Before I get to the rundown, here are the requirements for my PDA Phone:
- Must run Windows Mobile 5.0. Why, you ask? Well, because I'm both a geek, and a developer. If I can't use the .NET Compact Framework to write tools, goodies, and other fun stuff for my cell phone, then life has lost all of its meaning.
- Must have the following networks (that's right, ALL of them. Why? Because I want to be able to get access to EV-DO data from the train while commuting to work, I want to be able to listen to callers and music through BlueTooth headphones, AND I want this thing to be able to ping local machines in my house using my Wi-Fi router, securely. I don't want much .. just everything. If you are going to get a PDA phone, why would you bother settling for one that lacked a connectivity option? Its hard to find PDA phones without the three below networks, so I ask again - why would you NOT want these?
- Must have an expansion card slot. I don't care what format, but I want to be able to store data on a tiny little card that I will undoubtedly lose, step on, drop in coffee, or otherwise mishandle. Don't ask why - I just do.
- Must be able to dial one-handed. I don't care how the device manages it, but I'm not going to stop in the middle of the street, put down my coffee/bagel/danish/whathaveyou just so I can use both hands to dial my phone. By the time I've put all my junk down on the ground to make room for dialing, I will probably have been knocked over by all the people laughing at my pathetic techno-faux-pax.
- I need an unlimited EV-DO rate plan, and I want EV-DO service along the northeast corridor line in New Jersey all the way into Manhattan.
- I would prefer not to have a camera. I know this is wishful thinking, kinda like asking Santa to bring me that new Hummer for christmas, with insurance and gas paid up for three years. Not gonna happen. When will the cell-phone providers realize that people want PDAs, not PDAs that suck a little bit more because they are burdened down with the weight of an under-powered, low-resolution, fuzzy, slow-exposure camera?? Maybe its just me, but putting a weak camera in a powerful PDA phone is like driving around a porsche towing a rusty beat-up u-haul cargo box behind you.
The Low-Down on the Phones and Rate Plans:
Verizon Wireless
Verizon has the
Motorola Q phone, quite possibly one of the coolest phones to come out in a long time. This phone costs $199.99 with a 2-year contract and about $50 more with a 1-year contract. The phone is Windows Mobile 5.0, BlueTooth,
Wi-Fi, and EV-DO supported. Verizon covers my target area with blazing-fast EV-DO speeds. Unlimited Data plan (essentially a persistent wireless broadband link) runs $79.99/month and includes 450 regular minutes, plus unlimited nights and weekends.
Update: It looks as though the Motorola Q does not have wi-fi connectivity built into it.
Cingular Wireless
Cingular has the
8125 Pocket PC phone. This phone is the only Windows Mobile 5.0 offering that I could find on Cingular's website. It is a slip-out phone : meaning that the keyboard slides out from underneath the main body of the PDA, switches you into landscape mode, and let's you continue from there. While this is fine for people who love to look down while dialing a phone just before they smash headlong into a tar-covered utility pole -
I need one-handed dialing. You can't dial a slip-out keyboard PDA phone without sliding the keyboard out or using the Stylus. Don't these people realize that the world revolves around
my needs and they need to make a phone that satisfies
my concerns? This phone will run you $299 and
they do not offer EV-DO data plans. Cingular's offering goes in the trash as far as I'm concerned.
T-Mobile
T-Mobile doesn't provide any EV-DO service, so they're out of the running.
T-Mobile has the
SDA , which is one of the few Windows Mobile 5.0, high-speed data access phones that also includes Wi-Fi for attaching to local wireless networks. If anybody reading this blog can recommend any other phones that have high-speed data acces from the wireless provider
and Wi-Fi access in the phone - please put that in a comment here.
Qwest
Qwest offers the
6700Q, a keyboard slide-out phone that is essentially the same model that Sprint offers, just re-branded with the Qwest logo instead of the sprint logo. The phone goes for $429.99. Qwest doesn't have EV-DO service, their coverage in my area sucks, the price of the phone is exhorbitant at best, and its still a 2-handed dialer.
Sprint PCS
Sprint has the PPC 6700, the same phone that Qwest has , only re-branded. For the same exact phone, sprint charges $80 less coming in at $349.99. Sprint is the only other provider that I could find aside from Verizon who has EV-DO capabilities. Their EV-DO network has a couple million more people in it thanks to their NexTel merger, but the coverage map over NYC and Jersey has a few more "potholes" (inexplicable non-geographically-caused gaps in service) than Verizon. The rate plan for data is indeterminate - sprint doesn't publish that information anywhere on their site, and if they make me call some annoying phone tree full of computer prompts to get a price - they've just lost my business. Period.
The verdict: Verizon Wireless and the Motorola Q. This is an unbelievably well-priced phone, the unlimited data plan is awesome at $80/month considering T-Mobile used to charge me $75/month to get per-use data on my Blackberry. Windows Mobile 5, EV-DO, wi-fi, SD card expansion, blue-tooth support, reasonable rates, and excellent service coverage.
My personal opinion is that if you're in the NY/NJ area and looking for a PDA phone - look no further than the 'Q - it's all that and a bag of chips.
Mmmmm... chips.....
Update: I've done some more digging. Turns out Sprint's EV-DO is the same speed or faster than Verizon's. Also, after finding out that the Q doesn't support Wi-Fi (a big negative in my book), I took another look at the PPC-6700. This phone has:
- EV-DO support via the Sprint "Power Vision" program
- Wi-Fi. You can't use the Sprint phone radio at the same time as the wi-fi, but those activities rarely overlap for me. I am never on the phone while using my PDA to connect to websites and file shares hosted by devices on my local network, nor am I ever on the phone talking to people while surfing from an Internet Cafe or Starbucks.
- Huge screen. Twice the size of the Motorola Q. This is a PDA after all. When I shop for PDA phones, I want a PDA that happens to be a phone, not a phone that happens to be a PDA.
- Slide-out keyboard. For PDA use, this thing is easier to use than the Q's keyboard - the keys are much bigger.
The only downside I see right now is that the PPC-6700 may be difficult to one-handed dial. Here's what sold me, however:
Sprint's unlimited data plan: $25
Verizon's unlimited data plan: $80
No-brainer. I'll post up a review of the PPC-6700 when I get my phone in the mail next week.
tags: phone sprint plan smartphone qwest cellular pda tmobile comparison cingular rate verizon
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