I've finally just about had it with my Sony Ericsson Z520a.

When I got this phone a year ago, I had 2 straight months of absolute heck with this phone. It had a firmware defect that essentially caused the phone to freeze or otherwise do strange things within 24 hours. Sony Ericsson had the worst customer service response - in that they refused to acknowledge the defect and considered it "normal" to have to remove the battery every 24 hours to reset the phone (because often the phone was too screwed up to allow it to power off via the power switch). Because of that experience, I've said my next phone will *not* be a Sony Ericsson device.

Finally, Cingular, who sold me the phone, was able to get Sony Ericsson to produce a firmware update which resolved this problem. And the problem turned out to be caused by a condition which pathologically existed at my house.

In addition to that particular annoyance (which made for a very unreliable phone) the phone has a design flaw. It has a very low resistance spring in the button on the side which activates the camera. And the button is strategically placed so your finger always bumps into it while carrying on a call. So you're constantly activating the camera and snapping unintended pictures.

Lately, this problem has been getting worse and it seems like the camera is activating at random. It sometimes makes for an interesting game - figure out where you were when you unintentionally took a picture. A few times, I have lucked out because the camera went off in places it really shouldn't have.

If the camera were halfway decent, it might be one thing. This camera is far from it. And now, having to go and clear out a dozen pictures every few days has meant I've had enough. It's time for a new phone.

The front runner is the Nokia 6126. I'll probably pay more and buy it directly from Nokia or somewhere not Cingular in order to get one that is not carrier locked and not customized by Cingular. Cingular seems to have this horrible reputation for screwing up perfectly good phones with their customizations. Time to try one without them. The last phone I purchased this way was a Sony Ericsson Z600. An awesome phone. I would still be using it today if it supported the 850MHz band and had slightly better reception.

I think I will ask my wife for permission to acquire a 6126 and see what happens.