Photo courtesy Gizmodo

It’s no secret that a few months back (end of October if memory serves) I dropped my HTC Magic in an RX1 beer. Since then I’ve had a few problems with it such as random shutdowns, accelerometer is busted, and I am unable to mount the phone as a USB device on my computer. This was due to a large lack of foresight on my part by not properly drying it out before turning it back on.

I’ve managed up to this point and was willing to continue to do so until such time as a new phone came out that I was willing to purchase. More on that later. Unfortunately, Rogers has shut off internet access to my phone until I can perform a firmware update to fix an issue where GPS was interfering with being able to call 911. That’s all well and good except that I have to hook the phone up to my computer in order to do so. Now I’m left with a dilemma. As the phone is no longer under warranty due to the liquid damage, I have two options:

1. Report the phone as lost and get a new one at a lower cost (not quite as low as a brand new contract cost) but have to re-up for 3 years from that point.
2. Have the phone repaired at my own cost.

I unfortunately have no idea which of these two options is the cheapest. I had originally planned to just upgrade my phone instead of fixing it and was simply waiting on the next generation of Android phones to get released. Since then the Nexus One has come, but I’ve mentioned how in Canada it’s not a 3G phone. The Motorola Droid (or Milestone as it’s called in Canada) has yet to be released but is a Telus exclusive regardless. The next viable solution for me would have been the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 with it’s beautiful 4″ touchscreen but it doesn’t have a release date. Its also rumoured to be TRES EXPENSIVE.

From a cost perspective, this is an easy decision, and although the gadget geek in me is screaming otherwise, I’ll just report the phone lost and get a new Magic now and perhaps think about upgrading to a new Android phone sometime next year. I think this is a solution even my wife (@heatherRberg) can get behind.