No iPhone For Me

My first instinct was to buy an iPhone, mostly because I am that kind of geek, and it is the perfect toy. After a while reality tends to set in, and I realized that I would be getting myself into a 2 year contract with out the carrier even subsidizing my phone. I also wanted a phone that was a bit more open to installing third party applications such as an SSH client, and I wanted a keyboard.

AT&T also made the choice easier for me by announcing that a new 3G iPhone would be coming out at some point next year. No point in spending $399 now on a device that I know will be obsolete in 3 - 5 months.

Windows Mobile

I decided to get a device running Windows Mobile 6 as it appears to be much more friendly to third party applications than other platforms. A quick search returned tons of freeware and shareware applications that are available for the platform.

Another reason for my interest in Windows Mobile was the existence of PocketPutty. When I think of applications that I would want access to, where ever I am, the first one I think of is SSH. Sure I would like a good web browser, and an email client would be nice, but with an SSH client I have access to any command line program one could think of running on a Linux or Solaris box.

Choosing a phone/Provider

My first step in choosing a phone was to visit a few phone stores, BestBuy, etc., and get my hands on as many working models as I could. In doing this I quickly realized that I was attracted to the slider phones that had full keyboards, most of which made by HTC. My choices for these phones was the AT&T Tilt, T-Mobile Wing, and the Sprint Mogul.

Unfortunately, in the U.S., the choice of phone is based on the choice of provider. This makes deciding upon a phone much harder as you must compare a providers prices and services as well as the phones features. I found my self switching between browser tabs back and forth trying to compare features until I just created my own comparison chart. The blue items in the chart are the best capabilities or lowest cost, and the red are the worst capabilities or highest cost.

Some things were the same between the three phones, and as such, I left them out of the chart. All providers offered free mobile to mobile minutes, meaning you can call anyone else on the same network for free. The weight between the devices was close enough for me at 5.8 - 6.7 ounces. Talk time was 4 hours on each phone, and standby time was listed at 6 - 8 days, although I doubt those numbers. The phones run on Windows Mobile 6, have a mini USB connector, lack a 3.5MM audio jack, support WiFi, and have MicroSD slots.

The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for the phones was calculated by adding the price of 2 phones minus any rebates, activation fees, the price of service, including data plan per phone, for 2 years. This does not include the various taxes and surcharges that each carrier will no doubt add to the bill.

Some things were clear right away. AT&T is the most expensive, T-Mobile the cheapest, and Sprint gives you the most accessories with the phone.

Sprint Mogul

The Sprint Mogul was the only phone to include a car charger, case, headphone adapter, headset, and a 512MB MicroSD card.

The headphone adapter is important since all of these phones lack a 3.5mm headset jack requiring you to either buy a mini USB headset, or use Bluetooth.

Sprint was the only one lacking GSM, and I just did not feel right being stuck on a CDMA network for 2 more years considering that the rest of the world has pretty much standardized on GSM. I can only assume that I would have the same issues I was having with Verizon. I also do not know anybody who uses Sprint meaning that other than Christine and I calling each other, Mobile to Mobile minutes would be useless.

T-Mobile Wing

T-Mobile had the cheapest per month cost of any provider I looked at since the data plan is only $19.95 a month. T-Mobile also offered the most minutes in its lowest priced package and had the lowest cost for additional minutes.

On the down side, every review I read about their phone said it was sluggish. This was most likely due to the fact that its CPU is half the speed of the other two phones. The T-Mobile network was also much slower than the competition, and it was the only phone lacking Bluetooth 2.0, and thus support for stereo Bluetooth headsets.

AT&T Tilt

AT&T was both the most capable, and unfortunately, the most expensive choice. Besides the TCO for this phone, one has to factor in the fact that they will most likely require a new headset, memory card, case, etc.

On the plus side, AT&T is the only carrier to offer Roll Over Minutes, and the Tilt was the only phone I looked at that had an unlocked GPS device. That is, you can access the GPS from third party software, instead of being force to pay for a provider sponserd navigation plan at $9.95/mo per phone.

My Choice

I ended up going with AT&T After being on a provider that goes out of its way to cripple its phones, the unlocked GPS was a big factor in my decision. Other factors were the 3G network, highest resolution camera phone, most built in memory, and the CNET ratings. , Sprint was a close second due to the included accessories.

Since we do not use very many minutes on a regular basis, the Roll Over Minutes made a lot of sense, as we could then use the minutes we normally waste during times when we use an unusual number of minutes. For example, when we purchased our house, we used quite a few more minutes than usual, and our Verizon bill ended up being over $400 one month, even though for the rest of the 2 years on the plan, we used less than 25% of our minutes.

Life with the AT&T Tilt

It is nice to have a web browser with me where ever I go. Accessing vidio from sites like ABC 7 News To Go works pretty well in Pocket Internet Explorer including their video on demand features. Adding ring tones is as easy as saving an MP3 to the "My Ringtones" directory. Accessing email from most standard POP3/IMAP servers works very well, including getting attachments.  Google Maps for mobile devices works great with the unlocked GPS.

But once the cool factor wears off, you are stuck with a $299 phone, and a far too expensive phone bill. It is then when you realize that besides a really cool toy, you really want a phone that just works.

The good news is that the Tilt has very clear sound, and the AT&T network has provided excellent reception compared to Verizon.

The bad news is that as a phone, the Tilt is not as easy to use as my last phone. I suspect that this would be the case for any PDA/smartphone out there, as with many of these devices, the phone feature is just another application. In the case of the Tilt, Wing, and Mogul, the phone even lacks a normal keypad.

In order to call Christine with my old phone, I would simply flip it open, press and hold "2", and wait for the call to connect. When the call was over, I closed the phone and returned it to my pocket.

With this phone I must locate and press the power button located on the right hand side. The power button is flush with the side of the phone and would be impossible to find if I were wearing the thinest of gloves. There is a setting to make the phone activate using the other buttons on the phone, but I suspect that would lead to a drained battery if the phone was kept in my pocket, as each time a button got pressed, the display/back light would activate.

After turning the device on, I must enter my unlocking code if required, then press the phone icon, and then make the call by holding down the "2" with my thumb. Keep in mind that you can not feel for these buttons since they are just icons on the screen, so you must be looking at the phone the whole time.  You can also use the scroll wheel on the left side to select from the speed dial numbers, but this requires lots of practice as the combo wheel/button tends to move as it is pressed, and can result in the wrong number being called.

Again, I suspect these issues are the same for most smart phones and will get easier the longer I own this phone.

Overall, I think I am happy with this phone, and Christine appears to be happy with her Tilt as well. After spending more time with the phone, I will most likely post more about it.