A long overdue report about gadget updates

Sometime in the last couple of months, some serendipitous events magically occurred and the following things happened:

I gave up:

My SE P1i to my significant other

My SE W850i to my eldest son

My Samsung E250 to my eldest daughter

My W810i to a buyer on Ebay

My 3120 to a sale in my village

My 6120 to a buyer on Ebay

I gained:

A Nokia E71 through the generosity of my mother

A Nokia 5800 Xpress Music from the sale of my 2 Nokias

An SE P990i as a swap from my son for the W850i


I always post my gadget wishes and pipe dreams here so here's what I have realistically ( i think) planned for myself as far as upgrades are concerned:

The following info is formatted as follows:

Current phone / Line (Network) / Upgrade path

Nokia E71 / GPS Business line (Sun) / E72, will retain E71 to replace K810

Nokia 5800 XM / Personal Line (Sun) / No upgrade planned

SE K810i / Ebay Toy Business Line (Sun) / E71, (see above)

P990i / Business Line (Globe/Duo) / Xperia

Samsung C5212 / Business Line (PLDT Landline / Smart) / A dual sim phone with 3G that has a longer standby than the C5212


I also plan to get a robust phone with long battery life, good GPS, wlan etc. to bring along on my mountain biking trips. Will be backed up by another phone carrying a different sim with a very long battery life, maybe a Philips. It may sound like overkill but believe me, in the places where I ride, signal can get spotty and the weather can change rapidly. I already got stuck on the trail once with just one phone with no signal while my riding companion had one phone with signal and low battery. This was right in the middle of heavy rain on a muddy trail with no lights. So I can assure you its NOT overkill.

Of course I will only carry 2 phones when riding but during my workday, I wish I could carry less phones but I need to segregate my businesses and I also need to carry my office with me. My Globe and Smart lines are prepaid and are loaded with the barest minimum except for the Superduo service which I find indispensable.

So thats the update for now. Obviously I need to post several reviews soon from the the hardware to the service.

Watch out for them and thanks for reading.

Sony Ericsson Satio : First Impressions

I have to admit that the Sony IDOU or SATIO was one of the handsets that I declared that I WILL BUY.

However, like many dreams in this world, reality shows its not all that its hyped up to be. Again like some dreams, it may have been better left as one.

I had the chance to see the mockup in the Sony Ericsson Shop in Trinoma. The sales people were certainly eager to please with their canned responses but once I started asking some slightly technical questions theirs eyes glazed over and they starting mumbling over and over again that they were not informed of the technical specs with nary a glance at their product catalog which I suspect had the information I needed.

Anyway here are my first impressions based on the mockup and the brochure:

GOOD:

- The phone looks really classy in person, it certainly can hold its own with the Iphone 3GS

- It feels good in my hands, it imparts a feeling of solid build and quality.

- The form factor is excellent for men but it may not be as comfortable for the women. It is significantly larger than my Nokia 5800 Xpress Music

BAD:

- The 12 megapixel lens juts out from the back. It may be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective. For appearance, its a big no no because it looks bulky from the side. For handling purposes, the bulky thing rests the phone securely in your hands.

- Price, it costs much more than my Acer Core2 laptop. Essentially for the price you can buy an E71 and an Asus Netbook.

- The phone runs on the Symbian OS which is the same one used on the Xpress Music. Turn it on and several screens look so much like the Nokia. Which is not a bad thing except that you could buy two 5800's for the price of the Satio and have money left over to buy a good set of earphones and a bluetooth headset.


MY VERDICT:

The Satio is an undeniably good looking phone and it does have a 12 megapixel shooter. The form factor is better suited for men though women do tend to favor touch screens. As a touch screen phone, the appearance of this phone is top notch and oozed quality. In a way I could say that its a businessmans touchscreen phone. More business like than the Iphone.

However there are reports starting to crop up on the net about mass recalls and returns of the Satio due to unspecified software issues. It is a bit alarming considering that there were other SE phones that had software issues but were not returned by these outlets.

So based on the preliminary impressions and these reports, I would personally wait and see first. Beyond the bragging rights, it seldom pays to be an early adopter because you will actually be the beta tester of those products at a much steeper cost which will send you crying when you learn the market price 2 to 3 months after launch.

But if you have the dough and the courage and patience to handle latest and greatest with the aforementioned cons then go right ahead. You'll have a phone that will trump the Iphone on looks alone.

For myself, I'm sticking to my E71 / 5800 combo until the smoke clears and the bugs ironed out. Besides the X10 is starting to tickle my fancy too.

DISCLOSURE: To dispel notions of favoritism, let me share the following information. I personally carry 5 phones right now, 2 Nokias (e71 and 5800), 2 Sony Ericssons (p990 and k810) and a Samsung C5212.

Nokia E71 successor and Samsung's Flagship phone revealed in Mobileburn

New owners of the E71, it may be time to weep. Potential buyers, rejoice because prices on this highly acclaimed handset will likely fall in the the next few weeks.

This is because the E72, the successor to the E71's throne, has been announced. You can read about it in MobileBurn

The biggest single improvement is in the camera department, the only area where the E71 was found wanting. The E72 now comes with a 5 megapixel camera that may put the imaging criticisms to rest.

Another piece of good news to potential buyers, this time of Samsung phones, the Omnia HD and the Innov8 may be dropping their prices too on the heels of Samsungs launch of its flagship JET.

Further info may be found also on the MobileBurn site.

Personally I'm in gadget limbo. I'm frozen into inaction because I don't know if I should wait for prices to fall on the E71 or get the E72.

And since I also vowed to get a nice Samsung phone, now I'm wondering if I should just wait for Innov8 prices to fall while avoiding all reports about the Jet.

After all ignorance is bliss....

But the truth is, I'm becoming attached to my P1i. Its fulfilling my needs right now and I bought it at a price where I could get my P1 and a second hand N82 for the current selling price of the E71 which is about 16K. That's why I'm not too hot about the E72 or the E71 for that matter.

So maybe I'll go buy that N82 or that 6220 classic and wait for the Innov8 prices to fall. I've sort of narrowed down the choices for my second phone to these 3. Yes I know I said I'd get a Samsung but I'm just a little bit concerned about Samsung parts and service after my conversation with the Samsung service department as mentioned in my "double unlimited" post.

Choices, choices. But that is the spice of life too :)

Thing is, whenever I see the current prices for my K810i which is about 1/3 the price I paid for it, its a reminder that in the mobile phone upgrade world, the wise buyers are the ones who can control their excitement for a year or so. Year old flagship units sell for less than half the original price and give how much tech is in these handsets in the 1st place, that's quite a lot more tech than most of us will need.

I know its hard but as always, ask yourself "what do i need it for?" The fact that you are reading this blog means that you are into tech. And those who know tech naturally want the latest and the greatest. Lucky are those who are single and have a large salary all to themselves. Enjoy happy go lucky spending while you still can. They don't say it but marriage usually means saying goodbye not only to your singleness but to your toys as well.

On my part, with 4 kids, unless I am tapped by my the local phone distributors to test their products, I'll just have to content myself with in depth reviews and photos while waiting for my current objects of technolust to turn a year old.