Yeah, Yeah, Yeah – Experiment Update
Multiple friends have pointed out to me that the month of June is over. I went an entire month without a smart phone, and am now more than a week into July, and I still don’t have one.
WTF?
I honestly thought it was going to be REALLY difficult for me. As it turns out, I’ve rarely missed my smart phone, and more than that, I am totally disinterested in my dumb phone. I’ve gone a couple of days in a row with it set on silent, without noticing that I was missing all calls and texts. I forget to charge it, and it is dead half the time. I forget to take it with me. I have become my mother.
I check email significantly less now. I used to check it like a rat pushing a button for a pellet. Sometimes I’d find a good email in my inbox. Push. Push. Push. Push. There have been days in June when I only checked my email once. Other than while on a couple of cruises, that is less than I have checked my email since 1993, when I needed to use dial-up.
I’m done. I’m not really, but I could be. I could let go of being connected for a long time.
However, I’ve had multiple people whom I actual care about lodge official complaints about this experiment. They hate me being so unavailable. So, somehow, I must get back to having a smart phone again.
But, I can’t find the right phone, which is really how I got here to start with.
I am looking for a 5 row QWERTY Android Phone, with a high build quality, a reasonable price, and available with an unlimited data plan. I don’t want to sign a contract.
The Android Sidekick 4G has the best keyboard of everything I looked at, because they sort of tried to keep the old form factor, and the Sidekick 2 keyboard was close to perfect for me (the 3 sucked, but the LX 2009 was okay). Unfortunately I think the build quality feels cheap in comparison to other phones and the way the phone opens is not nearly as good as the Sidekick they broke. Of course, T-Mobile isn’t exactly my best friend these days. Meh.
The G2 felt better and seemed like a better choice, but only had 4 rows. In the past month, T-Mobile replaced it with a G2X which doesn’t have a keyboard at all, meaning I’d have to make an extra effort to find one.
The Droid 3 has the 5th row, but is with Verizon, which means more expensive and they are tossing out the unlimited data plan, so that makes it even MORE expensive.
The Xperia Pro looks interesting, but isn’t out yet, and previously they said it would be out 2nd quarter 2011, and now they are saying 3rd quarter. Also, it is likely not going to be released in the US at all, so I’d have to get an unlocked international one. It doesn’t have the 5th row either, which makes jumping through hoops for it less appealing.
At this point, I guess I am leaning toward the Samsung Intercept which doesn’t have the 5th row, and looks to have even lower build quality than the new Sidekick, but it is significantly cheaper, and maybe Virgin Mobile will annoy me less than T-Mobile. They prepaid plan pricing is definitely better, and more suited to how I use a phone.
So, at some point I’ll get another phone, just to please a few key people. I don’t feel in a hurry, but I know they are. I make no promises as to the speed at which I manage this. Probably sometime post birthday week, since I have too much to do before then to actually decide which phone that I don’t want will be the one I go ahead and get.
Tags Dumb Phone - dumb phone - experiment - tori unplugged - ungeeking
YAY! I miss you so much. I hate the stupid phone people who make this so hard on you.
My hubby has the LG Optimus V android phone through Virgin Mobile. He pays $25 plus tax per month with no contract. He gets unlimited texts and unlimited data and 300 anytime minutes per month. It’s an awesome deal.
I have the original Motorola Droid through Verizon. Verizon has amazing service–I get service in places I previously never got with T-Mobile (I had been a T-Mobile customer since they were Aerial way back in the late 90s). I get unlimited data, 500 texts and 450 minutes a month. With taxes, my phone costs me a whopping $86.87 per month. Ridiculous.
The one thing we’ve noticed is that Virgin’s service does not really compare to Verizon’s. Sometimes his 3G is spotty. Sometimes he can’t access the web. Most of the time, he can. His calls are fine–he gets good service around here. Of course, we are in a different geographical location than you are, so YMMV.
Despite the spotty 3G, I am anxiously waiting for my contract with Verizon to be up next May so I can switch to the Virgin Mobile plan. I can deal with fairly spotty 3G to save $60/month. (and when I do the math and realize how much I pay per year for this phone, I throw up in my mouth a little)