I finally got myself a new cell phone to replace my T-mobile Sidekick II. I now am the proud owner of a new Helio Ocean Smart Phone. I really loved my Sidekick, so I really wanted to replace it with one of the newer ones. However, my son has the new one and he hates it, armed with that knowledge, I began my search for a “mo-better” device, lol!
I really like the iPhone (my friend Nina has one) but, I don’t like the touch screen, I am a push-button type of girl. I am a big Cnet.com fan, so I turned to them for reviews of several different smart phones. CNET gave the Ocean – 8.3 out of 10, which is an excellent review.
Pros: This phone does everything I need. First it is a good phone, second it is very easy to text, send and receive e-mail; and last the web feature is great. In addition to being able to use the Helio mail, you can use your POP mail, or multiple other providers (Yahoo, EarthLink, Windows Live, and Gmail). For those who are into MySpace and YouTube, these features are integrated very seamlessly into the interface.
There is an expansion slot where you can add 2 GB of memory, which you will need if you plan to play music and videos via your phone. The device came with a nice set of headphones, and the music actually sounded pretty good when listening through them. There is some free software available via the Helio web site that will allow you to add drivers to you PC so that it will recognize the device as a hard drive.
Cons: It is large, but not as large as the Sidekick, so I am use to that. I don’t like the QWERTY keypad as well as I liked the one of the Sidekick (the buttons are a little closer together) but I think I will eventually get use to it. It is not a great camera (neither, was the Sidekick) but it does do Video, which my Sidekick did not.
We got the family plan (Ruffus has a Helio Fin now ) and the price was about the same as we paid at T-mobile.
So far, so good… I will keep you updated on how I like the phone in the long term.
