I started using mobile phones, some time in the mid 90's. The first was a Motorola. Bulky, it has a flip on the keypad, and antenna that can be pulled out to make it longer. Then, came the Matrix and the Nokia cool slider phone. But, it was awkwardly shaped, making it very difficult to carry. And the battery life was miserable at best. But, those big bulky gadgets have one thing in common. They kept me connected and did what they were supposed to do without any problem.

Fast forward few years, 2003, the phones got much smaller. They packed more punches. Battery life much more realistic. They even come with colour screen and bluetooth. But, man, they were so much problem doing what they were supposed to. At that time, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Motorola were dominating the market. All of them have troubles. Most notable were “hang” issues where you have to unplug the battery to reset the unit. I even have the problem of frequently being disconnected during calls. Yep, those were my phone being difficult.

Year 2005, I am still using Nokia. They were the most appealing to my taste. Plus, they come out with new models so fast that most of their still current models can be had for lesser than any other makes. Not that the other makes were less appealing... they just have less models, and tad more expensive. Nokia got variety. Still, the phones were having problems doing what they were supposed to do. Maybe they were trying too hard to cram all applications into smaller package. Reliability was a major issue then. Symbian were, in my opinion, seriously not up to the task.

Early last year, I finally succumbed to the temptation of going off the Nokia and Symbian path. I went towards the Windows Mobile path. Boy, I thought Symbian and Nokia were bad, Windows Mobile was even worse. It was neither good at being a phone nor was it any good at being an organizer. It sucked. Many times I find myself writing on paper rather than on my device. However, it does have some plus points. But, better than Nokia? Most probably not. In my opinion, both have their strong points... but, still fail to deliver what that they were made for, mainly to make/take calls and messages. I missed my mid 90s phones so much.

After buying myself the O2 atom exec, I bought N95 8gb for my better half, for her birthday present. It was the most stable phone that I have ever encountered. Sure, it had some problems initially, but, they were always easily solved by upgrading the firmware. I had to upgrade the firmware only twice before my spouse said it did not have any “hang” or “disconnected” problem. That's a major improvement compared to older Nokia models... some had no improvement whatsoever despite numerous firmware upgrading.

Eventually, mid last year, I went back to the basics. I bought one of the cheaper Nokia phones. One that do without the fancy screen and camera, without bluetooth and et cetera. I took the path of downgrading my gadget to the surprise of my friends and family. After all, I have always kept up-to-date on my gadgets.

What a pleasant surprise. The no frills phone, did what it was supposed to do, BRILLIANTLY! However, there's this stigma. I'm not sure whether this applies elsewhere, but, in my circle, successful people do not use cheap phones. If they do, they are not successful enough, some thing just isn't right, like watching a CEO using a national car.

With the very pleasant surprise, I cautiously begin to trust in Nokia again. And finally, two weeks ago, I bought E71 for myself to replace my one year plus O2 atom exec.