Aquila Online

iFell

// December 12th, 2008 // HTC, Tech // 12,131 views

Two days ago I was set on getting the HTC Touch Pro as my contract upgrade phone.

I mean, who can resist a phone that has:

• Mobile Internet features - surf and download at broadband speed with HSPA and Wi-Fi®
• 2.8-inch touch screen, with four times the resolution of most phones
• Vibrant TouchFLOâ„¢ 3D user interface
• Five-row QWERTY keyboard for quick and easy text entry
• 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera with flash light for quality stills and video
• microSDâ„¢ slot for expandable storage
• Integrated GPS can be used with maps software for a full turn-by-turn navigation experience

Turns out all this is good and fine, but Vodacom decided to up the ante and is charging exhorbitant fees for this phone. I was told that I would have to pay in an additional R224 per month to get this phone and that’s on a Talk 500s contract. Not to be funny but who in their right mind will pay over R1,000 just on subscription fees?

At this point my little gadget crazy heart sank to an all time low. I entered into many (sometimes heated) debates discussions with colleagues and friends about the pros and cons of the Apple iPhone vs the HTC Touch Pro. In my books the HTC always trumped everything else.

I must make mention that when the iPhone came out, I too rushed to the nearest store, held it in my hand, ooohed and aaahed about the sexyness factor. It was there that I eventually decided it wasn’t for me. My biggest gripe? No keyboard/stylus input and no 3G passthrough among other things.

Back to the present though. On a whim I called up the nearest Vodacom outlet, asked if they had the iPhone 16GB in stock and much to my surprise, they did. I rushed over to have “a second look” at this phone, clearly convinced that my current HTC TyTN is “still good for another year or so” and “do I really need another brick in my pocket?”.

Strangely enough, holding that iPhone the inner gadget junkie child in me came out - clearly overjoyed at the sight of some bright, fancy gadget with the promise of hours of fun and a coolness factor of +300. I cave in and got the iPhone on a mid-range contract mind you (it’s a slowing economy and we all have to tighten our belts).

As soon as that puppy was fully charged and ready for updates, upgrades and the obligatory sync I uttered three simple words: “I’m in awe“.

I fell hard for this little piece of gadgetry. It’s still early days, but I’m stunned. I hope to write a better post on my experience with the phone in the near future, but for now all I can say is iFell!