To all the phones I’ve loved before

To all the phones I’ve loved before
That travelled in and out my door
I’m glad they came along
I dedicate this song
To all the phones I’ve loved before

My apologies to Willie Nelson

My tag-buddy rightly guessed that I’m a gadgety kind of person. I love playing with gadgets and at one time, wanted to own all the latest and the best there was to be had. Mobile phones were no exception.

Anyway, this is what Giddy Tigers wanted me to do:

List down the following:
1. The phone(s) that you owned previously
2. The phone(s) that you’re using now
3. The phone(s) that you’re looking at to replace the current phone

Instead of doing that, I’ll do it in chronological order and tell a little story about my phones because this brings back memories.

When I first got home from studies and started work, I felt that having a mobile phone was so pretentious. Mobile phones were for the cina-apek business men who wield their tai-kor-tai bricks and talk loudly in public because they want people to know they are concluding a major deal when they could very well be just be talking to their wife/mistress. (my apologies to all cina-apek business men reading this!)

But after I started working, I realised just how useful a mobile phone can be, especially because I used to take the train to and from work and being female and all, my parents were easily worried. So, Dad got me my first phone by NEC. It was a slim little thing and it was black and I really liked it to be honest. It was very gadgety looking. Back in the days (gosh!) all we got was a monochrome screen and all the phone could do was to make and receive calls. No polyphonic ring tones, no sms. But it was a good phone and after I changed phones, it served Dad well despite being run over by a car. Till today, Dad swears by an NEC for durability.

Now, because I’m a bit of a Daddy’s girl, Dad got me my second phone too because I found that it was too expensive on a post paid service. So, I switched over to a prepaid service courtesy of what is now known as the Yellow Man and there was a promo where the Phillips phone was going for a song. It wasn’t my phone of choice, but it was cheap and again, served it function. One thing I liked about it is its weight. It might be bulky but it weighed next to nothing. The screen was tiny BUT it was the first phone I had that could receive SMS. At the time in order to send an SMS, I had to call up the service centre, dictate my message and it would be sent for me. Super weird I know.

Then finally, a phone I did not have to pester Dad for. When the Nokia 3210 first came out, I was smitten. I loved the idea of not having an antenna, I loved the idea of having interchangeable colourful covers and most of all, I loved the idea of a Nokia.

I’d always wanted a Nokia but at the time, phones were super expensive. This one cost something like RM999 AFTER bargaining hard. It was a gift but I did not feel right paying top dollar still. But it was my first Nokia and I loved it. By this time, SMS was starting to be the norm (but not yet the t9 predictive text system) so I was happy with the button size that made it easy to text messages and the large screen. I still have it somewhere… I think. It served me well despite being dropped quite a lot. But it was time to change the phone when the keypad stopped functioning.

By this time, smaller phones were in vogue. So, I opted for the Nokia 8210. Still staying with the user-friendly Nokia brand. This was again, quite expensive then, costing close to RM1000 with registration with the quite common 012 line. This phone was and still is pretty awesome. Its small, dinky and slim and does everything a phone is supposed to do very well. The only thing that I did not like was the limited memory or lack of, and the fact it got hot when making calls. Otherwise, I loved how it slipped nicely into a pocket without creating an unsightly bulge and the fact that it was just generally, a small dinky little phone!

All things were well in PB’s phone land.

And one day, I received an unexpected gift from my brother who knows I love gadgets. Not only was it a mobile phone. It was a Sony Ericsson T68i. It was still cute and dinky sized and this one is light. Colour screen!! But I initially hated it because I had to relearn all my phone commands which I’d been used to after using a Nokia for years. After a while though, I really liked the little phone.

I liked how the predictive text input would pull up a menu of word choices that I could scroll down using the joystick. It made for faster and easier text messaging, especially when you can see and choose the words. However, it being a Sony Ericsson, the dreaded “lag” hit the phone after a while. There was a lag time between command and execution which got noticably worse as time went on. And then, after a year or two, the keypad gave up. I’d press hard on it to get no response. Then, like possessed, it would execute every keystroke I’d pressed, which drove me nuts. You can imagine what a torture sending an SMS was. But it was hardy, that I must say.

And then, with Christmas round the corner, and with a friend having had a little lottery windfall (lucky dog!) I was gifted with a Sony Ericsson Z520i. It was my first clamshell phone and honestly, I loved it.

I loved that the keypad was responsive, and that the screen was big and that it was a clamshell. Ever since I watched the X-files, I’d wanted a clamshell phone that I could flip open stylishly and this was it. I loved it.

BUT I think there was a ghost in the machine or I was jinxed or something but this phone gave me nothing but problems. The plastic screen protector kept falling out despite many repairs and twice the screen went blank for no reason. I was told it was a connection problem which was “common in this phone” and that bugged me. It was a great phone but the hardware was crap and so, just slightly over one year, it committed suicide.

Which nostalgic ramblings bring me to the present. My present phone which I’ve had since May 2007 is a Samsung SGH-E830. I’ve reviewed it before and although I started out enamored with it, I’m less so now.

It being a Samsung, which is a brand I’ve never used before, it took some getting used to. Either Koreans are anal or Europeans are to the point, but this phone asks you 20 questions before allowing you to send an SMS or execute any command, except making phone calls. There are good points in this in that it eliminates the possibility of sending an SMS to a wrong person. I’ve done it many a time and its very embarrassing to say the least. The bad thing is that if you are in a hurry, it can be a pain. However, after all this time, I’ve worked out some short-cuts that make life just that little bit easier and after everything, its not turning out to be too bad a phone. The sliding function is quite fun and the size and heft is a good one. The screen is nice and big but there is a little bit of a lag time which bugs me sometimes.

The Samsung is still new so I think its too early to bin it. However, being female and therefore fickle, my sights have strayed afar back into the land of Nokia. If anything happens to this phone of mine (touch wood!) I will get myself a Nokia N-series phone simply because its cool, sexy and has wi-fi! I want a phone that allows me to blog on the go because I’m addicted that way. Also because Rinnah has one and GT has one and I want one too!

And after reading my long long ramblings (never short ones here on PB.com eh?) I’m going to ask these 3 people about their mobile phones because I’m kay-poh and I want to see who else has funky canggih phones!

• LB - because he’s back but I think he’s said before he’s a motorola man
• Pinkelle - because she’s fluffy
• Doris - because well, I haven’t tagged her in a while hehe…

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