Battle in Seattle: The Winner is Cold and Sweet

Almost exactly a month ago, I wrote about my dilemma.  Should I stick with my HTC HD7 running Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" or switch to the shiny new Galaxy Nexus TJ gave me, which runs Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich"?
Did I mention the views expressed are my own and not my employer's?  Oh look, I just did. The "right" thing to do would be to keep my old phone, and stay loyal. Maybe it's a sign that Mango is Paleo-compliant, while ICS is most definitely not.

But I find it hard to do the right thing when shiny new electronics are waved in front of me.  Four weeks later, I still really, really miss the simple beauty of the Windows "Metro" user interface.   I lament the loss of the friendly little text message icon who was so emotive about his lot in life. I continue to be baffled by Android's lack of a simple icon to display the number of unread messages in an email account.

But the Galaxy Nexus hardware has won me over.  The camera is far better, though I still need a lot of practice with it.  The phone itself, though longer, is lighter.  It still fits in my supercute handmade case from HouseofJAM on Etsy.  I've downloaded a TON of apps, because the selection is so much better for Android than Windows Phone.  There are a lot of kid-friendly apps we can use to entertain BabyT for a few minutes while we're waiting somewhere.  Integration with Google services is *awesome*, as expected.  It seems to run a bit faster, as well.  I remember a lot of waiting for apps to load on my HD7 but it's much shorter on the new phone.  I've used some of the phone pictures in the Project Life weekly scrapbook I'm working on, so it's very convenient.

TJ was anxious for me to make a decision so we could figure out to do with the extra phone.  We tossed around the idea of keeping one around for BabyT to use (limited and supervised, of course) but thought that was a little extravagant for a toddler and goes against my One Little Word for 2012, "reduce". 

So I posted my HD7 for sale on Craigslist and at work.  A helpful colleague pointed out that it's easy to ask T-Mobile to unlock a phone, so I did.  It was free.  I called them up, gave them the IMEI code from the phone and had to leave the T-Mobile SIM card in for 24 hours while they processed the request.  They emailed me the code a day later, I entered it, and voila! it was unlocked and worked perfectly with TJ's AT&T SIM card.  I had to use the HD7 that day, and it just underscored how well-designed that user interface is.  Sigh. 

Some very nice colleague bought my phone, in cash, for her dad.  I got exactly the price I wanted for it.  All's well that ends well.

home sweet home

Life is good, even with Snowpocalypse 2012.  This weekend is my Mama Weekend Away, a sort of personal retreat I'm taking to think about the year ahead, get some good sleep, good eats, and spa pampering.  A lot of people would use that kind of weekend off to visit friends and Go Out and Do Things, but I just need the solitude, and quiet.  To be alone with my thoughts (and my laptop!).

The funny thing is that when TJ and BabyT dropped me off at my swanky Seattle hotel today, I had a pang of loneliness.  I missed them almost immediately.  But I need this alone time, too.  Did I already mention that life is treating me very well? 

So, tell me, did I pick the right phone?  What would you have chosen?  More importantly, why?