After a wonderful experience with the Pantech Duo, my poor phone started giving me some grief. This could have had something to do with my dropping it a couple of times, due to the occasional arthritis twinges that crop up in my hand. As a senior home care giver for a senior mom and for grandkids, I definitely need to have a phone that works well at all times, so it was time for a new phone!

As I wrote earlier, I replaced it with the Pantech Matrix Pro which I also really enjoyed, for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, its antenna is apparently a bit on the weak side and it did not work properly in the first floor of my three-story building. I could literally call myself and watch it never ring! That left me with an unreliable phone – never a good option for a multi-generational caregiver. Back to the drawing board I went!

The only other small phone option that worked well with my hand and wrist issues was the Blackberry Pearl. The AT&T service technician explained its antenna was stronger so hopefully it would work well for me and overall, it does. I do sometimes have to go to the patio or take a walk, to hear well, which has actually led to me getting lots more exercise. A very good thing for caregivers in general and for caregiver stress, as well! I have to confess, I miss my Pantech Duo. I liked the slide-out keyboard better than any other cell phone I’ve ever had. But the Blackberry Pearl is not bad.

Pros:

• It’s a SmartPhone – giving me a computer as I travel, along with my email, contacts, etc.
• It’s one of the most customizable cell phones I’ve ever had.
• The size is great for those with arthritis and/or carpal tunnel syndrome.
• It has an excellent antenna.
• It’s easy to Twitter on it. I ended up using TwitterBerry and have been quite pleased with it.

Cons:

• Its internet access is nowhere as neat or easy as the Pantech was or the iPhone seems to be. On the other hand, the iPhone is wider and heavier which I would prefer to avoid.
• Because of all the customization options, it’s easy to get lost trying to figure out how it works and how to make the exact changes you want.
• The keyboard is small and partially colored pink, making it one of the hardest keyboards I’ve ever tried to read. The joys of older eyes.
• It has a small screen which also is harder for me to read.
• It calls 911 WAY TOO EASY! I keep the cell phone in my pocket and try to remember to lock it. Even locked, it has called 911 two times from my pocket! After doing some research, I discovered this was a common problem for many. I found two fairly good solutions to this, although they do require extra steps making it a pain in the neck. You can keep the Blackberry Pearl in the little holder when not using it. Alternatively, you can lock the keyboard AND press STAND-BY (the key at the top left of the Blackberry). It will appear to be off, however it can still receive calls. The remembering-to-do-it is the hard part.

Overall, now that I’m getting more used to it, I do like it. But I have to admit, it would not be my first choice. I still prefer my old Pantech slider and will give them a try again in a few years, if my living quarters change. If that fails, I may break down and get the iPhone and just always use a wired earplug (I lose the wireless earphone way to easy!).  If that doesn’t work either, then the Blackberry Pearl is not a bad option for this Sandwich Generation caregiver.

It’s been a tough week for me in more ways than one! My poor little grandkids have been hit by a nasty tummy bug (NOT the swine flu, I’m happy to say ) I always hate to see one of the little ones in misery and it was multiplied by three this week! THEN they decided to practice what we preach by sharing – the tummy bug – with me! NOT fun. Mine was mild but still misery-inducing!

On top of all that, I ordered one of my favorite new smartphones last week since my poor Pantech phone kept dropping calls. As a caregiver on call from a variety of directions, I depend on my cellphone and need to know it is at least 75% reliable (Be honest, is there ANY cellphone that is 100%!!! Not in my price range and hand size!). My cellphone was dipping down to 30% and I was eligible for a cheap upgrade. I loved my Pantech phone and wanted to get another. It fit my hand well, was easy to use, and I would then have had two cellphone batteries. I would have LOVED that.

Well, so much for that plan. They were out of the new ones so I had to go with refurbished ones (used ones that have been spruced up). The first one thought it was from Europe and neither AT&T nor Pantech could fix it so back it went. The second one dropped calls worse than the one I was replacing. Literally. EVERY 4 seconds! It’s in the box heading back on Monday.

At that point I gave up and switched to a NEW Pantech phone, the Matrix Pro . It worked well, but when I tried to sync it to my computer to get my contacts, etc., it thought it was a cable modem instead of a cellphone. Talk about identity crises. All these cellphones seem to share in that problem! Two very helpful employees at AT&T couldn’t figure it out. My last hope was back again to Pantech.

FINALLY I found someone who had heard of this issue and knew just what to do. Just in case any of you ever run into it I am sharing the information here. I couldn’t find this info ANYWHERE on the net and wanted to make sure it was out there for other poor sufferers like me.  To sync my Pantech Matrix Pro , he told me to go to:

• START SETTINGS
• CONNECTIONS
• MODEMLINK – Make sure that was INACTIVE. Sure enough, when I checked, it was showing active. Once I changed it to INACTIVE it worked! YAY! I can’t tell you how relieved I was.
• I also checked the one other concern he mentioned, that the USB to PC box was check marked. In my case, it was so I didn’t have to do anything there.

My new cellphone is now working great , complete with all the info I need when caregiving away from home, at the hospital, traveling, etc. The joys of technology once again have simultaneously bit me and encouraged me mightily this week!

Speaking of the joys of technology, this is a great time to remind us all to do our monthly tech chores such as:

• Make a computer backup of any important documents, including photos of grandkids, music, medical bills for aging parents, etc. Whether you do online backups or backup data on an external hard drive or USB stick, it’s vital to do this regularly! I’d always rather spend the time making these backups than have it crash big time leaving me with the much more time-consuming and frustrating dilemma of having to fix my computer!
  
• Make sure all important programs are fully updated – including browsers, operating systems, security and antivirus software, etc.
• Run any and all antivirus protection software as well as whatever spyware removal program you prefer, such as Norton Internet Security or PC Pitstop (I also like to run SystemWorks One-button checkup on a regular basis to keep things humming along smoothly)
• Defragment your computer
• Weed out any unnecessary programs and documents and archive such things as your Outlook email files

Well, that’s my saga of going from woe to rejoicing. My Pantech phones have taken me from the pits of despair to the valley of successful cellphone calling, my computer is beckoning for me to follow my own advice as I make my own computer backup and my tummy is again ready for a yummy piece of chocolate cake. I hope your week went better and that your cellphones as well as that of your aging parents are working great – at least 75% great.