Phee-roo!

When I first got the black and white Sidekick from T-Mobile, it was awesome. It was the first device ever that really let you be mobile on AIM. That was it’s big selling point back then. It also had 100% push email for your tmail address and allowed you to check your own pop/imap accounts as well. The keyboard has always been fantastic, the button layout on the keyboard is perfect for large and small hands. I can touchtype at completely usable speed, and no one ever believes me when I tell them I’m on my phone because I am able to use proper capitalization and punctuation effortlessly.

The “killer app” for the Sidekick has always been AIM, and later Yahoo! and MSN as well. It is the first, and still the only, device to really ‘get it right’. Other phones and PDA’s use text and web hacks to get the instant messaging to work, this works ok, but not perfect. The Sidekick maintains a constant GPRS connection whenever you are not on the phone talking, this allows you to see when buddies sign on, when buddies sign off, when they go away, return, etc… basically everything you can see on the desktop AIM. You don’t have to be in the AIM application to use these features, if you are playing a game or browsing the web, you’ll get AIM updates on the upper right hand side of your screen. And with the great keyboard shortcuts feature of the Sidekick, it’s only a couple of keypresses to go from the web, to AIM, reply to your friend, and then back to the web.

Everything integrates with the Sidekick. If your friend instant messages you an email address, phone number, or web page, you can click on them to send an email, phone call, or visit the site respectively. You can select to email or text message an AIM conversation to a friend, or you can can copy and paste information to the clipboard to use in other applications. You can really tell that the Sidekick was designed by nerds… who like to have things work together to maximize productivity. While you may see this device in the hands of celebrities and hip-hop icons, don’t be fooled, this is a truly powerful device for anyone who wants to stay connected.

The information on the device is all backed up to the web automatically. What this means is that if your device crashes or is destroyed, your replacement device will automatically download EVERYTHING back to it. If you make a note on your device, it will appear on the web sites within seconds, make a note on the web site, and it will appear on your device. This is all automatic, no manual syncing or ever worrying about it. Data loss is pretty much a thing of the past. You can also install an application to sync with your Outlook if that’s how you roll. It’s basically a Blackberry for the rest of us.

The Sidekick currently comes in two flavors, both have all the features that I’ve raved about in this review. The Sidekick iD is the low end device, only $99 with contract after rebates. The Sidekick3 is $199 with contract after rebates. It has all the communication stuff as well as a camera (of which you can attach pictures to emails), mp3 player, memory card (for pictures and mp3s), bluetooth (for headsets) and faster EDGE internet. I own the higher end Sidekick3, but I’d be fine with the Sidekick iD, the only feature I’d really miss is the camera, because I love taking pictures and sending them to friends and blogging.

Basically, this is what it comes down to. If you goal is to stay connected via IM, SMS, phone, and email, then the Sidekick is the only device currently available that will flawlessly fulfill all these needs. I work for a phone company, I see what comes through our shelves as well as our competitors. Right now, the only devices comparable to the Sidekick are the Windows Mobile, Palm, and Blackberry devices… and they simply don’t do instant messaging right. If you need video for some reason, or absolutely require a full media player, the Sidekick isn’t for you, but if you want to stay connected everywhere you go, get yourself a Sidekick, you won’t regret it.