I think I’ll take a break from all the me-bashing I’ve been doing, lately. Seriously, with all the issues I talk about having, you’d think that I have a major self-confidence problem.
Anyway, I’m getting a new cell phone. After six years or so with Telus Mobility, I’m switching to Rogers Wireless for a few reasons. First, and most importantly, is that Rogers is the only carrier for the phone that I wanted. Second is that Telus jacked my rate up last year, suddenly telling me that I have to pay for voicemail. Third is that if I get a Rogers phone then I get a discount from them for having wireless, cable, internet, and home-phone services.
I’m one of those people who tends to stick with the cheapest phone you can get, so I haven’t paid too much for handsets despite the fact that I’ve owned about six altogether. Mind you, I’ve balanced that off, in all the stuff that goes along with phones…cases, clips, headsets, and chargers.
This time around, I’m getting something a little more cutting edge: a Sony Ericsson K790a. It’s not super small or super slim, and it’s not a PDA or a Blackberry. Instead, it has a feature that matters much more to me: an integrated camera. And when I say that, I don’t mean the pathetic and useless cameras found on most cell phones…it’s got a real, 3.2-megapixel camera with a decent flash and autofocus. So now, I’ll always have a camera with me as long as I’ve got my phone handy.
It’s also got Bluetooth wireless, which a lot of newer phones have. That’s good, cuz it means that I can sync it with my PC. Since I’ve always bought the cheap phones, I’ve never been able to do that. As a result, my cell and PC usually had different contact lists, with some people appearing in one or the other. Now I won’t have to worry about that.
The other cool thing about Bluetooth, and now we’re crossing into major geek territory, is that you can get wireless headsets. And yes, I’ve already researched headsets and purchased one on Ebay.
Even crazier is that, while checking out the Flash demo of the phone on Sony Ericsson’s Web site, I discovered that you can use it as a remote control for a computer. Now that’s trippy. I don’t know if I’ll ever use it, but I’m sure I’ll play around with it a bit.
Perhaps the only annoying thing is that to use the phone as music player I’ll need to convert all of my Windows Media Audio files to MP3 format, which is going to be something of a pain in the ass.
Funny thing…up until this very moment, I’ve always thought it silly that cell phones cost so much. In this case, I’m paying $200 for the handset with a three-year contract…the phone is otherwise $380. But if you think about it, I’d pay a lot more if I bought a cordless phone, a music player, a camera, and a remote control for my computer. And I’d look pretty silly trying to carry all of that stuff around with me.
So when you think about it, with everything that the newest cell phones do, you might be better off getting the best equipment, rather than the cheapest stuff.
Just don’t break it or lose it.
