Friday, September 9, 2005
Sabbatical update / HTC Universal Defense
Posted by Jon Westfall in "THOUGHT" @ 05:08 AM
Ah, time for a good old fashion thought post & poll. Lately with the news pouring in, we've been a bit scarce of these. Just me and my thoughts on this one - no link needed. I'm writing to update everyone on my so-far successful tech sabbatical, and why when I'm off of it, I'm planning on procuring a Universal.
First the sabbatical. Not much has happened in the last 20 days or so since the Mid-August update, however I have had quite a few temptations and close calls. I've made some purchases which I've deemed necessary and thus not under the umbrella of "impulse tech that Jon doesn't really need but wants". This included some substantially discounted hard drives for my home-fileserver to replace old & dying drives during the august re-configuration, a new docking station to replace the old one that was broken, and a desktop DVD drive that will eventually go into my fiance's new computer. Argue with me if you like (And vote as you feel), but I don't count these against me as they were regular purchases, not impulse buys or new technology.
So I feel the sabbatical is going well, and October 1 it will be nice to have completed it. My bank account has grown without the tech purchases it normally endures, so that's cool as well.
Now on to the HTC Universal. I've heard a lot of clattering in the forums about why this device makes no sense to the US market, mostly focusing on the fact that it does not support Cingular's network. I'm not a Cingular subscriber, and despite their lagging support for faster networks, T-Mobile works fine for me. I've learned over many years as a sys admin that when you're using something that works and there is no substantial need to upgrade, stick with it! T-Mobile might be slow, but it has service where I need it, it supports all the features of the Universal that I need, and when it comes to high-speed, if I'm going to be doing any work needing it, I'll 99% of the time be at a WiFi hotspot. So in my opinion, any T-Mobile user out there wishing to get one shouldn't be deterred. Sorry Cingular folk that they didn't include the bands you need.
However, the sticking price with the Universal, as with every previous HTC phone, is the price. While I do have a pretty high price range (I've been saving for awhile now for this thing), I'm not going over what I've spent in the past for a PPC/PE, which currently sits around $800-$1000 range (I paid a REAL premium to get my I-Mate PPC/PE less than a month after it debuted in Dubai back in 2003). However, with prices as they are now, I'm not going to place my order. Besides, I'm on sabbatical ;)
And one last note in my update for those of you saying "As soon as he sees that thing in his price range he's going to jump on it, sabbatical or no sabbatical", I must admit to you - you're right. However it's only to make sure I can grab one for my off-date of October 1. I promise to you all that if a HTC Universal box happens to be in my hands before October 1, it shall not be opened until that day - And just you wait till you see the initial reactions post!
First the sabbatical. Not much has happened in the last 20 days or so since the Mid-August update, however I have had quite a few temptations and close calls. I've made some purchases which I've deemed necessary and thus not under the umbrella of "impulse tech that Jon doesn't really need but wants". This included some substantially discounted hard drives for my home-fileserver to replace old & dying drives during the august re-configuration, a new docking station to replace the old one that was broken, and a desktop DVD drive that will eventually go into my fiance's new computer. Argue with me if you like (And vote as you feel), but I don't count these against me as they were regular purchases, not impulse buys or new technology.
So I feel the sabbatical is going well, and October 1 it will be nice to have completed it. My bank account has grown without the tech purchases it normally endures, so that's cool as well.
Now on to the HTC Universal. I've heard a lot of clattering in the forums about why this device makes no sense to the US market, mostly focusing on the fact that it does not support Cingular's network. I'm not a Cingular subscriber, and despite their lagging support for faster networks, T-Mobile works fine for me. I've learned over many years as a sys admin that when you're using something that works and there is no substantial need to upgrade, stick with it! T-Mobile might be slow, but it has service where I need it, it supports all the features of the Universal that I need, and when it comes to high-speed, if I'm going to be doing any work needing it, I'll 99% of the time be at a WiFi hotspot. So in my opinion, any T-Mobile user out there wishing to get one shouldn't be deterred. Sorry Cingular folk that they didn't include the bands you need.
However, the sticking price with the Universal, as with every previous HTC phone, is the price. While I do have a pretty high price range (I've been saving for awhile now for this thing), I'm not going over what I've spent in the past for a PPC/PE, which currently sits around $800-$1000 range (I paid a REAL premium to get my I-Mate PPC/PE less than a month after it debuted in Dubai back in 2003). However, with prices as they are now, I'm not going to place my order. Besides, I'm on sabbatical ;)
And one last note in my update for those of you saying "As soon as he sees that thing in his price range he's going to jump on it, sabbatical or no sabbatical", I must admit to you - you're right. However it's only to make sure I can grab one for my off-date of October 1. I promise to you all that if a HTC Universal box happens to be in my hands before October 1, it shall not be opened until that day - And just you wait till you see the initial reactions post!
