Review: Sidekick 3
The Sidekick 3 is more of a data device than a phone, and it shows in the phone and contacts applications. This is the Sidekick's weakness. If you put the Sidekick 3 (or any of its predecessors) in the hands of a novice and ask them to browse a website, chances are they can do it. But if you ask them to make a phone call, chances are they can't.
The phone application is of limited use with the the phone closed. You can take calls fairly easily, but the only calls you can dial are the last 10 numbers you've used and up to 10 numbers you've added to speed dial.
Calling a contact or dialing a number requires you to open the Sidekick. Start typing in a contact name from the main menu or phone application and the Sidekick sorts through all your contacts and presents a list of available numbers. Scroll to the right one, press call, and from there everything works as expected. While in a call there's an on-screen keypad you can control with the trackball to navigate through automated systems.
The contacts application is very thorough, it can store multiple phone numbers, email addresses, street addresses and IM names. While the contacts application is used for storing and entering this information, it is not built for using it. For example there is no easy way to call, text, or email a contact when that information is highlighted in the contact application. You can hold down select on the trackball when a name or number is higlighted to bring up a contextual menu that will let you dial a number 2 steps later, however you cannot just press the send key to dial.
Setting a picture for photo caller ID is easy, however setting a custom ringtone for a contact is not. Instead of setting the ring for a contact, it must be set for each of that contact's phone numbers. The contacts application can sync with your Outlook through the Sidekick web desktop.
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