Not What I Expected...

Cancelling out my T-Mobile service

So, the t-mobile Sidekick goes away permanently at the end of my billing cycle, but given it's current state of not keeping a full charge for more than 18 hours or so--and that's in wait state--it's going to be non-functional a long time before that.

This is a phone that was one year old. When I compared the screen to the one on my new Treo 600, I was shocked at how bright and clear the Treo was. It also answered the question as to why I seemed to be developing situational presbyopia--it's not me, it the screen!

Called t-mobile. They wanted to know why I wanted to cancel their service. Well, I can't get or receive a call in my house. Did I consder standing next to a window. No, sorry--I can't run my life by trying to find a place where I can get signal.

I think the kicker was when Chuq and I drive back from Portland last Christmas. I didn't have signal all the way down the Oregon coast, and nothing on 101 going south into California until we hit Santa Rosa. That's about 600 miles with no service. One of the reasons I have a cell phone is to make sure that if I'm caught on the road, I can call someone.

They offered me 6 months free service. On a phone that has had its battery completely crap out in 12 months, with no service areas where I happen to be, and with a screen that's quickly meeting an ambient state of splah grey. Oy. I know this this the script, but really...

I really, really liked the concept of the Sidekick. Love the keyboard. I hope that the system I had was a lemon--the hookup for power went flakey about four months after I bought the beast, along with all the other stuff that just wore down over the year.

But between the lack of signal where I need signal, and the various physical breakdowns, the reality just wasn't pretty.

Posted by lsefton at April 26, 2004 03:15 PM