After some initial — ahem — setbacks, the Sidekick Slide is back up on T-Mobile’s web site for $199 after rebates and discounts.
The major problem was caused by poor battery contacts, which seems like a simple enough fix. It’ll be interesting to see how well this device does now that it’s been pulled and then put back up for sale, though.
Any current or former Slide owners care to comment? Would you buy it again, trusting that all the issues have been resolved?
T-Mobile Sidekick® Slide [T-Mobile] via Electronista
This piece was originally published in October. We would have also recommended the Slide, but it’s broked.
I have a thing for the iPhone, if you couldn’t tell. But before I drank the Kool-Aid, I was a Sidekick man. What does it mean to be a Sidekick man? It means you give up a lot to get great email and instant messaging services and few, if any, third-party applications and very little freedom. Huh. Kind of like the iPhone, except without the messaging.
So when I got the LX last week, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy it. After all, I had already abandoned the SK3 and SK ID for the charming animations of the iPhone. So what if the iPhone didn’t have native AIM on the iPhone — there were a few apps that kind of worked. So what if the iPhone didn’t have a solid, real keyboard. I could handle that. So what if the iPhone wasn’t one of the best casual messaging phones on the market? It had some good points. Umm… It was covered in chrome?
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You’ve already picked up all the handbags, pashmina, and fancy scented candles you can carry and got dad some cologne. The sig. other and your mom both have presents in the queue and your snotty nephew gets a basketball. You got a raw food book for your weird co-worker and Black Friday came and went because you knew — you could feel it in your heart — that nothing Circuit City or Best Buy put on sale would satisfy your refined cravings. It’s time to shop for yourself and/or other geeks, and we’re here to help.
Welcome to CG Holidays 2007. We’ll have gift guides, sure, but who the heck reads gift guides? Instead, we’ll write about stuff that gives us pleasure, be it a Sidekick LX or a nice coat. We’re not just limiting this to gadgets, either. We’ll be talking about cool stuff we use and love and think you might enjoy, as well. If you have any suggestions, send us an email to tips@crunchgear.com and we’ll add reader suggestions to the mix. The holidays are upon us and we’ve been good to everyone we like and love. Now it’s time for some payback.
CG Holidays 2007
Umm. So my Slide just prompted me that there was an update. Not sure what it does. Will have to do some digging. Is this a fix for the battery issue?
Update: Oh, it’s just the new e-mail app that tabs everything. So your Tmail is under one tab and then your AOL and Yahoo! e-mails are under a different tab. Boo. Wait. It’s cool, but my Slide is being sent back so it doesn’t really matter.
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I’ve had one issue with my Slide shutting down and now we know what the problem is with the random power cycling. I’m glad Motorola has found the problem and is working to resolve it, but I think my days with the Sidekick are coming to an end.
UPDATED T-Mobile USA Statement on Sidekick Slide
Motorola has determined that the intermittent power cycling on some T-Mobile Sidekick Slide devices was caused by a minor issue relating to the battery contacts. Motorola also has identified and tested a solution which it will implement for existing devices, and incorporate into newly manufactured ones. T-Mobile expects to begin offering the Sidekick Slide again beginning next week.
Well, lookie lookie at what AT&T did for all you crazed iFones owners. They’ve given you the option to drop your data plan down to $0, which is nice, though, you lose Visual Voicemail, SMS text messaging and unlimited data (re: no more e-mail and Web). Now, I don’t own an iPhone nor do I really know what the data plans are so this could all be old news, so I implore the CG audience to fill in any gaps.
AT&T Quietly Adds Option to Drop iPhone Data Plan [iPod Observer]
So the Sidekick Slide problem – shutting off for no reason – is real and it’s fabulous. T-mobile has suspended sales until further notice. Moto is working to fix the problem but Slide owners should visit T-mo stores for a fix.
UPDATE: According to BGR, those of you with problematic Slides will be able to get upgraded to the LX at no additional cost. Nice!
“We received word that any Sidekick Slide owners that report the power issue will receive a free upgrade to the Sidekick LX with free express shipping. You won’t have a color choice, though. You’ll get the blue LX.”
Many of you may recall my recent rants about the Sidekick 3 and how much it sucked ass. I mean, seriously, I paid over $400 for the biggest POS known to man. Danger makes a phenomenal OS and Sharp and T-Mo go and screw it all up. The hardware was atrocious and that’s putting it lightly. The phone was horrible. Everyone complained of echoing and I could never hear what they were saying. I regretted spending so much money regardless of the fact that I snagged it early enough to cash in on the non-contract extension fiasco. There was no point in upgrading from the Sidekick 2. I didn’t need Bluetooth, an MP3 player or any of the other asinine features that lured me in. What the hell were you thinking, T-Mobile/Sharp/Danger? And what was the iD all about? That was just a trimmed down SK2 sans camera. Whatever.
My faith has been revived with the LX and Slide, but I’ve grown tiresome of all the features that the LX boasts. Don’t get me wrong, the screen is gorgeous and huge, but like I said, I don’t need all the media functions it possesses. I just need e-mail, AIM (Danger’s AIM client will always be the best) and a decent Web browsing experience. The Slide essentially fills the messaging device’s shoes rather nicely. When I first saw both devices a few months back, I was quickly drawn to the Slide. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, though. Was it just the new hardware from Motorola or…hell, that’s why I was drawn to it. So, really, all we need to discuss is the hardware. The OS has slight changes that aren’t really worth mentioning. But feel free to ask in Comments. So, as a hardcore Sidekick fanboy were my expectations finally fulfilled? Maybe.
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I’ve really got to lay off the crack before taking photos. Here she is, the latest Sidekick (IMO the best) from Motorola and I can’t wait to get my hands on it later.
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I have a thing for the iPhone, if you couldn’t tell. But before I drank the Kool-Aid, I was a Sidekick man. What does it mean to be a Sidekick man? It means you give up a lot to get great email and instant messaging services and few, if any, third-party applications and very little freedom. Huh. Kind of like the iPhone, except without the messaging.
So when I got the LX last week, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy it. After all, I had already abandoned the SK3 and SK ID for the charming animations of the iPhone. So what if the iPhone didn’t have native AIM on the iPhone — there were a few apps that kind of worked. So what if the iPhone didn’t have a solid, real keyboard. I could handle that. So what if the iPhone wasn’t one of the best casual messaging phones on the market? It had some good points. Umm… It was covered in chrome?
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Ceci n’est pas un iPhoneAccording to NPD, current iPhone owners are three times more likely to have owned a Sidekick — after you see the LX you’ll probably just go back to the Sidekick, BTW — and that T-Mobile was the hardest hit during the initial wave of defections.
When it comes to carrier switching, Alltel and T-Mobile took the biggest hit from Apple and AT&T’s iPhone marketing juggernaut. Consumers who switched carriers to buy an iPhone were three times more likely to switch from Alltel or T-Mobile than from other carriers. Sprint and Verizon also lost customers to AT&T and the iPhone, but not nearly to the same degree, due to their existing over-the-air (OTA) music offerings, rich video and data services and 3G networks already in place.
This is to be expected, but I wonder if all those defectors actually did what I did and bought the phone to switch it over to their T-Mo account. Visual voicemail is nice and all but an iPhone with T-Mo’s $20 Sidekick plan is nicer. I honestly think this data is skewed by this behavior and that T-Mo isn’t feeling that much of a pinch. How are you, dear readers, using your iPhone. With the AT&T plan? With something else?
The iPhone impact: Treo, T-Mobile take biggest hit [ZDNet]
The new Sidekick Slide and Sidekick LX will be capable of sending MMS (images, audio, video, etc.) messages and doing so will be included with your plan, according to Joshua Karp over on BGR.
These new models will be the first Sidekicks capable of sending MMS messages and any new customers will automatically get put on the new plan, but existing customers upgrading to the new phone will need to call in to get switched over to the new plan.
New T-Mobile Sidekick Plans have Unlimited MMS [BGR]
Here’s the Sidekick Slide in action demoing the MySpace app. Videos of the LX after the jump.
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As a Sidekick fanboy, I’ve been diligently waiting for Sharp/Danger to produce a Sidekick that doesn’t make me regret switching from the SK2 to SK3. I’ve seen the Sidekick LX and it’s the best incarnation I’ve seen. Not only is it thinner than its predecessors, but the screen is much larger and brighter thanks to Sharp’s AQUOS LCD. The camera remains the same at 1.3-megapixels, but the optics are improved so picture quality is a tad bit better and it comes in two different colors, which is a first to Sidekicks (midnight blue and espresso brown).
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About a week ago, we got to sit down with T-Mobile and play with the Sidekick Slide, Sidekick LX and a few other upcoming devices. Unfortunately, due to an embargo, we couldn’t utter a peep – until today. The Sidekick Slide will be available October 24th, in case you somehow didn’t know, and will cost $199 with a two-year contract. It’s the first time Motorola has tried its hand at the Sidekick and I must say, it’s the best one yet.
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