After a few weeks of umming and ahhhing, I’ve finally decided to pick up a Sony Ericsson k700i. I’d considered the P900, but it’s a monstrous beast with lots of movable parts (never a good idea in a phone, in my experience), plus at £200 with a contract, it’s a lot of folding-stuff. I’d also decided against the Handspring Treo 600. There was the aerial to contend with (not a good inclusion for something I carry around in my pocket, if you see what I mean), and as I’ve recently been handed a Blackberry at my current contract position, neither of these PDA/phone combos makes a lot of sense. So, off the back of the Registers review, I decided this was the mid-range phone to go for. Whilst I’m not the biggest fan of the T68i I currently have, it seems that Sony Ericsson have addressed the big problems and sharpened their offerings up considerably. Biggest of features seems to be transparent keys: The biggest complaint I have with the T68i is the fact that all my keys wore out some time ago, so SMS’ing has become mainly guesswork.
The K700i seems to have lots of wizzy features, including a built in camera (I’ve lost the attachable camera for my T68i, or it’s buried in storage somewhere). Worryingly, it sounds like the battery life is a bit crap, but I’m hopeful I’ll not be doing that much with it that drains the battery, at least not that much when I’m away from a charger!
At the same time as a new phone, I’m also moving networks to Orange, having been with Vodafone since getting my first mobile phone (an Ericsson 688, otherwise known as a ‘brick’ with an Infrared port (all 9600 baud of it) back in 1997. The main reason for switching to Orange is the reception of Vodafone in Glasgow is, frankly, atrocious. I’m on 24hr callout, and I need to be reachable. Vodafone can’t provide that. Also most of Frances’ family are on Orange, so of course that makes a big difference.
I’m also aware that Vodafone have become very very dominant in the market place. Whilst I don’t have any problems with that: They provided me with a very good, and reasonably competitive, service. I just feel I’d get better service from another company right now, and Orange have always seemed - through their advertising - as a more appropriate company for me. That raises all sorts of ‘brand image advertising’ thoughts, but it’s a truth: I’ve been thinking of switching for several years, and inertia just got in the way of moving to Orange.
So, here’s hoping my change over will go smoothly. PAC codes seem to send a chill down peoples spines, but I’m optimistic this is the sort of area the regulator breaths down companies necks so much about they’ll be ahead of problems.
And I’m looking forward to getting a nice swanky new gadget for a phone. I’d have it with me now if the Orange stores in Glasgow had any in stock. Very frustrating to wait for 10 minutes to then be told the phone you’re after isn’t available. But ordering online and over the phone is certainly much easier.
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