Windows Mobile sucks.

Nokia N80

I then decided to trade it in mid-2007 (it is my longest serving phone to date) for something simpler. Something that was just a phone. So I decided to trade it in for the state-of-the-art (at that time) Nokia N-Series. After browsing the phone selections in Greenhills (a reknown shopping mall for phones in Metro Manila), I decided to go for the N80 although I really wanted the N95 but its initial price and bulky size put me off. The N80 was cool for awhile. My first slider phone and good camera kept me entertained for awhile. That was until the slider because somewhat loose and the screen started to act weird (which I later found out was because the connections between the phone and screen had a problem). The bond between the N80 and I started to degrade and it was during this unstable time that I fell in love with the sexy and sleek iPhone.

iPhone

It took an uneventful trip to Bangkok in Dec 07 for me to find myself falling head over heels for it. During an unscheduled trip to a mall, I saw the iPhone on sale. It had the name ‘AT&T’ written on the box and I knew it had to be one of those smuggled phones. It cost me an arm and leg along with my left kidney and right nut but I just had to have it. And I did. I don’t remember ever spending as much foreplay time with any phone before. Let’s just say that the iPhone and I had an all nighter. The one thing that the iPhone comes with but isn’t stated on the box or any manual is the WOW factor. For the short time that I had my iPhone, I didn’t need a pick-up line. I just needed to pull out my phone and the hunnies would just hover around me. It wasn’t long until I discovered that the iPhone I bought had a serious hardware problem. I won’t go into details but let’s just say it was terminal.

It was a good thing I decided to keep my N80 around and subsequently switched back as I pondered the options with my faulty iPhone. It took a trip to Philippines in July this year that I was handed the opportunity to get rid of it. I returned to Greenhills and shops there were practically fighting to buy my iPhone. Of course I failed to mention that it was faulty but they didn’t need to know. It was weird watching them fight prices amongst themselves but it was all to my gain. But having failed to find the phone for me, I knew I had to be more careful with my next purchase. I returned 2 days later with a phone in mind. I decided to go with the HTC Touch Dual. It had the look and felt at home in my hand.

HTC Touch Dual

Again, I have been miserably let down. I would like to warn everybody out there; AVOID any phone operating on Windows Mobile ESPECIALLY if you’re on Mac. Windows Mobile is slow and terribly unresponsive. It’s alarm tone is near to impossible to change thus leaving you with crappy and unreliable tones. It doesn’t matter who made the phone. Windows Mobile is shit! I love my HTC but Windows Mobile is like that annoying in-law that lives in your house. Contacts on your sim and phone will show simultaneously giving you double contacts and there is nothing you can do about it. A proper sync software for a Mac costs a lot of money. Free versions will leave out the ability to properly sync thus leaving the user with no option but to pay for the full version.

I’ve been on the look out for new phone and using my past experiences, I’m refining my search to exactly what I need. And I don’t need Windows Mobile. This rules out the Sony Ericsson X1 which was high on my list. I am thinking of the iPhone 3G but the way it’s priced in Asia makes it simply out of reach for me. Another one I was thinking about was the Samsung Omnia but thoughts of a fully touch screen phone brings back memories of my O2 XdaII Mini. I’ve always been a fan of clamshell phones but the only ones sturdy enough are the Motorola RAZR which all look a like with each other.

That is until I found something that I think would last me for a long time, the Sony Ericsson w980. I just think it looks cool. Many would say it doesn’t have GPS, isn’t WIFI capable, only has a 3MP camera. My response to this is; I can buy a map, I have a MacBook and I have a Nikon D60 and a Sony T70. If you want a bird that soars in the sky, spots things from miles away and grabs it’s prey with it’s huge talons then why the hell are you strapping a pigeon with a jet pack, binoculars and claws? Get a freaking eagle!

Sony Ericsson w980

For me, the w980 fits. It isn’t bundled with the irritating Windows Mobile, it’s a clamshell and it looks good. It has 2 defining points that pushes me to buy it soon; it comes with an FM transmitter which would enable me to use it with my car stereo AND it’s priced at RM1,050. A sum that wouldn’t harm me too badly.

The only problem is; not many stores in Kuching would accept my HTC for trade-in since even at half price will still be around RM1,200.00. Imagine trading in your phone and getting change back. Anybody interested in a slightly used HTC Touch Dual with minimal scratches? I’ll even throw in a signed photograph of myself free of charge. Any takers?