Features and Functionality

When I wrote about upgrading/changing my phone, Gordon commented that he’d rather put up with repeated crashes rather than a phone operating system that’s just broken and overly-complicated. Then again, that’s his fault for buying a Samsung. *grin*

When I got the XDA, I had some specific reasons for getting it. (As well as the geeky “it’s got a slide-out keyboard!” factor, of course) At the time, the laptop I had was old, slow, and didn’t have built-in wireless access. It made sense to have another device that could get emails etc., and – more importantly – open attachments from clients in MS Word, Excel and the like. In addition, the ability to use the XDA in order to write emails on the move without getting Texter’s Thumb along the way was – at the time – a massive advantage. Add in the ability to link to a wireless network, and it was a winner. I could tolerate the constant silent crashes, because the additional functionality of the phone was important to me.

Since then, I’ve upgraded the laptop (and the PC, but that’s another thing) to one that has built-in wireless. And at that point, a lot of my main requirements for the XDA disappeared. I no longer needed it if I was out-and-about, because the laptop connected up, and meant that any client documents etc. could be viewed far more easily than they could on the XDA. And when I started using the XDA just for phone calls and text messages, the constant silent crashes rapidly became a hindrance, and then a pain in the arse.

Now, with the K800i, I can’t read attached documents. I don’t have Wi-Fi access on the phone. I can’t use SSH and PuTTY to connect to a website, or a server, and do some work via the phone. (And yes, geek that I am, I have done that on several occasions with the XDA) But – and this is the important bit – I don’t need to. I’ve got the laptop for that. OK, it’s not as svelte and tiny as the XDA (Ha, not that that’s a revelation) but it does the work I need it to.

The K800i makes calls, takes calls, and sends and receives text messages. It takes photos – admittedly, fairly impressive 3.2Mp ones – not that I use the camera on a phone that much anyway. I can still send and receive email on it if I want to, and it’s got a whole bundle of other functions and features that I may or may not use as time goes on. What it doesn’t do is crash. (So far, anyway) I don’t have to worry that using the camera is going to make it lock up and need a full reboot. I don’t have to worry about whether it’s keeled over silently when I’m expecting a call or a message.

It’s “just” a phone.

And that’s exactly what I wanted.