I�m taken aback by how dead my blog has been lately. Well, OK actually I�m not all that surprised the way I keep it under constant neglect. For anyone that does still read, do drop me a note or something. I promise to stop by and read a few of your latest entries. Consider it me making up for being such a bad boy. =p

My head is kind of stuffed up with a cold and it�s making me feel a bit drowsy, so I�m going to be slightly incoherent and somewhat random in this particular blog entry. I started taking Airborne Formula yesterday when my sinuses started feeling raw, but it looks like I got hit with the cold anyway and wound up taking some Theraflu to ease the symptoms before I hit the sheets. Oh well�

Nothing terribly interesting lately, which is probably why I�ve been spending quite a bit of time �tweaking� my RAZR V3i. Basically I took a stock gray V3i and completely converted it into one that�s almost indistinguishable to a Gold Dolce & Gabbana Edition Razr V3i.

http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto/us/dolcegabbana/experience/

It was for sale directly from the Motorola Site for around $600.00 US and (eventually) could be purchased for significantly less from 3rd party retailers. I�ve seen some of the prices for the Gold V3i go as low as $348.00, though I can�t confirm the validity of the products that they sell. Motorola has since pulled the product from thier online store as it is now for sale in various Bloomingdale�s stores and it is rumored to be part of T-Mobile�s lineup at some future date.

The trouble with being a cellphone junkie, is that once everyone starts getting the same phone as you, it somehow becomes less special. It happened to my original Silver RAZR V3. It was only available through Cingular at the time, I bought an unlocked on online and used it for my T-Mobile account and for a while my phone was pretty impressive that is until T-Mobile came out with it�s own version, and later Verizon, Alltel, US Cellular, etc.

So I got an unlocked V3i, way before Cingular released it last September. It was pretty cool in terms of features. It has an MP3 player and an improved camera plus a memory slot so you could store up to 1 GB worth files and/or MP3s. The Problem was that although, it was distinguishable from the other RAZR phones out there, it wasn�t so distinct that people would notice how different it actually was from the original RAZR.

Thus began my quest to convert my RAZR from a regular V3i to the Gold V3i. Although it was a fun project and I learned more about the intricacies of Motorola cellphone technology that I would ever need to know (unless I decide to become a cellphone repair technician) honestly, with the money and time I spent transforming my phone to something more �exclusive�, I could have just as easily purchased an actual Gold D&G V3i and saved myself all of the trouble.

Basically, I wound up with a forgery that looks almost exactly like the real thing, which was what I was aiming for, but with the total cost for what I spent for the phone wound up being almost as much, had I bought the phone from one of the cheap places, which is not what I was aiming for, but I guess ultimately it was something for a geek like me to do to pass the time while bored.

As soon as I completed that little project, my mind started wandering to other phones. There was one that has been out here for a while, the Nokia 8801. Although it has a notably short battery life, like 3 hours talk time and it lacks critical features such as an expandable memory slot, making it impractical as an MP3 Player, it makes up for all that in terms of looks and feel. I wanted one the first time I saw it, but it has always been in the $900 - $600 range, just a tad out of my league in price.

Then I started seeing ads for it on the train. It was available through T-Mobile. I thought maybe I could get a deal if I renewed my contract, but even with a 2 year, the price only dropped from $500 to $400 dollars. Then I started shopping around for an unlocked 8801. Myworldphone.com had the lowest price, around $380 shipped. So a bought one and use the 8801 as my weekend phone while my V3i is being retained as my weekday MP3 Player/Phone.

The crazy part is that there�s still a phone out there that I really want. The Sony Ericsson K790a Cybershot, which has a 3.2 Megapixel camera, auto focus, an image stabilizer and a real Xenon Flash. I�ve actually been meaning to get a lower end (yet good quality) camera and it looks like the K790a phone has one. I�m pretty much just waiting until Sony comes out with the �Allure Brown� color variant, and hopefully the 2GB M2 card will be out soon as well. With a 2GB card, the K790a will have close to everything I want on a phone, a solid camera, music player capabilities, A2DP for wireless stereo headsets an 850 MHz GSM band for North America and EDGE for web browsing. It will be in the boring �bar� form factor, no slider or flip, but I guess that�s what my V3i and 8801 are for.

If that isn�t sick, I�ll tell you what is. The upcoming Sony Ericsson Bluetooth Watch is one of the sickest gadgets I�ve ever seen in my life and yes I fucking want one. Basically it connects to your phone via Bluetooth and it displays the Caller ID of whoever is calling, because who wants to reach into their pocket to see who is calling anymore? I certainly don�t ;)

Oh, Bluetooth works up to 30 feet so let�s say you left your phone in your jacket and it�s hanging on a chair all the way across the room and you have your ringer on soft or vibe. Unless you have Superman�s super-hearing you are going to miss that important bootie call, but wait if you have the Bluetooth watch, it will vibrate on your wrist so you know you are getting a call and since it will display the caller ID you can either rush to take the call or click the �go to voicemail� button. Be careful though, your girlfriend probably wouldn�t appreciate another girl�s name flashing on your watch. I have no girlfriends so sadly or gladly (depending on how you look at things) there�s nothing for me to worry about.

It also acts as a remote control for your music so you can switch forward, back or you can pause without having to reach into that pocket that�s now just to damn far away for me to reach. Oh yeah, this watch is getting sicker by the minute and yes, I still fucking want one. I mean so what if it�s going to cost more than my phone? $400 is a small price to pay for such a cool ass gadget.

http://www.sonyericsson.com/

Total sick time (cold) = 2 and � days.
Total sick time (gadgets) = no cure found.