So, I'm finally blogging again because my G1 finally arrived ... clearly, my posting suffers without the luxury of a full keyboard phone. I was glad to have my loaner phone from T-Mobile so that I could preserve at least a basic level of connectivity. But I was annoyed every day by the lack of functionality, from calendar to contacts to web browser. It also felt way too small in my hand, and it weirded me out. Sorry, little replacement phone; it's not you, it's me.
All that said, the G1 is still on probation. At the end of last week, I began to have serious misgivings about some of the functions the G1 is lacking out of the box; and reviews of the available apps at that time weren't giving me much faith. The problem of missing features and functions is normal to any newly-released phone (yes, even the beloved iPhone) and so it's not unexpected. But that's exactly why I'm not usually a first adopter; I generally wait until the kinks are worked out and the phone developers get their sea legs.
At any rate, my misgivings were so great that I started looking around on eBay for the AT&T Tilt, the phone model two newer than my previous one. I first encountered that phone in February and loved it; it went on my "next phone to buy" list, and so was a natural fallback when my G1 infatuation started to fade. So I started watching a couple of auctions ... and then I accidentally won one.
(Yes, it's possible to accidentally win an auction. Typical eBay psychology predicts a flurry of late bidding in the last few minutes; I expected my bid to be a minor entry in that flurry. I certainly did not expect to win the darn thing with a bid just $10 higher than the price the auction had been sitting at for the last several hours. Oops?)
All this is to say that I now have two new phones. But while unexpected, I'm actually OK with it: I'll be able to test out and compare both phones in the next two weeks and return/resell the one I like less. I think I'll end up feeling more confident in and comfortable with my decision after that trial period, and I'll end up with a phone I truly feel serves me well for the next few years.
This is the G1's week. Things I am getting used to: slightly smaller keyboard buttons, this bloody trackball, using the stupid touch screen with no stylus (the bitterness at the last two is because they combined to help me lose a whole draft blog post). Things that bother me: certain missing options in my mail account settings, the fact that my mail program keeps re-downloading as new messages I've read and/or deleted. Things I love: the web browser!! I'd almost keep the phone for that alone. Also, my calendar is totally synced on my phone without having to plug in a single cable, thanks to the Google calendar link; syncing and invites between my home and office Outlook calendars have been working well for me over the past week or so, allowing me access to my home calendar while at work even though I couldn't carry it around on my phone. Pending questions: will Funambol contacts work properly for me? Can I download enough good games to keep me entertained?
Alright, playtime over; I don't get paid to test phones. However, I totally want that job if anyone is offering! I am a PDA superuser, and I will put any product through its paces with vigor.
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