After reading Jeff's recent cell phone buying pain, I decided to post my latest cell phone experience.
Recently my company decided to purchase us a couple of different types of smart phones. We buy different hardware for us to test, experiment, program, and hack all the time. I've never even really used my palm so I wasn't too excited that a smart phone was a must-have for me... until my cell phone got washed in my pants pocket this weekend. Suddenly, I am very interested in getting a new phone any way possible!
With the company card in hand, I went down to my local cingular store. They had a Treo and a blackberry on display and powered. I told the salesman my deal and asked to play with the phones for a bit. I tried to pull up some web sites on the blackberry... egads, it was slow.
Even worse, I couldn't get a connection on the Treo. I called the guy over, he played with it a bit, and said, “Oh, we don't have a card for this one.” Idiot!
No cingular for me I figured. Well, heck, that was my best experience of the day!
All of the other vendors that I visited would be happy to sell me a smart phone... however, none of them actually had a powered, live version to test. Who in the heck is going to buy a $200-$400 phone without testing it?
Remember that I am an easy sell... I'm trying to buy this on the company's dime.
Luckily, I took my little old sony ericsson 610 apart and let it dry out. Although it is very flaky after it's waterlogged experience, it's works fairly well for now.
If you have any suggestions, please let me know.