What I want in a cell phone

I’m now on my third cell phone. The first one was a Nokia analog phone the size, relatively speaking, of a brick. I moved up to a digital phone with an AudioVox 4500 about three years ago (Catherine’s using it now), and finally moved to my current phone, a Nokia 3285, about a year ago.

I originally got a cell phone to let my clients contact me in an emergency — it replaced the pager I wore on my belt for the same purpose. It was cheaper than a pager, allowed for longer messages, and it worked in the US, which was a step up. I’ve come to use it, more and more, as an extension of my office phone, especially when I’m traveling.

I’d like to get a new phone, mostly because, as I’ve come to rely on my current one more and more, its weaknesses have become more and more glaring. What follows is a list of the qualities of my “ideal phone.” So far I’ve not found a phone/carrier to match all of these items; I welcome comments and suggestions from the readership on options.

• Coverage across Prince Edward Island. Charlottetown is most important, of course, but I’d like to be able to be reached in Summerside, Cavendish and New London too.
• Roaming coverage in Southern Ontario, Boston, and southern New Hampshire. These are the areas I travel to most frequently, and where a phone absolutely must work.
• Small. I’m tired of big cell phones.
• Works with Apple’s iSync to allow me to synchronize my phone book and calendar. It would be nice if the phone had Bluetooth, but I’m willing to sync with a USB cable. I need at least 500 entries in the phone book; I would prefer 1,000.
• Usable as a modem with my Apple iBook. I don’t have a lot of use for this feature, but there are some times when it would be invaluable.
• Available on a month-to-month plan. I don’t want to sign a contract for service.
• Long battery life. Talk time, which I don’t use a lot of, is less important than standby time: I don’t like to have to worry about plugging in my phone at night, every night.

So far, the only phone that appears to qualify is the Motorola v60 from Aliant (warning: crazy website). Telus Mobility appears to offer the same phone. Rogers has weak Island coverage, and questionable coverage in southern New Hampshire. Fido has no coverage on the Island.

Anyone own a v60? I welcome comments from the field.