mongooseblog

Lately I’ve felt like my claim to geekhood has been diminishing… no real significant tech purchases since my <flaunt>20GB iPod</flaunt&gt, no longer at least trying to be an Early Adopter (those of the digerati that have the latest and greatest before everyone else–seriously, who can afford that anyway? Not I).

So a few weeks ago, I went and got a Treo 300. For a fleeting moment I thought about a Danger Hiptop a.k.a. T-Mobile Sidekick, but that would mean, among other things, relinquishing that 917-area code number that I am much too fond of. While compared to today’s modern marvels of engineering the Treo looks absolutely clunky, it’s actually quite elegant insofaras replacing the phone-PDA combo that I had been using previously. (And for some reason I just love the speakerphone.)

I used to run a Palm Vx with Omnisky service–you mate a CDPD modem sled from Novatel Wireless with the Vx, which totally ruins the slim form of the Palm. Service was good, but it was totally annoying to have to attach the thing every time I wanted to use it.

After having lost my StarTAC somewhere in the underbrush of suburban Connecticut, I didn’t even bother to repopulate my new mobile’s phonebook.

So now, I’ve got an all-in-one solution. I was planning on just test-driving the Treo for a week or two and then returning it to Best Buy, since the MSRP is really ridiculous, but a very helpful salesgirl helped me pick up a good chunk of the rebates that were available for the phone, so it’s for keeps now.

And I’ll be damned if this thing hasn’t rekindled my affinity for geek toys, not to mention kick my geek status back up a notch or two. Yes, it’s a step back from the T615C I had before, but I realized that I wasn’t really using it that much: the screen’s pretty but it doesn’t make up for the TOTALLY UNUSABLE up/down buttons. Grr.

Using AIM (with VeriChat, a very cool app) worked incredibly well. I only wish that I could find an IMAP client that worked as well (I’m going to centralize delivery of mail from my various email addys and I’d like to access it by IMAP). Also, the previous entry was entered in from my Treo, but using the standard MT entry interface on a small screen is too cumbersome. KABLOG to the rescue! I can feel the geekiness rising… now, if only I could get the email solution the way I want it, I’d be in heaven…