Gadgets, gizmos, and tools to help make you more productive in business

I bought my new toy recently and had it for a week.  I needed a more inexpensive phone and something that can sync all my appointments, contacts and email.  So, the XPhoneII it is.  Okay, some of you might think that the new O2 Atom would have been better with all the sweet features.  I deliberated long and hard but realized my budget just can’t buy one for now.  Besides, my PDA phone just died due to my negligence.

Functional
It is a good phone to have.  Everything I really need the phone has.  I can sync everything from Microsoft Outlook, take pictures, record notes, play music, do text messaging (SMS) plus I can add a voice tag so I don't have to go through a menu to access what I want.

Aesthetics
It’s very professional looking and fits my profile since I like black and gray.  But, a bit too dull sometimes and wish I could have a different cover.

Performance
It’s satisfactory and no latency issues when I click through menus.  I was surprised that it didn’t slow down when I imported my 1000 contacts.  But, when I started taking pictures and placed some music, I was disappointed.  That’s when it started to freeze for a few seconds and I wasn’t so sure whether I had to do a reset, which by the way I don’t know if there is a way to do so.

Usability
My tip is that you don't get this phone if you have one thousand contacts.  As simple as looking for someone to text or call, you will find yourself getting frustrated and scrolling down endlessly.  Even pressing the buttons doesn't help.  Though I think the work around is to ensure you've categorized it into smaller groups.  Honestly, I just don't have the time to do so.

So overall, it’s a good phone to have.  Just remember that it is for people who might need a phone more than PDA functionalities.  That was my mistake.