New gadget-itis... I got it bad.

So... I'm fighting the gadget-itis (read: the burning feeling to buy a new gadget) and I ran across a deal to purchase a Samsung Blackjack cellphone for pretty much nothing. Mad cheap.

Mind you, I know it doesn't have wifi... so I'm looking at the MicroSD wifi card to add that functionality.

Found out that it has Windows Mobile 6 also as an update available if it's not included already.

After realizing that the iPhone will be a closed environment and the Zenum Opus will cost like 800 bucks, I'm looking for a phone that will allow me to use wifi - as well as find wifi hotspots - and stay as much off of the data package as much as possible.

Oh... and thinking of getting an Apple iTV just to hack it to run OSX fully and give my mother a machine she doesn't have to worry about virus and other Windows specific problems.

Lord... I need new and cheaper habits.

What's gotten your attention lately?

Dude,

Your walking a tightrope with your current employment and you thinking spend?

Can you honestly justify the cost?

It will save me money. Switching all calls to VoIP when I'm in a hotspot will allow me to drop my package minutes per month, saving what I spend for the phone and sd wifi in the second month.

By the end of the year, it will save me over 360.00 after buying the new phone and changing my data and phone minutes.

It's also how I've saved at home - switched to VoIP totally for all communication - and saved 960.00 last year as well as helped out my parents save another 480.00 last year. And so far, with the cuts I've been making to assist the situation I'm currently in, saving my mother another 4k this year. I'm optimizing where I can just in case of this ending up to be an even worse year.

And this one gadget, pays for itself.

Yes. I can justify the cost.

Where are you getting it so cheap?

Via Cingular. I'm due for an upgrade and they offered me the Blackjack for pretty much the refurb price for a brand new one.

I gotta say I like my blackjack more and more each day. Comes with a spare battery and charger so you can always pop in the charged one. Friend of mine sent me a link to a service that utilizes a paid skype account for all calls. If you have a unlimited data plan, you can get the smallest minutes plan and not sweat. I'm thinking of switching to that.
Remember it's not touch screen but the click wheel is smooth and v and b page down.
There's no beam either.

I haven't spent much time trying but I can't get opera or the flashplayer to install. I had to edit the registry to get the nes emulator to work but my treo friends drool over its performance and color (un-overclocked). The camera is sick, 3G is like bad dsl which is nice.

The battery drains if you leave a lot of apps running but I hear that's normal.
If it had a stylus and wifi I'd say it's the phone to beat.

I remember you telling me the Blackjack sucked and to avoid it like the plague.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PAlexC

I remember you telling me the Blackjack sucked and to avoid it like the plague.

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Yep. But it's the cheapest way to get a keyboard and a possible wifi hotspot finding, skype/sjlabs voip lil' dude right now. 8125 isn't upgradeable to WM6. 8525... I'm not a fan of it either.

I'm saving money by going that route with the Blackjack. But speed demon, it's not. Nor was the Q you were asking about at the same time, IIRC.

Both are... "ok" phones. In your case, you'd return it faster than you could hack it. In my case, I'm willing to sacrifice a bit to get what I need... cheaply.

What did you mean about the iPhone??? don't crush my dreams young man??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gerbick

I'm saving money by going that route with the Blackjack.

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Sold.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by el-Ignoramus

What did you mean about the iPhone??? don't crush my dreams young man??

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I don't like closed environments... the apps I want are never the apps that are made available. So I pretty much rely on 3rd party apps... and that's not going to happen on the iPhone.

I'm not the typical user in the least though. So keep dreaming, young'n.

have you looked at the fake apple i phone? its a phone made overseas in china or something but they have 2 sim card slots and offer alot of the same functionality like mp3 player an camera and have a micro sd slot. they also sell for like 280$ shipped

Meizu MiniOne?

What's wrong with that phone- and how are they not sued yet?

so what all does a phone need to do to fit the bill?
seriously, how many of the desired uses come into play in your day to day? and how many are just tinker toys?

I walked into the Helio store today on the 3rd street promenade in Santa Monica, and walked out with the new Ocean phone, its interface is gorgeous. The google maps thing sold me, which is what I was looking forward to on the iPhone, but wasn't going to spend $500 for the phone. I got the Ocean for $145.

What the hell is a Helio? All the commercials say they aren't really a cell phone and then just say you can check your myspace on them...?

It's a cell phone with unlimited data based on the MVNO service framework.

The Ocean is cool... but no wifi or OS that would support it dooms it for me.

to be fair gerbick, you'd struggle with a couple of paper cups and a bit of string so I suggest you save your money and perhaps nip out and get your back shaved.

Who do you recommend, darling?

Dude, you keep baggin' on my phone.....meanwhile you have been through every girly phone Cingular makes (* looks over at Kristi and Heather's w600i's :rolleyes: *).

The orientation of the keyboard fits my hands better that narrower devices. The 8525 is smaller and faster that my 8125, it is next on my list.

The Blackjack, while an awesome (and fast) phone, lacks crucial features (as did all other devices I looked into) that I required. I am just not willing to give up WiFi, or connectivity on any level.

You talked about getting a MicroSD WiFi Card... That instantly limits the applications that you can load on your device. You only have 64 MB RAM, which you will now use to store all of your apps and media files. Not a ton of room if you ask me...

Also, you will not be getting the full version of Windows Mobile (5 or 6 won't matter in case of the BJ <-- :p ), instead you will be getting the Smartphone version, which is, why I gather, is is so fast... I am not sure exactly all of the features that are different in the smartphone version of WM, but you won't get the Microsoft Office Mobile Suite or document editing capabilities on the BlackJack. Instead, you get an application called Picsel Viewer Suite, which allows you to only open and view Word and Excel documents, PowerPoint presentations, and PDFs.

Looks to me like you really need to make sure you are willing to give up some features. If you are willing to settle then go for it, the BJ is not a bad phone. It's just not a phone for me...

...meanwhile, I'll be MoBanning suckas from my 8125.

shhh... if he doesnt get it who will teach me how to get links in my email to launch a damn browser? :D

i love the 8525.

bah. I ain't hating on the 8125. In fact, I'm the one that found it for you; remember? That original deal, I could have ran with it too. I got the w600i because it cost me nothing. In fact, every phone so far has cost me nothing since the Motorola's all sucked to high heaven.

That phone is just not for me. The Blackjack... like I said. It'll be cheap. And the two or three programs that I'll install on the ROM instead of the Transflash... Skype (2.1mb) and SJLabs (1.37mb or so) and Wififofum (480k or so... it's small). Heck, my iPaq was fully installed on the 64mb SD card with enough room to put music on there too. I don't really foresee filling up that first bit o' RAM for a while the way I'm going to use it.

Oh... with that version on the Samsung; I'll be getting the ability to view and edit via the Office suite. It's part of WM6 Mobile, or whatever they're calling it now.

The ROM update was to change some icons and branding. I'm talking about the OS update.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gerbick

Who do you recommend, darling?

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I'll do it, just give me a few hours to sterilise my shearing shed...

Surprised those things keep a sharp edge after being used on your forest of a back...

http://imgred.com/tn/http://www.cybe...carnascar3.jpg

aaaahhahAhHHHHHH my eyes! :yikes:

What you don't know about that image is, they tried to shave a number into her back also, but that **** was way too thick...


Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzrrrrrrrrrrrrr...Zzzzzzzzk...zzz zrrrrck...rrrrrt... >poof!<



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