HELP!
OK ... do my phone has apparently hit its built in expiration date ... & I HATE shopping for a new phone.
I currently have the Palm Pre ... which had Droid not come out, I might have absolutely loved. However ... after Droid came out, NO ONE developed ANYTHING for the Palm OS. :( I still can't get Flash to work on my phone. It was SUPPOSED to be the first big competitor for the iPhone. *sighs*
So -- here's the thing. I was actually HAPPIER with my old Audiovox 8940 phone ... a "dumb" phone that had a microSD chip for music & images, a decent camera, a web browser for $5/month where I could check email, & a flashlight feature that worked just by holding down external physical buttons. (The camera even had a retractable lens & a lens cover!!) Rock solid phone, a flip phone (which I still prefer), & small enough to fit in a pocket ... & not worry too much about the screen, because it was ... well ... a FLIP PHONE. AND ... get this ... it worked as a PHONE ... excellently! You could hear & be heard on it!!! (Rare these days, I know!) (OK ... so the 11133488876 style of texting got old ... lol)
So I "upgraded".
The google maps/gps is nice ... I have used that a few times. I do some occasional web browsing -- not massive amounts, because it kills the battery pretty quick ... & if I'm somewhere with power, I'm probably close to a real computer! I use the email interface ... it works, but I'm not "in love" with it. The camera ... sucks. It has an actual flash, but that's about it. When they finally added the software patch to allow video, the videos overwrote some of the photos. I lost a bunch of cool photos before finding out. They "fixed" that ... but it still puts the files in such a numbering order that if I back them up to the hdd, they try to overwrite older files that I want to keep, just didn't feel the need to keep on the device. Stupid. Not sure who thought that was a good idea. :(
I like having a tactile keyboard, altho having the option for a touch one would have been nice as well.
What I REALLY like about it (& this is apparently no longer found in any phones) ... is the ability to have multiple things open & just be able to flick through them. (Supposedly, you can have multiple things "running" on Droid phones, just not all "open" at the same time. That mind set of "one screen at a time" has never sat well with me ... from the early Palm PDAs onward! I'm just too much of a "multi-tasker" I suppose. I used to run earlier Windows versions into the ground that way. lol)
(I miss the camera on my Samsung Omnia ... actually, I liked that whole phone ... except that Verizon had just changed their policies & having the option to NOT have a data plan with a smart phone was no longer an option. I didn't want the data plan ... I didn't need it. I had to return that phone, sadly. It took the BEST pictures, & had the same flashlight option using external buttons.)
So -- What I WOULD like on a phone:
MANDATORY:
A decent camera (I will never carry around a phone & a camera ... I would just lose the camera!) (that has zoom & light settings ... & video options)
IT HAS TO WORK AS A PHONE! (That means that I can HEAR & BE HEARD on it.)
HAS to have a physical flash ... I just don't trust software. (See also next point)
HAS to have a flashlight (using the flash, not just the led screen). I've used that functionality entirely too often over the years.
Things that I would like very much --
GPS/Maps
Email
Minimal Web Browsing (I don't need streaming media, but the ability to look up a phone number is nice)
PDF reader (User manuals for light boards & such are REALLY useful to have handy!)
What I would like to add: some sort of e-book reader (Kindl would rock) -- there used to be one on my phone that had a bunch of free books ... but then it "updated" to another company & ... well ... sucked. I used to use it a LOT!
A few weeks ago, I started looking. I found out that Droid has a Kindl app! ROCK! I have been looking at getting a Kindl ... if it is on my phone, then I don't need one maybe! (Haven't looked in to whether or not I have to actually BUY a kindl as well ... but the old ones are cheap enough that ... that wouldn't suck).
& THEN ... literally the same week ... I get a promotional email about the Kindl Fire ... which has a LOT of the things that I wanted a phone to do (email, web, etc).
So ... my choices ... a fancy fancy phone (where I won't use the majority of the "features") ... or a Kindle Fire & a "dumb" phone that is probably WAY more reliable than all this fancy shit.
(On a side note -- I have decided that Google (including Droid) is equal on my "evil" scale as Apple. I don't like how they are taking over EVERYTHING. I fully expect to see a Google Groceries within the next few years, & Google Jeans, etc. & Chrome treats me like just as much of an idiot as iShit. This means that right now, I would LOVE to have a phone that is NOT Droid OR iPhone! lol I know ... I'm whistling Dixie on this one. I DID find an HTC phone that is Windows Mobile ... & I AM thinking about it JUST to be stubborn!!! lol I like MORE options, not fewer. Don't make things "easier" for me, dammit! Let me make up my OWN mind. *sighs* I know I know ... I'm obviously old ... )
Oh -- one side note ... one of the few "really smart" applications that I need to consider ... is that many light board controller have "iPhone" or such apps. I know that the GrandMA board has a Windows Mobile app, & the ETC Ion (the board at a LOT of local theatres) has an iPhone app, with a Droid one in beta. (that may or may not help ... network security policies & the like ...) With the Ion (& other ETC Eos family consoles) ... the iPhone app is designed FAR more usable than the actual RFR (Remote Focus Wireless Unit ... or whatever RFR actually stands for). At the moment, I don't NEED to have that ability ... but leaving that option open is something that will have to figure into my choices. I have not done massive research on this to figure which boards have apps for which OS's/phones.
& if rumors are true, I MAY have the "option" to get an iPhone as well. Currently, that is not offered by my provider.
So -- suggestions? Thoughts? Phones you hate / love? "Features" that they don't tell you about?
Thoughts on the "get the Kindle Fire & a dumb phone" vs "get the phone that does it all & pay more for both the phone & the service" decision?
*sighs*
I really wish that I'd never gotten rid of that Audiovox ... or my old provider. If I only hadn't dropped it that one time too many & in just the wrong way. :(
I currently have the Palm Pre ... which had Droid not come out, I might have absolutely loved. However ... after Droid came out, NO ONE developed ANYTHING for the Palm OS. :( I still can't get Flash to work on my phone. It was SUPPOSED to be the first big competitor for the iPhone. *sighs*
So -- here's the thing. I was actually HAPPIER with my old Audiovox 8940 phone ... a "dumb" phone that had a microSD chip for music & images, a decent camera, a web browser for $5/month where I could check email, & a flashlight feature that worked just by holding down external physical buttons. (The camera even had a retractable lens & a lens cover!!) Rock solid phone, a flip phone (which I still prefer), & small enough to fit in a pocket ... & not worry too much about the screen, because it was ... well ... a FLIP PHONE. AND ... get this ... it worked as a PHONE ... excellently! You could hear & be heard on it!!! (Rare these days, I know!) (OK ... so the 11133488876 style of texting got old ... lol)
So I "upgraded".
The google maps/gps is nice ... I have used that a few times. I do some occasional web browsing -- not massive amounts, because it kills the battery pretty quick ... & if I'm somewhere with power, I'm probably close to a real computer! I use the email interface ... it works, but I'm not "in love" with it. The camera ... sucks. It has an actual flash, but that's about it. When they finally added the software patch to allow video, the videos overwrote some of the photos. I lost a bunch of cool photos before finding out. They "fixed" that ... but it still puts the files in such a numbering order that if I back them up to the hdd, they try to overwrite older files that I want to keep, just didn't feel the need to keep on the device. Stupid. Not sure who thought that was a good idea. :(
I like having a tactile keyboard, altho having the option for a touch one would have been nice as well.
What I REALLY like about it (& this is apparently no longer found in any phones) ... is the ability to have multiple things open & just be able to flick through them. (Supposedly, you can have multiple things "running" on Droid phones, just not all "open" at the same time. That mind set of "one screen at a time" has never sat well with me ... from the early Palm PDAs onward! I'm just too much of a "multi-tasker" I suppose. I used to run earlier Windows versions into the ground that way. lol)
(I miss the camera on my Samsung Omnia ... actually, I liked that whole phone ... except that Verizon had just changed their policies & having the option to NOT have a data plan with a smart phone was no longer an option. I didn't want the data plan ... I didn't need it. I had to return that phone, sadly. It took the BEST pictures, & had the same flashlight option using external buttons.)
So -- What I WOULD like on a phone:
MANDATORY:
A decent camera (I will never carry around a phone & a camera ... I would just lose the camera!) (that has zoom & light settings ... & video options)
IT HAS TO WORK AS A PHONE! (That means that I can HEAR & BE HEARD on it.)
HAS to have a physical flash ... I just don't trust software. (See also next point)
HAS to have a flashlight (using the flash, not just the led screen). I've used that functionality entirely too often over the years.
Things that I would like very much --
GPS/Maps
Minimal Web Browsing (I don't need streaming media, but the ability to look up a phone number is nice)
PDF reader (User manuals for light boards & such are REALLY useful to have handy!)
What I would like to add: some sort of e-book reader (Kindl would rock) -- there used to be one on my phone that had a bunch of free books ... but then it "updated" to another company & ... well ... sucked. I used to use it a LOT!
A few weeks ago, I started looking. I found out that Droid has a Kindl app! ROCK! I have been looking at getting a Kindl ... if it is on my phone, then I don't need one maybe! (Haven't looked in to whether or not I have to actually BUY a kindl as well ... but the old ones are cheap enough that ... that wouldn't suck).
& THEN ... literally the same week ... I get a promotional email about the Kindl Fire ... which has a LOT of the things that I wanted a phone to do (email, web, etc).
So ... my choices ... a fancy fancy phone (where I won't use the majority of the "features") ... or a Kindle Fire & a "dumb" phone that is probably WAY more reliable than all this fancy shit.
(On a side note -- I have decided that Google (including Droid) is equal on my "evil" scale as Apple. I don't like how they are taking over EVERYTHING. I fully expect to see a Google Groceries within the next few years, & Google Jeans, etc. & Chrome treats me like just as much of an idiot as iShit. This means that right now, I would LOVE to have a phone that is NOT Droid OR iPhone! lol I know ... I'm whistling Dixie on this one. I DID find an HTC phone that is Windows Mobile ... & I AM thinking about it JUST to be stubborn!!! lol I like MORE options, not fewer. Don't make things "easier" for me, dammit! Let me make up my OWN mind. *sighs* I know I know ... I'm obviously old ... )
Oh -- one side note ... one of the few "really smart" applications that I need to consider ... is that many light board controller have "iPhone" or such apps. I know that the GrandMA board has a Windows Mobile app, & the ETC Ion (the board at a LOT of local theatres) has an iPhone app, with a Droid one in beta. (that may or may not help ... network security policies & the like ...) With the Ion (& other ETC Eos family consoles) ... the iPhone app is designed FAR more usable than the actual RFR (Remote Focus Wireless Unit ... or whatever RFR actually stands for). At the moment, I don't NEED to have that ability ... but leaving that option open is something that will have to figure into my choices. I have not done massive research on this to figure which boards have apps for which OS's/phones.
& if rumors are true, I MAY have the "option" to get an iPhone as well. Currently, that is not offered by my provider.
So -- suggestions? Thoughts? Phones you hate / love? "Features" that they don't tell you about?
Thoughts on the "get the Kindle Fire & a dumb phone" vs "get the phone that does it all & pay more for both the phone & the service" decision?
*sighs*
I really wish that I'd never gotten rid of that Audiovox ... or my old provider. If I only hadn't dropped it that one time too many & in just the wrong way. :(