Almost as soon as I could get my hands on a cell phone, I did. My first cell was a Nokia. I believe it’s the 5160. Everyone had one. They had the colorful face plates. Mine was red. In hindsight, as phones go, this was probably one of the best, most reliable, clearest phones I’ve ever owned. Battery lasted almost 2 days without a charge and life was still simple. After that I got some little freebie Ericsson phone from AT&T – also a candybar style phone. Decent enough as I recall, but I wanted better than decent.
My next purchase was a Siemens S46. I really liked this phone. It too was super reliable, long battery, clear connection and it was global at the time. I got it after returning from Germany one summer (2000) and deciding I needed to get a global phone. Oddly enough, I’d just met a guy who worked for Siemens in Germany who asked me if I thought German made phones would fare well in the U.S. I believe I told him I didn’t think they would. (What did I know? Why was he asking me anyway?) Sure enough, roughly 9 months after getting back to the U.S. I saw this phone and decided it was everything I wanted at the time. It had a calendar and many ringtones and group tones. It had a clear speakerphone (a feature I decided was a must-have on future phones). It had text messaging before it was really de rigueur. It had internet access before most people cared about it or wanted it as a feature. I kinda liked it’s monochrome screen. Nothing glitzy - just solid German functioning. It worked really well, really reliably, calls were clear and never dropped. I was very fond of it until one day, out of the clear blue it just stopped functioning. Total failure. Wouldn’t charge up or anything. Kaput!
(Okay, perhaps what actually happened was that I bought unlocking software off of Ebay to try to unlock it and the software damaged it. I suppose that is one likely explanation - but it’s AT&T’s fault cuz I wanted to leave them and take my phone with me, which is why I tried to unlock it in the first place!)
After the death of the Siemens I discovered the Nokia 6800. (Cue heavenly “Aah” music.) If it is possible to love a phone, I loved this phone. Love I tell you!! This is not irrational love. The following is a list of reasons why this phone inspired such deep fondness.
- FM radio
- Organizer
- A camera attachment that was awesome – a small spy camera
- Syncable calendar and contacts (with Nokia software)
- Infrared synching (no horrible cables)
- Internet, SMS and MMS
- Wireless modem
- Voice recorder
- Speakerphone and last but most important….
- A FULL FLIP OPEN KEYBOARD!!!
This last feature is a big deal for me. I’ve never liked having the keyboard on the front, like on PDA’s. I also don’t like the condensed keyboards that have become fashionable since this phone was released, where the numbers are crunched above other keys and you must tap a Shift or Fn key to get to them. I loved the ease of use because with the keyboard opened up on either side of the screen (screen in the center), it was much easier to use both hands to type while holding the phone steady. It was an ingenious design and I have always hoped Nokia would expand on this idea. I still keep hoping they’ll make a phone modeled after this one. The center screen could be a little bigger but with the same flip open keyboard and number keypad on the front. Those of us who are very tactile and like to feel our way over the number pad do not like the new move to touch screen dialing. As a compromise, this phone could have a touch screen as well. I hope the Nokia people see this!
The other thing about this phone was that it worked like a charm. Clear calls, clear speakerphone. No one does this better than Nokia. The battery was also very long lasting despite all the new features (as I recall, a day and a half on one charge). It didn’t have a built in camera but you could buy this handy little camera attachment that was like a spy cam!! It didn’t make that loud obnoxious clicking sound either… that was a nice feature, as was the stereo headset and the fact that it had FM radio which you could set presets to!! I kept this phone for almost 3 years, which is a long time for me. I was a pretty happy customer. Nokia had gotten close to perfection with this one. However, after several drops and getting it wet a few times it just couldn’t hang in there. I loved it so much that I went on Ebay and tried to order another one. But I bought a used one that didn’t last all that long and then I gave up. My search for a substitute began.
I got along for a while with some freebies from AT&T. Got a Samsung flip phone, then a Nokia candy bar phone. Simple, no frills, standard phones. They were fine as phones but now I was spoiled. I had had full keyboards, wrote emails from the phone, searched the internet, took pictures. These little phones just weren’t going to cut it. AT&T had become Cingular and I didn’t like the new guard so I was starting to consider my options. That’s when I discovered Helio. Helio – even the name seemed promising. Heeelioooo… like heaven, only hotter and lighter. Like a good soufflé. I was becoming sick of the new Cingular management and eager to move away. I’ve already blogged this experience. You can read that here below. Shortly after, when the iPhone came out, I blogged about that as well.
Next I discovered Sierra Wireless’ Voq. It’s an older model PDA and is no longer supported but I found it on Ebay and thought I’d give it a shot. It has a full keyboard, which was a selling point. It is also the first true Smartphone I’ve ever used. This was a step up in the evolutionary ladder of cell phones for me. A new world was opened to me. Not only could I surf the web, send texts, sync my contacts and calendar, etc., now I could also view and edit files. Geez, Louise! What next Batman!? I really like this phone. It’s also the only phone with the innovative keyboard that flips open like a book (as pictured).
I then perused the phones being offered by Verizon and considered jumping ship there but, except for the Voyager, nothing there really caught my eye. So instead, I spent some time running around trying out phones and wherever I could get my hands on them. Sometimes I’d even ask strangers in restaurants. I tried the Palm phones and thought the keyboards were cramped. Ordered the AT&T Tilt and sent it back within a few days because the battery life was less than a day and I really hate not having a number keypad for dialing the phone. I might have gotten over that if the phone just didn’t seem flimsy and short lived… like my patience.
One day, while hoping to find something interesting on Ebay I came across this Motorola Linux A780 phone. It was cheap enough and I was very curious about it. It seemed like it could be an expensive place holder while I found my next true phone love. It’s cute and I keep it as a spare and occasionally use it. It’s a quad-band world phone that uses EDGE. It’s a Smartphone with all the necessary connectivity of a Smartphone and the usual suite of applications plus it flips open to reveal a touch screen that you use with a stylus. I found this to be a charming and useful feature. A flip phone with normal keys to dial the phone (as you’ll recall this is a feature I find to be very desirable) and a touch screen on the inside where you don’t have regular contact with it so as to ruin it.
Software runs a little slower than I’d like and the lack of a real QWERTY keyboard is a bit of an annoyance. Instead it has a choice of a touch screen keyboard or various hand writing recognition choices for use with the stylus, ala Palm. All in all a very good idea actually. I put it high on the list of good phones. The speakerphone is clear but awkward to use because of the way the scroll button on the side doesn’t quite end up where you want it. Battery life is descent but if you unplug it for a while you need to reset the time and place on the phone because it won’t hold on to that information.
Most recently (for the past year) I’ve been using the Motorola Q9H. It’s your standard “Blackberry” sort of Smartphone. World band, bluetooth, all the communications software, productivity software, etc. The keyboard doubles as the dialer pad, which isn’t ideal but I’ve gotten used to it. The screen is clear. It has a surprisingly good camera. I mean, I’ve taken some fabulous photos on this phone – something I cannot say about any of the others I’ve had with the exception of the Helio which seemed to promise good photos as well. I chose this phone over all the other Blackberry type of phones (all the smart phone, candy bar, Blackberry wanna be’s) because it had the most comfortable keypad. A couple of times, while in class, my laptop battery has run out and I’ve actually switched over and used the Word utility on the phone to finish typing up my notes. It’s worked out really well several times. If you use the extended life batter that comes included in the box you can do loads of surfing, emailing, texting, calling and picture taking before having to recharge. I can generally get a day to a day and a half out of one charge even if I’m using it punishingly. Only recently has that begun to change and that’s after almost a year.
The speakerphone on this unit is fantastic as well. Loud, clear as a bell and easy to click on and off.
I’ve read lots of people complaining about this phone. Seems Motorola has something in common with VW in this area. People either get a great unit or a lemon. The one I have now is actually the second one I had to get from AT&T. The first one short circuited and totally wigged out. The keys would start typing by themselves. This one has been great. Although, lately, it too is having a sticking problem with some of the keys. It might be a shortfall. But still, I’d rate it very high up there in this list of all time best phones I’ve used. It would probably come in second to the Nokia 6800 in terms of features to functionality to lastingness ratio.
Possibly my biggest gripe with this phone is that you’re forced to use Active Sync. I positively hate this little piece of software. I could go into detail but I’m not here to talk about that. Suffice it to say that the moment I discovered another piece of software that offered me a little more flexibility to weed out my text messages and delete multiples, as well as do the same for my contacts, I downloaded it QUICK!! It’s called Efficasoft Mobile Express. If you use Active Sync and hate it as much as I do, do yourself a favor and Google this software. You’ll be much happier.
Lastly, but not at all least, a phone that hasn’t even been released yet and which I have not actually touched or used or seen in person, but which has the makings of what I hope will become my all time favorite phone of all times – the Nokia E75, due to be released sometime in the very near future.
I wrote this article specifically because I was hoping someone would read it and develop a Smartphone chock full of fabulous features, with a long battery life which would also take into account those of us who really crave both a numerical dialing pad and a QWERTY keyboard in one unit. Apparently, while I was sitting on this article still adding to it, Nokia had put out this phone for pre-order. After reading all the specs, it sounds like it could be the answer to all my cell phone hopes and dreams. Here’s a link to it. It comes in red no less. J I am watching and waiting.
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