My relationship with my phone is at a nadir. As I explained in an earlier post I had to get an Android phone because I use Google Voice which Apple refuses to allow into the iPhone app store.
I got an HTC Hero on Sprint. It looked good and had great reviews. But it is in general underwhelming. And as a phone its close to a disaster.
When someone calls me, they call me on my Google Voice number. Google then routes the call to my cellphone. For some reason, there is a big delay between when someone calling me starts hearing the phone ring at their end, and when it actually starts ringing on my cellphone. This delay is negligible when GV is forwarded to my land line. If I forward it to my wife’s Verizon phone, the delay is a bit longer but still OK. On Sprint the delay is so long that my phone rings for only 10 seconds before it goes into voice mail. Sprint technical support can’t solve the problem. So basically I miss calls when the phone is anywhere but in my pocket and even then, I have to be quick.
Anyway, sorry I subjected you to my tale of woe. I am hoping someone from Sprint or Google will pick up on this and do something about it. I may be locked into a two year contract but I still have my free speech!
That’s not the only problem with the phone. It is seriously underpowered. Performance is like molasses. The calendar sucks and I’m not willing to get one from the Android marketplace unless it is great and doesn’t require me giving my Google credentials to a third party. And there are dozens of UI problems.
Plus there are a set of problems which are problems with the whole smart phone category. I regularly hit the wrong keys on the phone dialer. I still haven’t gotten used to typing out emails or messages on the keyboard. And while I like the fact that my Google Reader goes with me wherever I go, the font is just too small to read for any length of time.
So, as I was thinking hateful thoughts about my phone today a thought occurred to me. What I really need is a regular, unsmart phone and an iPad. Move all the intelligence to the iPad and have a sturdy, single purpose, idiot proof phone that is small, cheap and works great.
Something to think about. Just for a moment, before I go back to hating my HTC Hero on Sprint.
6 am pacific 
Welcome to the unsmarts club, Basab. I realized it almost a month back when my Nokia N91 began to suck bigtime. Now I use an unassuming Nokia-followed-by-4-digits (don't remember the model #) that's just a phone, period. And making do with my old fashioned PC. No UI problems, no magnifying glasses, no fancy phone bills for ever so sucky performance. No repeated run to the service center. Freedom regained !!!
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Krishna – I feel your bliss!
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Hi Basab,
Take a look at T-mobile. Had a G1 all of last year. Just got a Nexus One this year. Was in love than, am even more in love now 🙂
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Hi Ambarish – another friend also recommended the Nexus One in response to this post. I shall investigate, but I doubt if my GV ring delay problem will get solved unless I move off of Sprint's service. Which means big $$ to break the contract.
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Hey, get the Nexus One. It is very powerful and better than any other phone out there in the US. TMO's Android broadband plan is pretty good where I live.
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"Move all the intelligence to the iPad " – I would say, you hit the nail on the head with this one. Thats exactly what will happen with most domains – TV, Gaming, Phone etc to start off with. Now imagine for the first time you have a handheld game controller with a complete processor built-in. A good one at that.
Regarding your post on iPad NOT finding a slot in the top 2 (amongst phone, laptop and tablet) – i have written a post on that –
http://iptiam.com/?p=114
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Have you checked out Nokia E63. I dont know all your needs, but I finally found a good phone + web device + basic microsoft viewer+editor. Yes, it is an older model but very good. And the battery backup is really good.
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