Sharp Sidekick II Smartphone

***NOTE: This unit is manufactured by Danger and is called Hiptop by them but remarketed by T-mobile as Sidekick--makes for some confusion when surfing for compatible equipment and sites***

Sometimes you just have to pick your battles…

My son is an AOL Instant Messenger fan. In fact, rather than play computer games or surf the internet, his time spent on our home computer was chatting to his friends via IM. Looking for a unique gift for him for Christmas I started researching cell phones which could access AOL IM.

I quickly learned that not all AOL IM phones are alike. Many are not truly instant and work more like e-mail. I wanted something more like the regular IM experience. After checking several others, I settled on the Danger Hiptop (aka T-Mobile Sidekick). While it isn't perfect and there are many opportunities for Danger & T-Mobile to improve it, it is perfect for my son. He's had it for 3 days now and it hasn't left his side. I used it for nearly a month before I gave it to him and thoroughly enjoyed it.

SO MANY CHOICES IN SERVICE:
Sorry, you'll have to do a little homework to figure out which services works for you. For us, the data only service is perfect. We purchase the Sidekick through Amazon.com for $299 (there was a $200 rebate from Amazon and a $50 from T-Mobile for a final price of $49). Shop around; the prices were amazingly differently all over the net. Skip the Ebay sellers offering the information for $5 or more. Do an Internet search for T-Mobile Sidekick and you can find the information free. Once we selected this unit, we then picked the plan. We chose the $29.99 for unlimited Sidekick data with voice calls billed on a pay-as-you-go basis for just 20? per minute, with domestic long distance and roaming included... This works for my son because he rarely goes over 5 minutes of cell usage a month. Emergency calls are always free so even if you opt out of the cell service you'll still be able to contact fire/police in the event of an emergency.

For someone who uses their phone there are other plans which include minutes and a reduced rate of $20 per month for the Sidekick data. It's expensive, but something to consider if you're someone who needs to be connected 24-7 to the Internet. I used it to close auctions on Ebay and loved being able to do it from anywhere.

SET-UP:
In order to test the T-Mobile service I purchased the unit and service in November. Normal return periods are 15-days but those made through Amazon.com are allowed 30 days. I wanted to be sure this service worked at my home (AT&T and Verizon do not) and I wanted to be sure this was the right device for us.

Unlike most phones, this one came nearly fully charged and it could be set up while plugged in—better than older ones that had to be charged overnight before you could use them. Once on, a screen appeared which said it might take up to 48 hours before the service was recognized. Ok, I waited. Eventually the phone was recognized and the system was ready to use—almost. There were some over the air updates that needed to be made to the software. Ok, I allowed them to update, it restarted itself, and all was well. The whole process took just a few minutes, but I'm glad I did it in advance and not on Christmas Day.

I used the unit from my bed to close auctions, send notices, and answer e-mails. Because it has a great backlight and amazing screen resolution, I was able to work without any ambient light and without bothering my sleeping husband. Using the scheduled profiles the unit automatically muted itself every night at 8pm so there were no unexpected sounds to disturb us.

DESIGN
I think it's perfect! It fits comfortable in my hands and feels natural. Typing with my thumbs comes easy although I type for a living and am comfortable at speeds of 80+ on a regular keyboard; you won't need that kind of speed for this unit, as the most typing you'll do is a contact name or telephone number or to chat. There's no word processing software so you won't need mass typing skills. The flip screen is fun and makes perfect sense—open it to expose the keyboard, close it to make the unit more compact for storing in a pocket. It does however leave the screen unprotected—invest in a case if your unit doesn't come with one. The screen is amazing—truly crisp and clear for such a small unit. Used in bright sun or complete darkness, I had no trouble with it.

Many complain about the unit's size—I didn't find it to be a problem. It weighs next to nothing and feels like a bar of soap.

RECEPTION
Surprisingly good. We have AT&T and Verizon service and are unable to use either of them from home. The T-Mobile allows us to use the data portion but not the voice. Better than nothing! Surfing from home is a bit slower as we're farther from the data tower, but it's still about the same as a 38.8 dial-up connection. Reception can be improved by not blocking the antenna. The antenna is inside, nearly dead center. When using the CSK if you hold it by both edges (which is the natural way to thumb type anyway, the reception is improved, as you're not physically getting between the unit and the tower.

Cell calls are fine—about as good as any cell phone from my area. The speaker is on the right side and the microphone on the left. It looks a bit weird at first, but use the headset that comes along with it if it feels uncomfortable. I am able to use it either way.

AOL INSTANT MESSAGING
This is what this unit does best. Instant access to your buddy list and your messaging preferences, you can sign on and be chatting within minutes. You can even chat with up to 10 friends at a time all while jumping back and forth from browsing the web and sending and receiving e-mail. You can give each buddy a unique ringtone to announce their arrival or mute them all so mom & dad won't know you're chatting in your room at bedtime. They've recently enabled chat smiles so you can send happy or sad faces via IM just as if you were online on your home computer. The Sidekick/Hiptop is always connected to the Internet but only connected to AOL IM when you request it.

WEB BROWSING
It does it beautifully! Granted, it's about as fast as a 56k modem and is entirely dependant on the signal strength (identified on your screen so you know how close you are to a tower) and only 4" or so wide. It took us no time at all to get used to seeing pages in strips—pictures and all. You can turn off the pictures to speed up the process but I've never found it necessary. In fact, it's kind of nice browsing this way as the area is my more defined and pages are not as "busy". I do believe this wouldn't be a great unit for someone new to the Internet—some experience with web pages will make it easier.
Moving through the page is easy and there are several ways to navigate—the scroll bar for up and down; the white toggle key for left, right, up and down; or the space bar for page up and @ for page down. After using the scroll wheel exclusively the first few hours, I learned quickly to use the space bar. My fingers were killing me from all the scrolling!

Selecting text or pictures isn't difficult; however, you can only select places the Hiptop/Sidekick allows you to. This includes links and photos, but rarely plain text.

WEB DESKTOP
You can also access and manage your Hiptop/Sidekick data from any computer with internet access. T-Mobile accounts come with a Web interface application that allows you to view, edit, and delete e-mail, contacts, and other features without having to use your Sidekick. This is useful if you have a lot of editing to do or want to import your contacts from another location—you can't do this directly with the Sidekick.
You can also use it to update your calendar when you don't have your unit. The data is stored on the server and you never have to worry about synchronizing the information as it's accessed from the web. This also means that you may not be able to access some information if your unit is out of range.

ORGANIZER
It comes with a contact list, calendar, to-do list, and note/task capability—mostly rudimentary with few bells and whistles, this isn't its main focus. Don't purchase it for this feature—you'll be disappointed at what you can't do. For example, you can purchase a Hiptop/Sidekick camera (it comes free with some plans) and snap lousy photos. You can e-mail them or put them in your gallery, but you cannot use them in your contact list--there you get silly picture icons only. The address book does allow you to give your contact custom Ringtones, blinking light, and caller ID icons. The calendar is lacking in functionality as well—reoccurring appointments are done manually…one by one.

E-MAIL SOLUTIONS
T-mobile accounts come with free e-; however, you can access any POP3 e-mail account. This doesn't include the Free Yahoo E-mail (but of course they'll let you pay for an upgrade), but it would work for your ISP e-mail address. My son already had a free Yahoo address and since we didn't want to pay for the upgrade so my son used the Vacation Notice feature on Yahoo to announce to all senders that he had a new e-mail address. The upside of using the T-mail account is that you'll get instant notifications when you get e-mail unlike checking Yahoo mail through the web. No notifications are sent you just have to check back often to see if you have mail. You can now access your AOL mail from the unit as well (this feature was just added in December 03).

The T-Mobile e-mail gives you 6 MB total with the ability to send and receive e-mails of up to 3 MB at a time (if you have room in your box). Once you reach the limit e-mails are bounced back to the sender. You can have up to 55 e-mail folders, which include in, out, saved, sent, etc. Sending attachments like photos and files are easy and you can open and view MS Word, Adobe Acrobat files, and .jpgs. You won't be able to edit them as the software only allows you to view them, but it is a nice feature.

NEW FEATURES
With the introduction of the color Sidekick (the previous version was grayscale and have ? the ram), Danger and T-Mobile have added the following features:

Catalog: Danger is now offering several applications like a calculator, LED football, and a program for advanced users to access another computer. You can also download a few ringtones as well. It's a bit worrisome that the site appears to be gearing up for e-commerce which makes me think they'll be charging for the applications some time in the future. Since there's no way to download non-Danger/Hiptop applications, they have a corner on the market.

Copy & Paste: Use it to copy and paste text from one application (like Notes or To Do), and paste it into another (like Email). It doesn't work with the web (see note above).

Sound Profiles: This is a great feature that allows you to preset a time for your Sidekick/Hiptop to have certain sound attributes. For example, my son's is set to be in muted during school hours and sleeping hours. It automatically (as long as you set the time during set up correctly) goes silent during the pre-designated hours and runs normally during the rest of the time. Since a ringing phone in class would present a problem, he never has to worry about it. You can override any preset profile with just a few keystrokes if your schedule changes.

Repeating Alerts: Your Sidekick can be programmed to keep beeping until you interact with it—be it a calendar reminder or incoming e-mail.

AutoText: Take a few minutes to train your Sidekick to recognize your shortcuts and you'll be able to chat quicker. Consider those things your type frequently—like your name, friends name, etc., can be set in AutoText to recognize your shortcut. For example, you can program your CSK to recognize "bc" and type "because" in its place. There are default settings, you can add to them or change them completely to match your use.

MEMORY
It uses Flash memory (but it is not expandable). It can be erased and rewritten and holds the operating system information. Flash is considered one of the fastest types of memory so updating is done quickly. The operating system is a proprietary system developed by Danger, which means that you're dependent on them for updates and changes—it's not an open system that anyone can develop for.

USB & INFRARED PORTS
It has them, and it ships with a mini USB cable, but for now, they don't do anything. Should you suffer a severe crash Danger may have you download information from your computer and move it via the USB to try to correct the problem, but that's a rare occurrence.

BATTERY
Surprisingly good for a color screen! I have surfed continuously for 4 hours without needing a recharge. Standby is a good 4-5 days (depending on what you have running in the background). Recharging is fast—less than two hours from completely dead to completely ready. Car chargers are available as well.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS


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You can't personalize it—no wallpapers, screensavers, or customized colors. Your CSK will look EXACTLY like everyone else's. You can't even enlarge the fonts if you need to—it's a one-size-fits-all mentality. This makes it easier for Danger to control what you're able to load and thus make fixing problems on individual units easier. What that means is that you have to give up fun colors and things that make it uniquely yours. You can change ringtones, but even that is closely watched over by Danger so you can only download their ringtones.


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You can't download ANYTHING to it. It really just surfs and e-mails. Buy it for that and you'll be happy. Want to play games and you'll hate it. So few games are CSK compatible and you cannot buy or download any games to it but the few Danger offers.


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JavaScript is not supported so online applications and navigation, which is based on it, is not available to CSK users. This also means there are just a few games that are available and absolutely no online radio stations.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT—HERE'S WHAT THE CSK CAN'T DO (but not things I care about but you may) :


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Copy & Paste from web pages to use in another application


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Access MSN Messenger


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You cannot receive chat invited from AIM but you can join a chat manually (menu + j)


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You can't browse the web and use the phone at the same time—not a problem for me but some may expect to be able to so I'm mentioning it here. It switches quickly between the two but at this time they won't allow you to be connected to both the voice and data networks at the same time.

FORUMS – WHERE TO GET HELP
Called the CSK for short (color sidekick) by most forum users, you'll find dedicated users available to answer questions or send you links to sites with third party applications at www.hiptop.com. There's also room to blog there for free with information on how to spice up your blogging by simple font commands. (For those who aren't up on Internet-speak, blogging is an online journal people write for viewing by others). You'll also find a spot for links to sites that are Hiptop/Sidekick friendly.

GAMES
Sadly, there are SO FEW! One comes with the unit, another can be downloaded from the Catalog, and there are a few that can be played on the Internet. www.berigames.com has chess; www.brokenvaporware.com/vmx has Yahtzee; www.iamkizer.net/sk/hangman is a Hangman game. These are rudimentary games and much like the first-generation of Internet games (think Pong). There's also a "hidden" snowboarding game that I haven't bothered to try to access (the included games weren't worth the effort). Said to be accessed by doing the following keystrokes on your CSK: menu, settings, about sk, then hold menu+shift+8

SITES OPTIMIZED FOR HIPTOP/SIDEKICKS
http://www.cowdog.com/td.pl

CARE AND CLEANING
The screen is coated with a protective layer of polycarbonate—the safest way to clean it is us use warm soapy water being careful not to drip any water into the unit itself. If you need something a bit stronger, Danger recommends using denatured alcohol, or isopropyl alcohol and a very soft cloth. Wiping too hard or with a chemical other than the ones they recommend can lead to scratching and crazing of the surface.

Basic Info:
Size: 4.6 x 2.6 x 1.1 inches
Weight: 6.0 oz.
Included battery: Lithium ion
Talk time: 3.5 hours
Standby time: 60 hours

THE INFORMATION BELOW IS PLAN-SPECIFIC…PLEASE VERIFY THE INFORMATION WITH YOUR CHOSEN PROVIDER

Included Accessories :
Includes Hands-Free Headset, Case, Wrist Strap

Optional accessories :
Camera Attachment (I purchased it through the Danger Company Store)

Included services:
E-Mail (6MB mailbox)
Built-in Paging
Caller ID
Conference Calling
Call Waiting and Call Hold
Customer Care
Access to Directory Assistance
Emergency Calls
Detailed Billing
Voicemail with Message-Waiting Indicators
Call Forwarding
International Dialing

FINAL THOUGHTS
For my son this is the perfect cell phone. IMing is easy and portable and he can chat nearly anywhere. I now have more time in front of my computer because I don't have to compete for time on it with my son. He can make calls if he needs to but we keep in touch by e-mail and IM and I now know where he is nearly minute-by-minute because I know I can reach him via e-mail and/or voicemail at any time. If you need a PDA with Outlook synching or want the ability to surf without Danger's restrictions (lack of JavaScript support), this isn't the right one for you.

***UPDATE 2/14/04***: It's been a few months and we're still fans of the Sidekick. It's a constant companion for my son and I can now reach him at all times. The service has continued to be great but none of the rumored updates have happened. I still recommend the Sidekick and have switched all of my family over to T-Mobile because of the service (I'll write a review of T-Mobile soon). All in all this is still a great service for us.

UPDATE 08/11/04: Months later and we still love it. We did run into a problem of callers not being able to hear us during calls. It turns out that like any computer if you don't turn it off once in awhile it starts having memory conflicts. In this case it wasn't recognizing the SIM card. By simply turning it off at least once a day the problem has disappeared!

ADDITIONAL NOTE: There isn't a spot for a Color Sidekick and I haven't been able to get anyone to add it--the monochrome Sidekick has been discontinued but is available on Ebay--the CSK has features the monochrome did not and has twice the memory.