Phone shuffle time

sony ericsson s710a cell phone

We’ve been back in the Boston area just short of a year, so it’s probably time for me to get a cell number with a 781 area code.

Actually, the move is precipitated by increasingly flaky performance from my once-trusty Nokia 3650. The phone has never had great reception at our house, and now it’s not answering some calls and dropping others. Time to move on.

I did my research and decided to make a few changes. First, after looking at the available models, I decided against getting another Nokia right now. I like the Symbian platform, but frankly I’m not using it. The only apps that I run on this phone are available on other platforms too. And Nokia has really fallen behind in terms of phone design.

I realized how far behind Nokia has fallen when I looked at phones from LG, Samsung, and even Sony Ericsson. I had once sworn never to get another Ericsson, but the S710a changed my mind. This is a slick little phone, and despite its association with Star Wars Episode III seems to provide some serious features, including a 1.3 megapixel camera (with a lens cover!) and built in Bluetooth. Plus that screen… and of course the EDGE network stuff. Compared to it, the runner up, the Nokia 6820, just didn’t look good.

Second, I decided to buy the phone, and my new service plan, from Amazon. Over the last few years I’ve grown to realize that there is nothing magical about the activation service that the cell phone dealer provides, and a look at the activation instructions provided for Cingular phones confirms that. So I bought a new plan with the phone and reaped the relatively massive discounts that came with it, and I’ll cancel the old service when the new phone arrives. I don’t know why I thought that would be hard. (Though maybe I should wait until the whole thing is done before making that assessment.)

It will be nice to have a cell phone that is a little smaller, and I won’t miss the circular keypad.