Thoughts on a New Cell Phone

I've been trying to decide whether I should buy a new phone. My Nextel Blackberry 7520 seems to have crappy reception ever since Sprint bought out Nextel. I decided I could keep my Blackberry for email and have a different, more compact and rugged, phone for normal phone calls. I'd normally leave my Blackberry in the truck, or my backpack, and just carry around my cell phone. But then I realized something: I wouldn't have access to the 150+ contacts stored in my Blackberry. Any new contacts I add to my cell phone wouldn't magically transfer to my Blackberry, so I'd end up having two sets of contacts to worry about. On second thought, that might not be an issue. Since I'm only using the Blackberry for email, the only contacts I need to store are those I have email addresses for.

It makes sense to go with a different provider if Nextel is giving my crappy service, but from my experience, its not just the network but also the radio hardware inside the phone. I might be able to get a different Nextel phone and have much better service. I'd hate to switch providers because that would involve two separate phone bills and I'd have to transfer my number, which means phone downtime.

I'd like to get the i580 but since I'm trying to be careful with spending money, I'd be plenty satisfied with less expensive i670. It adheres to the military 810F spec's, so I wouldn't have to worry about keeping it in my pocket when I'm workin' outside or doing construction work. I've been very happy with the abuse my Blackberry has taken over the past year and a half, but I've already gone through three Blackberry's (luckily they were replaced by Nextel for a small $35 shipping fee) and I have a feeling at least some of those replacements were a direct result of my getting them wet and dirty. I wouldn't have that problem with an i670. 🙂

I still haven't decided whether I'll replace the phone capabilities of my Blackberry with another cell phone. Feel free to help me decide by leaving your comments or thoughts on my situation.

Write a Comment

Comment

  1. The reasoning behind the thought is that I would make my life less complicated by separating myself from the Blackberry (email, luxury) while still retaining the capabilities of a cell phone (necessity). And its a smarter thing to do because every time I work outside or do construction work, I risk ruining a $300 device (sure I can get it replaced, but thats not the point).

  2. I’ll be glad to take any old cell phone off your hands. 🙂 I’ve taken the tin cans with string to a new level… tin can with wireless network card glued to the back. But it doesn’t seem to work very well, unless one shouts into the can.