My Phone History – by Neil Deadman

It was 1997. I was 18 (soon to be 19) and had no real interest in getting a mobile phone. That all changed when my brother came home with a Nokia 5110. The very next day I went out and got my first mobile phone, so as not to be outdone by my brother. My first phone was a NEC DB2000.

I really liked this phone, it was basic, but it did everything I needed it to at the time. I regretted not getting a Nokia when the whole custom ringtones exploded, but it wasn’t that big of a deal.

It wasn’t until it broke a couple of years later that I even considered getting a new phone. My next phone was a Ericsson T28 WOrld.

My reasons for getting this phone was because a friend had one and I’d used it to text his girlfriend on occasion whilst he was driving. Found it nice to use and small enough to easily fit my pocket.

I didn’t have the T28 very long before the microphone started playing up. I got it repaired for free, but the same thing happened later so as it was time to renew my contract, I decided to change phone and got a Nokia 3330.

I actually had 2 of these. The first I got as an upgrade but then it was stolen from my bag whilst at work. I was gutted and had to start using my T28 again (I still have it to this very day! In its original box). A good friend of mine had won a competition and received a 3330 & Orange SIM. He didn’t want it so he said I could have them. Unfortunately the phone was locked to Orange, so I had to get hold of some software and cables and unlock it.

Having left University and working, I decided that I needed a better phone. Nokia announced the 7210 and I immediately decided that I wanted it as it had a colour screen. I remember placing an order as soon as it was possible to do so. When it arrived I was so excited!

I loved this phone. It was everything I wanted at the time. I used to wear it around my neck (I thought I was so cool!).

As I said, I loved that phone… that was until around 2002 when I was at Henley Royal Regatta with friends, and I saw someone use a Windows powered phone. As soon as I got home, I looked into it and ordered one. Because I wasn’t near the end of my contract I setup a second contract with Orange and got myself the SPV-E200.

I was a fan (at the time) of using Outlook. So the fact I could sync my phone with Outlook using ActiveSync appealed to me. I was excited to have IE on my phone (yes I used to like IE) but in truth, I never actually used it. This phone was quite bulky, especially compared to my previous phones. I liked this phone so much I upgrade to a SPV-C500 next.

This phone was much smaller and seemed faster, but I still really only used it as a normal phone for SMS messaging and calls. Internet was a waste of time at GPRS speeds but because I liked sync’ing with Outlook I got another Windows based phone, the SPV-C600.

This trend continued as I got a O2 XDA IQ next. Still nothing usage wise changed.

When I got the O2 XDA Graphite next, I started using it with emails, but mostly over wi-fi at home and work. These were might impressive phones, but I never really utilised them as they could have been.

My next phone was a massive step forward. Once again my brother played a part. On August 25th 2008, a day after my brother got his, I went to my local O2 store and upgraded to a 8GB iPhone 3G for £99. This was my first phone where I actually used (or could use) the Internet. Emails appearing instantly was impressive and the thought of not having a touch screen was ridiculous! I soon ended up with hundreds of apps and filled the remaining space with music. I could have done with 16GB.

I loved the iPhone 3G and I really like iOS. I was disappointed when the 3GS was released that it wasn’t such a huge step forward. Work then got a Google Nexus One which I used for a few days. The speed difference was incredible. Plus Android came with a lot of features I jail broke my iPhone to add. HTC announced the Desire and I immediately went into a store and picked one up. That was such a good decision! I later rooted and installed CyanogenMod onto it and never looked back.

My first Android phone served me well. I still have it and have lent it to various friends to trial Android before they eventually got their own Android phone. The hardware was amazing, and only now seems so small because of the next phone I got. The biggest problem I had with the Desire was space. Even though I had a 16GB miniSD card installed, I continued to get notifications that I was running out of space. I had wanted a Nexus S until I saw the Samsung Galaxy S2… this was a real iPhone beater!

I loved my Samsung Galaxy S2. I also loved running the latest ROMs. I was using CyanogenMod 9 but then Google went and announce Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. I was keen to try it out, so found an early ROM for my S2. I flashed it and was happy. The camera wasn’t working with this ROM so I decided to flash back to my CM9 ROM using the backup I had made with ROM Manager.

This is where my problems began. Cutting a long story short, the phone eventually died completely (I bricked it). I went back to my HTC Desire, but after 2 days decided I had to get a new phone so went with a Google Galaxy Nexus so I can run Jelly Bean. I love this phone even more than the S2 and will definitely stay on the Nexus path in future!

I’ve enjoyed looking back through my phone history. I’d say I regret getting so many Windows Phones (especially on an additional contract) but I may not have ended up here without them. The only phone I wish I had got but didn’t was the HTC HD2. My reason for wanting this was because so many OSes have been ported to it. I could have run Android on it for example. I did try to find one on eBay but never took the plunge. Still, I’m over the moon with my Galaxy Nexus!