In which I justify my recent purchases

A few months ago, I was researching on what to get as a replacement for my dinosaur of a phone that is a Nokia N97. I was leaning towards an Android device since the iPhone, specifically the iPhone 4S, is out of my budget's reach. That, and a new iPhone is set to debut sometime later this year. And since my budget's a big factor whenever I get a new gadget, I entered various online contests just to satisfy my GAS. That's Gadget Acquisition Syndrome for you noobs. Never have I felt so dirty in my life.

I already made up my mind about getting a Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo, or Neo V, if the former was unavailable. However, both online and offline shops are having trouble producing a unit with the color of my choice, which is blue since it doesn't come in black.

I also thought of getting a cheapo, yet decent, feature phone just to replace my old phone and just get an iPod Touch to make up for the lack of smartphone features of a, well, feature phone.

I was also thinking of getting a Symbian^3 device, particularly the Nokia 701 or the Nokia 500. OS notwithstanding, a Nokia device still packs more hardware features than anyone can handle. Unfortunately, even the OS can't handle the hardware Nokia manufactures. All Nokia really needs is a great user interface, and Windows Phone 7 or Mango is not the answer.

But it all boils down to budget and timing, and since the budget received a boost last month, the timing of the past holiday season's price reduction on a lot of stuff was good enough for me.

I basically ended up with two devices without resorting to getting a feature phone to replace my beloved-yet-beat-up N97: a white 8GB iPod Touch and a Nokia 500.

The iPod Touch is self-explanatory. It's an iOS device.

The Nokia 500 is quite unexpected as I was leaning toward the 701 if I ever chose another Symbian-powered Nokia device. It has most, if not all, features of my old N97. The only thing I miss from my N97 is the FM transmitter. Responsiveness is not at par with an Android device, but I'll soon be updating the software to Symbian Belle. It may or may not improve the phone's intuitiveness, but I'll take what I can get. If it sucked even more after the update, well, I can always wait for my wife's birthday gift. I just hope it's not a gift certificate to CD-R King.

The Nokia 500 is still a pretty solid device, despite the bad reviews it received from GSM Arena. It can basically do what my iPod Touch does, and more, since the Nokia 500 also has a GPS radio. Another big draw is the price point.

So, why did I get two devices that, although different, can basically, more or less, do the same thing? Part of the reason is to satisfy my curiosity, to experience the best of what Cupertino and Espoo has to offer. Another is to make sure I have something to use in case The Willspawn hijacks one of my devices. Brief intro: The Willspawn is a 5-year old little boy who has a knack for figuring out how to use gadgets and gizmos and play the apps installed without even knowing how to read, and who is also my son.

Anyway, I know the Nokia 500 is far from being the best of what Espoo has to offer. That crown belongs to the N9, which, if it wasn't for the price, I would've gotten that instead. And the iPod Touch isn't the best of what Cupertino has to offer, as the 17" Macbook Pro holds that title, I think. Still, these devices let me take a peek at what I'm missing out in the tech scene. Besides, it's still a way for me to reward myself for not being a completely useless idiot.

Not too shabby, if I say so myself.