iPhone vs Sidekick

VS

People always ask me what is my favorite cell phone. I always pull out my trusty Sidekick, then pull out my iPhone from my other pocket. This should tell you that my phones, (if you can refer to them as "just phones" these days) are sorta like my dogs or... children. I don't have a favorite. There are many reasons why I love both.

So, if you're deciding how to upgrade to the wonderful world of technological convenience, maybe I can be of some assistance.

I'll start off by letting you know that I've had a T-Mobile Sidekick since 2003. It all began in a Tukwila CompUsa when a teenage salesman told me that I can go on the internet any time I want, wherever I want. I was sold. AIM (aol IM) was a big bonus, as well. The salesman told me I can google whenever I wanted. "Google?," I thought. "What's Google? All I want to do is surf on my work breaks and on ferry rides!" Little did I know that Google was going to be one of my best friends. Anyway, I gave up my cool Nextel chirper for a monochrome (black and white) Sidekick. Since then, I've had every Sidekick made, with the exception of the "Slide."

What's great about the Sidekick is the data plan. The best bang for your buck in the Cellular industry, hands down.

$20.00 a month gives you unlimited use of the internet, unlimited use of Yahoo IM, AOL IM, MSN Messenger, unlimited texts (yeah unlimited!), and actual push email (yourname@tmail.com).

If you don't already have a plan with T-Mobile, and just want the sidekick for everything, except talk on, then the plan will be $30.00 a month. T-Mobile gives you a $10.00 discount if you get the Sidekick data plan with a voice plan.

Of of the main things I love about the Sidekick is the full qwerty keyboard. It is "fingers down," the best keyboard I've ever used on any mobile device. Trust me, I've had a lot of phones. From the Nokia Communicators, to the HTC fold-outs, the Sidekick lets you blaze through emails, texts and IM's, with it's perfectly layed out qwerty system. I type 40 wpm on the sidekick. No joke. People always ask me if I'm playing a video game, while I'm actually texting, LOL.

I'll try and run through the rest of the Sidekick amenities, cause I know you want to hear about the infamous iPhone, already.

Actually, I don't have anything else to compliment the Sidekick. I'll tell you what needs improvement.

It only holds 100 text messages! Now, with everything great I've told you about the keyboard and unlimited texting, you think the device would be capable of holding more than a mere 100 text messages in it's system. Nope! I always have to delete messages I otherwise wouldn't need to with another device, ( like a Blackberry or iPhone.)

The camera pretty much sucks. The memory card that comes with the Sidekick holds TONS of flicks, but who cares? The quality sucks, even at it's highest pixel setting. The video camera on the Sidekick is limited to 20 seconds. Which isn't bad since it's not a "real" video camera. It's mainly meant for sending as a quick MMS to loved ones. Still though... 20 seconds? Hmmm.

The Sidekick has a usable music player. Works ok. But iTunes has spoiled me, and I refuse to transfer music to any device, any other way than through iTunes.


Like games? get bored at work, school or at the bus stop? Sidekick has tons of games and ringtones available for download.

The web browser is ok. You can choose what size you want to view web pages. Full screen or "fit to screen." Fit to screen works nice.

The battery doesn't hold a charge as long as it should. And this is coming from a guy who doesn't talk on the Sidekick. I have a data plan only. So, I keep the screen at half-brightness all the time. A car charger is only about $5.00 on eBay anyway.

The Sidekick 2008 has been running ok so far. I've had to return every previous Sidekick 5 times each due to factory defects. Something always goes wrong with the Sidekick. So don't be afraid use that One Year Warranty!


I'm mostly happy with the Sidekick. I've tried to live without it a few times, but always come back. For the shortcomings of the Sidekick, here is why I have an iPhone......




I've always been a big iPod fan. So when I got fed up with Sprint (for numerous reasons), I went for that goold ol' iPhone 1G. It connects directly to my car's stereo with a JVC cable, that wonderfully charges the iPhone while playing music.

I'll be as brief as possible here.....

• The display is unmatched. Totally amazing!
  
• The touch screen is still cool, even a year later.
• Free MySpace and Facebook apps make social networking way too fun and easy!
• The multiple alarm clocks are very helpful! The sidekick has only one free alarm. A multiple time alarm for the sidekick can be purchased from T-Mobiles app store.
• Scrolling through contacts is very easy. It has a search bar as well.
• The camera rocks! Below is a picture taken from my iPhone (scaled down)
  

• The email client is very easy to use and easy on the eyes. Regular pop mail, like Gmail, isn't push, but works perfectly.
• I thought YouTube would be a useless app, but I love it. I'm on there way more than I thought I would have been.
• All the apps ROCK. Even the free ones. Pandora and AOL radio let you hear what you want to hear, for free!
• Google Maps is the coolest thing on any cell phone. I did not have to buy a GPS device beacuse the Iphone's Maps app is totally fine! 2g OR 3g!
• Surfing on the iPhone is way better than on the Sidekick.
  

Ok, now here are a few things on what I do NOT like about the iPhone.

• The qwerty keyboard isn't as good as the Sidekicks. I'm sure there a few people that work wonders with the iPhone's qwerty, but I'm not one of them. Even with auto correction turned off, I still type half as well as I do on the Sidekick.
• NO copy & paste! Are you kidding me? Really? This has to be a joke amongst Apple scholars. This makes no sense. No Copy & Paste on "THE" best cell phone created? I copy and paste a LOT on the Sidekick. From forwarding emails to SMS to writing notes. Get it together Apple!
• Safari crashes often. Waiting for Engadget.com or Amazon.com to load usually ends up in a crash. I only use Safari to google.
• No time stamps on every SMS message.
  
• No MMS messaging. What a hassle when someone sends you a photo, but you have to remember a password to view it on Safari!
• Again, NO copy & paste! LOL! w-t-f?

Well, I hope my experience with these phones has helped you out in some way, form or fashion.
My pockets are kind of full, so I'm not planning on getting a G-1. So far, I don't like the data plans they offer anyway. Also AIM & Yahoo IM aren't unlimited like G-Talk is. I'm an AIM & Yahoo fanatic.

Happy Holidays!