The widescreen
Sidekick LX has cast a long, ominous shadow over the release of the
Sidekick Slide, threatening to take a whole lot of steam over the baby Hiptop's launch -- Motorola's first -- come November 7. Guess what, though? Every time we put our hands on the Slide, we're liking it more and more. The thing feels rock solid, the slide mechanism seems like it'll probably be a lot less prone to issues than the pivot found on other models (while spring loading still makes it satisfying to use) and the black / violet color combo isn't the least bit abrasive in person. Even though Danger and T-Mobile have sourced this model to Moto instead of the usual suspect Sharp, make no mistake that this thing's every bit as much a Sidekick inside -- the software's the same and the controls are all where you'd expect them to be. Our only real complaints here: the keypad's a little tricky to use thanks to a dearth of tactile feedback, and after playing with the LX, the Slide's display is a low-res disappointment that leaves a heap of black margin around the edges where additional screen real estate should be. Check out our lil' library of eye candy here while you get amped for next week's launch!
posted Nov 1st 2007 1:48PM
The sidekick isn't a sidekick without the spin! It was so satisfying, I didn't even care about the crappy display, the network issues, the lack of apps. Down with the slide!
Whatever. I was very discouraged by anything T-Mobile when I had to babysit the salesperson on every step of the transaction of getting a new sidekick. It took over an hour of him asking BS questions, inputting the answers into the laptop/Point of Sale machine, getting one out of the back, logging it in only to discover that if I didn't have $250 of available credit on my debit card, I was going to have to pay not only full price for the phone ($49 out the door versus $250) but pay a higher monthly fee for the same service AND pay everything up front. What absolute crap to not let you know up front that they are really planning to rape a credit card at some point and don't want you to have any control over it. Sidekick? Kick'em to the curb as they need a curb job in the worst way.
You were probably working with a T-mobile authorized retailer and not a direct sales rep. Also you get better deals searching the web and you may have avoided paying much up-front if you would have done some more research. Most US carriers live by the same rules now days.
Oh yeah The SideKick is a PDA for idiots!