Somebody Answer The Phone

On Friday I switched from Sprint to Helio for my cellphone service. Sprint had been charging me about $130/mo for 500 daytime minutes and unlimited texts (with vision plan for my pocketpc). I was using a ppc-6601 phone which I got the month they came out in November 2004. At the time it was a pretty darn expensive phone ($600). Well, a few weeks ago I shatterred the screen on my ppc-6601 and had used up my insurance replacements for the year. The Helio service is $99/mo for unlimited everything (txt, talk, data, etc..). The Helio Ocean is the phone that I got from www.heliobuy.com for $150. I was on a limited budget to buy a new phone and it had an awesome list of features. It is being compared to the iphone, which I think is a bit far fetched. I might compare the Ocean to my ppc-6601 and still, it would be close.

Advantages of the Ocean over the iphone:

• It has 3G. Browsing on the Ocean is super fast as well as downloads.
• It is a dual slider. Not only does it have a number pad, but also a full qwerty keyboard.
• It has GPS. The google maps app shows you exactly where you are and you can get directions from your location. Also uses buddy beacon so your friends can always find you.
• You can install 3rd party apps on it without having to jailbreak it.
• The phone plan is unlimited (for $99/mo)
• The phone is cheap ($150)
• It has a removable battery.

Advantages of the iphone over the Ocean:

• It has Wi-Fi. Although this is a battery killer, it is pretty handy to get on local networks or for places with no cell signal.
• It has a touchscreen.
• It has a larger screen.
• It holds much more stuff (8gb or 16gb)

If I could have gotten the iphone with a qwerty keyboard, 3G network, and a $99 unlimited plan then I would have not chosen the Ocean. Even at the much higher price of $400 - $500 I would have paid the extra cash. If the Ocean had a larger screen that was a touchscreen, ran the newest version of windows mobile, and could take sdhc cards (instead of only 2gig sd cards) I think it would be the best phone you can get (even if it only had a qwerty slide out keyboard) and I would have paid a lot more money for it.

I don't want to down the Ocean. For the price it is amazing. It is built very solid and has an incredible number of cool features. It was just released in May 2007, so a replacement for it could be a long way off, and especially since the word is that Helio isn't doing so great financially. Their phone plan still offers more bang for your buck than any of the major carriers, even with this month's crazy price war beginning. It runs on Sprint, so you still get great coverage everywhere.

The title: Mario Piu - Communication (Somebody Answer The Phone)