The more I use it, the less I like the Sidekick 3.
Written: Jun 20 '07
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Clarity: |
|
|
| Portability: |
 |
|
| Battery Life: |
 |
|
|
Pros: This phone does messaging, text and email, great!
Cons: The SK3 is missing many functions other phones give you standard. At no extra cost.
The Bottom Line: If Text, Email, or IM is your priority, get the SK3. The missing capabilities are frustrating at best.
|
|
|
| augster's Full Review: T-Mobile Sidekick ID Cell Phone |
I have been on kind of a hiatus here at Epinions. Most of the products I have bought in the last year or two have already had plenty of reviews and I have done my research here at Epinions.
From a review I did a couple of years ago on a cell phone, I moved on to the Motorola V3 RAZR. This had plenty of reviews, so I didn't bother. THAT is an excellent phone.
As time went on, I decided I wanted the REAL internet on my phone. Wouldn't that be cool? How about a second source for my MP3's so I wouldn't have to always carry my Ipod and a phone? That'd be alright also. I am getting more and more into text messages. A full keyboard would be nice.
Because of my V3 Razr, I already have a bluetooth headset, so I kind of need that as an option. Lastly, a phone with a REAL calendar in order to kind of act like a PDA would be nice.
Being that the T-Mobile Sidekick 3 is the flagship, basically, of the T-Mobile world I figured it would handle all this and more.
I am going to start with the plusses I have found in this phone. Since this is a negative review of the Sidekick 3, PLEASE make sure you read down to the minuses.
The plusses:
There is a miniSD card slot in order to add up to 2GB memory for photos and MP3's. That's pretty cool and the MP3's work well.
The screen is awesome. Great color and the flip out thing, though kind of flimsy, is still pretty cool to reveal the keyboard.
The keyboard is excellent. Well laid out and EASY to write text messages and emails.
The trackball is awesome. It really makes getting to everything on the screen quite easy.
Having "always on" email (Tmail), unlimited messages and web surfing for only an extra $20 per month is just flat-out awesome.
Those are the plusses.
The Minuses:
There are many things about this phone that make me feel as if I was swindled. The overwhelmingly popular reviews about the Sidekick 3 across the internet kind of glosses over where it is lacking.
First off, T-Mobile has stripped this phone down so badly, and the ONLY way to get the features (IF they are made available) is through purchasing it via the phone.
To start, there was no calculator. On the plus side, it was a free download. That'll be the LAST thing T-Mobile gives you for free.
Since this phone can handle up to 2GB of MP3's, wouldn't it be nice to use one of your MP3's for a ringtone or to wake up in the morning?
Guess what? You can't do it. More than that, THERE IS NO ALARM CLOCK!! What?? So now, after waking up to my phone for the past 10 years, I need to get an alarm clock? "Thankfully" T-Mobile added an alarm clock (along with a lot of other functions). Only $5.
You get the clock, for $5, and THIS THING IS STRIPPED ALSO! With this proprietary clock, called Time Traveller, you STILL CAN'T USE MP3's AS YOUR ALARM!! You still need to use a ringtone or sound. Time Traveller is right. I feel this is at least a rollback of 7 or 8 years. Not including an alarm clock is a time travel of at least 10 years.
On to Ringtones.
No, you can't use MP3's. Huh? I have no problem using MP3's with my RAZR. Oh yeah, this is the Sidekick 3. Everything is a la carte.
So each ringtone can be bought. AT $2.50 APIECE!! What? $2.50 for an 8-second clip, at terrible KBPS? You bet. You have 1000 MP3's on your miniSD card? Unusable.
At least after you download a ringtone, it can be used in Time Traveller for your wake up alarm.
On to the camera, pictures etc.
So I've taken a few pictures of my kids and would like the pictures as my background. Guess what? You can't do it. What? Just sick. Thankfully there is a website that will do it for you. You can create custom backgrounds. Google it. Amazingly, this is a loophole that T-Mobile missed so they could gig you for more money. It still takes just a little doing, but it is a workaround, which is nice.
So I've taken some pictures, now my daughter is doing something funny and I'd like to record some video. Can't do it. WHAT??? My V3 took video. The resolution sucked, but it had video, and audio. Not the Sidekick 3. No video.
Like I wrote earlier, because of the awesome keyboard, text messaging is simple, easy, and quick.
How about picture messaging?
Here's a little story.
I'm watching the last round of the US Open on my Tivo. A friend of mine that NEVER sends texts messages to me sends me a message. I look at it, and the Sidekick tells me it is a Picture message. If this guy is sending me a picture message, it must be pretty important, or quite funny. He has never sent me a message, and this is my first picture message since getting the SK3.
I can't open it. It gives me some mumbo-jumbo about having to set up a "My Album" on the T-Mobile website then look at it from there. Kind of stripped down I think, but once I get it set up, it should be no problem. The SK3 has internet on the phone, so it should be alright.
I try to set it up. And try. And try. No go. It says in order to set it up, you need to SEND a picture message to your phone. So I go into my pictures. There is absolutely NO options to send a picture to a phone number. I can send it via email, which is nice, but no text/pic messaging option in order to set up "My Album" on the website.
I look in the manual. Nothing. Thanks T-Mobile.
So, after almost an hour of this, I hit up the internet (on my computer) and do some searching. Over and over I see the same problem, the same question, "How do you send a picture message via SK3?" Over and over the answer is "You can't".
This can't be right. So it's time for 611. I get a hold of T-Mobile support, after an hour of messing with this, and sure enough, you CAN NOT Send, nor receive, Picture messages. This is their top of the line phone. I ask them, "So there is no way to retrieve that photo that was sent to me, ever?"
Their answer was that it was gone forever. Nice.
So I break down, after an hour, and call my friend to ask him what he was sending me. He tells me he doesn't even know how to send a picture message and his 2 year old nephew was messing with his phone.
Ugh.
I wish I had that hour of my life back....
Almost lastly, the internet on the phone is wanting at best. Everything on the webpage is "stacked". It's not just a smaller version of the internet. At least it is the real internet. A lot of sites have mobile versions, so that helps a bit. And Google works which is nice.
Finally, battery life stinks but it will get you through the day. Just make sure to plug it in every night. There isn't anything like an "8-day standby" on this phone.
Plus the antenna is weaker than my V3. The SK3 has "Less bars, in more places" compared to my V3 in the same areas of use.
To conclude this epic review, I really do like the SK3. It is cool as all get out. It is easy to carry around. I love the keyboard and sending text messages is quick and simple. The screen is great and the layout makes everything intuitive. For $20 extra per month it is well worth it to have the internet with you all the time and unlimited messaging.
What I HATE about this phone is all the things you CAN'T do with it that are STANDARD on almost every phone in the WORLD!!! Coming from a RAZR V3 to the SK3 has really opened my eyes. I had taken for granted such things like Video, MP3 ringtones, MP3 alarms, an alarm clock, all at no extra charge. Picture messaging, though I use it very infrequently, if ever, was simple on the V3. It's not even an option on the SK3.
So in order for my wife to send me a photo from her V3 she needs to connect to the computer. Open up Mobile Phone Tools by Motorola. Extract the photo. Open up hotmail, and send the photo to my TMail address. Not exactly spontaneous.
If you are interested in a lightly used SK3, I will be selling mine, and switching service, as soon as the IPhone comes out on AT&T(Cingular). Look for it on Ebay or give me an offer.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 218
Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
augster
|
|
Reviews written: 18
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2010 Shopping.com, Inc.