I’ve been toting around for the past 6 months or so my 8125 from Cingular and it has been a great phone. Everything I’ve ever wanted and in some areas, even more (I’ll explain shortly.) I run in and out of airports fairly frequently so I needed something I could get my email and RSS feeds with and be able to have all my calendar and contact stuff on me. So I’ve been set for a while…that is, until I noticed ads, in the airports no less, for the Nokia E62. So it got me curious and I started wondering if it was going to be Cingular’s answer to the Moto Q. So I had to run into a Cingular store a week or two ago and looked at the Nokia but that thing is HUGE. It’s like the HP’s they have for sell. My 8125 is thick but this one looked thick and wide!!! Bleh, no good.
So I thought my dreaming was done until I was in a meeting with one of our banks when the bank president came in and showed off his new Samsung Blackjack that I really got excited. Especially when I heard it was a Cingular phone. So once I got home I did some research on it and it looked great. Cnet gave it a fairly decent review (who I trust) and the blogosphere had about the same to say. So I decided, what the hell. I’ll get it and if it doesn’t work for me I’ll return it within the 30 days.
Well, you ask? What do I think so far?
It kicks the llama’s ass. My #1 reason for getting it is the size. I LOVE THE SIZE! It feels like my Razr did in my pocket because, once again, I’m not a ‘belt clipping cell phone holder’ kinda guy. That was my #1 biggest problems with the 8125 b/c I couldn’t take it everywhere with me without it being a nuisance in my pocket.
The OS is Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone edition and it seems real responsive. More so than my 8125 somehow. MAJOR NOTE: If you are a stylus junkie, don’t get this phone. Like the Q, it doesn’t have a touchscreen but for my use I never used the touchscreen so it works great.
It was cool to see that Samsung loaded some nice app’s to it built-in like a picture viewer and a RSS reader but I went with my Newsbreak reader anyway. The user experience is better.
Oh, and another major thing if you get this phone. The JVM module it comes with SUCKS ass. It wouldn’t let me run the Google Maps or Gmail Java Client properly. I did find another Java implementation by IBM that I loaded and it runs those apps perfectly, so until they update the software, you need to run that J9 app. If this applie to you, check the top message here for details. It should get you going for the interim. You’re welcome. 
I also wanted to mention the upgrade to my data package. The Blackjack is one of two new Cingular phones that are running the 3G service and comparing it to their ‘E’ or Enhanced service it is so much faster. It actually feels like a legit experience to surf now. Getting weather, movie times, directions is a snap. But 3G is only available in a handful of markets in Texas. Oh, and this phone is a quad-band world phone so when I’m jet-setting to Australia I’ll be golden. Yeah right.
A cool accessory that comes with the phone is an additional battery. It also has a battery charger to plug in your battery to charge. Good thinking Samsung! Customers like that kind of stuff!
Last bit of knowledge, the price tag. If you are eligible for an upgrade you can get the phone for $299 with a $100 rebate, bringing to a very reasonable $199. If you are not eligible (ex. ME) then you have to pay full price which rang in at right around $500 for me. Yeah, I’m sick.
Alright, that’s all I got for now. Blackjack out.
Technorati Tags: Samsung Blackjack, Moto Q, Cingular, Newsbreak, 3G, Nokia E62, Razr
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