Mobile Phones. I go Q, look at Palm Pre's

3

I can't tweet from this location, so I'll blab here.

I tired quickly of my Samsung SCH-i760. Apparently, my negative experience with the T-Mobile MDA (aka HTC Wizard I believe) didn't teach me. The days of PDA'ing are over (at least for me).

Using a stylus just seems to slow me down, and these PDA phones were not made for non-stylus use. Without a long fingernail, it's far to easy to go to the wrong place. Beyond that, a stylus seems to warrant that menus should be more complicated and awkward with extra levels and checkboxes.

Other options seemed to be directed to either Blackberries or iPhones. Both of which are quite proprietary if you ask me. BB's require a special service and software, and seem way too text-based for my tastes...leaving a feeling of inelegance. iPhones seem to me to be for those who are more interested in flashy gadgetry than functionality and compatibility. I need something straight to the point that helps me organize my day and gets the job done.

My original Moto Q and the T-Mobile dash were the best mix for me so far. The old Q only had WM5, which just hasn't stayed with the times. Work forced me onto the feature-stripping jail of Verizon, so my almost-perfect-for-me Dash with WM6 wasn't going to happen.

I picked up a Moto Q9c with WM6.1 and I've been quite happy. WM6.1 adds the "sliding panel" option to the homescreen (picture above), which is a big jump in accessibility and functionality. The prior reliance on "start" has been reduced to a bare minimum it seems, as most of the common needs are covered at home screen. The new IM-style text message system is a big leap as well. With the redesigned keyboard, everything seems to fall into place.

The bad parts? No built in WiFi...a special SD card is needed. Locking the device takes more than one keypress. The device is a little bigger than the competition. It's compatibility with MyMobiler isn't perfect. I only hope it works well with my RedFly!

Looking forward:

The iPhone's touch-screen keyboard is a giant turn off to me. While the flicking between windows is cute and all, it really doesn't seem necessary. Palm, which I've never really been a fan of, seems to be doing something right with the PRE. Tactile keyboard hasn't been replaced yet, crackheads at Apple!

Neither seems to be with Verizon, so I'll probably get stuck with a shameful BB.