Benjamin Golub’s blog

I had been on a shared Verizon family plan with my mother and the rest of my family for 4 years.  My line’s contract was up last week so I took advantage of the opportunity to sign up for Sprint.  I had two big reasons for switching:

1. Megen uses Sprint and she is the only person I ever call.  Being on Sprint means our calls to each other are free.
2. Sprint’s SERO program is a ridiculously good value.  $30 a month gets me 500 minutes, free after 7pm and weekends, unlimited text messages, and (here’s the kicker) unlimited data.

I chose the Motorola Q9c for my phone.

It was only $99 and I wanted a phone that could really take advantage of having unlimited data.  I’ve had the phone for a few days now and am loving it.  The screen is gorgeous, very bright, and easy to read.  The interface is decent; not as intuitive as the iPhone but good enough.  Internet Explorer works very well for mobile optimized websites (Twitter, Google Reader, and Facebook all work exceptionally well on it) but sucks for anything else.  The Sprint network is extremely quick; I’ve tested it between 200 and 600 Kbps depending on the reception.  More than fast enough for anything I’ll be using the phone for; YouTube worked just fine (although it opens up Windows Media Player instead of using a Flash player).

The keyboard is actually a joy to type on.  I’ve used the iPhone and can’t stand the keyboard; I was constantly making mistakes.  This might be because I only tested very shortly but I feel like tactile feedback is necessary.  The Q9c has convex curved keys that make it very easy to type on.  I rarely make a mistake and am typing at a decent rate.  I’ve been able to send emails and text messages with ease.

I’ve got it setup to sync my Gmail Inbox (via IMAP) every hour and this is working very well.  Since I keep my Inbox empty and I don’t sync the All Mail folder I typically have no email on the phone (saving space).  When I’m at my computer I typically respond to emails as they arrive so they don’t sit around my Inbox long enough for them to reach my phone.  But when I’m on the go my phone will notify me when I receive an email and it’s easy enough to respond and archive (by moving the message to the All Mail folder which removes it from my phone since I don’t sync that folder).  This will be exceptionally useful when traveling; no need to bring the laptop around anymore.

I’ve setup Twitter to text me any @ replies or direct messages during the day.  Thankfully Twitter lets you control when it will and won’t send text messages so between 9pm and 8am it won’t text me.  I’ve also got it setup to text me anytime anyone mentions RSSmeme; handy for getting in touch with my users.  This is nice but I haven’t decided if I’m going to keep it like this; so far it hasn’t been buzzing too often but I could see this getting annoying quickly.

Google Reader on Internet Explorer is very nice.  Here is how I use it:

1. Look at the page of stories.
2. Read anything interesting.
3. Share anything really interesting.
4. Mark that page of stories as read.
5. Move onto the next page of stories.

This works well for me especially with the keyboard shortcuts (but they need a shortcut for sharing).  I’ve recently toned down the number of “firehose” RSS feeds I subscribe to.  Instead I focus on subscribing to people.  This has given me a much higher signal to noise ratio.  Instead of having 500 unread stories waiting for me every morning I’m down to under 100.

Remember the Milk offers a MilkSync application that keeps my tasks in sync.  Every 4 hours my phone will sync with my Remember the Milk account so any tasks I’ve added on the phone or completed off the phone are taken care of appropriately.  No more telling myself to “add it to my todo list” while on the road and forgetting.

The battery life is wonderful.  I was able to go 2 days of heavy data usage with just a bit of phone usage and only lose 1 bar of battery life.  The Q9c comes with the extended battery which makes the device a bit heavier and adds a “bump” to the back.  It’s still small and light though.  I’m glad Sprint included the extended battery.

Overall I’m very pleased so far.  I’ve just placed an Invisible Shield over the screen so I shouldn’t have to worry about scratches and won’t need a bulky (ugly) case.  Definitely 2 thumbs way up.