The Race to My Pocket
Ok, so here's a substantial post for once. Here's my dilemma: I need a new phone. If I weren't such a techie, I would say any phone would do; but since I'm a technology oriented person, I need to have a technology-oriented phone.
Here are the requirements:
- It must be a GSM 1 phone. At least a tri-band GSM model, but preferably a quad-band phone.
- It needs to be stylish. I'm an Apple user, I can't have a nasty-looking run-of-the-mill phone, it needs to be something that is identifiable.
- The phone must be Bluetooth2 capable. I know that this possibly opens me up to becoming infected by a Bluetooth virus, but said virus would only be isolated to my phone. Phones are easy to clean, you just flash the OS back onto them. It won't be transmitted to any of my computers because 1)I'm an Apple user. There are only a handful of OS X viruses out there and all of them are theoretical in nature, just proof-of-concept viruses, and 2)My PCs don't have Bluetooth capabilities.
- This goes without saying, but it has to be compatible with Cingular's network.
Ok, here are the phones I have narrowed the search to. I will show you an average customer review3 and give you my reason for choosing.
So, in no particular order, I present to you my three finalists <— Drumroll —>
Motorola Rokr |
Average Review: 
The only real draw for me to this phone right now is the fact that Apple was involved with it's "development". It's a non-flip phone, which is a plus. I'm not a fan of flip phones, but I think I'm going to have to go with one. The iTMS capabilities of this phone are attractive, but I probably won't use them. I would most likely just be using the camera, Bluetooth, and actual phone functions. Now for all those reasons, this phone is at the bottom of my list. My Rating: |
Motorola Razor |
Average Review: 
Like I mentioned above, I'm not a fan of flip phones. This model has been out for a while, so its price has dropped considerably from where it started. I'm drawn to this phone because of its ultra-slim design. I like the way the keypad looks, the metal body and the black color. It's a bit wider than the phone I have now, but that's not a major issue. Motorola also has a deal going on right now where if you spend a certain amount at their online store, you get a discounted Bluetooth headset — BONUS! Anyway, this is currently the front-runner in the "Race to My Pocket". My Rating: |
Sony Ericson S710a |
Average Review:
This phone is an interesting one. I got to see one up close and personal today in the IC. The face of the phone swivels around revealing the keypad. It has a camera built in, is Bluetooth capable and meets all the requirements. Mostly I'm attracted to it because of its innovative design and large display. The only downside to this phone is that I have to buy it from a provider, which is a MAJOR turn-off. This one is a middle-of-the-road phone for me. My Rating: |
Well there you have it, my top three picks. If you have a phone that you like a lot and it meets my requirements, feel free to suggest it to me. I won't be actually making a purchase for a week or so. Also, let me know what you think about these phones. If you have one, let me know if they're worth it or if they're just duds. I'm looking to buy a phone that will last me for a while, not one that will crap-out in a few months.
Now that that's done, time for an update on my life.
Everything has been going fine lately. My current obsession is my Dell Inspirion 8200 with an install of SuSE Linux 9.3. I've been hacking together the laptop so it can be used in my Wardriving project this semester. It's also my current villain because I don't know too much about Perl and some of the utilities that we want to use are Perl based utilities. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to attaching my GPS to the laptop, putting the wireless antenna on the roof of my truck and driving around Bloomington looking for open networks. It's going to be great fun. So much fun, in fact, that I might purchase the equipment I borrowed from camp for my own and pick it up as a hobby.
We'll see about that… I need a phone first.
I have my first Accounting exam tomorrow, followed by a quiz in my ISS class on Monday. I have to memorize all of the commonly used ports as well as know the TCP/IP stack inside and out along with other things. It'll be an experience, especially since there is no possibility for a curve. Prof Worker believes that it should be a test of proficiency, you either know it or not. Can't say I disagree with him.
This weekend is Homecoming here at IU. We play Illinois on Saturday, there is a parade on Friday and all kinds of other festivities throughout the week. Erin's family will be down for the game and such. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with Kevin since I haven't seen him in a while. It's always good times when he comes to visit. And, she's going to make her parents take me to dinner one night this weekend. 
Yay free food!
I'm sure you're all tired of reading me ramble on about my life, so I'm going to end it now.
I will be posting in the Photoblog as soon as I get home from work since my photos are on my iMac and not some remote server and I may post in my Sideblog if I get the chance in the last two hours of my shift.
Peace out, boy scout!
The End-of-the-Blog Rundown
Song of the Day – Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
Quote of the Day – "I wanted to be blue too, that's the real reason for my hair color. I thought so hard about it one night I woke up the next morning with blue hair!" — Willow in the chat today talking about how Matt's color had been changed to Blue, the color for Support Staff.
Villain of the Day – The Net::Pcap.pm module in Perl
Hero of the Day – Jeff and Matt for letting me borrow camp's wardriving equipment.
Current Mood – 
– Tired because I haven't been sleeping much lately… Don't really know why…
Until the next post…
