End of an Era

[sbisson]

I've been an Orange subscriber for a long time now, longer than I can remember. I've been through the whole WAP boom with them, through the first smartphones, and through more devices than I can remember.

However today I called up and asked for my PAC. Orange still hasn't launched a flat-rate data service, so it's time to go somewhere else.

I've decided to move to another operator with a lower-cost data tariff, and off-the-shelf mobile email. My current thinking is to go to T-Mobile with Web'n'Walk and Flext, and probably get a Blackberry Pearl. I did rather like the one I reviewed for IT Pro. The alternative is Vodafone's similar service, and a Treo 750W.

The one big question, of course, is the cost of getting mail while I travel....

It's a pity T-Mobile have't launched the Dash over here, as that might have tipped the odds one way or another. Still, I have 30 days to decide now.

Decisions, decisions.

I'd be interested in understanding what other folk have been looking at, and what you all recommend...

Comments

[autopope.livejournal.com]

I moved from Orange to FlexT with web'n'walk about five months ago. My initial phone was the HTC TyTN aka MDA Vario II, but after putting up with it for two months I downgraded to my old Treo 650 ... and after another month, stumped up for a new, unlocked, Sony-Ericsson M600i. Strong suggestion: if you can get an M600i with an all-you-can-eat data plan, whether it be Vodafone or T-Mobile, do so. It's a really good phone (as a phone) and an adequate address book/PDA, its battery life with 3G is okay as long as you remember to plug it in every day or two (see also: twice as good as the HTC), and the UI Just Works the way a mobile phone should (you start typing a number and -- lawks! it pops up a window and starts to dial).

I'm using it with Bluetooth from a Macbook and/or a Vaio TX3XP running Ubuntu, and it does fine with both. (I'm considering investing in a Web'n'walk data card for the laptop, but that's another matter.)