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AnchorDesk

Patrick Houston
Why I didn't buy the smartphone I wanted

Patrick Houston
Editorial Director, AnchorDesk
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
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When I came up with the idea for this column, I figured I'd be telling you about the brand-new business-class "smartphone" I purchased for work--and why I chose it. Note that when I say "purchased," I mean not with company money, but with my own dough.

Instead, I'm going to tell you why I just couldn't bring myself to plunk down as much as $500 for a device that would have given me the best that both a PDA and a cell phone have to offer.

The one I wanted
Here's the smartphone that looked like my best option--the one problem was network coverage.
IT'S AN admittedly anecdotal experience. But it stands as testimony to the gap that exists between the promise and the nitty-gritty practical realities of owning a phone that works on a next-gen network, the overwhelming number of considerations that come into play in making a choice, and the difficulty in reconciling business considerations with personal ones when it comes to a device that will inevitably be used for both.

So here's the situation: I want to buy a smartphone. I'm currently carrying a company-issued Nokia 6160 that looks and acts like a brick compared to the new bumper crop of small, functionality-filled phones with their great color displays. I also want quick access to e-mail during my commute. But the real impetus for purchasing a new device came with the onset of a pair of middle-aged eyes. Now, along with carrying a laptop, PDA, and cell phone, I also tote reading glasses. That's one too many things to remember.

I figured I could shorten the list by getting a phone that also serves as a PDA.

Most phones today are PDAs, insofar as they offer a way to store phone numbers and appointments. But I wanted something that brought me some of the same capabilities as a classic PDA, including a decently sized display and an input option beyond the ever-so-frustrating telephone keypad.

THE GOOD NEWS is that, ever since the debut of the Handspring Treo, manufacturers have made steady progress toward coming up with devices that strike a workable balance between PDA and phone. Click here and you'll see a rundown of recent ZDNet reviews on combo devices from a variety of manufacturers, many of which received decent ratings from our editors.

In this group I'd also include the Sony Ericsson P800, which our reviewers called the "Maserati of smartphones." But the P800 is more phone and less PDA and I wanted it the other way around. What's more, as a user, I tend to favor Pocket PC devices over Palm, narrowing the field that much more.

I considered the Audiovox Thera PDA2032 and its nearly identical Toshiba 2032, but was put off by their boxy designs.

As I perused these various options, my eye kept coming back to one: the Siemens SX56. Our reviewers gave the SX56 a rating of 7.2 of 10. They called it one of "the few solid Pocket PC smartphones" on the market. I've actually had some hands-on experience with a test unit, and, in the end, simply found its design to work well as both a PDA and a phone.

But this is where complexity reared its ugly head. I found the phone I wanted but not through the carrier I wanted. I've tested Sprint and Verizon's new third-generation CDMA networks. I've been duly impressed with the speed at which they allow you to transmit and receive data. (See my earlier column on the topic.) With the right phone, I'd happily become a customer of either carrier. But neither Sprint nor Verizon offer the Siemens SX56. And I'm not taken with their alternatives.

AT&T Wireless does offer the Siemens phone, however. I'm a current AT&T subscriber. It's my company's preferred provider. Buying the phone from AT&T meant I could keep my current phone number. Plus, the company is offering a $150 instant rebate on the phone, to give it a justifiable $399 price tag.

JUST AS I WAS pulling my credit card out of my wallet, I did a little more digging--and that's when reality stopped me cold. Turns out the Siemens SX56 is capable of working on AT&T's new GPRS network, which doesn't have the roaming agreements implemented yet to provide the same expansive coverage as its first-generation cell network.

While AT&T's next-generation network covers most major metropolitan areas where I might possibly find myself for work, my cell phones have always served as a lifeline to family and friends, too--a use for which I'm only too happy to fund from my own pocket. So I froze at the prospect of being somewhere on a lonely stretch of highway--during a family camping trip, say--without adequate cell phone coverage.

And so I put the brakes on buying, pending further research and contemplation. Note that I stopped without even considering the daunting variety of pricing plans, which promise to make the purchase that much more onerous.

I haven't given up. AT&T offers a liberal 30-day trial period for its phones. Nothing replaces hands-on experience when it comes to devices that are so personal to their users. So I may take a deep breath, hand over my credit card, and give the Siemens SX56 a try.

I'll let you know how I wind up dealing with my dilemma. Meanwhile, let me know if you have any advice for me and other AnchorDesk readers.

What do you think? Do you have any advice on buying a mobile device? TalkBack to me!

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