Goodbye, Hello

By jingfrey at 2007-11-23
This is the original unit that came with the bank-issued cellphone number I used when I was in TMG. Initially had to use the dual sim gadget to be able to switch between my personal number and the bank number.

When the unit was replaced by a Sony Ericsson, I bought this from the bank at its depreciated price and Jon used it along with my personal SIM for a while. When I was transferred to DMG, I handed over the Sony-Ericsson phone to another TMG trader and began using this along with my old, personal SIM card. My brother had to go back to using his old Nokia unit (which also used to be mine) and a prepaid SIM card.

I've already gone through two chargers and a battery. The third and current charger isn't working perfectly and the current (2nd) battery needs changing because it runs out of charge faster than usual. It still works though. I dropped it and cracked the casing. It still works. Then I lost the part of the casing that was chipped off after it cracked. It made recharging the battery harder because the case is a bit loose now. What made me realize I need to buy a smartphone was when my old organizer started to give me a garbled screen. I had to move my organizer data somewhere else before the data becomes irretrievable. So, it boils down to me needing a new organizer, but bundling it up with a phone would be nice.

The realization took place two months ago. It didn't give me enough motivation to look for a phone. What prompted me to get a new one was seeing a picture on the newspaper of the Sony-Ericsson P1i this week. I just decided I wanted it. Ha ha ha! I never thought I'd be an impulse buyer when it comes to phones.

I was actually hunting for the P1i yesterday afternoon. The Sony-Ericsson shop in Glorietta's Digital Exchange had ran out of stock. It wasn't available in the Sony shop in Park Square either. Found it in another Park Square shop - the Comcentre. It was the last phone available. The other unit they had left was already reserved. Decided to buy it since they allow "0%" for 6 months and had no problem splitting the amount between two of my credit cards (one card has a small credit limit, the other card with a bigger limit was almost maxed out with previous purchases and the plane ticket). Just realized that the whole amount is charged to my credit limit even if I picked paying in installments. Don't like paying cash either ... I get a kick out of earning reward points from my credit card.

:-) The credit card guy I talked to after the store told me that I've reached my limit with one card had an odd tone in his voice after I asked him how soon can I use my card if I pay the full amount due within the month tomorrow, Monday. He has just figured out I'm one of those people they don't make much money from because I don't pay credit card interest if I can help it. Wondering if I'll see an increase in my credit limit after this stunt. The last time they increased my limit was when I maxxed the card and paid the whole amount on due date. You see - these companies will keep on increasing your limit till you end up charging more than you can pay for and start paying them interest.

My sim card was snuggled in its new home when I stepped out of Comcentre:

By jingfrey at 2007-11-23

Saw the unit was available in SM and the gadget shop in Greenbelt 3 (or is it 5?). It costs around PHP1,000 to PHP5,000 more in those stores. The phone will probably cost less in places like Greenhills ... but I trust shops in places like Makati more.

I like the P1i because it isn't an obvious smart phone. I don't like lugging around the wide PDAs nor the thick smartphones. The P1i is thinner. It also doesn't look like a toy like some Nokia and most Motorola phones do (especially the models covered in 100% plastic). It is open to third party applications, has built in organizer features, is tri-band, Wi-fi enabled, has a touch screen, and isn't as expensive as the more popular Nokia phones. Added plus for me is that it also has decent camera/radio/video/music player/sound recorder features. The P1i is probably not very user friendly if you're used to the Nokia or togglesticks, but I'm geeky enough to overcome that.

Honestly, I would prefer having a quad-band phone with the latest wi-fi technology, and some other techie features. However, my brother pointed out that I'd be paying twice as much if I look for a phone with everything in my checklist. And twice the price is paying too much for me.

It took me last night till this afternoon to manually transfer all the data from my old organizer to my new phone (the organizer does not have features that allow data to be transferred to another gadget or a computer). Actually shouted with glee when I was done with the final entry.

I have yet to register the phone online with Sony and download the free applications. Actually, I haven't even installed the program that allows my phone to connect and synchronize with my PC.