More experience with the Blackjack

Now that I have a few days with my new phone, I am able to make some more observations:

• 3G rocks! But… coverage and signal strength is not nearly ubiquitous, at least not in the south bay area. I notice that my phone indicate 3G in about 50% of the time (of the time I check). However, 50% of the time that I’m using it, it occasionally drops down to EDGE or even (gasps) GPRS!! Of course having ~1 mbps download speed on a phone is mighty impressive.
• The Java midlet issue that I wrote about looks common with newer Cingular phones. The option to allow connectivity for the whole session is missing. I read that it’s only missing on unsigned applications (unsigned by Cingular that is). I can’t test since I don’t have any Cingular signed Java app and too cheap to buy one. Could it be a bug or could it be ‘feature’ so apps not licensed or bought through Cingular would be crippled?
• I like the wheel. the click is a bit stiff and I’m still trying to get use to it but I like it.
• Battery life is terrible. No wonder it comes standard with 2 batteries. The battery is just 1000mA and 3G sucks life out of it. Not sure whether staying in 3G or the constant switching off and on 3G drains the most. There is a way to force the phone on GSM meaning it will stay on EDGE. But what’s the point of getting a 3G phone then?
• I miss the flexibility and the numbers of applications that can run on a PPC phone. I don’t miss the lack of usability. I can do things faster with one hand on the Blackjack than with two hands on my Cingular 8125. I definitely do not miss the misbehaving task/alert behaviour on the Cingular 8125. What’s the point of a PDA functionality if alerts/reminders do not work correctly?
• On the other hand, the included Task and Calendar applications with the Blackjack (probably common with all WM5 smartphones) are very basic. Too basic. I need to edit plenty of stuffs from my desktop Outlook.

This is not related to the Blackjack but I found out that by going to the Premier site, I am already eligible for another upgrade. I wonder if I can keep on upgrading and getting all of those free phones. I am tempted to try it. Hm…