|
You pegged it, Jason. I sometimes wonder if the Canadian carriers do this Punish the Windows Users approach because they are ignored by Microsoft or something like that. Maybe MS doesn't send enough product bunnies to meet with Canadian execs? It's time for some MS pimping, big time.
My current WM handset is on its last legs. While I'd like to have a GSM phone, I've been burnt too many times by Rogers to go back to them. So I'm will Telus. Telus offers right now only one WM professional (touch screen) phone and it is terrible. They have removed Remote Desktop, something I must have. Heck, having Remote Desktop is the main reason why I am loyal to WM. I don't like having to drag around a laptop just to reboot a server.
The crap phone also has a USB headset connection! The engineer that came up with that design should be shot. Maybe with a USB headphone! The headset ear things won't even fit in my ear. I know, I know, Bluetooth. But I can't use bluetooth everywhere.
Telus finally added a $25 month "unlimited" US data roaming feature. So I am saving big while travelling in the US these days. I'm sure that feature will disappear soon, though.
Most of my mobile phone usage is data - in a typical month, I use less than 10 minutes of voice. But you have to have a voice plan to get a data plan.
Because my phone is on its last legs, I am considering the following options until (if?) Telus provides a decent phone:
1) getting a pay as you go cheap cellphone for emergencies only and hoping that I'm near a wifi provider when I need real connectivity.
2) Ditching WM for a Blackberry and hoping that I'm near wifi when I need a server connection.
3) getting a PC cell card and a UMPC to schlep around everywhere. Heck, the data plans for the cell cards are much cheaper and truly unlimited -- plus Telus throws in their Hotspot plan on the unlimited plan, too. I do have a 10" laptop that fits in my purse, so I could do this without a new UMPC.
4) waiting for Rogers to get the iPhone in Canada and ditching WM and Telus permanently.
5) Switching to Rogers again, risking being caught with a phone that does not work and no help from them.
Notice that none of my current options include getting a WM phone from Telus? I have $1000 burning a hole in my pocket, I want a WM phone, but I can't buy a decent one that works.
If the reason why Telus et al charge more for data plans for WM is due to the fact that they tend to up data usage, then why the heck would a cell connection via a laptop be cheaper? I can sure as heck run up much more usage with a laptop than I can with a WM phone.
I guess I could also try to buy a used WM Telus phone.
Any other ideas? I'd like to have a WM Pro phone that has WiFi, a real headphone connection, RDP functionality.
|