Kurtopia

Warning: This post is going to be geeky even geekier than usual.

For about the last year or so, I was in search of the perfect cell phone. I had been using the Samsung e105 from T-Mobile, and it was a great little flip phone. It was a no-frills phone, but it did what it did really well, and it was pretty small. But as smartphones caught on, I really wanted a device that connected me in more ways than just voice.

My first attempt was a BlackBerry 7100t. Despite a pretty ugly interface, I really liked the device What I didn’t like was the BlackBerry service itself. While it allowed me to read and respond to messages, I felt that I really couldn’t manage my mailbox with it, which was a key feature to me.

A few months later I tried out the Motorola A630. Man, was that thing ever a joke. With a full QWERTY keyboard hiding inside it, you’d think it would be an email machine! But no, the email client sucked hairy donkey balls — the device was really meant for text/instant messaging. What a waste!

Then talk of Windows Mobile 5 began to brew, with the promise of a push technology similar to BlackBerry’s. I began scouring the web for the perfect WM5 device. When I didn’t find exactly what I wanted, I played the waiting game again, but only until I realized the tremendous discount I get on Cingular hardware and service through Penn. At this point, I pounced on the Cingular 2125. I received it two days ago, and pretty much haven’t looked back since.

What’s so cool about it? Well, it’s Windows Mobile, so it runs an Outlook client, through which I can access both my work and personal email accounts. (I can’t yet take advantage of the Direct Push technology, but that’s on the way.) Outlook also includes my calendar, contacts, and tasks, all synced up with the Exchange Server at work. It has a mobile version of Windows Media Player which, coupled with a mini-SD slot, should make the phone a decent MP3 player. It also has Bluetooth, which I can use for a wireless headset, and for syncing with and providing internet access for my laptop. On top of all that, it has a 1.3 megapixel camera, which takes surprisingly decent pictures. My only real complaint about this phone is that it isn’t a flip phone, but considering everything I get out of it, I’m certainly willing to make that sacrifice!

This entry was posted on Friday, April 21st, 2006 at 1:04 pm and is filed under Web/Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.