I've pre-ordered a Magic in the UK.
I've had an ongoing debate in my head for a while about waiting for the next generation of phones or getting a G1 on a cheaper deal... it's a never ending debate though as the goal posts move every day... and I thought I'd share my conclusions as to why I've ordered a Magic
G1
Whilst a keyboard would be nice, I don't want to be on T-Mobile. I live in a rural location with poor service. So it was never really an option.
Magic
"Improved" memory
Rather stylish IMO
"Improved" battery
Aside from this, it's a skinny G1, but on Vodaphone... much better IMHO.
So I pre-ordered one only 2 days ago and ALREADY i7500 has been announced. I mean, I know the next phone is usually out pretty quick once you've finally jumped in but it would have been nice to actually have the Magic in my hand before being told it's out of date ;-)
Seriously, the i7500 looks very tasty and I've heard a lot or Magic pre-orderers are cancelling and that was my first thought. But is it THAT much better? For my needs anyway, not a lot... here's why...
i7500
Even better battery... but only a little
More megapixels and a flash. Great! But personally, I just take the odd snap anyway so it's not really a deal breaker.
Standard headphone jack... about time!! But again personally, this is no biggy as I have bluetooth headphones.
And PROBABLY be on O2... which is better than T-Mobile but Vodaphone will always be my supplier of choice.
As for looks... it's nice but I prefer the Magic... and I think I'd miss the trackball.
What does impress me with the i7500 is the memory capacity. Now that is a big improvement. But the Magic already has double the memory of a G1 which means double the apps taking it 60 or so? (going on various posts I've read). That's enough surely? And music and video etc can be stored on the memory card anyway. So while the extra memory is very very impressive... would I personally use it? Jury is out on that one.
So in short, I will stick with the Magic I've got on pre-order. Partly because, in my day to day life, the i7500, sexy as it is, won't offer any amazing differences, partly because I simply like it, but mostly as I've already ordered and paid for a Magic case