New Smartphone User

[Patrick]

I have been a long time PPC user and now I am finally a Smartphone user. Finally they are available in Canada (from a carrier), so I picked up a smt5600 and I'm loving it. In fact since getting the smt5600 I have neglected my PPC and actually let the battery die :cry: First time I have ever let that happen. Thank goodness MS is moving to persistant storage, so I won't have to rebuild my PPC every time I forget about it. :D

I still love my PPC, and I know it still has a place, but do you guys find that you still use your PPC much since getting a smartphone? Do you even have a PPC anymore? Do you even know what a PPC is? :wink:

[Mike Temporale]

Ah yes, I've done that a number of times. Only to let it happen again. Before I had my Smartphone, it would never, ever go dry. :( Right now, my iPAQ is sitting with the battery out on my desk. I'll be giving it another try again soon. But, I expect that it will end up with a drained battery all over again.

So... Welcome to a whole new world :mrgreen:

I'm guessing you're on Rogers?

[Patrick]

I am on Rogers. Now I really wish they had cheaper data plans. A phone like this begs for an unlimited data plan. :D

[Mike Temporale]

That's why I went with Fido. Actually, I was already on Fido, but anyway... Fido's unlimited data plan is $50, while Rogers is $100. So I figured that the cost of an unlocked SMT5600 from the US may be more upfront, but the data plan is cheaper in the long run. :)

[ctmagnus]

Rogers upgraded me to something like a $40 plan for I forget how much data when I called them a week ago. I guess I'll see how much data I really get when I get this month's bill in ~ four weeks. If it turns out that it is a $40 data plan I'm on, and I don't consider the amount of data to be reasonable, I may jump ship to Fido. The benefits of being on a month-to-month plan. :mrgreen:

I just hope that we get number portability soon. At least within the next three months if I don't like the new plan I'm on, as I get a three month trial with it.

[Mike Temporale]

I just hope that we get number portability soon. At least within the next three months if I don't like the new plan I'm on, as I get a three month trial with it.

It's coming - virgin is pushing the CRTC hard for this - but I would guess it's farther out than 3 months. Maybe by year end, but my money would be on middle of 2006. :( I've lost some really good numbers over the years and I really like my current number - however I have no plans to leave fido.

[Patrick]

I find even $50 bucks for unlimited a bit steep, especially when added to a voice plan. If you use it for business I guess it's worth it and you can always write it off on your taxes. I just use my phone for personal use, so I find it hard to justify the expense to the accounting department (wife :wink: ).

[Mike Temporale]

I find even $50 bucks for unlimited a bit steep, especially when added to a voice plan. If you use it for business I guess it's worth it and you can always write it off on your taxes. I just use my phone for personal use, so I find it hard to justify the expense to the accounting department (wife :wink: ).

oh, I agree with you on that. It's not cheap, but it is a little easier than the $100 a month with Rogers. I also noticed that Rogers doesn't (or didn't) have much in the way of MB/month plans. That may have changed by now.

[Patrick]

Well they have what they call Navigate mobile internet plans and Data plans. The difference seems to be that the data plans allow you to use their "MyMail" product. I took a starter data plan for $15/1.5MB and $21/MB for anything over, just to try the MyMail. It worked surprisingly well and allowed me to sync my calendar, contacts, and email from work over GPRS. Due to the volume of mail I receive at work, it isn't realistic for me to keep this going since I am paying out of my own pocket. I am going to switch to a Navigate plan that is $12 for 2MB/$0.01/KB over. I'll just use it to check my personal pop mail account every now again in a pinch. I work in an office with a computer in front of me, and at home I have a WiFi network connected to high speed internet, so GPRS access is not really necessary. It is more of a W?BIC type scenario :D