Great Phone First Device
I get asked a lot about what phones people should get, so I thought I’d post this proactively.
When it comes to phones, I find that most people fall into one of two categories:
- Phone First: People that want something that looks, feels, and works like a phone first, PDA second. This primarily means a form-factor that closely resembles a ‘traditional’ cell phone. These phones don’t have a QWERTY keyboard, but they are generally significantly cheaper than PDA first phones.
- PDA First: People that want a device they can use to read and compose email along with full calendar/contact list management capabilities. These devices are typically larger and more expensive. They aslo tend to make less than ideal phones...dialing is harder, they are bigger (harder to carry in your pocket), and you tend to look a bit silly with it pressed up to your face. Many come with QWERTY keyboards...
For anyone looking for a Windows powered Phone first device, this looks like a great option:
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000920072169/
Key Features:
- Windows Mobile 5.0 which will shortly support push email notification (aka black-berry email...)
- EDGE wireless network (much faster than standard GPRS…)
- Bluetooth
- Price: $200 with a contract…pretty cheap for a windows powered phone