Samurai cell phone

After a weekend mishap involving the inadvertent submersion of my cellphone in a tank of water (don't ask), I had to replace it fast. (My cell phone number is my published office phone number, and it's my lifeline to colleagues around the country and world.)

Luckily, the Sprint stores were open on Sunday, and just as luckily, they were able to offer me a $150 upgrade discount on a new phone.

So I switched from my soaked-and-defunct ultrabasic Samsung flip phone to Sanyo's Katana, a brand-new knockoff of the very popular Motorola RAZR.

So far, I like it just fine. It's the first compact cell phone I've ever owned that has a screen large enough (and a fast enough processor and enough memory) to do a little occasional web surfing (by the way, Opera Mini is the bomb!)

Reception seems to be *much* better than with the old Samsung phone; I had heard anecdotal evidence from other Sanyo owners that their phones consistently got stronger signals, and was pleased to learn that this appears to be true.

Related:

• Katana By Sanyo review by PC Magazine
• Gizmodo: Katana
  
• Opera Mini 2.0