I admit. I strayed.
A couple years ago a made a terrible mistake. I’ve been a mobile phone user since 1990. I was on NAMPS until 1993. Then I moved to some horrid digital thing that the ILEC wireless associates offered. It wasn’t TDMA as far as I know but it was awful. In 1996, as soon as it was available I jumped to GSM.
I then moved through a long succesion of handsets. After using and thoroughly enjoying the Nokia 2190, 6190, 8890, 8290 and 8390. I was fooled into trying a few other things including the Ericsson T28w, T18z (long time ago), 388 (even longer ago), a Motorola L7089, V60i, V66, V70, C350, and even a Siemens M55. The one model that replaced my trusty Nokia 8390 was the Sony (née Ericsson) T68i.
- It worked really well with my Mac.
- It had Bluetooth when nobody else did.
- iSync is a wonderful thing.
- But it just sucked at being a phone.
So I tried to preserve all the good things about SE and the Mac while hoping against all logic that the SE Z600 would be a real phone. It isn’t. It is a better phone, but that isn’t saying much. It still sucks. My gripe list is long and it isn’t centred on the childish polyphic ringtones or games or MMS or the bloody camera. They are all gripes about it’s utility and core features — you know — phone features. Not to mention the fact that my Z600 seems to be having lifetime problems — something that the provider tells me is my problem, since I’ve put ~6000 minutes on the phone in 8 months. This should be peanuts for a serious phone.
Apparently there isn’t money in the business phone sector anymore. Sad, because that’s where all the money used to be and it showed: useful, compact phones were the hallmark of a high-end business unit. (The Nokia 8890 and 8910i are classic examples). Nowadays, the horrid things like the N-Gauge are supposed to pass for phones.
Let’s review, ratings are my opinion on performance _as a phone_ :
| Mfg | Model | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Ericsson | 388 | sucked |
| Nokia | 2190 | ok |
| Ericsson | T18z | sucked |
| Nokia | 6190 | great |
| Nokia | 8890 | great |
| Motorola | L7089 | sucked |
| Ericsson | T28w | sucked |
| Motorola | V66 | sucked |
| Motorola | V70 | sucked |
| Nokia | 8390 | great |
| Sony Ericsson | T68i | sucked |
| Motorola | V60i | ok |
| Siemens | M55 | ok |
| Sony Ericsson | Z600 | sucks |
Anyone keeping score by manufacturer?
Ugh. Well I’ve had it with SE, and even though I applaud the Apple integration, I’m going to have to bolt back to a phone that is a phone 1st and hope that Apple and Nokia get their act together and support iSync on their Series 60 V2 platforms sometime this quarter.
Stay tuned for details, but I’m leaning towards the Nokia 6670. Time to return ‘phone home’.