After months of searching, at last, I am an owner of an android phone!! Phew…it was a long arduous journey. My package arrived few hours ago.
Everything looks intact and ready for action.
I was looking for a device with a large screen and my budget is S$500. I had initially wanted the HTC Dream. When i go around looking for Dream, it was no where to be found. There were a few shops that gave a ridiculed look cos Dream is an old model when i started looking for one. They have stopped selling it. Some shops recommended HTC Tattoo but the screen kind of small. I looked for other alternatives and decided to go for Samsung Galaxy Spica i5700. It fits both my criteria. From the start, the brand is secondary. I want a test device with sizable screen and within my budget.
It was also not an easy as i thought. My mistake was i delayed and had gone around comparing prices of Spica. The RRP is $498 and thats the price most shops are selling at. I thought i was lucky as i found a shop selling it at $100 cheaper. I went for that and ordered a phone from them. Paid $50 deposit for it. They promised they will give me a call when the phone comes in around 5 days time. A week and a half past but i didn’t hear anything from them. I went down to ask about the status of the order and they told me there was a delay as the phone is out of stock. I went down again a week later and it was the same story. I gave it another week. Still nothing and i decided to go around looking for it. I found that most shops also don’t have stock for this model and will only accept order. One shop told me they stop selling this model since the new model has just came out, Galaxy S. I understand the situation then. Most probably retailers wanted to concentrate promoting the new model and wouldn’t want this older model to undermine their effort. I resigned to fate and just hope for the phone to come soon.
However, my luck change not long after. While in office on a gloomy Saturday afternoon, I emailed M1 online shop querying about this model. I told them my intention of getting Spica without contract and the next day, i got a call from their help desk. They told me the model is available but only from online store. I immediately went down to the shop, request for a refund of my deposit and then ordered the phone online. And finally it is here!!
If i had done that earlier, i wouldn’t have wasted 4 weeks. Anyway, I can now code and then test my sample program on an actual android device. Wohoo!! i can now really code and test out the twitter app!!
