When good gadgets die….

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Tags : About MY Gear, HTC, Microsoft Windows Phone Devices, Mobile Phones

When good gadgets die….

Posted on 22 April 2009 by Mark Licari

Why does it seem like talking about something jinxes it. I know that you can jinx a no-hitter by talking about it, but kill your favorite gadget? Unheard of.

I did Dan’s Gear-Libs the other day, singing the praises of my HTC Advantage 7501. Last night it passed on to gadget heaven. It had been fine except for the micro-drive which stopped working a few months ago.

I still fondly remember the day we met, it was cold and rainy, but CompUSA was going out of business. It was a mere $300.00 and I couldn’t resist. I signed up for an unlimited data plan and left my laptop at home. I live on the road visiting customers, and the Advantage was perfect for me. It had built-in GPS, a huge screen, tons of memory, and a very usable keyboard. I could open attachments and actually read them, send emails, track customer data and more.

I grew to rely on my Advantage more and more. It’s not that I didn’t occasionally stray, I tried an I-Phone, HTC Shift, Sony Vaio UX-180p, and several Netbooks. The instant-on is a huge plus for me, and the battery life is more than adequate. It became a real work horse for me and allowed me to travel light. I also liked the stares and questions from strangers when I was out and about; it still surprises me that I never saw another one out in the wild.

While my grief is still palpable, I must try to carry on. The only way to move on is to look for a replacement. Gadgets are a source of comfort, just ask any doctor. So where do I turn? I must admit I am not sure and I am asking for help.

I want a bigger screen that a standard Smartphone. My Samsung I-760 is great but I want something bigger. I am trying to wrap my head around paying close to $1000.00 for the new HTC Advantage 7510. It would be the perfect replacement if the price wasn’t so steep, but I could pick up two or three Netbooks for that.

My company will not let me sync an iPhone with the Exchange server, so that is not an option.

So I place my trust in Gear Diary readers to point me down the right path; which device do you think I should get?

This post was written by:

Mark Licari - who has written 3 posts on Gear Diary.

I live in York, PA with my wife, Kelly and children, Zack and Mackenzie. I am currently a Media Consultant for Idearc Media. My two passions are mobile devices and sports. I started with a Radio Shack TRS-80 and a handheld electronic organizer twenty years ago and have progressed through various Palms, Compaqs, Casios, and HPs. My set-up now includes an HTC Advantage, Samsung I-760, and an HP Pavilion TX 2000 Tablet. I also spent years working for two major cellular providers and miss having the access to all those devices to play with. My latest ambition is writing a book/blog on combining technology with sales to increase productivity and perfomance.

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gorkon
What happened? Did it just die??
ChrisSpera
…and is the microdrive replaceable? if that's all that crapped out, you might be able to find something to replace it with…
Carly Z
What about a redfly? Then you can connect your i760, still have the instant-on, and be up and running in no time. It charges the i760 too.
alese
Poor Advantage…
Fortunately my is still working fine, and I hope it stays that way.
As for replacement, you can go and buy new 7510, but it's expensive. Much cheaper alternative would be E-Bay. I got mine 7500 last August for 400 EUR with shipping, I guess 750x versions should be even cheaper now and 7510 version should also be much less expensive than new.
The other alternative are some MIDs (Aigo, UMID M1…) with Atom processors and Linux or WinXP, but they usually lack WAN (3G) connectivity.
If you can wait couple of months and want Windows Mobile, Toshiba will have their TG01 out sometime in summer and by the end of the year Toshiba has 3 additional models with large screen planned
(http://www.theunwired.net/?item=leak-toshiba-ro…)
and HTC should release the Athena2 – followup to Advantage. But I guess none of these new devices will be cheap.
AAMP
OQO Model 2
- You'll probably find it avilable for less than $1000 somewhere.
- Complete laptop replacement (dock it at home to replace your main machine too if you don't need too much power).
- Smaller than the advantage.
- Looks really nice.
- You'll probably have to use your phone for GPS though.
Steve
Mark,
If you are interested in a used but fully functional HTC 7501 contact me. Mine is woefully under utilized and could use a good home.
Mark_Licari
The microdive is totaly gone. It doesn't even register in the device. It tool a three foot fall onto a tile floor and never regained consciousness. The Redfly is something I am seriously going to look at it. It is a little bit bigger than I want and I like taking handwritten notes in OneNote, so we'll see. I am touchy feely about my tech gear, I want to play with one first. I still have my Sony UX-180, but it is not pocketable and takes too long to boot up. It is looking more and more like a new 7510 or an email to Steve. Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming.
breley
Mark, you might want to send PPC Techs an email inquiry about possibly fixing your unit: http://www.ppctechs.com/HTC-Advantage_895/repai…
Doug Goldring here at GD I believe knows someone with PPC Techs, so maybe he can point you in the right direction.
http://www.geardiary.com/ Judie Lipsett
@Mark – PPCTechs is defintiely your best bet if it is fixable at all. If you need a contact's email, let me know.
http://www.mobilitysite.com breley
>@Mark – PPCTechs is defintiely your best bet if it is fixable at all. If you need a contact’s email
, let me know.
Oh, and, er, Judie knows someone too!