Long ago I gave up my regular flip phone in favor of a smart phone. Even as a nerd, I wanted to carry around the fewest gadgets possible. At first I had a TREO 600, a great phone to be sure, but it has some drawbacks.
What I really want is a phone with a built in PDA. What is available is a PDA with a built in phone. My idea of a phone is a flip phone. Something like a old Star Trek communicator -- flip it open and announce, "Kirk to Enterprise!" and a voice responds from the ether. One of my all time favorite phones was my old StarTac (ironic huh? StarTac vs Star Trek?). Then when the conversation is done, close the phone, and stick it in your pocket. Done, simple, fool-proof.
Instead I have a small brick I hold to my head. It does EVERYTHING I want from a PDA, but as a phone, it feels like I'm holding a VHS cassette to the side of my face. And corded headsets are frought with their own trouble. I was always catching the cord on something or dragging it along behind me. The cord evenutally caught somewhere, and the force of it jerking the plug from the recpical broke the contacts inside, making the phone usable only WITH a corded headset -- go figure!
I am at my core, frugal. My friends call me a cheapskate, and I'll accept that. I had been lusting after a newer treo, but my broken 600 was still under contract, and a new 650 or 700 with bluetooth was going to exceed my personal spending cap.
Then the the patron saint of the skinflints smiled on me. I was working on a customer's computer system, and he had a Treo 700w box on his desk. I asked him how he liked his phone.
"I hate it." He responded. "It is too big and bulky, so I got this instead." He remove a RAZR from is pocket.
"Would you sell me you old one?" I offered, hoping to buy it within my budget.
His response was curt and final. "No. Take it off my desk so I don't have to throw it away."
I bought a Jabra 250v headset off ebay the next week.
It was a breeze to connect, and has great sound quality. Now I have no brick by my face, no cords to get tangled, and I am one happy yacker! Give me a call some time.
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