Mobile vs. Portable – Does Size Matter to Everyone: Part I
July 26, 2009 by Jason Bean
Filed under Computers
Let me just jump right out and say it. When it comes to most computer related technology devices, size doesn’t really matter to me. I think smaller is cool and impressive with just how much they can fit into a small package, but I don’t have to continually change devices to keep getting smaller.
One of the things that I’m regularly experiencing is that I get teased about the size of my phone. I have been using a PPC-6700 with Sprint for the last three years or so now. I have credit to get a new phone and have no real desire to change devices.
My wife has a Palm Centro and she’s the one that regularly teases me about my phone. I decided to find out what’s the real difference between phones. Below is a comparison of a couple of phones that I found on the PhoneScoop website and reviewed on EveryJoe.
| Model | PPC-6700 | Treo 700W | Palm Centro | iPhone 3GS |
| Weight | 6.07/172 oz/g | 6.0/170 oz/g | 4.2/119 oz/g | 4.76/135 oz/g |
| Length | 4.25″ | 4.4″ | 4.22″ | 4.55″ |
| Width | 2.32″ | 2.3″ | 2.11″ | 2.44″ |
| Thickness | 0.93″ | 0.9″ | 0.73″ | 0.48″ |
The challenge I get is that my phone “looks” larger than it is because it’s a square block. Unlike the other devices above which have tapered edges that make them appear smaller. The trade-off in my mind is that I have a huge screen and full-slide-out keyboard. The only real difference in size of all these phones is the weight, and the difference is about 2 oz. Sorry folks, but that’s not going to strain my back.
I’ll take the two ounces in exchange for the features I have that my wife doesn’t and the size of screen I have to use with the full keyboard. The size doesn’t really matter to me.














