The unknown power of a cheap phone

[Bob Russell]

Have you been bragging to your friends about all the things you can do on your Treo or Windows Mobile smartphone? You know, IM, email, web browsing and so forth.

Well you might not have as big an edge over your buddy with the cheap phone after all. Jay Noggle at Mobile Ministry Magazine has written an article about all that he can do on his $29 cell phone. Believe it or not, he says he can do things like:

"1 take and send a picture
2 read and send email
3 access the Internet (including my favorite tech sites, check on Ebay bids, search Google, get driving directions, check the weather... you get the idea)
4 log in to Yahoo Instant Messenger (and send and receive posts in REAL TIME).
5 listen to Podcasts like ABC News
6 Manage and post to my Blog
7 access documents and files on my home office PC
8 watch MSNBC, Discovery, CSPAN, TLC, ESPN, CNET and MORE!!!!!!"

So forget about that new Treo 700p, right? Not so fast! It's a whole different ball game when you can buy myriads of third-party PalmOS or Windows Mobile software. You probably want to have a nice screen with 240x240 or 320x320. And if you use the PIM applications, there's no question that PalmOS or Windows Mobile has a distinct advantage. Not to mention the power of a high-end device to read and edit MS Office documents, read e-books in various formats, listen to streaming audio and watch dvds and videos.

But if you are one of the lucky owners of a powerful smartphone, remember that a smart user of a cheap phone might be a lot more capable on the go than you might expect. And they probably have a slimmer, sleeker phone attached to their belt - one that doesn't threaten to pull their pants off from the weight!

[Laurens]

Probably not an unlocked $29 phone. Still, features considered relatively high-end, say, two years ago have been trickling down much faster into the low-end segment than you would've expected. I don't even use my PDA anymore for PIM functionality, as my phone takes care of that adequately.

[Bob Russell]

PIM is good on your phone? Really? I can't imagine, even just if because there's no graffiti or keyboard. You must just be doing contacts?

Originally Posted by Laurens

I don't even use my PDA anymore for PIM functionality, as my phone takes care of that adequately.

[Laurens]

Originally Posted by Bob Russell

PIM is good on your phone? Really? I can't imagine, even just if because there's no graffiti or keyboard. You must just be doing contacts?

Pretty much all the basic PIM functions: contacts, calendar and notes. (I rarely use to-do's.) Of course it's not going to beat a dedicated PDA, but it's good enough for me. I really prefer to carry as few devices as possible.

[Alexander Turcic]

I do all contact management on my bulky Nokia Communicator 9500. Before I tried to sync my PDA with my cell phone, but it turned into a mess with missing data on both sides.

I think Jay Noggle makes a good point that with today's subsidies on cell phones, you don't need to spend a fortune if you only want to "work" with you handset. If you like being a geek however, it's probably not going to satisfy you unless you have the latest, thinnest, and most feature-rich handset that is currently out there

[Antoine of MMM]

And you know, I can feel kinda bad since I do really use a Treo for everything and cannot see it being any other way